l nature of these different states of consciousness, I shall
request my readers to compare the consciousness of the ordinary man with
the consciousness of the astral man, and again compare the latter with
the consciousness of the spiritual Ego in man. In these three
conditions the objective universe is not the same. But the difference
between the Ego and the non-Ego is common to all these conditions.
Consequently, admitting the correctness of Mill's reasoning as regards
the subject and object of our present plane of consciousness, the great
Adwaitee thinkers of India have extended the same reasoning to other
states of consciousness, and came to the conclusion that the various
conditions of the Ego and the non-Ego were but the appearances of one
and the same entity--the ultimate state of unconsciousness. This entity
is neither matter nor spirit; it is neither Ego nor non-Ego; and it is
neither object nor subject. In the language of Hindu philosophers it is
the original and eternal combination of Purusha and Prakriti. As the
Adwaitees hold that an external object is merely the product of our
mental states, Prakriti is nothing more than illusion, and Purush is the
only reality; it is the one existence which remains eternal in this
universe of Ideas. This entity then is the Parabrahmam of the
Adwaitees. Even if there were to be a personal God with anything like a
material Upadhi (physical basis of whatever form), from the standpoint
of an Adwaitee there will be as much reason to doubt his noumenal
existence as there would be in the case of any other object. In their
opinion, a conscious God cannot be the origin of the universe, as his
Ego would be the effect of a previous cause, if the word conscious
conveys but its ordinary meaning. They cannot admit that the grand
total of all the states of consciousness in the universe is their deity,
as these states are constantly changing and as cosmic idealism ceases
during Pralaya. There is only one permanent condition in the universe
which is the state of perfect unconsciousness, bare Chidakasam (field of
consciousness) in fact.

When my readers once realize the fact that this grand universe is in
reality but a huge aggregation of various states of consciousness, they
will not be surprised to find that the ultimate state of unconsciousness
is considered as Parabrahmam by the Adwaitees.

The idea of a God, Deity, Iswar, or an impersonal God (if consciousness
is one of h