Bhagavad Gita - Book 13, Volume 4

THE INDiViSiBLE SPACE WiTHiN

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There are three spaces we can live in: The space that is covered by the body, the space that is covered by the mind, and the space that cannot be covered by body and mind. The first is ghaṭākāśa, or the space enclosed by this physical body. Most of us live in this space nearly all the time. The next is cidākāśa, the space that you are aware and conscious of. Right now, if you are aware of this hall it is your cidākāśa. This is the space of the thoughts and mind. The third is mahākāśa. This is the whole space, cosmos, everything put together.

THE INDIVISIBLE SPACE

WITHIN

The ghaṭākāśa is made up of the five elements that are: earth, water, fire, air and ether. These elements become subtler as we move up, from earth, to water, to fire, to air, to ether. None of the first four reflect consciousness. Ether, the subtlest element, connects with consciousness. It reflects consciousness. And that is the reason why we are alive. The problem is, we think consciousness is bound by ghaṭākāśa. We think it is limited to this body. That is why we make this body the reference when we view the outer world. We think this body is the 'I' that sees the rest of the world. You see, all science had this as its basic foundation: we are separate entities defined by physical boundaries. Enlightened Masters who have moved beyond ghaṭākāśa into mahākāśa understand that all this division of space is due to our ignorance.

Space can never be divided. Yet we divide

it into boundaries and associate terms:

within, inside, outside, near, far, etc.

because of our limited understanding. This

is the cause for our suffering. First of all, we

divide the space because of our ignorance.

Second, we try to possess the space that we

think is in our control. And third, we fear

that the space might be taken from us. All

fears, including the fear of death, happen

because we constantly try to protect the

space covered by our body and mind.

GOALS:

To understand that the universal

energy, the ultimate

consciousness, always existed. It

manifested in various forms as

planets, as humans and so on,

but it is eternal. It will continue

to manifest itself and return to

the Source and it will always

exist.