Re: Can One Exist in Two places at Once? (universal consciousness and other)
Namaste Eric,
As the others have already expressed, many of your points are correct according to Vedic philosophy of the nature of mind and body. Long before I was even acquainted with Hinduism and the concept of the layers (kosha) that make up the individual, I had once thought "could it be possible that I am experiencing the mind of X across the room?". Of course, I didn't get it quite right then, but after that, I began to wonder more about what it meant to be aware in a particular time and place.
Mind, what do 'you' mean by this? Are you referring to 'manas' or 'soul' or 'buddhi' or 'chittah'? Darn, the western scholars confuse me. I dont know what they are referring to when they say 'mind'.
Don't worry, they just as confused as you are. The term "mind" as it is understood in the West has been constantly changing for decades, maybe even centuries. In one of my university modules for science, there was a long discussion about two philosophies that are held in western school of thought. One is that mind and body are the same (monist physicalist theory of mind), and one is that mind and body are separate (dualist theory). At the moment, the former stance is the more popular and widely held belief amongst academics, mostly because there is confusion as to how mind and body could possibly interact and not knowing where mind is located if not in the brain. It's all very messy stuff. Gives me a headache just remembering back to it. It's no wonder I went through a quasi-atheistic period during that time. Even I was confused as to how a soul could exist. Thank Ganesha it is all behind me now.
"Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
Om Gam Ganapataye namah
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ।
Lokaah SamastaaH Sukhino Bhavantu
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