The opening Shloka of Isha Upanishad reads:

Om purnamadah  purnamidam puranat  purnamudacyate

puranasya  purnam adaya  purnam eva avashishyate

If translated literally into simple English prose, it will mean That is whole; this is whole; from that whole this whole came; from that whole, if this whole is removed, what remains is whole.” On the first reading of the shloka it makes a relatively superficial sense but viewed from deeper sense of Shruti-s, which enquire deep into every aspect of the origin of life, it makes a lot of sense.

While referring to the Infinite Brahma, the seer (rishi) states: He has said that He exists in the heart-space of everyone and that in Him exists everything. So, everyone contains everything.” That means an X person contains the universe though he himself is in the universe - a speck. And this is true for every such speck. To understand it further we may refer to the discussion between Vasishta and Shiva, when Shiva appeared before him after a long period of meditation at Kailash.

The world, the universe, you and me all are an illusion (mithya) and exist temporarily just like in the dream-state. As soon as the dream is over, one wakes up to face the real world and realizes the falsehood of the dream. The same is true with regard to the existence of the world and the universe, when viewed from the standpoint of Self-realization. Shiva goes on to say that even the trinity and various other godheads all exist only in the dream state and are in a way no reality. However, what has been stated here is not to mean what exactly appears from the literal understanding of the phrase. On every being or object, there reside two birds - one which represents the physical self and other the atman, the witness. While the physical self is created out of mind and intellect, the atman, the Brahmic essence is infinite and represents completeness or fullness. The sense of being, doing etc all is attached to the first of the birds and all beings normally identify themselves with the first bird and hence, consider themselves to be finite and identifiable with their physical beings only. However, the person who realizes himself as atman knows no bounds and acquires 

completeness. Completeness signifies infinity and uniqueness, realization of the Self in each and every being. A self- realized soul is one who identifies himself with each and every being, whether living or non-living, viewing in all only Brahma and nothing else. For him a single-celled animal and Sumeru parvat are one, because he knows no physical boundaries. If all the physical phenomena vanish, even then what remains is complete fullness or the Infinite Brahma. In this presentation, by making a reference to ‘you’, I just want to indicate what exactly ‘you’ are as a self-realized soul, a micro-particulate like electron or positron or the complete universe. 

Now comes the question as to how such duality has crept in when Brahma is unique and complete one. Just stand near the sea or a river. As the waves rise, you can see thousands of ripples and bubbles being formed and other thousands getting dissolved. Those bubbles, which are formed, will be seen for sometime and then will get dissolved to become part of the complete ocean. In the same manner, as these bubbles are formed, the universe is created and destroyed and what remains is Brahma only, which is THE TRUTH.

There is no difference between drishya and drishya, between object and object. Even at the empirical level of reality, inquiry reduces the apparent substance comprising any object to aggregation of sub-atomic particles. Modern physics, from its standpoint, confirms lack of substantiality by finding lack of ‘real’ difference in apparently ‘real’ things. Our enquiry which defines ‘real’ as only what cannot be negated, reveals any known or knowable object, to be unreal because it can be negated by time, limited by space; and, in actuality, only a name and form reducible to some other apparent substance or substances which in turn are but names and forms reducible again to other substances. No known or knowable thing can be reduced to a known or knowable substance incapable of further reduction. A knowable thing, anything which can be objectified, defies final definition since it has no reality of its own. Things are but names and forms, ever-changing aggregate processes, limited by time and space, dependent for their apparent reality upon a real substratum - the formless, limitless, and time-free Brahma.

Just as you can see the whole sky in a drop of water, the whole universe resides in a minute particulate like positron.

Let me make it clearer through the example of a dream. If I dream that my house is on fire and I am trying to put out the fire by spraying water on it, then all, that is, my house, fire, water etc. - are as real or unreal as the other, because when I wake up there is nothing, not even the ashes remaining behind.  The dreamer and the dreamt have both resolved. The dreamer has no greater reality than the dreamt. Both resolve. Nothing is left out. I alone remain since  purnam eva avashishyate.

Now arise the fundamental questions like: By whose power does an electron move? And by whose power does a human being perceive, etc? If the two powers were different, then an infinite number of powers would be there, which does not appear to be logical. How does governance of the system take place? Is everything bound by law and principles? That an electron may follow certain paths etc. Everything ultimately abides some law? Is there not a self- sustaining, self-maintaining system moving towards its slow evolution and/or destruction?

If everything is a dream, then where is the question of any governance? If the whole universe is nothing but a dream, then where is the question of any governance? In dream I can lift millions of tons at the wink of an eye or travel through galaxies in seconds. Yes, whatsoever law and principles the physicists speak of, are nothing but an illusion. There have been number of instances wherein the laws of universe have been altered at the will of self-realized souls. Everything is constantly moving towards its destiny of unifying with the complete whole. Even all the metaphysical laws will have no existence in the absence of the aatmic law or the brahmic law which governs everything. 

(The author, an Indian Revenue Service Officer with the Government of India, is a deeply spiritual person.with a passion for reading and writing about esoteric concepts)