Question: Does water really have consciousness, or does it just represent consciousness?

Sri Chinmoy: Water represents consciousness and water also embodies consciousness. If one is a very advanced, highly developed seeker, not to speak of a great Master, then one is bound to see and feel that water embodies consciousness. When life-energy is taken as inseparable from water, at that time water embodies consciousness. Consciousness is the connecting link between Heaven and earth, between the finite and the Infinite. And it can take different forms. Water represents consciousness for those who have not yet discovered the oneness between the finite life and the infinite Life. They feel that there is a great gap between the finite and the Infinite. But I always say that the finite and the Infinite are one, in the same way that the drop and the ocean are one. Boundless drops make up the ocean. If one knows that the drop represents the ocean, then one will also feel that one or two drops embody the ocean itself. Those who are not advanced separate the ocean from the drop, the finite from the Infinite. For them, the realised spiritual Master who is representing the Supreme is a different reality from the Supreme. But if people are highly advanced, they will see that the one who is representing the Supreme is definitely embodying His Consciousness. When the spiritual Master is in his everyday consciousness, some disciples may think that he is just an ordinary human being. But if the disciples are aspiring, they will feel that the Master is the representative of God all the time. When the Master is in his human consciousness, they will feel that he is representing God in His human consciousness. Even when the spiritual Master is in his highest divine consciousness, some disciples may feel that the spiritual Master is one person and that God is somebody else. But when the seekers develop receptivity, they do not see any difference between the Master and God at that time. At one moment Sri Krishna said that he was representing Brahman. The next moment he said that he was Brahman Himself.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Simplicity, sincerity, purity and divinity, Agni Press, 1987
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