Indra's Net

ok i'm copying and pasting the original post into an unlocked topic as i find this topic fascinating and would love it if anyone has any more to add to this subject?

Indra's Net, also called Indra's Jewels or Indra's Pearls, from इंद्रजाल in Sanskrit, is a metaphor used to illustrate the structure of reality, the mirror-like or holographic nature of the cosmos. It was first mentioned in the Hindu Avatamsaka Sutra, where the universe was likened to a legendary network of pearls hanging over the palace of the god Indra and "so arranged that if you look at one pearl, you see all the others reflect in it. As the author of the Sutra explained, "In the same way, each object in the world is not merely itself, but involves every other object and, in fact, is everything else."


"In the heaven of god Indra, there is said to be a network of pearls, so arranged that if you look at one you see all the other reflected in it. In the same way, each object in the world is not merely itself but involves every other object and in fact IS everything else."

–Charles Eliot
quoted in The Cosmic Metabolism of Form, by Christian Werterbaker.






"Imagine a multidimensional spider’s web in the early morning covered with dew drops. And every dew drop contains the reflection of all the other dew drops. And, in each reflected dew drop, the reflections of all the other dew drops in that reflection. And so ad infinitum. That is the Buddhist conception of the universe in an image."

–Alan Watt
explaining the ancient teaching of Indra's net.


this made me think of the candles infinite reflection in the mirror which zorbs also mentioned

The Humbling of Indra (From Joseph Campbell’s Myths of Lights, originally from the Puranas)

Once upon a time, a dragon called Vrtra (the encloser) enclosed the waters of the whole universe and made a drought lasting thousands of years. Finally, Indra, the leader of the gods, came up with a brilliant idea. He was a slow thinker but it worked beautifully. He took a thunderbolt and threw it at Vrta. The dragon blew up and the waters were released, abundant and free. The Universe is refreshed and alive again.

So Indra thinks to himself “Wow! I’m so great. There’s no one greater than me!” He goes up to Mt. Meru and finds the decayed palaces of the older gods. “I’m going to build a city fit for my dignity!” Indra says. So he finds Viskakarman, the craftsman of the gods, and says “Ok, let’s get to work. I want my palaces and towers here and lotus flowers here…” But as soon as Visvakarman starts building up the architecture, Indra comes back with even bigger plans for larger towers and mightier palaces. Over and over, again and again. “Shit! We’re both immortal so this is going to go on forever. What am I supposed to do?” asks Visvakarman.

Visvakarman goes to Brahma, the creator of the world, who is seated on a lotus growing through Vishnu’s navel. Vishnu, the preserver, floats on the cosmic ocean taking his nap, resting on his great serpent Ananta (which means “never ending”). Brahma, with a serene smile on his face, promises to fix everything.

The next day, the entire village is joyful. They meet a brahmin boy with blue-black skin. Everyone thinks he’s the most beautiful person in the world. Indra invites him to his palace, lets him sit on his throne, and offers him the usual hospitalities, as is fitting for a king to do. “So, young man, what brings you to my palace?” Indra asks.

The blue-skinned boy spoke with a voice like thunder. “I heard that you are building the greatest palace that has ever been built by any Indra. Now that I’ve looked at it, I can truthfully say that indeed no Indra before you has ever built a palace like this.”

“Indras before me? What are you talking about” asks Indra, utterly confused.

“Yes, Indras before you,” says the boy. “Think about it. The lotus grows from Vishnu’s navel, the lotus opens, and on it sits Brahma. Brahma opens his eyes and a universe comes into being, governed by an Indra. He closes his eyes. He opens his eyes – another universe. He closes his eyes…and for 360 Brahma years, Brahma does this. Then the lotus withdraws. After an endless time, another lotus opens, the Brahma appears, he opens his eyes, he closes his eyes…Indras, Indras, Indras. Now consider all the galaxies in space and outer space, each one a lotus, each one with his Brahma. You may have wise men in your court who would volunteer to count the drops of water in an ocean or the grains of sand in the beaches of the world, but who could count those Brahmas? Let alone Indras?”

And then a parade of ants walks in a perfect row across the palace on the floor. The blue-skinned boy laughs.

Indra is angry. “What is it!?”

“Don’t ask me unless you’re ready to get hurt,” says the boy.

“What is it! I ask!” says Indra.

The boy waves his hand at the ranks of ants and says “All former Indras. They have gone through innumerable incarnations and they have risen in the ranks of the heavens and they have all come to the high throne of Indra and killed the dragon Vrta. Then they all say ‘How great I am,’ and down they go.”

Now, an old, nearly naked yogi walks in with an umbrella of banana leaves. On his chest is a tiny circle of hairs. The boy asks him the questions that are on Indra’s mind. “Who are you? What’s your name? Where do you live? Where’s your family? Where’s your home?”

The yogi speaks. “I don’t have a family. I don’t have a home. Life is short. My umbrella of banana leaves is good enough for me. I just worship Vishnu. As for these hairs…it’s curious…every time an Indra dies, one hair falls off. Half of them are gone. Pretty soon they’ll all be gone. Why build a house?”

Unbeknownst to Indra, the blue-skinned boy was Vishnu the preserver and the yogi was Shiva the destroyer (of illusion, who also represents the principle of pure consciousness). They had come to instruct Indra and now that Indra heard them, they left. Indra is completely shattered. He tells Brhaspati, the priest of the gods, that he will become a yogi and spend the rest of his life worshipping Vishnu’s feet. He tells his wife, the great queen Indrani, that he will give up the monkey business of being king of the world and just wander off into the forest alone and worship Vishnu’s feet. So Indrani goes to the priest of the gods and they work together to stop Indra.

The priest tells him “You are on the throne of the universe. You represent virtue and duty – dharma – and you incarnate the divine spirit in this earthly role. I have already written a great book for you on the art of politics – how to maintain the state, how to win wars, etc. Now I’m going to write a book for you on the art of love so that the other aspect of your life, with you and Indrani here, will also become a revelation of the divine spirit dwelling in us all. Anyone can become a yogi, but how about representing in the life of the world the immanence of this mystery of eternity?”

So Indra thought for a while and he understood now. He had it within himself all along, just as we all do. All you have to do is wake up to the fact that you are a manifestation of the eternal.

oh wow what a great read.. thanks mr president

Thanks, President Roosevelt

President RooseveltThe Humbling of Indra (From Joseph Campbell’s Myths of Lights, originally from the Puranas)

Once upon a time, a dragon called Vrtra (the encloser) enclosed the waters of the whole universe and made a drought lasting thousands of years. Finally, Indra, the leader of the gods, came up with a brilliant idea. He was a slow thinker but it worked beautifully. He took a thunderbolt and threw it at Vrta. The dragon blew up and the waters were released, abundant and free. The Universe is refreshed and alive again.
.............................................

That was beautiful, Mr. President. I finally had a chance to read it in full and I really enjoyed it. Thank you so much President and please excuse me for this late response. Keep up my friend.

.
Hi Night. Back as promised. Sorry if I'm a bit too late. But this is one of the earliest topics we started here and, now as I read through it, it really feels like an old friend.

What amazes me personally about Indra's Net is best expressed in C. Eliot's comment, above, when he wrote, "... each object in the world is not merely itself but involves every other object and in fact IS everything else."


I always thought there is a "self," and then there is a world contained or reflected in it. Now I understand differently. The self IS the world. They're not two entities, but one. "I" is the sum total of all reflections. "I" is nothing but a construct of reflections. This is not the same "I Am," which usually refers to the true Self, the Supreme beyond the Matrix, Infinite Consciousness, or simply God. This is the small "I" here in the Matrix, and it's nothing but reflections, literally, like everything else.

So the Matrix, now I see, is basically an infinite number of mirrors, each set on a different angle, in each every other mirror is reflected, and in each Consciousness is present beyond all reflections. This is how The One became many—a question that took me at least 10 years to answer.

Consciousness is simply caught up in each mirror. We think we each have our own consciousness or mind, but we don't really. We are all but mirrors here, and it's the same one Consciousness present in all. Then...... showtime:




The Matrix kicks off and the whole human drama begins when we start mentally thinking we're separate human beings. When we intellectually and even culturally isolate, arrange, classify and judge. We thus get heroes and villains, saints and sinners, harmony and conflict, pains and pleasures, denials and desires.

The matrix therefore (I even hazard to state, the very existence of the world) depends solely on this one trick—Infinite Consciousness caught up, apparently, in one single, limited and separate mirror.

But "God within" is the same "God without;" are they two Gods? You are, we each are, Infinite Consciousness—Infinite Knowing-Being-Bliss.

In my opinion, understanding this truth and living up to it is the only way out of the Matrix. Otherwise we're forever imprisoned in the illusion, forever fighting in the world whereas the real fight is indeed within ourselves.

Once out of the Matrix, however, we're instantly in peace. We then can't help but love, give and forgive; because whatever we do we rather do to ourselves, every love is indeed self-love, and all that we give we do actually receive. Love therefore is our way to, and expression of, our liberation. Love is our only true freedom.



Just my opinion anyway. (Probably Indra's too, I guess).

i dont know why, i really dont, i get the infinite conciousness, i understand it.. but i always come back to the same question of... why? why does it create this sense of seperation?

if everything is infinite conciousness... thats all there is and ever will be.. then it has created the false self right?... so why? whats the purpose or the lesson of the false self?

sorry if this is a dumb question, i'm not even sure if i'm making any sense... i love this subject but it seriously confuses me at times.....

Lotus quote: " In my opinion, understanding this truth and living up to it is the only way out of the Matrix. "
"Once out of the Matrix, however, we're instantly in peace. We then can't help but love, give and forgive; because whatever we do we rather do to ourselves, every love is indeed self-love, and all that we give we do actually receive. Love therefore is our way to, and expression of, our liberation. Love is our only true freedom." end quote.

Maybe when we do learn to love, to give, freely, to love everything that exists, as we love ourselves, we do escape the matrix.

Night Eyes wrote:i dont know why, i really dont, i get the infinite conciousness, i understand it.. but i always come back to the same question of... why? why does it create this sense of seperation?

if everything is infinite conciousness... thats all there is and ever will be.. then it has created the false self right?... so why? whats the purpose or the lesson of the false self?

sorry if this is a dumb question, i'm not even sure if i'm making any sense... i love this subject but it seriously confuses me at times.....

We, as humans, may never know the answer, well, maybe if and when we escape the matrix. And, " death " may not be the answer. We may very well keep experiencing this until we have learned life's lesson. ( love )

but then if we are just this one infinite conciousness, there's no birth or death, its all just an illusion, a false self or ego mind, and conciousness/awareness knows itself, i dont understand why it has to learn anything, as it already knows everything, it is love and peace and happiness

i guess what i'm trying to say without trying to sound like an idiot... is perhaps conciousness is just... i dont know... expressing itself?.. nothing to learn.... just having fun with itself?

Night Eyes wrote:but then if we are just this one infinite conciousness, there's no birth or death, its all just an illusion, a false self or ego mind, and conciousness/awareness knows itself, i dont understand why it has to learn anything, as it already knows everything, it is love and peace and happiness

i guess what i'm trying to say without trying to sound like an idiot... is perhaps conciousness is just... i dont know... expressing itself?.. nothing to learn.... just having fun with itself?

I'd say we are a part of the infinite consciousness, each of us are a " part ".

Birth or death, could be an illusion. We really don't know. There are those who have had " out of body " experiences, that may not agree. They may say they know what exists beyond this human consciousness we experience.

And, yes. I think " infinite consciousness " , " created " us, to experience, " feelings, emotions, mostly through the five senses. It did it to expand itself.

Think of it like a " Simms Game ". You, the player of the game, get to create your own Simms world. You create the characters, the place they live, etc. You get to experience " feelings, emotions ", through those Simms characters, the Simms world.

Enjoyment comes from this. Now, here is the question. Are our lives, much like the characters in the Simms game? IF so, well, we do not have control of our lives, " infinite consciousness " does.

Higher Self/Mind, is at the border of reality, that is, it stands between the " infinite consciousness " and our physical reality. think of HS as the spiritual side of us, operating the controls.

Now, if this be true, then, do we, as humans, truly have free will?

All of the above is just my opinion, and, I do lean toward believing this, as of now.

so i guess its not so much as we're here to learn anything, as conciousness already knows it, we're here for the experience and maybe to re-discover awareness


why do so many people not do this then, how does conciousness 'forget' itself?

Night Eyes wrote:so i guess its not so much as we're here to learn anything, as conciousness already knows it, we're here for the experience and maybe to re-discover awareness


why do so many people not do this then, how does conciousness 'forget' itself?

Wow! That's almost exactly of the way I get it!

Infinite consciousness already knows, there is nothing to learn. It created us, much like characters in a Simms game, to " experience " life. To " live " , to become aware.

The reason many people do not do this, is, well, because they are not at that point in their journey.

I think what infinite consciousness wants, is to experience life, through us, and, " loves " it when we, as the created characters in this " game " , this illusion, what we as characters in this game call " reality " , seek to make the journey back to it.

What gets us back there? Love. Loving all that is created. Loving everything living thing.

ah yes that makes such good sense, kind of like finding our way back home so to speak?