We do not know ourselves as the immortal existence. We have a desire to live—I must continue living in this body. Why? Because I do not know that I am the immortal … The experiencing Self which we are is immortal. It is not touched by the experience of the world.
Consciousness alone is the reality and that which we take to be the non-conscious—matter, time, space, bodies, this world—these are appearances in consciousness, not apart from consciousness. Just like a dream when you go to sleep and dream—all the things that you see in the dream have no existence apart from your own mind. In the same way, this entire universe which we experience has no existence apart from consciousness … There is no reasonable, logical answer within the dream for a dream.
What is Vedanta? Swami Vivekananda would say two things: the divinity within us, and the oneness of existence … Vivekananda used Advaita Vedanta as a foundation for morality. What Swami Vivekananda said was, because it is one reality, if I hurt somebody else, if I cheat somebody else, if I lie to somebody else, I am hurting myself in the deepest sense … Swami Vivekananda has said that he who runs away from the world to meditate and die in a Himalayan cave searching for God has missed the way. He who plunges headlong into the vanities of the world—he too has missed the way. Then what is the way? The way is to spiritualize your everyday life … We should realize ourselves as pure consciousness—Turiya—and everyone and everything as none other than the same Turiya, and live life in peace and fullness and joy. Realize the divinity within yourself and the spiritual oneness of the whole universe. Manifest that divinity in daily life through peace, love, and service to all beings. That is the spiritualization of everyday life.
The secret of enlightenment: When you are enlightened—when you know the absolute, Turiya—it’s not as an object. No, no. You are that. That’s what you realize. You are not a person who realizes the absolute. If you’re a person who says, ‘I know the absolute’ then you do not know. One who knows that it cannot be known as an object, truly knows. You are not a person who lives eternally; you are that eternal existence itself. You are not a person who knows that ultimate reality; you are that knowledge itself. You are not a person who enjoys various kinds of blissful experiences; you are that bliss itself … You are not somebody who has become free; you are freedom itself.