Subjective Evolution of Consciousness - Preface

Evolution is generally thought of as something objective. But objective evolution is a misperception of reality. Evolution is actually based on consciousness, which is subjective. Subjective evolution, however, seems to be objective evolution to the ignorant. In ignorance we think of ourselves as subjects, although in reality the Lord is the subject and we are His objects. We think of ourselves as proprietors although we are His property.

It is said that all things happen by the will of the Vaiṣṇavas, the devotees of the Lord. A Vaiṣṇava is like a faithful employee who speaks the will of the employer; he has no will of his own: the will of the pure Vaiṣṇava is nothing but the will of God. In ignorance, however, we try to make the Lord our servant, but this is like using a śāla-grāma śilā to crack nuts. The Lord is not an object. He is the seer, the doer, and the knower – the Supreme Subject – but we foolishly think of ourselves as such.

The concept of subjective evolution is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.22):

“By an illusion created by the Lord the universe appears to be real, although it is not, just as miseries we suffer in a dream are only imaginary.”

Unintelligent people take the subject as an object. It is ignorance to confuse the eye with the seer, or the brain with the knower. This is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3.31):

yathā nabhasi meghaugho

reṇur vā pārthivo ’nile

evaṁ draṣṭari dṛśyatvam

āropitam abuddhibhiḥ

“The unintelligent equate the sky with the clouds, the air with the dust particles floating in it, and think that the sky is cloudy or that the air is dirty.’’

Consciousness is not a product of the world; the world is a product of consciousness. This world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. In the material world, the world of exploitation, as Darwin says, it is a question of survival of the fittest. We must exploit to survive: jīvo jīvasya jīvanam. But in the spiritual world, the land of dedication, everyone is a serving unit. There we will find a happy life through dedication.

In that supersubjective realm, Śrī Krishna is eternally engaged in his divine play with his most intimate servitors. And as our consciousness evolves through dedication, we will find our highest prospect there, where we have a part to play in the Pastimes of the Sweet Absolute.