THE NATURE OF REALITY By Swami Nikhilananda, Sri Ramakrishna Centre, New York, USA. As early as the Vedic times, the Rishis investigated the nature of reality from two levels of experience, one of which may be called the absolute, acosmic or transcendental level and the other relative, cosmic or phenomenal level. At the phenomenal level one perceives the universe of diversity and is aware of one's own individual ego, whereas at the transcendental level, the …showed first 75 words of 1499 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1499 total…cannot be made an object of knowledge. Unconditioned Brahman is described as SATCHIDANANDA (Sat-Chit-Ananda) existence-knowledge-bliss pure and absolute. Existence,knowledge and bliss are not attributes of Reality; they are its very stuff. Pure existence is the same as pure knowledge and pure bliss. Just as a mirage could not be seen without the desert, which is its unrelated substratum, so also the universe could not be seen if Brahman did not exist as its substratum.