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Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book IV · 5 of 34 · tr. Charles Johnston

Sutra 5

In the different fields of manifestation, the Consciousness, though one, is the elective cause of many states of consciousness. Here is the splendid teaching of oneness that lies at the heart of the Eastern wisdom. Consciousness is ultimately One, everywhere and forever. The Eternal, the Father, is the One Self of All Beings. And so, in each individual who is but a facet of that Self, Consciousness is One. Whether it breaks through as the dull fire of physical life, or the murky flame of the psychic and passional, or the radiance of the spiritual man, or the full glory of the Divine, it is ever the Light, naught but the Light. The one Consciousness is the effective cause of all states of consciousness, on every plane.
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Themes
Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

The passage repeatedly identifies Consciousness with Light ('ever the Light', 'radiance of the spiritual man').

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Emanation Hierarchycosmology

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

It describes Consciousness as the 'elective cause' of many states across different planes of manifestation.

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Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The passage centrally declares that Consciousness is ultimately One and that all beings are facets of that One Self.

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