How often have we wondered where we come from and where we are going? What is the destiny of our lives? Our purpose in this world? There are as many questions as there are stars in the sky, but the main question is: who am I and how can my thirst for happiness be satisfied? Life is wonderful and it manifests itself at the dawn of every new day in innumerable forms. As the clouds that cover the moon are visible by the light of the moon itself, so everything in this world is illuminated by the presence of the soul. The universe that surrounds us and appears infinite, with its millions of stars and variegated galaxies is but the point of an iceberg floating in the ocean of consciousness. The Vedic scriptures say that the universe is cyclically manifested and reabsorbed; it expands and contracts like a pulsing heart. Before the universe was manifested everything was in a state of deep sleep. Then, movement came from within the spiritual world and light came. Light means consciousness. That light revealed a substance similar to water, known as causal substance, the ocean of all causes. Then, innumerable seeds of conciousness were sowed in that causal water. Each of these divine sparks impregnated matter and caused it to move, and so the infinite cycle of life began. In this material universe everything that takes birth has to die, and everything that dies has to undergo rebirth. As the nebulose are the womb in which a new star is born, so the material elements of nature are the womb where the divine seed is placed. Everything that exists goes through this cycle of birth and death, even the stars and the planets. But the persons of true wisdom are not disturbed by this transformation, because they are aware that the soul is eternal. The radiance of thousands of rising suns can only partially evoke the effulgence of the universal form of the divine. When the soul leaves the body it returns to that light, while the body turns into dust, like star’s dust. In this universe different planetary systems exist and the soul goes through them in the course of the evolution of his counciousness. When matter is infused with the energy of that conscious light, movement begins. When matter starts to evolve by the influence of conciousness on it, initially it expresses itself in the primary ingredients: ether, air, fire, water, earth. The soul, like a seed of divine light, is present everywhere. Movement is the symptom of the presence of the soul. Matter deprived of consciousness doesn’t move; it is inert The soul is present even in stone, in plants, and in every atom of existence. In this way the living being goes through various births, assuming different forms according to the level of evolution of his consciousness. The living being expresses himself in innumerable forms that are expressions of a particular desire. The soul becomes covered by different bodies and mentalities, and journeys through more inferior species of life to more evolved species of life in the attempt to satisfy the material desires which originate in the mind. Actually we all come from the same source of light and therefore we are all spiritual relatives. The primordial elements of material nature are activated by the divine energy, and they mix in different ways to manifest the incredible variety of the creation, from the aquatic forms of life to the terrestrial ones... Every beautiful thing that we can see in this world is but a spark of the personal splendour of the Supreme. Finally, after having gone through innumerable births, the living being obtains a human form. Here, in the evolution of this species, we also find gradation. From time immemorial, those souls who have reached the human form have enquired into the mystery of the universe, and wondered: what could be the source of such great and variegated beauty! With all our efforts and all our technology we can but extend the limit of our defective senses; we can search after that source up to the ends of the universe, but only if that infinite source Himself chooses will it be revealed in our hearts. The Upanishads say: lead me from illusion to reality, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. Consciousness in the human form possesses the capacity to make choices. Exercising our free will we can shape our destiny. om asato ma sad-gamaya tamaso ma jyotir-gamaya mrityor-ma amritam gamaya We have to turn towards that light. Because the soul and the supreme soul are present everything is visible in this world. It is only because we have lost the consciousness of our real spiritual nature and forgotten our relationship with the original source of the universe, that we are now wandering through innumerable forms of material existence, in an endless cycle of birth and death, searching after fleeting moments of happiness. Now it is time to open your inner eye!