Vaikuntha loka / Cosmic Consciousness

Above and beyond all other lokas, in the region of the beyond, is Vaikuntha — the loka of Cosmic Consciousness, the prana of manifested reality. This loka is also composed of mahat, the “element” that is the source of elements and not an element by itself.

Before the player starts to play the game, he accepts the importance and significance of this, the plane of Being, which is always his goal. Whatever desires lure him away from his path, this is always his highest desire — to attain moksha, liberation.

Vaikuntha is the abode of Vishnu and the plane every Hindu hopes to realize after passing from the present form of existence. The dwelling-place of Vishnu is the plane of Cosmic Consciousness because Vishnu is truth, the great protector of consciousness throughout its upward climb.

The karma die observes the vibrational level of the player at all times. The die determines where the player must be placed and what course of action is to be adopted. The player can follow ashtanga yoga, the eightfold yoga, and evolve path by path through the eight levels. Or he can follow dharma and become a bhakta, a spiritual devotee. All paths lead to the same place.

Whatever his course of action among the limitless possibilities, the player has now arrived at the seat of Vishnu. And Vishnu is the essence of all creation. Cosmic Consciousness itself, truth. It is directly above the plane of reality because the highest reality is truth.

The ring that symbolized the player goes back to the finger of the one who wore it: it has lost all meaning. The game stops. What happens now depends on the player. The nature of cosmic play is simple. It is to discover by what different combinations, with what new karmas, with which companions can the player reenter the game and strive anew to seek the state that is his real home. He can continue the game of hide-and-seek with himself, or he can remain beyond the game for ever. Or he can go back to earth to see if he can help others reach the goal, thus taking the role of the twice-born boddhisattva. The choice is his. No one else can choose.