Absolute consciousness (Hinduism)

The underlying consciousness of existence according to the Vedanta, this is the consciousness present at all stages of awareness, not only in waking and dreaming but also in deep sleep and in states transcending these. The knowledge that one "is" being, existence and truth brings the bliss that is basic to saccidananda. Advaita philosophy equates absolute consciousness with God, Brahman. It is by the reflected light of cit in the citta (a component of the antahkarana, inner organ of mind, often referred to as the "heart") that the manifest world is projected, with greater or lesser clarity depending on the degree to which it is clouded by samskara, the barriers built up to protect one's self from reality. The three fundamental properties underlying the manifest world, the [gunas]

, operate on the force of consciousness, sattva by conducting it, rajas by reflecting it and tamas by absorbing it. The aim of yoga (and of many paths of self realization) is to reduce the rajasic and tamasic elements of the citta, or heart, by increasing the sattvic element and allowing the citta to reflect consciousness most clearly.