PARALLEL REALITIES

Ours is one among the perceptibly innumerable parallel ones, asserts Yoga-Vasistha (3.7.1-45), coexisting with myriad others as a projection of the interplay of Maya, or illusion, and Mahat, or the Cosmic Mind. Maya is non-existent, and so also is the mind and anything that comes out from that interplay is of illusionary ones of infinitude. All these manifestly illusionary processes and symbols can manifest only that. All these coexist with similar others of infinite-dimensional multiverses with subsumption under 'Rta', or the cosmic order of Existence One only. It is the fundamental principle of natural, moral, and cosmic harmony. It asserts that every element of manifest and unmanifest existence operates in an interdependent, unified system. And Brahman, or Cosmic Self, is the Ultimate Reality, the singular, unchangeable, eternal and infinite One only that encompasses all multiplicity and diversity across space, time and causation. The concepts of parallel realities, parallel dimensions, or multiverses are explored not as literal physical multiverses but as perceptive, insightful illustrations of the illusionary, mind-created nature of existence (Maya) and the infinite creative power of Pure Consciousness, or Brahman. However, each of these apparently parallel realities, or universes, may harbour its own apparently unique laws and realities, yet they are all woven together by the same fundamental threads of Absolute Existence. As we are exploring the illusory mysteries of our own realities because of our conditioned minds to temporal outfittings, we may catch fleeting glimpses of the others, forever fascinating our imaginations. The conditioned mind remains ignorant as it is trapped by sensual desires; the Jivatma, or the embodied Self, suffers from fear, decay, disease, and death. The Jivatma is bound by the limitations of space, time and causation, while Brahman is the Ultimate Reality, undivided Pure Consciousness. They are fundamentally the same but appear different, like the ocean and the wave, due to ignorance. This represents Brahman, the vast, unchanging reality. Metaphorically, the wave represents the Jivatma, a temporary form, and it is due to ignorance that it is separate from the ocean. But the truth is that the wave is nothing but water. Liberation is recognising that the Jivatma is always the ocean, or Brahman. Therefore, Yoga-Vasistha insists spiritual instruction is necessary to help one transcend this worldly illusion, rather than just theorising about it. The Yoga-Vasistha says the world we perceive is a projection or dream-like manifestation of the mind. True reality is the unchanging, non-dual Self, Brahman. Apparent multiplicity, time, space, birth, and death are illusions arising from ignorance and mental conditioning. The parallel realities in Yoga-Vasistha are used as metaphors to show the individual minds as an extension of the cosmic mind that generates countless worlds. The relativity of time, space, and causation in sense perception reflects the continual gap between the unchanging subject and changing objects. Yoga-Vasistha emphasises liberation when the mind is subjected to Atmic control to withstand the vagary of objectification to subjectification so as to eliminate the gaping hole between the apparent realities of objects to the Self, demystifying objects to one unchanging Subject, i.e., Existence is One only. This comes from realising the illusory nature of these projections through self-enquiry, dispassion, discrimination, discipline and self-knowledge.

1. Outline
Parallel dimensions, or parallel realities, in Yoga-Vasistha, are not viewed as physical, separate universes, but rather as simultaneous projections of infinite consciousness. Yoga-Vasistha teaches that space, time, and causation are fluid constructs of the mind; countless worlds and alternate outcomes exist simultaneously, much like dreamscapes or latent possibilities, all originating from the same Brahman, or unified Absolute Existence. The manifest reality is an illusionary projection of a dream, or waking state, and dissolves into One undifferentiated, all-pervading, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal and infinite Brahman, or Cosmic Self, on realisation of Self. As Brahman is beyond space, time, and causation; is full and complete in every respect; and has no desire to seek another additional space. The world is compared to a vivid dream within Mahat, or the Cosmic Mind. Just as a dreamer can experience entirely different timelines or versions of themselves, consciousness projects endless simultaneous infinite worlds that appear and disappear like particles of dust in a sunbeam. Yoga-Vasistha conveys to the world that reality is an illusion similar to a dream/waking. Countless universes exist simultaneously within the infinite, undivided expanse of consciousness, with each arising and collapsing purely as a projection or thought within this universal awareness.

The Story of Queen Lila and King Padma in Yoga-Vasistha (3.20.1-54) is a story that directly illustrates parallel dimensions. Queen Lila’s husband, King Padma, dies. Using the power of consciousness, she travels to different spatial and temporal planes where her husband lives entirely different lives, demonstrating that multiple realities co-exist and overlap. Queen Lila is deeply devoted to her husband, King Padma. Fearing separation by death, she prays to Goddess Saraswati for a boon so they are never parted. When King Padma dies, Saraswati appears and grants Lila the ability to travel in her subtle body while preserving the king’s body. Saraswati guides Lila's consciousness through different realities. They visit a parallel dimension where Padma lives as a younger king (sometimes named Viduratha) in another world or timeline, with another Lila as his queen. Queen Lila witnesses her husband living an entirely different existence in what functions as a parallel reality or parallel dimension. The story reveals the relativity of space, time and causation: eight days in one world can equal many years in another, showing desires, thoughts, and mental impressions creating and sustaining entire worlds of multiverses. Eventually, both Lila and the king attain liberation by realising the non-dual nature of Pure Consciousness beyond all these shifting appearances and limitations of space, time and causation. This story shows that "death" and "rebirth" are changes in consciousness, and that different versions of a person's life or completely different realities can exist at the same time as expressions of the same basic awareness. This story shows how consciousness can move between different forms of the same essence in various layers of reality, all of which are ultimately created by the mind. Death is not the final, as consciousness shifts across planes. Worlds exist within the "space" of the mind or subtle realms. Time is relative (e.g., what seems like years in one realm is days in another). The king's body remains preserved while his essence lives elsewhere. In another story, Sage Vasistha (Yoga-Vasistha, 7.56.1-43) experiences worlds within an atom of stone, exploring the concept of the multiverse and the infinite expanse of consciousness. The entire universe, according to Yoga-Vasistha (3.20.1-24), is a projection of pure consciousness. Rather than being a vast, independent physical space, the macrocosm exists entirely within the microscopic space of the divine and individual intellect. Yoga-Vasistha (7.56.1-43) emphasises that the intellect is always and everywhere and in every manner the all in all; it becomes evident that it remains like the vacuous and translucent air in everything in the whole universe. He teaches Sri Rama that the universe is a projection of infinite consciousness rather than purely physical matter and contains entire realities within micro-spaces. Sage Vasistha contends the macrocosm exists entirely within the microscopic space of the divine and individual intellect. He explains how the mind and space are mere illusions and that countless universes coexist within a single atom, completely unaware of each other's existence. Sage Vasistha uses this narrative to teach Prince Rama that time, space, matter, and motion are entirely projections of the mind and infinite consciousness. He illustrates that our perception of the universe depends entirely on the observer's state of consciousness. Sage Vasistha enters a deep meditative trance. He creates a meditative hut in "empty space" and experiences nested universes inside atoms of a stone—entire worlds with their own Ramas, Ravanas, outcomes (e.g., some where Rama wins and others where he loses), laws, and beings. Within the space of his intellect, he envisioned an entire universe encapsulated inside a single, tiny atom of a stone. These parallel worlds are created by different minds and desires and coexist at every scale, macro and micro. They illustrate the variegated, dream-like quality of reality: "In every atom... I saw the whole universe." On this microscopic realm, he met its creator and discovered layers upon layers of creation, similar to the stalks of a plantain tree, containing their own cities, mountains, and beings. The story of Kakabhusundi in Yoga-Vasistha (6.15.1-34) is a tale about an immortal, realised crow sage named Kakabhusundi who has witnessed countless cosmic cycles. seemingly multiple cycles of creation, growth, decay and dissolution. He recounts observing the great epics, the Ramayana eleven times and the Mahabharata sixteen times, each unfolding multiple times across different cycles of time with varying outcomes in parallel timelines. He also witnesses varying outcomes—in some, a righteous king wins, while in others, the battle turns out differently, highlighting the existence of divergent histories. This illustrates infinite variations across different “timelines” or manifestations of reality.

All these stories/narratives highlight cyclical time, non-linear reality, and how events play out differently in alternate "versions" shaped by consciousness. All realities are appearances in one infinite consciousness. No world is ultimately "real" or separate. Attachment to one "reality" causes suffering. By understanding their dream-like, mind-dependent nature, one attains equanimity and liberation. Choices, desires, and Karma influence which "world" or experience manifests, but awakening transcends them all. Yoga Vasistha uses "parallel dimensions/realities" to point to the vastness and subjectivity of experience while urging realisation of the singular, eternal truth beyond all illusions.

2. Scriptures
The scriptures say abundantly Existence is one only, and rest, if any, is a reflection of the original or an illusionary image. Before this world was manifest, the Chandogya Upanishad (6.2.1) proclaims, there was only existence, one without a second. On this subject, some maintain that before this world was manifest, there was only non-existence, one without a second. Out of that non-existence, existence emerged. The Upanishad establishes that in the beginning, Pure Existence (Sat) was the only reality. It was without attributes and undivided. Because there was nothing else beside it ("one without a second"), this existence couldn't have been born from a prior non-existence. The doctrine of "Neti Neti", or "not this, not this", from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (2.3.6, 4.2.4, 4.4.22, 4.5.15), asserts that Pure Consciousness, or Ultimate Reality, is indescribable, negating any limiting attributes by declaring "Neti, Neti". The Upanishad says Atman, or Self, is ungraspable and beyond phenomenal attributes. It is because Brahman is infinite and the ultimate subject of all observation, so it can never be reduced to an object of perception.  "Neti, Neti", or "not this, not this", is the denial of the gross body and the subtle body (body-mind-intellect complexes, including thoughts, emotions, memories, etc.), and by negating everything, the seeker strips away the anatman (the not-self). What remains when all negation is complete is the ultimate, imperishable, eternal, infinite subject: the witnessing consciousness itself. Sri Krishna says (Srimad Bhagavad Gita 10.42),

atha va bahunaitena
kim jnatena tavarjuna
vistabhyaham idam krtsnam
ekamsena sthito jagat

‘’'What need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of myself, I pervade and support all these universes.’’
Sage philosopher Swami Krishnananda, in his commentary on Katha Upanishad (Everything About Spiritual Life, Chapter 8: Thinking as the Cosmic Mind Thinks, by Swami Krishnananda, Divine Life Society, Rishikesh), says the mind is the synthesising principle of all knowledge of perceptive organs, and the Cosmic Mind is the supreme synthesiser of all individual minds. Katha Upanishad (1.3.10-11) says this way:

Indriyebhyaḥ parā hy arthā, arthebhyaś ca param manaḥ, manasaś ca parā buddhir buddher ātmā mahān paraḥ; mahataḥ param avyaktam, avyaktāt puruṣaḥ paraḥ, puruṣān na paraṁ kiñcit: sā kāṣṭhā, sā parā gatiḥ.

Sensation about objects cannot occur in their absence. However, the sense organs are not the only organs involved in the cognition of object presence. This process of sensory cognition requires the presence of a mind. We see with our eyes, hear with our ears, taste with our tongue, smell with our nostrils, and touch with our fingers or skin. These are the five senses of knowledge. Every sensation is unique; for example, ears can't taste, and eyes can't hear. For one individual to be aware that perception is occurring simultaneously through the different senses, there must be a synthesising principle. The Cosmic Mind is another name for the superior mind that unites all minds. The Cosmic Mind is a peculiar state that is incomprehensible to the human mind. It is the complete understanding of everything that can be perceived or thought of. In this state of cosmic mental activity, objects are absorbed by the cosmic mind, so there is no need for a link between it and the objects. The Cosmic Mind is therefore omniscient as well.

3. Remarks
  According to Yoga-Vasistha, all parallel realities, multiverses, or parallel dimensions exist as pure potential. Yoga-Vasistha teaches the focus, expectations, and Vasanas (subtle desires) of one's own consciousness determine the particular reality one experiences. It asserts that the world we see is a projection of the mind within the one infinite Brahman, or Pure Consciousness, and is not ultimately real in the way it appears. Maya, or illusionary appearances, is what we refer to as "reality". In Yoga Vasistha, the parallel dimensions, or parallel realities, are shown as infinite realms, or "worlds", that coexist within the single infinite Consciousness as projections based on mental consciousness. According to Yoga-Vasistha, these parallel realities demonstrate the creative power of the mind, the relative and illusory nature of time, space, and personal experience, and the fact that what we perceive as solid reality is mind-dependent and dreamlike. All apparent parallel realities, dimensions, or worlds are merely manifestations of the one infinite, unchanging Consciousness that permeates everything. They are mental alterations or fantasies rather than distinct "things". Relativity, illusion, and reality are all products of the mind. The waking world (and other realms) feels solid because the mind believes in it, just as dreams feel entirely real while we are in them. The apparent worlds may vanish when the mind's projections are removed.

-Asutosh Satpathy