The example in the text is from ancient times where the iron smith used to make a ball of iron and he used to throw it into the fire and when it started burning,
There was no difference between the iron ball and the fire.
It looked the same.
It's the same thing.
The ego just identifies with the light and starts feeling conscious.
What is the quality of your consciousness?
It is going to give you its quality.
Correct?
The fire gave the ball the quality of that warmth,
The heat,
The light and then the ball started thinking,
Oh I am light.
Is the ball really,
The ball of iron really light?
No.
It is not luminous.
Exactly like that,
The ego starts getting the quality of the consciousness.
So it feels conscious.
That's how your mind feels conscious.
You feel like I am conscious.
You feel even the body is conscious.
So when in this example where the moonlight is reflecting on this entire planet,
What does it mean?
The conscious element or the quality of conscious,
Being conscious is given to the entire planet.
Yes,
Just like the light is coming,
The quality of being conscious is given to all matter.
So matter seems conscious.
That's how this body which is really only a corpse without any consciousness suddenly feels conscious.
Do you get it?
This is also a very important question asked by the disciple in the Upanishad that how do I feel like I am the subject?
How do I feel I?
And he says because of the quality,
The borrowed quality of consciousness.
Understanding the word consciousness,
It makes you feel conscious.
Just like fire would make that iron ball feel like light.