5 September 2014 - QA 6

Gurudev, when we are all a part of the One consciousness, then how does the quality of the same consciousness vary in different souls?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

It does vary. You use the same flour to cook Samosa (an Indian savoury snack), Chappati (Indian flatbread eaten with meals), and Parantha (stuffed flatbread). So it is the same flour which is used to make all three, yet all three are different. So when there is diversity in such a small thing as flour, then it is not surprising at all to have diversity in people. There is diversity in the eternal consciousness.
If you see, a diamond and a piece of coal are of the same constitution (made of Carbon), but still they are different. There is structurally or chemically no difference between the two. And yet there is some difference that makes them different. Similarly, at one level Consciousness is one, and at another level it is very different. It varies from people to people, place to place, and even from organization to organization.