Form and Formlessness
If mankind had begun life by learning that God is Consciousness instead of a form, we would not be having these many problems we face.  Consciousness, here, doesn't mean consciousness of the brain; that can be "knocked out."  But the Light of Consciousness never goes out.  We are all sharing this one undivided Consciousness, but It gets apparently divided up by all these different dreams and overlays.  So, as the Upanisads advise us: "Render the interior and exterior into one indivisible state.  Then meditate upon that state, pass your time contentedly, and be free."

If you had been taught that God is formless you would never have run afoul of religion and philosophy.  You would know God as essentially formless. Though God manifests in all forms, and in varying degrees (i.e., plants, insects, animals, mankind), It is not the form.

Anytime you have or perceive a form, it covers the formless Reality.  If you recognize formless Reality, but via Maya (a conjuring) a form springs up, then what happens to formlessness?  It merely moves into the background.  It is the seer, only, who keeps Brahman forward....

What are the two most important things I need to know before I take on a body and go dream journeying?  First, that Reality is changeless, the Soul is changeless; and second, there is no birth or death.  These take place on the surface of existence, like waves appearing and disappearing on an ocean's surface.

Consciousness is One, but It can break into many.  However, this diversification never changes the One.  It is explained by the luminaries as an all-pervasive oneness, not a numerical oneness.

You have to transcend the six transformations.  Why?  Because the Soul does not suffer them. The Soul does not undergo birth, death, growth, disease, old age, decay, or death.

Om is the word of Brahman, signifying the gateway into formlessness.

As Vedantists, we don't strike off dualism; we don't throw away form.  That would amount to  pulling the rug out from others prematurely.  Form is important.  And besides, we too, at the most rudimentary level, have connected earth with smell; water with taste, fire with seeing, etc.  By doing this we have seen how Consciousness trickles down into form. 

If you're talking spiritually, then when you involve, you are transcending the five sheaths. [note: 5 sheaths: body, vital force, dual mind, intellect, ego]

The rishis taught their children that they were not the physical body, and taught them what it consists of and how it is affected by the 6 transformations.  Naturally, they saw that one should not want to be the body. [note: 6 transformations: birth, growth, disease, old age, decay, death]

How does one get beyond the six transformations?  By learning about the Three Bodies (gross/physical; subtle/mental; causal/undifferentiated).  These three are called the non-Self.  These bodies are projections of the mental complex.  Science, religion, psychology, etc., look at existence via just the material cause.  But there are, on Vedic record, at least four other preceding causes.

"From the Infinite the finite has come" -- and this is our connecting point back to the Origin.  It's all infinite, from inner space to outer space.  It is just that as one goes deeper into inner space one beholds more and more intelligence, whereas in outer space one finds only a monotonous few elements.

Consciousness is an all-pervasive Verity, but ego gets involved and lights up only one section or portion of awareness at a time.  Now I'm with my ancestors, now I'm with the gods, now I'm with Siva.  Try to stay with Siva!

Brahman, which is all-pervasive, takes form, "as it were."  Brahman is pure being, indivisible, but the body-mind complex naturally tends to limit the principle of all-pervasiveness.