A little bit of cosmology, as told to me by devas.
A long time ago, near the beginning of the bodhisattva movement, there was one guy who accumulated mind knowledge until his consciousness lost it's integrity altogether; he became a cloud of pure knowledge, a knowledge cloud.
He would then teach everything he knew to another bodhisattva. Using that knowledge as a base, that one would then gather more until he, too, became a knowledge cloud. There was a couple of them, each having more insight into the nature of consciousness than the preceding one.
Such were the knowledge clouds.
As the song goes:
"Thank you lord for the cloud you made for me / I know you put the cloud there for all of us to see / That I have a home among stars to cure all my ills and all of my scars/ but I'm tired of living on a cloud alone." -Joe Bataan, "My Cloud"
One problem was that the knowledge clouds did not possess a citta anymore. Not having a citta, they could not uplift into heaven. Instead, they existed near matter, without the possibility to enter higher spheres of mind.
It was completely uncertain what would happen to them once matter recedes into the singularity, preparing for another big bang. They did not care, for they knew that nothing bad can happen to good beings.
In the end, all that happened was that they would shrink to infinitely small size, which was just a little unpleasant.
Ultimately, beings discovered the art of transcending, which means that, after any change of consciousness, you return it back to normal with one move of mind. Like all big things which are true, it is a little obvious that you can do that. However, it had to be discovered, and there was a first being who did that trick.
After that, there were no more knowledge clouds. The bodhisattvas could gather as much knowledge as they wanted to, keeping their integrity.
It still took a long time until they finally discovered what consciousness power is all about. It required Buddha after Buddha, experimenting with the mind. Fortunately, even before the bodhisattvas, the most powerful beings were good. They protected the bodhisattvas in the beginning.
And so everything started...
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"And so everything started.."
Another source has a different view:
"with these words, I can see Clear through the clouds that covered me Just give it time, then speak my name Now we can hear ourselves again … I'm holding out (he's standing on the threshold) For the day (caught in fiery anger) When all the clouds (and hurled into the furnace) Have blown away (he'll curse the place) … I'm with you now (he's torn in all directions) Can speak your name (and still the screen is flickering) Now we can hear (waiting for the flames) Ourselves again"
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