Difference Between Real and Unreal
Vedana declares that this solid-seeming world is no different from the dream world. The waking world also is an imaginary projection upon the reality, Brahmn. A mere illusion. However, the world that a waker experiences is defined in time, space and causation. It is precise, accurate. Whereas the world that a dreamer goes through is imprecise, inaccurate. So these two worlds differ in degree, not in kind. But, both are illusions. The reality supporting them is Brahmn. When you realise your supreme self, you get established in the supreme reality, Brahmn. The illusory worlds of the waking, dream and deep-sleep disappear. What remains thereafter is Brahmn alone. When a person is hypno- tised he sees a lake in his lounge. No one else sees it. But to the person in the hypnotic state the lake is real. And when dehypnotised, he no longer sees the lake. So too in the ignorance of your supreme self, you have hypnotised yourself to believe you are the body, mind and intel lect. In that self-hypnosis you see an imaginary world of things and beings. The world is just a hypnotic phenomenon. You need to wake 1 up to realise your true self. Reality is something which lasts forever. Therefore the world cannot be real. Then is the world unreal? Vedanta says maya (not that, no). So it is not unreal either. For, unreal means that which never existed, like the horns of a man. Man has never had horns. This cannot be applied to the world because the world exists for you now. Hence it cannot be unreal. If the world is neither real nor unreal can it then be partly real and partly unreal? Vedanta says maya - not that, no. World cannot be partly real and partly unreal, because reality and unreality cannot coexist. Thus the world you experience is neither real nor unreal nor partly real nor partly unreal. It is maya, a dream. An illusion. Analyse an erstwhile dream. The dreamer and the dream-world appear simultaneously. The dreamer would never accept that his life has commenced a few minutes back. The dreamer declares he is 40 years old. He can account for those years in great detail. He goes to his university and points out his name in the list of its alumni. He asks the principal of his high school to confirm his term therein. He even shows the municipal records wherein his birth was registered. Moreover. the dreamer swears the dream sun and moon, the hills and dales, rivers and lakes have been there for ages. The dreamer considers everything in the dream to be real. Yet with all those proofs, the dream has lasted only four minutes! Now, carefully scrutinise your waking state. You as the waker and the waking world that you experience appear simultaneously. The waker declares emphati cally that he 50 years old. Like the dreamer, the waker also has а history of his own. And can account for his entire life. Bring up his university, high school and birth registration exactly as the dreamer had done. And substantiate the period of 50 years with proofs akin to those of the dreamer. With amazing similarity the waker also swears by the world of the waking state. The nature of the experience he goes through is not any different from that of the dream. Both the waker and the dreamer swear by the world that each experiences. Even as the one negates the other world. Vedanta declares that you, now as the waker cannot claim any more reality of this waking world than you, earlier as the dreamer had claimed of the dream-world.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Swami Parthasarathy and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Swami Parthasarathy Speaking Tree,Times of India
Difference Between Real and Unreal
Vedana declares that this solid-seeming world is no different from the dream world. The waking world also is an imaginary projection upon the reality, Brahmn. A mere illusion. However, the world that a waker experiences is defined in time, space and causation. It is precise, accurate. Whereas the world that a dreamer goes through is imprecise, inaccurate. So these two worlds differ in degree, not in kind. But, both are illusions. The reality supporting them is Brahmn. When you realise your supreme self, you get established in the supreme reality, Brahmn. The illusory worlds of the waking, dream and deep-sleep disappear. What remains thereafter is Brahmn alone. When a person is hypno- tised he sees a lake in his lounge. No one else sees it. But to the person in the hypnotic state the lake is real. And when dehypnotised, he no longer sees the lake. So too in the ignorance of your supreme self, you have hypnotised yourself to believe you are the body, mind and intel lect. In that self-hypnosis you see an imaginary world of things and beings. The world is just a hypnotic phenomenon. You need to wake 1 up to realise your true self. Reality is something which lasts forever. Therefore the world cannot be real. Then is the world unreal? Vedanta says maya (not that, no). So it is not unreal either. For, unreal means that which never existed, like the horns of a man. Man has never had horns. This cannot be applied to the world because the world exists for you now. Hence it cannot be unreal. If the world is neither real nor unreal can it then be partly real and partly unreal? Vedanta says maya - not that, no. World cannot be partly real and partly unreal, because reality and unreality cannot coexist. Thus the world you experience is neither real nor unreal nor partly real nor partly unreal. It is maya, a dream. An illusion. Analyse an erstwhile dream. The dreamer and the dream-world appear simultaneously. The dreamer would never accept that his life has commenced a few minutes back. The dreamer declares he is 40 years old. He can account for those years in great detail. He goes to his university and points out his name in the list of its alumni. He asks the principal of his high school to confirm his term therein. He even shows the municipal records wherein his birth was registered. Moreover. the dreamer swears the dream sun and moon, the hills and dales, rivers and lakes have been there for ages. The dreamer considers everything in the dream to be real. Yet with all those proofs, the dream has lasted only four minutes! Now, carefully scrutinise your waking state. You as the waker and the waking world that you experience appear simultaneously. The waker declares emphati cally that he 50 years old. Like the dreamer, the waker also has а history of his own. And can account for his entire life. Bring up his university, high school and birth registration exactly as the dreamer had done. And substantiate the period of 50 years with proofs akin to those of the dreamer. With amazing similarity the waker also swears by the world of the waking state. The nature of the experience he goes through is not any different from that of the dream. Both the waker and the dreamer swear by the world that each experiences. Even as the one negates the other world. Vedanta declares that you, now as the waker cannot claim any more reality of this waking world than you, earlier as the dreamer had claimed of the dream-world.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Swami Parthasarathy and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Swami Parthasarathy Speaking Tree,Times of India