Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the
words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
Connecting, now, to Pure Knowledge;
mnaemaÇimd<
svR< tnmnae }anmaÇkm!,
A}an<
æm #tyahuivR}an< prm< pdm!.38.
Manomaatramidam sarvam tanmano jnaanamaatrakam,
Ajnaanam bhrama ityaahur-vijnaanam paramam padam ||38||
All this is nothing but the mind.
That mind is of the nature of Knowledge. Ignorance is called illusion by the
wise and Pure Knowledge is the Supreme State.
This is a significant tenet of Advaitic philosophy. The world that we think we know is nothing more than an illusion, a trick of 'light
play' upon the Pure Knowledge which is the true, supreme state of all.
It confounds most to think of this as a possibility. Everything
feels so real. Yes - but can the same not be said for dreams? Even if, at some
deep level, we know we are having a dream, while we are in it everything feels
real. Sometimes we try to get out of a dream because we know it is not real and
we may be frightened or threatened or just tired of the scene playing out. If
we are at the point of accepting that there is a Universal Consciousness,
though, we must also start to at least consider that same consciousness may be
conjuring us up in dream play - the grand illusion, aka Maya.
Currently, we believe the world around as real due to the
impressions received via the mind. All the world is perceived by us only in our
minds. When we shut our minds off at night, the world disappears. Okay, but
what about before we were born and after we die; does not the world exist
either side of us? Yes, if we believe our minds…
What about what others tell us of memories and existences? You are
receiving that information via your own mind only, is it not? Everything about
life is a thought perception. Just as in the dream state we can feel
anger, hatred, touch others or experience pain or joy, this 'waking' existence
is created in our thoughts. What gives existence to them, though? What provides
the 'knowing'? That is the Pure Consciousness at work.
Due to the work of Maya, we remain in ignorance of our True Self,
the One and Only, and are only concerned with our ego-self, the individual, one
of many. As this is done through reflection, like the sun on the wall or the
colour in the crystal, we are never actually separate from the Pure Self but
the truth of this is hidden from us due to the power of Maya.
