The Objective World is not Real

Actually, men see the shadow and take it to be the substance. They see length, breadth, height and thickness and they jump to the conclusion that they have an object before them. They experience a series of sensations and memories and adding them all up they infer that there are some objects producing them. This mistaking of Appearance for Reality is misnamed Jnana. How can it ever be Jnana? Can the image of a person ever be "he"? If the image is taken to be "he", can we call it knowledge? Such is the nature of all knowledge now. What is cognised as an object, is not real at all; its reality is not cognisable.

The Adwaithin believes "Aham Brahmaasmi", "I am Brahman". How has he acquired that conviction? Why does he state so! Ask him and the reply is, "The Sruthi declares so, the Guru taught like that". But, learning it from these sources does not entitle him to make that profound statement. If a person is a master of these three words Aham, Brahma and Asmi, does he attain the unity with Brahmam? No, ceaseless striving through countless births, loyal performance of scriptural duties, these purify the mind. In such a mind, seeds of devotion sprout and when tended with care and knowledge, flowers bloom, fruits appear and ripen and get filled with sweetness and fragrance. When the fruit is eaten, man becomes one with the Supreme, the power that permeates all things, all religions and which is eternally present and conscious and blissful.

A person may enunciate the formula "Aham Brahmasmi" correctly; etymology may be perfect; but when he is ignorant of the 'world', unaware of 'I' and completely in the dark about 'Brahmam', can he ever taste the rare joy of a Jnani? It is not mastery of words and their meaning that counts; it is awareness, experience - these are the fundamentals.

Mud alone is real. The pot-consciousness is born of ignorance regarding mud; mud is the basis, the substance of the pot. How can a pot exist without mud? How can effect exist apart from the cause? The world appears as multiplicity only to the ignorant. To a Jnani, Brahmam alone, Brahmam upon which all else is superimposed, exists. The Atman alone is cognised by him; there is nothing else. That is the Adwaithic experience.

If the world is real, it must be cognised even during the stage of dreamless deep sleep; but we are not conscious of it at all. So the visible world is as unreal as the dream world. Just as through illusion, a snake is imposed on a rope, the world too is imposed on Brahmam. The snake and the rope are not seen at the same time; the entire rope is the snake. So too, Brahmam is all this world, all this vast variety of name and form. But, this imaginatively conceived variety is fundamentally false, Brahmam alone is true.

The sky might be reflected in a pot of toddy, but the toddy does not defile it. Similarly, in this vehicle, the body, the Atman dwells pure and undefiled. The fruits of action, good or bad, fair or foul, adhere to the vehicle, not to the Indweller, the Seer.

When such Jnana dawns, the dark shadows of the three types of Karma - the Agaami, the Samchitha, the Praarabdha - flee before it. Yes; even Praarabdha Karma can be overcome. For, the will of God is omnipotent and for omnipotence there can be no limit or exception. When through Sadhana, you win the Sankalpa of the Lord, you can with that Sankalpa achieve victory over Praarabdha also. Do not be discouraged on any score.