Dream, Sankara, - Is he also in the dream or out of it?

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Dear a c

 

You have written:

<Still, I wouldn't say things the way some people do... If Sankara "woke

up" out of a dream how could he still talk to us inside the dream in a

meaningful way? If he was still able to talk to us inside the dream how

could he be outside it? >

 

This is the great difference between a Guru and ordinary mortals. An ideal

Guru is one who is a jIvan-mukta who can easily shuffle himself between

the state of samAdhi or enlightened state where there is nothing but

brahman and the phenomenal state of acting in this mundane world.

Ordinarily in our world experience we never realise that we are dreaming

until we wake up; or, until our dreams are shaken up. Nobody tells us in

our dream that we are dreaming.

But that is exactly what is happening when a Sankara or a Ramana talks to

us. They appear in our dream - namely our mundane world, which we do not

realise is a dream from the absolute point of view - and tell us: 'Wake

up, you fellows, brahma satyam jagan-mithyA, you are now dreaming!' .

Since for them, the passage from this dream-mundane-world to the

Absolute-wakefulness of Brahman consciousness and back, is an ordinary

affair, that can be taken at their will, they are able to appear just like

one of us in our world and tell us it is a dream. Here what we have to

admire is the fact that they don't gain anything by waking us up. Because

they have nothing to gain or lose. (nAnavAptam - avaptavyaM). But that is

the point about brahman consciousness. When they condescend to descend to

our level and wake us up it is because of the compassion they have for us.

This compassion is nothing but the fullness of Ananda. We should be

thankful to them for trying (!) to wake us up repeatedly.

PraNAms to all advaitins

Prof.VK

===

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

You are invited to visit my latest book entitled GEMS FROM THE OCEAN OF HINDU

THOUGHT VISION AND PRACTICE at

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/2952/gohitvip/contents.html

___________

 

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