the guru is like a lion in the dream of a mad elephant

[Guest guest]

I once asked Sri Bhagavan: "If all that we see is mere illusion, and no more

real than a dream, what about the form before us, on the couch talking to us

about Truth and Reality?"

 

He remained silent for a few second. I repeated the question. He called for a

Tamil book Ozhuvil Odukkam and read out and explained the second verse in it,

which said that a Jnani is, to his disciple in jagrat (our state of

wakefulness), like a lion in the dream of a mad elephant. The dream lion

startles and wakes up the elephant - the lion, the dream and the elephant vanish

and what is, remains.

Even so the enlightened Guru wakes up the adept disciple to absolute Reality in

which there is neither guru nor sishya.

 

"Bhagavan, we are still asleep. Wake us up." I said.

"Who is it that is asleep, and who is it that wants to be woken up. Find that

out first, and all doubts will vanish," said Sri Bhagavan. I was not satisfied.

 

Then Sri Bhagavan said: "Last night you met a number of persons in your dream.

Now, how would it look if I were to ask you to go and tell everyone of them,

'you are not real', 'you are not real', etc. What you say now is similar to

that."

 

(by R. Narayana Iyer in: The Mountain Path 1969, p. 89)

 

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