Maharshi's Gospel: The Jnani and the World - 3

[Guest guest]

....cont,

 

Maharshi:.... If one knows that without the Seer there is nothing to be

seen, just as there are no pictures without the screen, one is not deluded.

The jnani knows that the screen, the pictures, and the sight thereof are but

the Self. With the pictures the Self is in its manifest form; without the

pictures It remains in the unmanifest form. To the jnani it is quite

immaterial if the Self is in the one form or the other. He is always the

Self. But the ajnani, seeing the jnani active, gets confounded.

 

Disciple: It is just that point that prompted me to put my first question,

whether one who has realized the Self perceives the world as we do, and if

he does, I should like to know how Sri Bhagavan felt about the mysterious

disappearance of the photo yesterday...

 

Maharshi: (Smiling) You are referring to the photo of the Madura temple. A

few minutes earlier it was passing through the hands of visitors, who looked

at it in turn. Evidently, it was mislaid among the pages of some book or

other that they were consulting.

 

D: Yes, it was that incident. How does Bhagavan view it? There was an

anxious search for the photo, which in the end could not be found. How does

Bhagavan view the mysterious disappearance of the photo just at the moment

when it was wanted?

 

M: Suppose you dream that you are taking me to your distant country, Poland.

You wake up and ask me, "I dreamt so and so. Did you also have some such

dream or know in some other way that I was taking you to Poland?" What

significance will you attach to such an inquiry?

 

D: But with regard to the missing photo, the whole incident took place in

front of Sri Bhagavan.

 

Maharshi: The seeing of the photo, its disappearance, as well as your

present inquiry, are all mere workings of mind.

There is a story in the Puranas which illustrates the point. When Sita

was missing from the forest hermitage, Rama went about in search of her,

wailing., "O Sita, Sita!" It is said that Parvati and Parameshvara saw from

above what was taking place in the forest. Parvati expressed surprise to

Shiva and said, "You praised Rama as the perfect being. See how he behaves

and grieves at the loss of Sita!" Shiva replied, "If you are sceptical

about Rama's perfection, then put him to the test yourself. Through your

yoga-maya transform yourself into the likeness of Sita and appear before

him." Parvati did so. She appeared before Rama in the very likeness of

Sita, but to her astonishment Rama ignored her presence and went on as

before, calling out "O Sita, Sita!" as if he were blind.

 

D: I am unable to grasp the moral of the story.

 

M: If Rama were really searching for the bodily presence of Sita, he would

have recognised the person standing in front of him as the Sita he had lost.

But no, the missing Sita was just as unreal as the Sita that appeared before

his eyes. Rama was not really blind; but to Rama, the jnani, the prior

being of Sita in the hermitage, her disappearance, his consequent search for

her as well as the actual presence of Parvati in the guise of Sita, were all

equally unreal. Do you now understand how the missing photo was viewed?

 

(From Maharshi's Gospel, published by Sri Ramanasramam and available for

download from http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/

<http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/> )