Guest guest Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Difference between waking and dream states. According to Advaita Vedanta the waking state is similar to the dream state. In both the states the Reality, Brahman, is not known and things which have no reality are experienced and are taken to be real. The things seen in dream are found to be false on waking up from sleep. The objects experienced in the waking state are accepted as real only until nescience is removed by Self-knowledge. Though the waking and dream states are similar, there is an important difference between them. The difference is pointed out by SrI Sankara in his commentary on brahma sUtra 2.2.29. SrI Sankara rejects the contention of the Buddhists that, just as non-existent objects are experienced in dream, non-existent objects may be experienced in the waking state also. In this context he points out that there is a difference between the dream state and the waking state. The difference consists in the perceptions in dream being sublated immediately afterwards, while those in the waking state are not. To a man who has woken up from sleep the objects perceived in dream never had any existence at all, for he says "I falsely imagined that I was in the company of great men. In fact, I never came in contact with great men; this delusion arose because my mind was overpowered by sleep". But an object seen in the waking state, such as a pillar, is not thus sublated under any condition (until the dawn of Self-knowledge). Moreover, dream vision is a kind of remembrance, whereas the visions of the waking state are forms of perception. The difference between remembrance and perception, consisting in the absence and presence of objects, can be understood by oneself, as for instance when one says, "I remember my beloved son, but I do not see him, though I want to see". That being so, it cannot be asserted by a man who experiences the difference between the two, that the perception in the waking state is false, merely on the ground that it is a perception, like the perception in dream. Advaita vedAnta recognizes three levels of reality, prAtibhAsika, vyAvahArika, and pAramArthika. Objects such as rope-snake, shell-silver, and those seen in dream are prAtibhAsika. Everything that we experience in the waking state (other than illusory objects such as rope-snake, etc,) are vyAvahArika. Brahman alone is pAramArthika. This shows that waking and dream states are not considered to be equally real or equally unreal. The waking state has been attributed a higher level of reality than the dream state, though from the standpoint of absolute reality, they are both mithyA, i.e. neither real nor unreal. S.N.Sastri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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