The essence of advaita

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When a rope is mistaken for a snake in dim light or mild darkness (manda

andhakAra) we say that the rope is the substratum of the illusion and the

snake is superimposed on it. But the rope itself is a superimposed object;

it is superimposed on pure Consciousness (i.e., brahman). So it is said in

vedAnta that the substratum is not just 'rope', but 'rajju upahita

chaitanyam'--- pure Consciousness with the rope as upAdhi or limiting

adjunct. Thus every object is pure Consciousness limited by that object, or,

in other words, pure Consciousness appearing in the form of that object. The

practical implication of this statement is that whenever we see an object or

a living being we must immediately think of it as pure Consciousness or

brahman appearing in the form of that object or living being.. That is, the

name and form have to be ignored and everything should be looked upon as

pire Consciousness. This is the essence of advaita.

 

S.N.Sastri