Maharshi's Gospel - [83]

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D. Neither do I deny the world's existence while I am asleep.

It has been existing all the while. If during my sleep I did

not see it, others who are not sleeping saw it.

 

 

Maharshi:

To say you existed while asleep, was it necessary to call

in the evidence of others so as to prove it to you? Why do

you seek their evidence now? Those "others" can tell you

of having seen the world ( during your sleep) only when you

yourself are awake. With regard to your own existence it is

different. On waking up you say you had a sound sleep, so

that to that extent you are aware of yourself in the deepest

sleep, whereas you have not the slightest notion of the world's

existence then. Even now, while you are awake, it is the world

that says, "I am real, " or is it you?

 

 

D. Of course I say it, but I say it of the world.

 

Maharshi:

Well, then, that world, which you say is real, is really mocking you

for seeking to prove its reality while of your own Reality you are ignorant.

You want somehow or other to maintain that the world is real. What

is the standard of Reality? That alone is Real which exists by itself,

which reveals itself by itself, and which is eternal and unchanging.

Does the world exist by itself? Was it ever seen without the aid of the mind?

In sleep there is neither mind nor world. When awake there is the mind and

there is the world. What does this invariable concomitence mean?

You are familiar with the principles of inductive logic, which are considered

the very basis of scientific investigation. Why do you not decide this question

of the reality of the world in the light of those accepted principles of logic?

Of course you can say "I exist." That is, yours is not mere existence;

it is Existence of which you are conscious. Really, it is Existence identical

with Consciousness.

 

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