Maharshi - The Jnani, #4

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Q: I am trying to understand the jnani’s point of view about the world.

Is the world perceived after Self-realisation?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi:

Why worry about the world and what happens to it after Self-realisation?

First realise the Self. What does it matter if the world is perceived or not?

Do you gain anything to help you in your quest by the non-perception of the

world during sleep? Conversely, what would you lose now by the

perception of the world? It is quite immaterial to the jnani or ajnani if he

perceives the world or not. It is seen by both, but their view-points differ.

 

Q: If the jnani and the ajnani perceive the world in like manner, where is the

difference between them?

 

A: Seeing the world, the jnani sees the Self which is the substratum of all

that is seen; the ajnani, whether he sees the world or not, is ignorant of

his true being, the Self.

 

Take the instance of moving pictures on the screen in the cinema-show.

What is there in front of you before the play begins? Merely the screen.

On that screen you see the entire show, and for all appearances the

pictures are real. But go and try to take hold of them. What do you take hold of? Merely the screen on which the pictures appeared. After the play, when the pictures disappear, what remains? The screen again.

So with the Self. That alone exists, the pictures come and go. If you hold on to the Self, you will not be deceived by the appearance of the pictures. Nor does it matter at all if the pictures appear or disappear. Ignoring the Self the ajnani thinks the world is real, just as ignoring the screen he sees merely the pictures, as if they existed apart from it. 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 and the pictures are only 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.

 

Q: Does Bhagavan see the world as part and parcel of himself?

How does he see the world?

 

A: The Self alone is and nothing else. However, it is differentiated owing to

ignorance. Differentiation is threefold:

 

Of the same kind

Of a different kind; and

As parts in itself

 

The world is not another Self similar to the Self. It is not different from the Self; nor is it part of the Self.

 

Q: Is not the world reflected on the Self?

 

A: For reflection there must be object and an image. But the self does not

admit of these differences.