Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi - The world is only an idea

[Guest guest]

D.: If one is to withdraw oneself, why is there the world?

 

M.: Where is the world and where does one go withdrawing oneself?

Does one fly in an airplane beyond space? Is it withdrawal?

 

The fact is this: the world is only an idea. What do you say: are you

within the world, or is the world within you?

 

D.: I am in the world. I am part of it.

 

M.: That is the mistake. If the world were to exist apart from you,

does it come and tell you that it exists? No, you see it exist. You

see it when you are awake and not when asleep. If is exists apart

from you, it must tell you so, and you must be aware of it even in

your sleep.

 

D.: I become aware of it in my jagrat. (Ed.: waking state)

 

M.: Do you become aware of yourself and then of the world? Or do you

become aware of the world and then of yourself? Or do you become

aware of both simultaneously?

 

D.: I must say simultaneously.

 

M.: Were you or were you not, before becoming aware of yourself? Do

you admit your continued existence before and when you become aware

of the world?

 

D.: Yes.

 

M.: If always existing yourself, why are you not aware of the world

in sleep if it exists apart from the Self?

 

D.: I become aware of myself and of the world also.

 

M.: So, you become aware of yourself. Who becomes aware of whom? Are

there two selves?

 

D.: No.

 

M.: So, you see that it is wrong to suppose that awareness has

passing phases. The Self is always aware. When the Self identifies

itself as the seer, it sees objects. The creation of the subject and

the object is the creation of the world. Subjects and objects are the

creations in pure Consciousness. You see pictures moving on the

screen in a cinema show. When you are intent on the pictures, you are

not aware of the screen. The world stands for the pictures and

Consciousness stands for the screen. (ed., meaning that the pictures

stand for the world and the screen stands for Consciousness). The

Consciousness is pure. It is the same as the Self, which is eternal

and unchanging. Get rid of the subject and object, and pure

Consciousness will alone remain.

 

D.: But why did pure Brahman become Isvara (Ed., the Lord) and

manifest the universe if He did not mean it?

 

M.: Did Brahman or Isvara tell you so? You say that Brahman became

Isvara and so on. This, too, you did not say in your sleep. Only in

your jagrat state you speak of Brahman, Isvara, and the universe. The

jagrat state is a duality of subject and object---owing to the rise

of thoughts. So, they are your thought creations.

 

D.: But the world exists in my sleep even though I am not aware.

 

M.: What is the proof of its existence?

 

D.: Others are aware of it.

 

M.: Do they say so to you when you are in sleep, or do you become

aware of others who see the world in your sleep?

 

D.: No, but God is always aware.

 

M.: Leave God alone. Speak for yourself. You do not know God. He is

only what you think of Him. Is He apart from you? He is that pure

Consciousness in which all ideas are formed. You are that

Consciousness.