30 Nov 2022
Note: This article is meant for intellectuals only
Dr. J.S.R. Prasad asked:- Sashtanga Pranamas Swami. Sometimes in dream state, we are finding some items, which are impossible in the awaken state of the world. Then, can we say that at least, such items are unreal? - At Your Holy Divine Lotus Feet
Swami Replied:- Even though an impossible animal with eight legs and two tails in awaken state of the world is not seen, it appears in the dream state. In dream state, the individual soul exists with its brain-activity. Even though such animal is not seen in the awaken world, the limbs and an animal are seen separately. In dream, the poetic brain activity joins these limbs to prepare a new animal. Since the new animal is made of absolutely real inert energy and absolutely real awareness, the animal existing is also absolutely real during the dream state, which is experienced by you. In awaken state, you are made of inert energy, matter and awareness. In dream state, you are made of inert energy and awareness only. Since you have the awareness, its intellectual activity must also exist. When you exist in a specific state, you must relate to that specific state of the world only. You should not bring other states into your present state. Both the states of awaken and dream exist simultaneously so that awaken world and dream world exist side by side. When the time is night in our country, simultaneously the daytime is also existing in a foreign country. Hence, yourself and your objective world must be always related to the present state only while discussing about any single state without comparing with the other states. Even though both states exist, simultaneously, the experiencing souls are different in different countries. Even though you fix the same time and same place in one country only, the two states exist simultaneously with respect to two different souls.
In the same place and in the same time, the sleeping person in dream is experiencing the dream state of the world and another person awaken is experiencing the awaken state of the world. The two states are different because one is awakened world and the other is dream world. The subtle state can be treated as unreal due to least concentration, but, cannot be really unreal. In the Anupalabdhi authority of knowledge, the subtle and unseen item is also treated as real. You may not see the very subtle electro-magnetic radiations travelling in the atmosphere, still they are real and existing. This creation was unreal before it was generated by God and this concept shall not be extended after the creation because God gifted such unreal world with His absolute reality for His real entertainment and this concept is told by the Advaita philosophers themselves. Even in the worldly concepts without reference to God, Ramanuja says that the water-component that entered the energy or Agni (through the process of panchiikaranam) is seen as water in the sunlight and hence, the water appearing in the mirage is not unreal!
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