Q: Brahman is real. The world [jagat] is ‘illusion’ is the stock phrase of Sri Sankaracharya. Yet others say, ‘The world
is reality.’ Which is true?
A: Both statements are true. They refer to different stages of development and are spoken from different points of
view. The aspirant [abhyasi] starts with the definition, that which is real exists always. Then he eliminates the world
as unreal because it is changing. The seeker ultimately reaches the Self and there finds unity as the prevailing note.
Then, that which was originally rejected as being unreal is found to be a part of the unity. Being absorbed in the
reality, the world also is real. There is only being in Self-realization, and nothing but being.
Q: Sri Bhagavan often says that maya [illusion] and reality are the same. How can that be?
A: Sankara was criticised for his views on maya without being understood. He said that
(1) Brahman is real,
(2) the universe is unreal, and
(3) The universe is Brahman.
He did not stop at the second, because the third explains the other two. It signifies that the universe is real if perceived
as the Self, and unreal if perceived apart from the Self. Hence maya and reality are one and the same.
Be As You Are
edited by David Godwin
published by Penguin Arkana
1985
pp 187-8
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