reference to the jnani also.
Q: How then does the aham-vritti [‘I’-thought, the sense of individuality] function in the jnani?
A: It does not function in him at all. The jnani’s real nature is the Heart itself, because he is one and identical with the undifferentiated, pure consciousness referred to by the Upanishads as the prajnana [full consciousness]. Prajnana is truly Brahman, the absolute, and there is no Brahman other than prajnana.
Q: Does a jnani have sankalpas [desires]?
A: The main qualities of the ordinary mind are tamas and rajas [sloth and excitement]; hence it is full of egoistic desires and weaknesses. But the jnani’s mind is suddha-sattva [pure harmony] and formless, functioning in the subtle vijnanamayakosha [the sheath of knowledge], through which he keeps contact with the world. His desires are therefore also pure.
Q: I am trying to understand the jnani’s point of view about the world. Is the world perceived after Self-realization?
A: Why worry yourself about the world and what happens to it after Self-realization? First realize 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:
(1) of the same kind;
(2) of a different kind; and
(3) 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 an object and an image. But the Self does not admit of these differences.
Q: Does a jnani have dreams?
A: Yes, he does dream, but he knows it to be a dream, in the same way as he knows the waking state to be a dream.
You may call them dream no.1 and dream no.2. The jnani being established in the fourth state – turiya, the supreme
Q: How then does the aham-vritti [‘I’-thought, the sense of individuality] function in the jnani?
A: It does not function in him at all. The jnani’s real nature is the Heart itself, because he is one and identical with the undifferentiated, pure consciousness referred to by the Upanishads as the prajnana [full consciousness]. Prajnana is truly Brahman, the absolute, and there is no Brahman other than prajnana.
Q: Does a jnani have sankalpas [desires]?
A: The main qualities of the ordinary mind are tamas and rajas [sloth and excitement]; hence it is full of egoistic desires and weaknesses. But the jnani’s mind is suddha-sattva [pure harmony] and formless, functioning in the subtle vijnanamayakosha [the sheath of knowledge], through which he keeps contact with the world. His desires are therefore also pure.
Q: I am trying to understand the jnani’s point of view about the world. Is the world perceived after Self-realization?
A: Why worry yourself about the world and what happens to it after Self-realization? First realize 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:
(1) of the same kind;
(2) of a different kind; and
(3) 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 an object and an image. But the Self does not admit of these differences.
Q: Does a jnani have dreams?
A: Yes, he does dream, but he knows it to be a dream, in the same way as he knows the waking state to be a dream.
You may call them dream no.1 and dream no.2. The jnani being established in the fourth state – turiya, the supreme
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Self-Enquiry 