Going Beyond Some Basics part 6 – the Snake & the Rope

Jungle environments provide cobras, asps & other poisonous vipers that terrify the human population to an extent that any elongated sinuous form like a Rope lying in a dark corner. Seeing through the understandable concept of fear, the jungle inhabitant cannot clearly see the true nature of the Rope. Seeing through the unnecessary concept of Ego, the Samsaric [typical less spiritual] being cannot clearly see the true nature of the Self, the Absolute Reality of Pure Being & Consciousness. Seeing through the fear, the inhabitant imagines a dangerous Snake where there is only a Rope. Seeing through the Ego, the Samsaran [worldy person] imagines a World where there is the Self alone.

Rope–Snakes cannot be seen in broad daylight,  nor Rope itself in thick darkness.  In broad daylight a Rope does not look like a Snake.  The Rope itself cannot be seen in thick darkness; so there is no chance of mistaking it for a Snake.  Only in dim light, in the dusk, in light darkened by shadows or in darkness lighted by dim light does a Rope mistakenly seeming to be a Snake.

Unless the jungle dweller can release the assumption of a Snake, the false superimposition, it is not possible to perceive the Rope. Unless the individual can release the assumption of an Ego & a world, the false superimposition, it is not possible to perceive the True Self.  Dispensing with the Illusion of the Snake, nothing more is needed for the Rope to be clearly known for what it is. Dispensing with the Illusion of the Ego, nothing more is needed for the Self to be clearly known for what it is. Shining a bright light into the dark corner to illuminate the supposed Snake can facilitate recognition of the Rope.

Shining a bright light of Guru’s instruction & Self-Inquiry into the dark corners of the Mind to illuminate the supposed Ego can greatly facilitate recognition of the Self.

Just as at Rope, when not ascertained in the darkness to be a Rope, is instead mistaken for

various things. such as a Snake, so likewise is the Self mistaken by the Jiva [individual]. [2.17]

Just as. when the Rope is truly ascertained as a Rope, the mistaken notion ceases & there is

the Non-Dual knowledge that: "the Rope alone is", likewise is the ascertainment of the Self. [2.18]

The Self is mistaken by the Jiva [individual] to be these countless things beginning with Prana [Life Force].  This is the Maya [cosmic illusion] of that effulgent One, the Self by which He himself has become deluded. [2.19]

Shankara’s Quintessence of Vedanta

Just as knowledge of a Rope removes the Illusion of a Snake in the Rope & the consequent

fear, so also the knowledge of the Self (Brahman) removes Avidya or Ignorance & the fear of Birth

& Death [unending cycle of rebirth].                                                   Shankara’s Atma Bodh

More of the instruction of Master Nome [Maharshi disciple] regarding this Waking Dream World:

The Self one, partless, & indivisible.  The World is composed of innumerable parts & divisions.  The Self has no Form & is purely Formless Being.  The World is composed of forms, without which, there is no World.  There is no Formless World.  The Self is not sensorially perceived, but is known more interiorly.  The World is perceived only through the Senses.  The Self is ever the subject, the Knower. The World is only the object, the Known.  Therefore, the Self has no connection with the World, since the Self shares none of its characteristics or qualities.  It is not defined by the World or worldly things.  It is not bound by the World or anything of the world.  It does not depend on the World in any way in order to be.  That which is true of the Bliss of the Self, these 3 [Being, Consciousness, Bliss] not actually being 3, but instead 1 & the same thing.  This  discernment yields freedom the illusory bondage when the World is apparently perceived as well as when it is not so perceived.  By such Knowledge, one realizes that the Self is not of the World & is not in the World. The Self is not produced by anything of the  shares none of its limited qualities, & is not an object within it, for the Self is neither a Body nor located in a Body.

Entertaining & debating various concepts or opinions regarding the World can be only so long as there is no clear discernment of the One who perceives the World.  Once there is the deeper Knowledge regarding the Self, the questions about the World’s nature no longer arise. The Realization of the Unborn is the Realization of No–Creation.  In the absence of this Knowledge, there may arise confusion such as, "If it is unreal, why does it appear ?; if it is unreal, why does it not disappear ?"

The confusion is rooted in the delusive supposition that the mere Senses are the determination of Reality, & the Knower is conceived as a sensory Being engaged in an experience that is of the same nature as himself.  A deep Inquiry into the nature of the Knower himself will result in an absence of a defined separate Experiencer & thus of the World, that which is supposedly experienced.

This yields the revelation of the one infinite Existence of the Self. The meaning of  "All is the Self" or

"All is Brahman" is comprehended in this Non-Dual Knowledge without a trace of anything other.

To experience a World is to conceive it. The World is not actually a perception, but a conception. To conceive, or experience a World, one must 1^st consider oneself as some kind of Body or as in the Body, the Body as existent, & the Body as being somewhere. It is not the truth, for such is only imagined in the Mind.  For this illusion of the World, one must also regard the sensations, not as sensations or modes of Mind, but as endowed with the duality of inner & outer.  Thereupon the apparent object portion of the sensation considered as separate from the knowing aspect.  Since the Body is not oneself, the Self is not

in a Body, the World is not around oneself. "Around" is imagined within the Mind & is not all around.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]