That which has a beginning and an end is not real. That which is not real, cannot but be a delusion. So, the body mind and the intellect of man are delusions. Hence, the five great elements – earth, water, air, fire and space that go into the formation of body mind and the intellect ought to be delusory. Therefore, the five great elements and the entire nature that emerged out of god were not real. They were delusory.
That which never existed before birth and will not exist after death, cannot exist in the middle. So, the body mind and the intellect of man are delusions. While coming on a road in the evening, we see a ghost on the wayside electric pole and get frightened. Here the ghost is not real. It is a delusion. Non-apprehension of the reality (electric pole) has given rise to misapprehension of the ghost. When we recognise the reality (electric pole) ghost disappears and we no more suffer the illusion of the ghost.
Also, a man while coming on a road in the evening and in the dull night sees a rope on the way side and mistakes it to be a snake. Here the man imagines a snake in his mind and the same is superimposed on the rope. However, the man has the experience of seeing a snake. But, in reality the snake doesn’t exist. It is a delusion.
We go to a flower garden and see a beautiful flower. The image of the flower is created on my retina. The optic nerve carries the impulse to the center of vision in the brain. If the mind is attached to the news center, an impression corresponding to the flower is created in the mind. This mental impression sinks into our subconscious mind and becomes a vasana.
After a few days, we can remember or recall the flower to our conscious mind and see it or think about it. We may also see the flower in my dream. In both the cases we only see the vasana as a flower. An artist paints a beautiful picture of the flower on his canvas. He may also prepare a model of the flower. Both these look similar to the original flower. The painting and the model become object of experience for others. These are nothing but the thought forms of the artist. These are nothing but the projection of the vasana.
For a man to recognise an object corresponding vasana must be present in him for having had the experience of seeing if before. If there is no vasana, he will not be able to recognise the object. The object doesn’t exist for him. A man dreams. So the dreamer thinks that beings of the dream are real. Truth enough, to the dream man dream tiger is real. But, when the man wakes up, the entire dream disappears and the man establishes in the waking state.
In the waking state, man experiences things as gross material objects. In dream, they are experienced as subtle objects.
In the deep sleep state, no object is seen or experienced, because mind is absent here. In deep state, mind is unmanifest. It remains with the sub-conscious vasanas. In dream, the knower thinks that the things and the beings of dream are all true and real.
When a man in his seat of meditation accomplishes self-realisation and all the plurality dissolve to become one homogenous whole. So, the external things and the beings of my experience are nothing but the projection of my own vasanas. They are my mind itself. If mind is transcended, the plurality disappears. Thus, the entire plurality of the universe is all nothing but ideas imagined in atman and exist as thought forms. All these are only relatively real. All this plurality of the universe has only that much reality as the snake.
Similarly, the sum of all the vasanas of the universe is what is called as Eshwara, when the self effulgence of Brahman (God) illumines Eshwara.
This cosmic movie gets projected on Brahman himself (Brahman is all pervasive). God is pure consciousness. As such imaginations are common in him. Ideas imagined in atman exist as thought forms. Hence, the entire plurality of this phenomenal universe is all nothing but a big dream.
All the details of this cosmic movie are true to us because we are also participants in this cosmic movie. If only man wakes up and accomplishes his self-realisation entire plurality disappears. The man establishes in his true self and remains perfectly happy. If the life principle is taken off from man, man becomes a dead body. The dead body degenerates, disintegrates and becomes one with the respective great elements. The space occupied by the body gets vacated and the man disappears from this universe.
This article is an ashirvachana given by His Holiness Sri Balagangadaranatha Mahaswamiji, 71st Pontiff Of Sri Adichunchanagiri Mahas Stana Math