11 Aug 2012
This world consists of both happiness and unhappiness as in a drama or cinema. The meals also contain both sweet and hot dishes. Unless you develop the talent of enjoying both, you cannot have continuous bliss. It is foolish to think that you can have continuous bliss by involving in scenes of continuous happiness only. It is a childish thought because the child also likes to have continuous dishes of sweets only, avoiding the hot dishes. In such case, you get bored with the continuous happiness as in the case of eating sweets only continuously and this is not realized by the child.
The alternative scenes of happiness and unhappiness, can alone give you the continuous bliss through continuous enjoyment. This is the case with God because He is continuously enjoying, deriving continuous bliss, consisting of both happiness and unhappiness, altering at regular intervals. You need not doubt that God may enjoy this world, keeping Himself beyond this world, just like a spectator sitting in the hall outside the drama or cinema. You may think that such enjoyment is not possible if you are involved in the world as a participant. This argument is also not correct because the actor, involved in a role in the drama also enjoys the whole drama, while participating and acting in it. Similarly, God also enters this world through a human role, called human incarnation and enjoys the world, while being involved in it. But, again the difference between an actor in a drama and a human being in the world crystallizes on the basis that the actor knows the drama as unreal and the human being feels the world as real. God in human incarnation can also feel the world as unreal because the world is only imaginary day-dream for God. Hence, the actor in the drama and God in human form have total similarity and there is no problem in the concept as far as both are concerned. But, in the case of human being, the world is real with reference to the human being. The human being is a part and parcel of the world. Hence, the unreal world must be real for the unreal human being also. The unreal world may be unreal for the real God just like the drama is unreal for the actor. Hence, you may argue that the human being in the world cannot be compared to either the actor in drama or human incarnation in the world. All this is correct but there is a point to be noted carefully in your words like drama, cinema and world. In all these three cases (drama, cinema and world), each has two phases.
In a drama, the king weeps because his wife died. Here, the actor in the dress of the queen and the dress belong to first real phase. The second unreal phase is the unreal bond between the unreal king and the unreal queen and that the unreal king weeps on the unreal death of the unreal queen. We, the spectators, assume that the real king is really feeling for the real queen as his real wife. But, the fact is that the king weeps externally based on your assumption. But, internally the king knows that this assumption is unreal since the actor in the role of queen is not his real wife. Similarly, in this world, there are two phases. The first phase is the real energy, matter and various forms of energy and matter. This first phase of the world is real for the human being and the same phase is unreal for God only. The second phase in this world is the unreal bonds of the human being with other human beings and materials. The second unreal phase of the drama is exactly the same as this second unreal phase of the world. In the second unreal phase of the drama, both the spectators and the actor know that the bonds in the drama are unreal. Similarly, if the human being can realize that its bonds with the other human beings and materials in the world are also unreal, now, there is no difference between the actor in the drama and the realized human being in the world. Actually, happiness and unhappiness materializes in the drama or in this world only due to the second unreal phase of the unreal bonds. When the human being leaves this gross body, it is like the actor sitting in his room after the end of the drama. The actor may be under the temporary influence of the bonds during the period of drama and may exhibit real emotions of happiness and unhappiness. But, when the drama is over, the actor is with full clarity regarding all the unreal bonds of the drama and hence, realizes the whole drama as totally unreal. Similarly, the human being after leaving this gross body realizes that this world (second unreal phase) is totally unreal.
When Abhimanyu died, he went to heaven leaving the gross body and existed in the energetic body. He is similar to the actor after drama, existing in his real dress. Abhimanyu could not recognize the embracing Arjuna and asked the identity of Arjuna. An actor after the drama existing in real dress also may ask a similar question to the co-actor continuing as queen still in the queen-dress approaching him as king. Hence, the second phase of the drama and the world is totally unreal. Shankara gives the reason for this by saying that whichever is temporary must be unreal in the past, present and future (Yat anityam tat kritakam hi loke…). Therefore, the influence of the bonds may induce the feeling of the reality of bonds in the mind of actor in the drama as well as the human being in the world. Such bond did not exist before starting the drama. The same bond will not exist after the end of the drama. Such bond exists in the present period of drama only. Then, such bond should be treated as temporary. That, which is temporary must be unreal in all the three times (past, present and future) as per Shankara. If you analyze carefully, Shankara is correct because the bond between king and queen is also unreal during the time of drama also. Therefore, the second phase of the world is unreal in all the times for the human being. A realized person understands this fact and feels that the bonds are unreal even during the lifetime. Similarly, a realized actor may also feel that the bond in drama is unreal during the time of drama also and may not be influenced by the drama. In such case, the human being can enjoy both the scenes of happiness and unhappiness during the life time also and can maintain the constant bliss based on the unreality of the present bonds. For the human being, after leaving this gross body also, the first phase of the world is real just like for the actor coming out of the drama also, the stage, the co-actor and the settings of scenes, dress etc., are still real. For God or human incarnation only, both the phases of the world are unreal. This does not bring any difference between the God and the realized human being because the first phase is not at all involved in the enjoyment of scenes of happiness and unhappiness.
The reason for your laughing and weeping is not the energy or matter or any item of the world. The reason for your laughing and weeping is only the formation and destruction of your imaginary bonds with the first phase of the world.
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