3
March: The Dreamer and the Dream
3.1 "I am the creator of the world."
Just as the spider spins its web out of its own body so the ego projects the world of separate objects on the unchanging background of reality. The creator of the world is the "I." The "I" is not there in deep sleep and so no world appears. This is symbolized in Hindu mythology in the following way. The god Vishnu, who represents the Absolute, is sleeping on the vast and dark cosmic ocean. While he is sleeping, a lotus emerges from his navel and in the center of that lotus sits the god Brahma, who is the creator. This signifies that the Absolute reality does not create anything directly. However, within that reality, the I-thought appears, which in turn gives rise to the appearance of the world.
3.2 "Everything I see or perceive is only a dream."
Comparing the waking state with the dream state is extremely useful in explaining the nature of reality. It has been said that it is only because we know and recognize the dream state that we have the possibility of understanding that this waking state, which seems so real, is also nothing but a dream. The key point about the dream state, which nobody ever doubts, is that the whole of the dream world and the dream experience is contained within me, the dreamer. When I wake up, I know this as a fact. Because of this fact, I am willing to consider the possibility that I am dreaming this world in the so-called waking state as well.
How does a dream work? There is a state of deep sleep and in that sleep a thought comes in the form of the consciousness: "I am." This thought is like a light bulb. Stored experiences then unravel in associative patterns, moving in front of the light of the I-thought, and pictures, thoughts, sensations, and emotions appear. There is even the sense of being the actor, the "doer" in the dream. All the time though, the person who is dreaming is sound asleep in bed somewhere. Exactly the same thing happens in the waking state. Everything that appears in it is simply a more vivid and, (usually), more rational dream image.
3.3 "Birth means the picture on the TV screen comes on; death, it goes off."
In order for there to be a picture on the TV screen, there has to be an electric current, and the set has to be switched on. In the same way, the body is conceived, formed, and born. Then, somewhat later, thoughts form in the mind of the infant. The power of universal consciousness makes the whole process work. Conception, growth, birth, mental development through accumulation and processing of sense impressions-all these processes happen because the power is always there. There is a continuous cycle of birth, death, conception, and rebirth, all of which happens in the presence of the Self.
In the West, birth, for astrological purposes, is defined as the moment when the body of the child emerges from the mother's body into the outside world and takes its first independent breath. In the same way, death is taken to be the moment when the physical body stops breathing and the heart stops beating. These may be convenient and practical definitions, but who or what is really born?
Maharaj teaches that no one is really born and no one dies. The birth of the imaginary individual person occurs when the first concept "I exist" appears. At that moment, the TV set is switched on. Then, once that first tiny surge of electricity charges up the circuits, the picture show of individual self, other selves, and the whole world appears on the screen. "Death" of this picture show comes when the set is switched off. This may actually occur after the death of the physical body, because death really means the dissolution of the sense of the individual "person." Sooner or later, though, this happens, and the cycle continues; that is to say, another TV set picks up the signal somewhere else. However, the "person" is not reborn, because that person was limited to that particular TV set, which has now been permanently switched off.
3.4 "When I go to the source of myself, I disappear."
If you travel along a river and follow it to its source, it becomes more and more attenuated until finally, at the source itself, it disappears altogether. This analogy is similar to the one about the tree growing from the seed, in that it indicates that the same natural process of growth is responsible for the appearance of the illusory separate self and its world. The first trickle of water, like the first surge of electricity, or the sprouting of the seed, point to the emergence of knowledge from ignorance, which in turn happens against the unchanging background of awareness. To return to the source means to become absorbed by the power of reality, to lose the sense of individuality in that Oneness. When that happens, you remain there as existence itself, but without the separate "I."
3.5 "Feel that you are the creator of the world, and that you can also destroy it."
Why does Maharaj say "Feel that you can also destroy the world?" He wants you to acknowledge and feel your own power. The world is nothing but your own thought. You can destroy it simply by forgetting about it, as, for example, when you go to sleep. There is no need to destroy the world-why destroy what is not true?-but there is a need to accept your power in relation to it and to understand that you are the one that the world depends on for its existence. So by all means feel that it is yours to destroy and to create.
3.6 "What I have created is not true."
Looking back on it, you never believe that the dream that you had last night was true, even though while that dream was going on, you never imagined that it was not true. You readily acknowledge that all the events of the dream were going on while you, yourself, were sleeping in your bed. The whole thing appeared but you were not really involved in it at all.
This waking state is also a dream and it is not true, for exactly the same reasons. Dreaming is a spontaneous process that creates a world out of the material springing forth from the mind. How is this waking dream different from the sleeping dream? It goes on by itself. The Self never makes any comment about it.
3.7 "I am not doing anything at all."
We are so used to thinking of "I" as the doer, as in "I am reading," "I am sitting," "I am trying to understand," that a statement such as this one seems to make no sense at all. However, Maharaj was not speaking from the point of view of an individual "I.," or person, but from the point of view of the Self; or what he sometimes called "I without I." That Self is the real subject of the first-person pronoun. Whenever you say "I," you are referring to that ocean of pure consciousness, whether you know it or not. In the state of ignorance, however, "I" means the imaginary individual "doer" and you remain asleep to yourself as reality. In fact, "I" is a sacred word, just as "Self" is a sacred word. The ocean does not "do" anything to create the waves that appear on its surface, neither does the dreamer do anything to create the dream that appears.
3.8 "Nothing is true. In a dream, I've seen, but I've not seen."
In a dream, something really quite miraculous occurs; you see with closed eyes! When you awake, however, the mystery is solved, and you dismiss the whole business-it was just a dream. Everything that you saw in the dream was only a projection of the mind on the screen of awareness. Awareness itself did not participate in the dream events but it provided the background for the images to appear. On awakening from sleep, the images and objects of the waking state displace those of the dream state. The dream disappears. What has happened to awareness? Nothing has happened to it. It continues to provide the same, unchanging background for whatever happens in the waking state. Later, when you go to sleep at night, the dream world starts up again, displacing the waking state. Awareness is not affected by this change either but remains as the background. "Seeing" occurs, both in the dream state and in the waking state, but "I," the awareness, does not see anything at all.
3.9 "Don't be an ant, be a lion, and say "No death for me!"
Death is really only a concept. It has power because we give power to it. As long as we take ourselves to be small and insignificant individuals, we are subject to the fear of death. Our view of life is mistaken. We imagine ourselves to be subject to appearance and disappearance and we forget that for something to appear and disappear, a changeless background is necessary. Just as a river flowing to the sea is water when it begins as a tiny spring, is water when it passes through the country, and is still water when it merges into the vast ocean, so are we pure consciousness before "birth," pure consciousness during this life, and pure consciousness after "death."
3.10 "Desire for something better has made me take birth again and again."
Maharaj took it for granted that rebirth is a fact for the individual person or jiva. The jiva is a "bundle" made up of the subtle body (mind), the sense of doership, and the "I"-thought, or ego. It is the jiva that harbors various desires and it is these desires that make the jiva go from one body to another. The jiva is restless because its desires are never completely satisfied-as soon as one desire is fulfilled, another one appears to take its place. The jiva appears in one life and then another in its attempts to find satisfaction. This movement continues until Self-knowledge dawns with the help of a true teacher (sadguru).
Self-knowledge destroys the false sense of "I" (ahamkara) and leaves the jiva free from the pressure of the unfulfilled desires. The jiva is then called jivanmukta; one who is liberated while living. The jivanmukta does not have to continue the cycle of birth and rebirth because there is no center of unfulfilled desire to prompt any further birth. Death of the jivanmukta`s body puts an end to the movement once and for all and brings rest. This is what the Upanishads and the other scriptures of India say.
3.11 "The world is nothing but a long dream."
Who is the dreamer of the dream of the world? The one who is sleeping is the dreamer. The one who appears as a character in the dream is not the dreamer. The character in the dream has no control over what happens; the dream unfolds spontaneously by itself. This character imagines that its "life" starts at "birth" and ends at "death," and is a continuous experience, apart from interruptions at regular intervals by the states of dream, which it regards as unreal, and deep sleep, which it regards as its own absence.
This is all fantasy. The character is part of the dream. The whole span of "life," with the alternation of the three states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, is a long dream for one who is "awake" to the reality.
3.12 "The whole world is nothing but His shadow."
The world is an infinitely complex layering and structuring of inert matter illuminated by the presence of the Self. The Self is everywhere, as is said in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:
As a razor in its case or as fire in wood, so dwells the Self, the Lord of the universe in all forms, even to the tips of the fingers.
The living beings of the world follow the Self like the shadow follows the man as he walks. When the power of the Self is there, the body lives. When it departs, the body dies. The relationship is one of total dependence. But the beauty of the Self is that it is always already there. He is the One who is living in this body, and He is always free and independent of it.
3.13 "I don't do anything. The body does it."
If, in the evening, you look back on the events of the day, you see how many different things you appeared to do during those hours. You seemed to be acting consciously, though sometimes you can distinguish actions that happened completely mechanically, without thinking, from other actions that required some thought or preparation. Whatever the actions were, you are still here, remembering them. Although you may not have been aware of it at the time, you were also there when any of those actions were taking place. You remain always, whatever experiences come and go, as the witness of those events. The body does the actions, prompted by the mind, but you are not affected by them because you are unchanging. Identification with the body makes you believe that the actions are your actions. That freedom from action is already yours, you only have to realize it.
3.14 "Free will means no bondage."
The ego imagines that free will means the freedom to do whatever it wants. This seems desirable because it knows intuitively that it doesn't have that freedom now. The seeker understands that there is bondage, but may not understand that it is because of the "I" concept. He or she imagines that liberation will somehow bring about that freedom of action. That concept of unconstrained action is still there. But the realized person does not operate on that basis. For him or her free will means harmony with what is, as it is. If that were not so; that is, if such a person were not able to accept whatever happened, then he or she would not be free at all. So free will means liberation from the bondage of the ego, which is based on the false concept that "I" am the doer. When that concept of doership is gone, the question of free will does not arise.
3.15 "`I don't exist.' That is the real free will."
The concept of free will is really something of a joke. In the West, it is often regarded as axiomatic; certainly it is enshrined in Christian dogma. On the other hand, in the Sanskrit language, and in the Indian languages derived from it, there is no word for free will. The concept just doesn't exist. It is taken for granted that everything happens as a manifestation of divine law. Maharaj is therefore being rather playful here, when he says that the real free will comes when there is the understanding "I don't exist." He is pointing out that in reality, there is nothing like free will. The concept only arises in ignorance, because of the notion that "I am the doer." Choice exists as long as you imagine that you are doing something, but if there is no concept of doership, then there is no concept of free will either.
3.16 "Tomorrow never comes."
It is always now, whether you are remembering the past or speculating about the future. Memory is only a thought in this moment and so is speculation. The concepts of past and future are false because they have no substance-the supposed objects that the words indicate do not exist. The only reality is that which does exist, and to exist means that it cannot not exist. Non-existence is also only a concept that does not refer to anything real. There cannot be any such thing, by definition. Eternity is that which is here now and that is the Self.
3.17 "He does everything for you. Don't worry, He is in everybody."
In November 2000, the Self in the form of Maharaj put aside the limitation of that human body and became the everything that it already was. Now, when I look at his picture, I feel him everywhere. When he was in the body, Maharaj would refer to his Master as the divine power, and would say things like "What a beautiful day my Master has provided!" God has many names, but to conceive of Him as one's own Master is perhaps most effective for the devotee because it is so personal. However the Divine power is conceived, He is always endowed with the same attributes of omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotent. Some devotees may look upon their God with awe and even fear, but those who consider their guru to be God are the most fortunate, because they always look upon Him with pure love and gratitude.
3.18 "I have spoken so many words. Where are they now? Where have they gone?"
Like actors emerging from the wings at the side of the stage, speaking their lines, and then returning behind the curtain, thoughts emerge from nothingness, formulate themselves in the mind, and then disappear again into nothingness. So many words spoken and all of them come to nothing! When you contemplate this constant materialization and dematerialization, the dreamlike quality of life becomes apparent. We do not know where thoughts come from, or, to put it another way, thoughts come from not-knowing. Before a thought is remembered, it must be forgotten. Forgetfulness or not-knowing is pure ignorance. Therefore thought, knowledge, comes from ignorance and returns to ignorance. Reality does not have any ignorance and it does not have any knowledge either. Jnaneshwar wrote in the Amritanubhav:
The Sun does not know the night;
But can He know when it is day?
In the same way, the one Being
Is without the ability to remember or forget.3.19 "Whatever you do is nothing anyway, so do nothing."
Why do we act in the world, rushing around trying to accomplish this or that? Because we take it to be true. But what if it becomes clear that it is all a dream? That dream may continue, but as long as you see it as a dream and nothing else, what will you try to accomplish? It would be absurd to try to do anything. If you are awake to the dream, everything is nothing.
3.20 "When emotion or thought come in your mind, understand that you do nothing and the "I" doesn't exist."
The dream character cannot do anything, neither does the "I" that appears to be the doer really exist. No one can have any idea what thought or emotion is going to pop up next. In the end, you find that you cannot take such a dream-life seriously.
For the aspirant, however, separating from the thoughts and emotions that arise becomes a way of life. The thoughts and emotions that it is most important to separate from are the ones that cause emotional disturbance, for example, negative emotions such as anger or fear. When there is an emotional disturbance, the mind cannot reflect the Self clearly.
In its natural state, the mind has no thoughts in particular, and no violent attractions or repulsions disturb its equilibrium. Consequently, the Self is felt clearly, like sunlight on still water. As an aspirant, it is still possible to have a relatively peaceful mind by avoiding strong desires and emotions and separating the real existence as pure being from the false idea that "I" exist as the "doer."
3.21 "The world is a game, nothing else. Play with this understanding."
The world can only really be enjoyed when it is understood that it is nothing. When you know that the world is not true, then certainly it becomes a game for you. When you are playing a game, in the spirit of a game, you are always aware that there are no real consequences. What makes the world seem so serious and stressful is the wrong assumption that it is all real. The result is struggle and competition, and the feeling that one is playing for high stakes. Someone like Maharaj, on the other hand, does not see the world as having real, independent existence and so plays in it like a child playing a game, just for fun. There is no concern about losing and no desire to win because there is no sense of being in a competition. Life, seen in the light of the Self, is not for achievement, but for play.
3.22 "It is always for something which doesn't exist that you must do something."
If something is real and exists, then it always exists, it cannot not exist. It has being. It is never necessary to do anything for being to be, for existence to exist. Its very nature is to be and to exist. The corollary of this statement is that that which is not true has no being; it cannot and does not exist. One way that you can tell something is not true is that it is not permanent; it comes and goes, and yet it is precisely for these kind of objects that many people struggle for a whole lifetime. When you think of "doing" something, acquiring something considered desirable, or accomplishing something considered valuable, you are in fact directing your efforts towards nothing.
Self-knowledge, which you might imagine to be the greatest acquisition, is in fact not an acquisition at all. Nothing can be done to attain it, because you already are the Self. The "knowledge" in Self-knowledge is really only the disappearance of the veil of ignorance that prevents you from seeing what is already there.
3.23 "Everything happens."
If you take yourself to be an individual, you cannot understand that everything happens. There is no "doer" anywhere, but as long as you takes yourself to be a person, you remain the "doer." If this is the case, it is surely best to be honest and accept that you are still in illusion and that you have an apparent problem, which is that you do not feel complete. In that situation, it is right and appropriate to accept the longing to be complete as a way of life-that is what "aspirant" means. Then grace can come and the problem can be resolved.
An idea such as "everything happens" can be very confusing if it is overemphasized. You may come to believe that you have no power. Some aspirants lapse into a kind of fatalistic attitude, in which they essentially give up their hopes. It is best to persist in whatever practice you are doing and consistently apply what the Master says. Realize the Self first, and then you can honestly say "Everything happens."
3.24 "As long as I is there, it's a dream."
The mind is Maya. The I is the root of the illusion. When the I is not there in deep sleep, there is no dream and no world. The ego is always there in the waking state. The realized person sees the same world because the I is still there. However the realized person sees the long dream of life as a dream and does not take it to be true.
3.25 "Unless you sleep, how can you get the dream? So, unless you forget yourself, how can the world be produced?"
Just as nobody goes without sleep, so nobody avoids forgetting reality. When did we first forget our true nature? When did that ignorance begin? Who can say? All that we know is that ignorance is there, and in that forgetfulness, the illusion of the world of separate objects has appeared. Ignorance (Maya) is therefore considered to be beginingless in Vedanta, although it does have an end. That end comes when you awaken from the dream of individuality into the light of Self-knowledge.
3.26 "From knowledge everything happens. Knowledge is the creator."
The creator of the world, the Lord of the Universe, is nothing but knowledge itself. That knowledge is the very same knowledge "I am" that exists in all the objects of the creation, from Brahma to a blade of grass, as is said in the Upanishads. That power is the creative power that is always active, always in movement, building up new forms and causing them to act according to their inherent qualities. Everything happens on the basis of this knowledge. That knowledge is His power. It is everywhere, and you are That.
3.27 "All that you see and perceive is nothing but God's dream. It is the magic of God, and it's all wrong."
Before there is any creation, the divine remains unmanifest, resting in Oneness. In that profound sleep, a thought arises "I am." That thought is Maya, the manifestation of the power of Brahman. Brahman is no longer just Parabrahman, beyond duality, but becomes Ishwara, the Lord of the Universe, as well. From that division of one into two the whole dream of the world spreads itself out. Jnaneshwar describes this duality in terms of Shiva and Shakti, the God and the Goddess:
In unity, there is little to behold;
So She, the mother of abundance,
Brought forth the world as a play.
While He sleeps, She gives birth
To the animate and inanimate worlds.
When She rests,
Her Husband disappears.3.28 "One should try to forget the knowledge. As you have got the knowledge, you are in sleep."
Knowledge creates a whole world, but that world has nothing to do with reality. That world springs from the thought "I exist." From that thought the individual person appears, and that person then has to shoulder all the problems and cares of a separate human existence. It is all nonsense! The individual person never existed. Knowledge is not some blessing but is the source of all the trouble. Knowledge arises from ignorance, just as a dream appears in sleep. To feel that you know yourself as an individual entity is to believe in a dream.
In the Kena Upanishad it is said:
He truly knows Brahman who knows him as beyond knowledge. He who thinks that he knows, knows not.
3.29 "Happiness lies in the forgetting of the world."
When you are deeply asleep, you have no problem at all with the world, whatever the circumstances of the waking state, because you forget about it altogether. Certainly, you are happy then, because there is no knowledge of the world. However, there is no knowledge of happiness either and so you cannot fully experience it. It is only when you return to the waking state that you say "I was happy (while I slept)." Your true nature is still veiled by ignorance during deep sleep. Real happiness is experienced when you realize the Self. The veil of ignorance falls away and the mind gains knowledge of the happiness and fullness that is its true nature.
3.30 "One who remains on the surface is carried away in the stream of pleasure and suffering."
The world is not a place in which lasting pleasure can be gained. In fact, the expression "lasting pleasure" is a contradiction. However much time people spend trying to enjoy themselves, the process is inherently frustrating. The world always fools them in the end. The pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of suffering makes life into a constant struggle, a pattern of resistance, desire, and denial. This disturbance is like the constantly swirling water on the surface of a flowing river. A person caught in this current rarely has the chance to reflect on his or her true nature and being. For a pure reflection, and for understanding, the mind must be clear and still.
3.31 "Death is nothing. There is no death for anybody."
In deep sleep, a dream begins. Where was the dreamer before the dream began? The dreamer dreams the dream and then stops dreaming, returning to the state of deep sleep. Where has the dreamer gone?
Before "birth," where were you? During "life," where are you? After "death," where will you be?
Death is nothing. There is no death for anybody because nobody is ever born. Life is all a dream, an illusion, nothing but thought. The dreamer appears with the dream and disappears with it. Why should you be concerned with what appears and disappears? You remain always as the Absolute and final reality. Realize That and be free.