Complete works of Swami Abhedananda

by Swami Prajnanananda | 1967 | 318,120 words

Swami Abhedananda was one of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and a spiritual brother of Swami Vivekananda. He deals with the subject of spiritual unfoldment purely from the yogic standpoint. These discourses represent a study of the Social, Religious, Cultural, Educational and Political aspects of India. Swami Abhedananda says t...

Appendix 1 - Delusion

If all that we see and sense are delusions, what is the truth? We have to understand the meaning of the word delusion. Delusion does not mean ‘non-existence’. It means relative reality, that is, it exists for the time being, and has not permanent existence. Very few people know the meaning of delusion. They think that it is just like the mirage. You cannot realize that as a mirage so long as you are in it. I should say it is more like a dream. Dreams are real so long as we are dreaming, but when we wake up they become unreal. If all these things that we are doing be transitory, that is, exist for the time being, and we consider them as real, it is the same thing as if we are dreaming. But there is an awakening from this state of dream, and that is called ‘superconsciousness’. It is God-consciousness. Then it appears like a dream, but not at present. At present they are all real, and we must go on doing just as we are doing.[1]

We cannot find the Truth here under these conditions, but the Truth is behind all these appearances. It is the background. From the Truth we have come into existence, in the Truth we live, and into the Truth we return at the time of dissolution. The whole universe is pervaded by Truth, but we do not see it.[2] We see only the appearance of Truth. Take, for example, a table. The table cannot remain forever. If you bum it, it is gone. Where does it go? What remains then? If our body is destroyed, what remains then? We do not see it. So, from the unmanifested we have come into manifestation. We can perceive with our five senses. We can see, hear, smell, taste and touch. But what we see we do not know. You see colour, for instance. You see a beautiful colour in a flower. If you analyze it and study carefully, physiology will tell you that you do not see any colour there. There is no colour. There is some kind of vibration of ether. It is a play of light, and light is nothing but vibration. But an ignorant person says: ‘I see it, here it is; how can I deny it?’ It is true that he cannot deny it. But what he sees and feels, is not just exactly what it is in reality. There is a certain kind of vibration which comes from the flower and produces a kind of inverted image on our retina. And that image even we do not see, but that image produces a molecular change in the optic nerve and in the cortex of the brain at the back of our head,-and then it is translated into feeling or sensation. Then we try to trace the cause of that sensation, and by the law of causation we see it is there. That flower has caused this sensation, and we call it red or yellow or whatever colour you may call it. The colour could not exist if you did not have the optic nerve, the retina and the brain. It is a conditional existence, and that is the meaning of delusion. The real vibration we could not see or perceive with the senses, but it is there just the same. You may call it X. So, the real table, the foundation, the noumenon of this table, we do not see. We see only the colour, the form. Then we have the sensation of thinness or thickness, or roughness or smoothness. These are the qualities. But real substance we do not see. And therefore these qualities are the appearances. The substance is the permanent reality.

In the same way, there is permanent reality in each one of us, but only our appearances of qualities which make up our personality are seen, and that personality is constantly changing. You are not the same person of the past, when you were a boy or a girl. But you do not take into consideration all these changes. You think you are the same person, although you have a new body and brain. You are creating the brain anew all the time, and the nervous system. The whole organism has gone through a complete change, but still you are the same person. What is not changing there? What is unchangeable in you? That which is unchangeable in you, has given the foundation of that identity that makes you feel that you are the same person. But you do not know that thing at present. That is the most important thing, but yet we do not know it. We are deluded that we are the same person, we are going to live here forever, and this is our home. That is a kind of delusion we have. It is a false knowledge (mithya-pratyaya). It is indiscrimination. It is what is called ‘undifferentiated consciousness’. And that is the meaning of delusion.

But we can get out of this the moment we realize who we are in reality. That is our immortal Self. That is the Truth. Truth is not far away from us. We are part and parcel of the Truth, because we are eternal. But not this body nor our personality is eternal. It will go. Our senses are not eternal, they will go. The real foundation of our being, our life, is eternal, is a life-force. But we do not know what life is any more than we know what electricity is, and yet we are using electricity all the time. So, the manifestation of electricity is an appearance, but the force itself is unknown and unknowable to us. It is unknown and unknowable to the ordinary mind. But when we have better knowledge, when we have realization of the source of all forces, then we know what it is. It is the expression of one force. The whole universe is living. There is no such thing as dead matter. But still we see it is dead matter, which is a delusion. You think that you are sick, you have a disease, an indigestion, or some kind of ache or pain. That is a delusion. You know, if you are spirit, you cannot have sickness. Spirit is never sick, and dead body is never sick. Then who is sick? If the dead body does not catch cold or have any indigestion, then where is the indigestion? That is a delusion. It is a kind of perplexing problem. But we have to go through it and transcend it.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

sarvav yavahārāṇāmeva | prāgbrahmātmatāvijñānāt satyatopapatteḥ | svapnavyavahārasyeva prākprabodhāt |

yāvaddhi na satyātmaikatvapratipattistāvat pramāṇaprameyaphalalakṣaṇeṣu [?]vyavahāreṣvanṛtaḥbuddhirna kasyacidutpadyate | * *

tasmāt prāgbrahmātmatāpratibodhādupapannaḥ, sarvo laukiko vaidikaśca vyavahāraḥ |

     —Sankara-bhashya, 2. 1. 14.

[2]:

yaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhan sarvebhyo bhūtebhyo'ntaraḥ, yaṃ sarvāṇi bhūtāni na viduḥ, yasya sarvāṇi bhūtāni śarīraṁ ya sarvāṇi bhūtānyantaro yamayati, eṣa ta ātmāntaryāmyamutaḥ [ātmāntaryāmyamṛtaḥ?] |

     —Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 3. 7. 17.

FAQ (frequently asked questions):

Which keywords occur in this article of Volume 1?

The most relevant definitions are: pratyaya; since these occur the most in “delusion” of volume 1. There are a total of 1 unique keywords found in this section mentioned 1 times.

Can I buy a print edition of this article as contained in Volume 1?

Yes! The print edition of the Complete works of Swami Abhedananda contains the English discourse “Delusion” of Volume 1 and can be bought on the main page. The author is Swami Prajnanananda and the latest edition is from 1994.

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