NON-EXISTENCE OF THE PHENOMENAL EXISTENCE

This phenomenal universe is not real, expounded by Swami Sivananda. It has a mere appearance, like a snake in the rope or silver in the mother-of-pearl. It has no independent existence. Therefore, there cannot be any Vijatiya Bheda (difference between members of different classes or kinds). Ātman is Brahmān. That, according to Adi Sankaracharya, clearly manifests itself in the states of wakefulness, dream, and profound sleep, which is inwardly perceived in the mind in various forms as an unbroken series of egoistic impressions, which witnesses the egoism, the Buddhi, etc., which are of diverse forms and modifications, and which makes itself felt as the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute; know thou this Ātman, thy Self, within thy heart (Vivekchudamani, Verse 217).   Ātman is beyond words and definition, and to define it is to limit it. It is limitless, self-luminous, imperishable, eternal, and non-ascribable. Ātman, according to Swami Sivananda, can provisionally be described as Sat-Chit-Anand (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss). He stresses that Sat-Chit-Anand is one, as each is present in the other. Sat is Chit. Sat is Ananda. Chit is Sat. Chit is Ananda. Ananda is Sat. Ananda is Chit. Atman cannot be limited by space because it is all-pervading and all-full. It transcends space. Atman is eternal. Time cannot limit its eternal nature. Time conditions this body, making it perishable. Whereas the phenomenal world is limited by space (Desa), time (Kala), and things (Vastu). (1) Sajatiya, i.e., limitation by the existence of a similar thing, e.g., a tree is limited as a similar tree exists. (2) Vijatiya, e.g., a tree is limited, as a dissimilar stone exists. (3) Svagata limitation by the existence of differentiation in itself, e.g., a tree is limited as it is differentiated into the trunk, leaves, branches, flowers, root, fruits, etc., or a man is limited as he is differentiated into face, trunk, hands, legs, etc. Atman (the inner spirit or Self) is only existence and is an inseparable aspect of Absolute Existence, asserts the sage philosopher Swami Krishnananda. He goes on to say that the outward phenomena of the world can have no existence of their own. Examining the operation of the law of action and reaction reveals that the Atman is eternal and the only reality.

1.  Outline

Sage Vasistha, Yoga-Vasistha (3.7.33–3.7.39), in response to a pointed question from Sri Rama, how can the existence of so many extensive worlds composing the visible universe be thought of as unreal? The Sage replies that the absence of the view will extinguish your sense of being the viewer and restore you to your own intelligence. When the viewer is united with the view, and the view with the viewer, there then turns out a unity of the duality, and theality blends into an inseparable unity. Without the union of the two, there is no success of either; and this union of both the viewer and the view having disappeared at last, there remains only one unity. This world, which appears so vast and extensive, was not in existence at the beginning. It resided in the pure spirit of Brahma, and was evolved from the mind of Brahma. No one ever produced the thing known as the world, nor did it exist in actuality or appearance. It is in the form of a bracelet in gold, which is not difficult to alter and reduce to its gross metallic state. 

2. Scriptures

Yoga-Vasistha (3.7.25–3.7.31) asserts bluntly that the erroneous conception of the creation of the world resembles the false impression of colours in the clear sky; therefore, it is wrong to take a thing as real, of which there is an absolute privation in nature. Sage Vasishtha (Yoga-Vasistha, 3.7.2-3.7.7), in response to a question from Sri Rama, explains that God is not at a distance from us. We know Him as mere Intellect (chinmatra), situated in our bodies. God is infinite and embraces the finite, but the finite cannot encompass the infinite. Sage Vasistha says that the world with the mundane soul is really smart, but the animal soul (Jiva) is called pasu, which means "brutish observer of things" because it only cares about sensual pleasures like a brute and fears disease, decay, and death because it loves itself and wants to stay alive. The animal soul (Jiva), though an incorporeal substance, is an ignorant thing and is subject to pain and sorrow, according to Sage Vasistha (Yoga-Vasistha, 3.7.8-3.7.9). The mind, also known as manas, is capable of intelligence, or chetaniyam, but it has also become the root of all evils. He says that the soul undergoes two states: intellectual liberation (chetya mukta) from thoughts of the world and unintelligent gazing (unmukhata) at it. The Yoga-Vasistha (3.7.11-3.7.12) says that the desire for perceptibles (Chetyas) doesn't end until the mind stops seeing the visibles. This can only happen by avoiding the outside perceptions. Sri Rama raises a fundamental question before Sage Vasistha (Yoga-Vasistha, 3.7.18): the true form of the Supreme Soul, by light of which the mind may escape from all its errors. Sage Vasishtha replies (Yoga-Vasistha, 3.7.19-3.7.22) that the supreme soul is seen in the same way in ourselves and within our bodies, as we are conscious of our minds being seated within us after their flight to distant countries. Our notion of the supreme spirit is often lost in the depth of our minds in the same way as the existence of the outer world (objective knowledge) becomes extinct in our consciousness in yoga meditation. It is He in whose knowledge we lose our sense of the beholder and visibles and who is an invacuous vacuum or a substantive vacuity himself. He is verily the form of the Supreme soul, whose substance appears as the vacuum and in whom the vacuous plenum of the universe subsists, and who appears as vacuity itself, despite the plenitude of his creation within him. Who, who, though full of intelligence, Yoga-Vasistha (3.7.23-3.7.24) affirms, appears to stand as an unconscious huge rock before us; and who, who, though quite subtle in his nature, seems as some gross body to our conception: such is the form of the Supreme Soul. It contends that which encompasses the inside and outside of everything assumes the name and nature of the very thing to itself, verily the form of the Cosmic Self. Sage Vasistha (Yoga-Vasistha 3.7.25-3.7.31), in response to a question from Sri Rama as to how the Cosmic Self, or the Absolute, can be compressed into the visibility of the phenomenal world, elucidates that as light is connected with sunshine and vacuity with the firmament and as Omnipresence is present with evereverything evereverywhere,h is the form of the Supreme spirSpirit Cosmic Self. It is the knowledge of Brahma that constitutes his form; otherwise, there is no act of his whereby he may be known to us. He is entirely devoid of any visible form, and therefore there is no better course for anyone to know him as truth. Once it is known that the visibles are not real, there is still a preeminent aspect of conception that is inherent and obvious. This concept has oftentimes reflection, owing to its having no visible appearance; and at others it is not without its reflection on the mirror of the mind. Nobody ever conceived this transcendent verity in him; he himself has not at the same time been convinced of the impossibility of the existence of the visible world. Vasistha (Yoga-Vasistha, 3.7.42-3.7.44) says it has its own being, which was not created before, and how can there be a rivulet in the miragmiragehe ring of a lunar eclipse? He goes on to say that a barren woman has neither a son nor a rivulet of water in it; just as the firmament has no plants growing in it, so there is no such thing we mistakenly call the world. The world of sensory experiences and appearances is considered transient and illusory, meaning it is not ultimately real, and the true reality lies in a deeper, unchanging consciousness called Brahman, which is the underlying essence of everything. The contact between the senses and the sense objects gives rise to fleeting perceptions of happiness and distress. These are non-permanent and go like the winter and summer, declares Srimad Bhagavad Gita (2.14).

The Bhagavad Gita often uses the concepts of "Kshetra" (field, representing the physical world) and "Kshetrajna" (field-knower, representing the eternal consciousness) to explain this distinction; essentially, we are experiencing the "Kshetra" through the lens of our limited perception, while the true reality is the "Kshetrajna."

brahma satyam jaganmithyA jIvo brahmaiva nAparahanena vedyam sacchAstram iti vedAntaDiNDimah" (Brahma Jnanavali Mala, 20). It signifies Brahmān is the true reality; it is impossible to categorise the world of appearances as real or unreal; and the Jiva (individual self) and Brahmān (Cosmic Self) are non-different. (Adi Sankaracharya, Brahma Jnanavali Mala, 20)

satyaṃ jñānamanantaṃ brahma .

Real, Consciousness, Infinite is Brahman;…

(Taittiriya Upanishad – Brahmananda Valli – 2-0 ) The knower of Brahman reaches the Supreme. On that, this has been chanted: ‘Real, Consciousness, Infinite is Brahman;….’. Whosoever knoweth the one hid in the cave in the highest heaven attains all desires together, as Brahmān, as the Wise.

3. Remarks

The existence of the Absolute Existence is known on the grounds of its being the Self of everyone. The phenomenal existence is nonexistent, as it is ephemeral and insentient. It is witness-consciousness, and no proof is required to prove its existence. The phenomenal world is transient, and its manifesting effects require a cause. The intelligence that is manifest in the world, according to Swami Krishnananda, proves that its cause must be supremely intelligent and unchanging. He contends that the thought of a finite thing implies the existence of the infinite. The mind cannot perceive finitude without unconscious acceptance of what transcends it. Duality presupposes unity. Mortality suggests the possibility of immortality. The relative establishes the Absolute. The idea of universal continuity or the feeling that everything is connected can only be explained by a consciousness that doesn't change and isn't involved in space, time, or causes. The Self, Swami Krishnananda asserts, is the Adhishthana, or the substratum of all. The rest of the material body is inert and insentient.

-Asutosh Satpathy