Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi Complete ... - BrahminVoice.org

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
under the control of a stronger one, the weak mind of a man comes
under control easily in the presence of the strong-minded sadhus.
That which is - is only Grace; there is nothing else.
The questioner said, “I request your blessings for the good of
myself”.
Bhagavan said: “Yes - yes.”
He left with his wife.
29th November, 1936
Talk 288.
Explaining Maya of Vedanta and swatantra of Pratyabhijna
(independence of recognition), Sri Bhagavan said:
The Vedantins say that Maya is the sakti of illusion premised in Siva.
Maya has no independent existence. Having brought out the illusion
of the world as real, she continues to play upon the ignorance of the
victims. When the reality of her not being is found, she disappears.
‘Recognition’ says that Sakti (power) is coeval with Siva. The one does
not exist without the other. Siva is unmanifest, whereas Sakti is manifest
on account of Her independent will swatantra. Her manifestation is the
display of the cosmos on pure consciousness, like images in a mirror.
The images cannot remain in the absence of a mirror.
So also the world cannot have an independent existence. Swatantra
becomes eventually an attribute of the Supreme. Sri Sankara says that
the Absolute is without attributes and that Maya is not and has no
real being. What is the difference between the two? Both agree that
the display is not real. The images of the mirror cannot in any way
be real. The world does not exist in reality (vastutah).
Both schools mean the same thing. Their ultimate aim is to realise
the Absolute Consciousness. The unreality of the cosmos is implied
in Recognition (Pratyabhijna), whereas it is explicit in Vedanta. If the
world be taken as chit (consciousness), it is always real. Vedanta says that
there is no nana (diversity), meaning that it is all the same Reality.
There is agreement on all points except in words and the method of
expression.
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