Sri Ramana: The Jnani and the World #1

[Guest guest]

Disciple: Is the world perceived by the jnani?

Maharshi: From whom is the question? It is from a jnani or ajnani?

D: From an ajnani, I admit.

M: Is it the world that seeks to decide the issue about its reality? The doubt

arise in you. Know in the first instance who the doubter is, and then you may

consider if the world is real or not.

D: The ajnani sees and knows the world and its objects, which affect his sense

of touch, taste, etc. Does the jnani experience the world in like manner?

M: You talk of seeing and knowing the world. But without knowing yourself, the

knowing subject (without whom there is no knowledge of the object), how can you

know the true nature of the world, the known object? No doubt, the objects

affect the body and the sense organs, but is it to your body that the question

arises? Does the body say, "I feel the object, it is real"? Or is it the world

that says to you, "I , the world, am real'?

D: I am only trying to understand the jnani's point of view about the world. Is

the world perceived after Self realization?

M: Why worry yourself about the world and what happens to it after

Self-realization? First realize the Self. What does it matter if the world is

perceived or not? Do you gain anything to help you in your quest by the

non-perception of the world during sleep? Conversely, what would you lose now

by the perception of the world? It is quite immaterial to the jnani or ajnani

if he perceives the world or not. It is seen by both, but their viewpoints

differ.

 

Ajnani; One who has not realized the Self.

Jnani: Sage, a knower of Brahman

 

Taken from "The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi..Shambala press.