QUESTION: Vedanta, the
'essence of Vedas', says, 'World is unreal, illusory (mithya) and God alone is
real (satya)'. How can that which we actually see be unreal and that which we
have never seen be real?
ANSWER: The appearance is not
the test of truth. Merely seeing something does not prove that it is real.
Magic shown by a magician appears real, but it is not real; so also water in a
mirage is only appearance. We see the sun 'rising' and 'setting'. But in
reality, it neither rises nor sets. It appears to rise and set due to the
movement of the earth on its axis. Modern physicists tell us that the whole universe
is nothing but a conglomeration of electrons, protons and quantum space.
As a
matter of fact, Vedanta accepts three grades or levels of reality: (1) Pratibhasika
satya or apparent reality, (2) Vyavaharika satya or
empirical reality, like our daily world which we see and feel and in which we
act and live, and (3) Paramarthika satya or the Absolute reality,
the pure conscious-existence-bliss which is the substratum of the whole visible
or imagined world of experience.
We see
dreams. Do they not appear absolutely real during the dreaming state? Sometimes,
even after waking we feel that the dreams were real. Take another example. Have
you not seen mirage? On tar roads, while driving with bright sun above, you
might see water and even the reflection of trees in it and yet there is no
water there. These are the
examples of Pratibhasika Satya or the apparent
reality. The example of a vyavaharik satya is that sun's rising and
setting. Sun neither rises nor sets. The earth moves on its axis and it gives
us the impression that the sun is rising and setting. This is an example of
empirical reality.
Finally,
the saints and sages, who have experienced the absolute reality, say that God alone
is real and the world unreal. This is the absolute truth or Paramarthika
Satya. It does not change or get transformed under any circumstance.
QUESTION: How to go beyond the duality of virtue and
vice?
ANSWER: There are three ways of
transcending duality of vice and virtue. The first is that of a karma yogi who
works without caring for success or failure, happiness or misery. If we remain
unperturbed under all situations and disregarding our likes and dislikes, we shall
reach a state of samatva or evenness of mind, as
repeatedly emphasized by the Bhagavad Gita. It is the approach of a Jnani.
Another method of going beyond duality is that of a bhakta or devotee. He tries
to achieve the same result by constant remembrance of divinity, or God, and by
trying to see God in all. The Jnani constantly thinks of the Eternal Witness, the
drashta, which is beyond both, good and evil, virtue and
vice and is their substratum. However, as long as the idea of difference between
the two persists in our mind, we must diligently cultivate virtue and try to
get rid of vice.
