Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
2th April 2016
There
“But yet not there”
Man certainly knows that whatever exists is there in front of him. This knowledge has evolved in and has conditioned the mind of a human being. It is very difficult for man to understand that whatever exists in front of his eyes is there, but yet not there. This understanding is against logic and reason, because his five senses inform that everything in front of his eyes is there.
The enlightened have nevertheless declared that everything is there but yet not there and they have eyes and five senses as well. It is intriguing what could be the logic and reason of the enlightened that supports this statement.
The five senses that inform man of what is there in front of his eyes are there and it cannot be denied. Man however neither makes the senses come nor go. The five senses come and go and man can never know how they come or go, or where they come from or go to. This implies that senses are there but yet not there. This can be understood because man cannot see the senses in front of his eyes.But surely man sees what is in front of his eyes. So, how could man understand that what is in front of his eyes is there, but yet not there? If man could understand that both the thought and the word that describe whatever exists in front of his eyes is there but yet not there, it would help him to understand
Now, in a moment only one thought or one word can either be thought or spoken. In a moment, however, numerical time has not yet been determined. As a moment is followed by the next, it implies that in any moment numerical time is absent. A thought or a word however needs numerical time to exist. This implies that a thought or a word cannot exist within a moment and therefore a thought or a word’s existence is illusory and not real, meaning a thought or a word is there but yet not there.
Now, science helps us to understand that whatever exists in front of our eyes is there but yet not there. The first fact to understand is that the complete existence of what is there is not the same every moment, because everything that exists changes every moment. Therefore, the complete existence of what is seen in one moment exists just for that moment, and the same complete existence is not there in the next moment, because it would already have changed from what it was the previous moment. This is what is meant by it exists there but is yet not there.The second fact to understand is that every atom of what exists there is light, and what exists there is therefore actually a reflection of light and only a reflection is there. It is a mystery how a reflection appears to be there as an actuality, but it is nevertheless believed to be there as an actuality, though it is not there as an actuality, to mean it is there, but yet not there.
The third fact to understand is that in a dream everything that exists there is exactly as it appears in the waking state, but yet it is not there in a dream as an actuality. This implies that it is there but yet not there, and this is easily understood by man.The declaration by the enlightened that everything is there but yet not there is therefore wisdom, which indicates that what is there is a mystery. Similarly, life is a mystery; it is there, but yet not there, to mean that life is not what the mind believes life is, which is wisdom.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2016
Editor’s Note;
This article is a priceless gift for you and for me from the wisdom of an enlightened man. The senses cannot see what is really there, although there is scarcely a man or woman alive that would not stake his or her life on the veracity of what his or her senses, otherwise personalised as ‘he’ or ‘she’, see. Our belief-system is based entirely and beyond peradventure on ‘it cannot be seen in front of our eyes, therefore it is not there’. Such is the wonderful power of illusion that it provides an extraordinarily convincing substitute as a cover for reality itself.
This is no mean trick, for man is eternally indebted to the deep guidance of the enlightened to penetrate this wonderful illusion.
Julian Capper, UK.
German Translator’s Note:
“But I can see it. There. Look!“ is a common reply to the statement of the enlightened that life is a mysterious illusion. The mind is never doubted. It tells us that this or that is “there“, and nobody would deny it. But what could that be which is “there“? Is a tree really a tree, a car really a car and a child really a child? Read the article “There“ by Dr. Shankar to understand what really is there, outside. In fact, what is there outside is inside of man, inside of his mind. But who can tell the boundary between in and out, if not the illusory mind? And the mind too is there and yet not there! What a beautiful illusion life presents to man in his mind!
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.