[Advaita-l] A vichara on svatantra and paratantra (Independent and dependent realities)

[S.N. Sastri]

Dear Sunil-ji,

You are perfectly right in saying that the jnAni sees brahman everywhere. In
fact he sees brahman as the only reality. I have not said anything to the
contrary.

What I had written was--

As long as I see the world as real, brahman is as good as non-existent for
me. Once I actually realize brahman as a reality (if that happens by God’s
grace), I will find, according to the upanishads, that the world does not
exist at all, it never existed in the past, and will not exist in the
future.



It may be seen from the above that what I had said was that I, as an
unenlightened person, see only the world as real and do not see brahman at
all. In my next sentence, quoted above, I have said that when I become a
realized person I will find that the world does not exist at all. From this
it follows that when I become a jnAni I will see only brahman as  the
reality.

I hope this is clear. I have not at all said that the jnAni does not see
brahman everywhere. Actually, he remains established in the knowledge that
he is brahman. We are also brahman even now, but we are looking upon
ourselves as the body-mind complex.

Regards,

S.N.Sastri