World As Brahman: Real

Sri Ramana Maharshi

• You must cease to be the three kinds of ordinary Purusha, i.e., the adhama, madhyama, uttama and become that Purushottama. This is accepted. Attain that state and see for yourself what that state is and whether there is any vritti in it. To speak even of Brahmakara vritti, as we sometimes do, is not accurate. If we talk of the river that has merged in the ocean as still a river and call it samudrakara river, we can talk of the final stage in spiritual growth as having Brahmakara vritti.

• It is not correct to say that advaitins or the Shankara school deny existence of the world or that they call it unreal. On the other hand, it is more real to them than to others. Their world will always exist, whereas the world of the other schools will have origin, growth and decay and as such cannot be real. Only they say the world as world is not real, but that the world as Brahman is real. All is Brahman, nothing exists but Brahman, and the world as Brahman is real. Shankara says maya does not exist. He who denies the existence of maya and calls it mithya or non-existent cannot be called a mayavadi.

From Thus Spake Ramana