________________
three-tiered world is the outcome of mind's inspiration, just as the sun is the cause of day and night.' In the words of Maharshi Ramana, similar thoughts are echoed, 'In reality, this body is in the mind ... it is a creation of mind.' and Nisarga Dutt Maharaj, who till the beginning of this decade was amongst us, explicitly explains :
All exists in the mind, even the body is an integration in the mind of a vast number of sensory perceptions, and each perception also a mental state .... both mind and body are intermittent states. The sumtotal of these flashes creates the illusion of existence. 56
A scientist or a lay person well-versed with modern physics knows/understands that solid-looking body of ours is, in fact, a mental construct and interpretation by mind of the immense inflow of sensory signals; meaning thereby that physical experience of the body is, after all, mentalised phenomenon. If a reader with some exposure to science ponders upon this statement, he will quickly comprehend this fact. The self-realised saints have been reiterating this fact for centuries. Nineteenth century science used to ridicule it as illusion of the spiritualists, but now the same truth has emerged in front of the scientists struggling to figure out the innards of an atom and its elementary constitution.
With self-awakening, the world disappears :
The scientist has not experienced this fact but has come to this conclusion by logical deduction and intelligent guesswork based on the data provided by intricate tools developed by science. The self-realised spiritualist has arrived at this conviction regarding body-spirit confabulation through his personal experience. Further, with this conviction, he also comes to know that just as compilation/interpretation of sensory input by the mind creates the illusion of gross body-existence
106
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
