The Ultimate Truth.

 

To know and understand the ultimate truth one must consider that the entire world is an illusion. That includes what you perceive to be you and yours. Even the writing of this text and you reading it falls under the category.

Spirituality is about permanently destroying that illusion by knowing its true nature. Magic enthralls you but once the magician shows you how he does it, the magic disappears and you are not fooled again.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say Mother (His divine deity) is the magician one should turn to and appeal that the magic be revealed. The sergeant moves around with a torch shining it on everybody. One should appeal to him to shine it on himself so we can see his face.

The sense that the world is an illusion is not permanent for everybody. When one contemplates on it one is convinced but then the illusion overcomes again when one deals with the world.

Sri Ramakrishna talked about weeds covering a pond. One can move the weeds aside to have a glimpse of the water, but the weeds come dancing again and cover the water.

That the world in its entirety with all forms and events big and small is an illusion is the ultimate truth that leads one to what lies beyond it. But it is not a movement; you do not go from one state to another. You be.

Why? Because the you and the movement are also an illusion. All your experiences also belong to the illusory world.

Freedom, says Nisargadutta Maharaj, is not freedom of the person but freedom from the person. When you be, you cease to be the person. You loose the sense of you.

However once Swami Adbhutananda (Latu Maharaj), the most rustic direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, was gripped by the insanity of perceiving the world as an illusion. He roamed around stating that "I have no mother, no father, no kith and kin, no friends..". The Holy Mother, the divine consort of Sri Ramakrishna, who was nearby was pained. She said, OK then let me leave. Latu Maharaj immediately fell at her feet, despite being in such an exalted state, and said, no Mother you are not an illusion.

It is said the scriptures, Guru and God are not a part of the illusion. They are the boat and oars that help us navigate the troubled waters of the world to reach the final realization. They also remind us of the goal of life and keep us tethered to it.