The Real is Unknowable & the Knowable is Unreal - Robert Powell

One of our great difficulties is the power of sense perception in producing various misperceptions. For what we perceive is not at all what is. It must be well understood that what is is what is only and cannot be described; it can only be referred to. But one must be ever mindful of the fact that even such a reference lies still entirely within the field of Ignorance, and such fundamental ignorance of our nature is prescription for suffering.

Most people think that the basic duality lies within the apparent opposition mind/matter, but therein actually lies no duality at all. Mind depends on matter for its existence and matter in turn depends on mind for its perception. Each has a little of its antipode in it.

The Real cannot be perceived, for it lies beyond the field of perception, or perhaps better: Prior to the field of perception. A description can be given only of entities in space and time, but the latter are the product of sensory perception – that is, the body and its physiological processes. Since perception is a function of bodily processes and "body" itself is ultimately a physiological, mental precept, it has no ultimate reality. We are like waves in the ocean looking at other waves, but missing the Ocean in our perception.

Directly connected with this situation is the question of language and the inherent area of confusion. Existing forms of communication are based on the faulty idea that reality is tangible and communicable. Since ultimate truth is incommunicable by any means, this directly impinges on our means of communication. Thus, when a spiritual master like Sri Ramana Maharshi talks about the Self, he is not referring to any one particular individual; he refers to That which underlies all individuals and all observable and imaginable objects – in other words, the Totality. This Totality cannot be imagined because it lies beyond thought, and is infinitely more than an integration of finite entities.

Most spiritual efforts have as their foundation the manipulation by, and of, the mind, whereas it can be seen that the first requirement is the relinquishing of all efforts, all manipulation in the mental sphere – in fact, its total dismissal – for all that is based on thought and has no more reality than our imagination.

Man thinks he is an island in a world of plurality, in which he can control or manipulate his environment so as to create more security for himself. He is totally unaware that the so-called "individual" is powerless to do anything, because there simply is no entity present to do anything. That "individual" is a product of the imagination. Such relinquishment is in itself something major because it is in the nature of a total cessation. This somehow goes against the grain, our natural state of "doing things," making efforts to achieve results, which has become one continuous movement of incessant activity. However, what we think we have moved or achieved is merely the progression of a dream and has no reality to it. Thus, what is required only is the waking up from this dream. Such a waking up necessitates the cessation of all activities to reach anywhere and the letting go of all ambitions, even so-called spiritual goals. It means a complete ending of what one is and has always stood for. But first it must be clearly seen that no effort can be of any help in this, just as it is impossible to go into the deep-sleep state by making a tremendous effort to "fall" asleep, as "falling" is an involuntary act. Thus, the linguistic aspect of this fact points to the state of no-effort being of the essence.

Realizing the Self as non-divisible in space and time, means there is only the "I" and all others do not exist or are part of me, in the same way I am part of all others. The Self is a unity in which time and space no longer have any existence. Thus, readers may justifiably say with me: "When I was born, the whole Universe came into view, and with my death the whole of manifestation ceases to exist. Truly, there is only the Self and there are no others." Birth and death are verbal expressions but are really non-existent; only the Self exists. The closest we are to this state is that of dreamless sleep. To realize this in the wakeful state is knowing the Ground of our being, or Self-Realization, when all differences and separations are eliminated.

This brings us finally to the question of knowledge. Since "knowledge" is always fully within the realm of thought, no amount of thought or speculation can help us in the spiritual quest. Going one step further, even the "quest" itself can be of no help to attain the Self, since such quests always deal with entities, and it is the very entities that are alien to the sphere of no-mind that is the Self. This reminds me of a discussion meeting in which one of the regular participants opined that after many years of taking an interest in the spiritual life, his position was still that of an agnostic. He missed the point, although it was a subtle one. The agnostic, if given the magic key to understanding the universe, would only be too happy with it. His attitude is still one of clinging to one of the dualities, of not-knowing, of denying the existence of the "not-material." He does not know but subconsciously leaves open the possibility that somewhere resides a rational blueprint explaining everything. Essentially, he feels the support that knowledge – even that of negative knowledge – can give him to carry him through life. The true advaitin on the other hand, who has fully seen the total irrelevance of thought and knowledge, knows that so long as the mind is involved in any way – even a negative one – an underlying matrix of contradiction with its special kind of pain will persist and the Self will not reveal itself.

Finally, from a broader point of view, there is the question of action, especially, that for the purpose of realization. If all entities are unreal, of the nature of dreams, as are the actions performed with them or on them, what is one to do? This is actually the wrong sort of question. For the simple truth is: You cannot do anything in this respect, for any such action is done by the "I", which is unreal in the first place and can therefore never lead to the real. Quite simply, when the reality of the doer is denied and recognized as void, all action on the imagined, unreal level stops automatically and one is purely the Self.

© "The Mountain Path" (January-March 2003) published by Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai 606 603. Website:ramana-maharshi.org. Reprinted with permission.

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