THE ILLUSION
THE ILLUSION (2023)
In vedantic philosophy there is this renowned parable about the rope and the snake or the stick and the snake. It goes somewhat like this: In the darkness of night, a man was walking on a path when he suddenly sees a snake barring his way. Filled with fear he runs away on the opposite direction. In the morning he returns along the same path, but in the light of day he notices it was only a coiled rope (or a stick). -
The meaning of this parable is that just like the rope is mistaken for a snake and we act according to this illusory reality, we mistake awareness for identity with objects and mind (thoughts, feelings, sensations). But we always remain as the unchanged “I”, the witness behind all activity.
In the same manner that the illusory snake “vanishes” as soon as we realize it was a rope. The ego vanishes, as soon as we realize we are pure awareness. Enlightenment is nothing other than simply permanently BEING awareness and living in the world as a manifestation of that awareness in the “world” untouched by its illusory identifications.
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