Ramana Maharshi About Jivatma And Paramatma

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Devotee: “The illumination plus mind is jivatma and the illumination alone is paramatma; is that right?”

Bhagavan assented and then pointed to his towel and said,

“We call this a white cloth, but the cloth and its whiteness cannot be separated, and it is the same with the illumination and the mind that unite to form the ego.”

The lamp in the theatre is the Parabrahman or the illumination, as you put it. It illumines itself and the stage and actors. We see the stage and the actors by its light, but its light still continues when there is no more play.

Another illustration is an iron rod that is compared to the mind. Fire joins it and it becomes red-hot. It glows and can burn things,like fire, but still it has a definite shape, unlike fire. If we hammer it, it is the rod that receives the blows, not the fire.The rod is the jivatma and the fire the Self or Paramatma.”

Source: DAY BY DAY WITH BHAGAVAN From the Diary of A. DEVARAJA MUDALIAR