Ramana Maharshi Says Mukti Has To Be Gained In Full Awareness (Waking State)

15th April, 1937

A frequent visitor to the Ashram is cogitating over the problem of Maya and its relation to the waking and dream states.

V. Is there any genuine difference between the experience of jagrat and that of dreams?

Bh. None, except that jagrat appears to be more enduring than the other to the person who is in jagrat, though not so to the dreamer himself. The person in jagrat
relates his dream to have sometimes covered hundreds of years, hence he calls it transitory, whereas actually there is not the slightest difference between the nature
of the two states.

V. There is this difference: each time we return to jagrat, we come to the same place, same people, same activities and interests, which is not the case with going to the svapna state.

Bh. This is because things move very rapidly in dreams, as they appear now to you in jagrat. But each time you go to the dream world do you feel being a stranger in it? Do you not feel thoroughly at home with the people and places as you do here? Don’t you sometimes dream of being a minister, or meeting your father who had died in jagrat long ago, or seeing God seated on a throne,etc., without noticing any incongruity in it? The dream is as real then to you as jagrat is now. Where is the
difference? If you call the dream illusion, why do you not do so to jagrat also?

C. I suppose efforts have to be made in the waking state, which implies that moksha can be gained only in jagrat.

Bh. Quite so, awareness is necessary for mind control; otherwise who is to make the effort? You cannot make it in sleep or under the influence of drugs. Also mukti has to be gained in full awareness, because the Reality itself is pure awareness.

MoreOver Micheal James in his "Happiness And Art Of Living" book says,

Since our illusory imagination that we are a body in dream is so easily dissolved by even a superficial self-attention, it is difficult for us to attend to ourself deeply and keenly in dream.Therefore it is only in the present waking state that we can seriously make an effort to attend to ourself deeply – that is, to attend wholly and exclusively to our essential self-consciousness ‘I am’.

V. Arjuna saw the Divine Form of Sri Krishna. Was that vision true?

Bh. Sri Krishna started the discourse in Chapter II of the Bhagavad Gita with: “I have no form,” etc., but in Chapter XI, He said: “I transcend the three worlds . . . ,” yet Arjuna saw these in Him.

Again Sri Krishna said: “I am Time.” Does time have a form? If the universe is His form, should it not be uniform and changeless, He being the Changeless One?

The solution to these apparent contradictions lies in His statement to Arjuna: “See in Me all you desire to see. . . ,” which means that His form varies according to the desires and conceptions of the seer.

Men speak of divine visions, yet paint them differently with the seer himself in the scene. Even hypnotists can make one see strange scenes and phenomena, which you condemn as tricks and jugglery,whereas the former you extol as Divine. Why is this difference?

The fact is that all sights are unreal, whether they come from the senses or the mind as pure concepts.THIS IS THE TRUTH.

Source: GURU RAMANA MEMORIES AND NOTES By S. S. COHEN

Read More

Ramana Maharshi Says Link Between The Subject And Object In Every Experience Is Consciousness

16th May, 1936

Mr. C. relates how the reading of Patanjali Sutras in 1926 had greatly impressed him. The first few sutras had convinced him of the truth of the teaching, but unfortunately there was no one to give him proper guidance till he met Sri Bhagavan early in 1936.

Bh. Patanjali’s first sutras are indeed the climax of all systems of yoga. All yogas aim at the cessation of the vritti (modification of the mind). This can be brought about in the variety of ways mentioned in the scriptures through mind control,which frees consciousness from all thoughts and keeps it pure. Effort is necessary. In fact effort is itself yoga.

C. There seems to be nothing but awareness, for to know anything there must be knowledge – we cannot get over that.

Bh. Certainly. Subjective knowledge – knowledge knowing itself is jnana. It is then the subject as the knower, the object as the known and the knowledge which connects them.

C. This last is not clear to me in this case.

Bh. Why so? Knowledge is the light which links the seer to the seen. Suppose you go in search of a book in a library in pitch darkness. Can you find it without light, although you, the subject, and the book, the object, are both present? Light has to be present to unite you. This link between the subject and the object in every experience is chit, consciousness. It is both the substratum as well as the witness of the experience, the seer of Patanjali.

Source: GURU RAMANA MEMORIES AND NOTES By S. S. COHEN

Read More

Ramana Maharshi explains the connection between Self And Tripadis(knower, known and knowledge)

Devotee:

How do the triple factors (i.e., knower, known and knowledge), which are absent in deep sleep, samadhi, etc., manifest themselves in the Self (in the states of waking and dreaming)?

Ramana Maharshi:

From the Self there arise in succession

(i) Chidabhasa (reflected consciousness) which is a kind of luminosity.
(ii) Jiva (the individual consciousness) or the seer or the first concept.
(iii) Phenomena, that is the world.

Devotee:

How can there be a connection between the Self which is pure knowledge and the triple factors which are relative knowledge?

Ramana Maharshi:

CINEMA SHOW	SELF
The lamp inside (the apparatus)	The Self
The lens in front of the lamp	The pure (sattvic) mind close to the Self.
The film which is a long series of (separate photos).	The stream of latent tendencies consisting of subtle thoughts.
The lens, the light passing through it and the lamp, which together form the focused light.	The mind, the illumination of it and the Self,which together form the seer or the Jiva.
The light passing through the lens and falling on the screen.	The light of the Self emerging from the mind through the senses, and falling on the world.
The various kinds of pictures appearing in the light of the screen.	The various forms and names appearing as the objects perceived in the light of the world.
The mechanism which sets the film in motion.	The divine law manifesting the latent tendencies of the mind.

Just as the pictures appear on the screen as long as the film throws the shadows through the lens,so the phenomenal world will continue to appear to the individual in the waking and dream states as long as there are latent mental impressions. Just as the lens magnifies the tiny specks on the film to a huge size and as a number of pictures are shown in a second, so the mind enlarges the sproutlike tendencies into tree-like thoughts and shows in a second innumerable worlds. Again, just as there is only the light of the lamp visible when there is no film, so the Self alone shines without the triple factors when the mental concepts in the form of tendencies are absent in the states of deep sleep, swoon and samadhi. Just as the lamp illumines the lens, etc., while remaining unaffected,the Self illumines the ego (chidabhasa), etc., while remaining unaffected.

Source: Spiritual Instruction OF BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI EIGHTH EDITION 1974 A REVISED TRANSLATION

Read More

Ramana Maharshi discusses About The Truth Of The Objects Seen (Drisya Unmai Tiran)

1) When one who does not see the truth himself, the seer, who is indispensable for seeing, sees the world as true, the world which is seen by him itself ridicules him and laughs at him within itself, bringing shame on him.

Sadhu Om: This verse, which declares that the world laughs within itself and ridicules the one who sees it as real, has a unique beauty. We may wonder how an insentient thing called ‘world’ can laugh. That is the beauty of this verse. We should understand this verse having in mind the idea taught in verse 74 of this work.

Will not an unchaste and base-natured prostitute laugh within herself when she hears the appreciating words of her infatuated new lover,who says to his friend, “Oh, this woman, my lover, is the most chaste woman in the world”. Likewise, the world laughs within itself at those who think that it is real. Thus this verse personifies the world nicely.

Sri Bhagavan gives more emphasis to the fact that the world is unreal by exposing in this verse that the support or evidence of no other is needed to prove the unreality of the world, for the world itself knows that it is unreal. This is the climax of the fun in this verse.

This verse contains the same instruction given by Sri Bhagavan in Maharshi’s Gospel, Book Two,chapter three [8th edition,page 63], “Well then, that world, which you say is real,is really mocking at you for seeking to prove its reality while of your own reality you are ignorant”.

2)Self, the shining of Grace, which does not reveal itself when sought by the mind, which is merely an objective attention [that is, an attention towards second
and third persons],will reveal itself when that objective attention [the mind] ceases to function.

“When I look at her, the new bride will only look down towards the ground, but when I do not look at her, will lovingly look at me and mildly smile within with joy.”

Michael James: The last two lines of this verse are a quotation of verse 1094 of Tirukkural. The unusual way of comparing Self to the bride and the ego to the bridegroom is to be noted here.

Therefore ‘Self cannot be known by mind, but It will automatically shine forth when, and only when, the nature of the mind (namely attending to or knowing only second and third person objects) is destroyed’.

Source: GURU VACHAKA KOVAI The Light of Supreme Truth or THE COLLECTION OF GURU’S SAYINGS translated from original Tamil By Sadhu Om and Michael James

Guru Vachaka Kovai is the biggest collection of Bhagavan’s spoken teachings that was thoroughly checked and revised by him during his lifetime. As such it has a unique place in the Ramana literature.

Read More

Ramana Maharshi says Objects Existence Are Dependent On Subject

22nd August, 1938

Talk 507

D.: Object existence is independent of the subject.

M.: Do the objects exist in the absence of the subject?

M.: Do you say that they exist, or do they come and announce their existence to you?

D.: I know that they exist.

M.: So it is your knowledge of them only. Their existence is not absolute.

D.: Even if I did not know they will continue to exist.

M.: Do you claim their existence in the absence of your knowledge of them?(Laughter).


Source: Talks With Ramana Maharshi Book

More Over In Shankaracharya's Drik Drisya Vivekam it is said

The world we see, being seen by the eye, is drisya (object);the eye which sees it is drik (subject). But the eye, being perceived by the mind is drisya (object) and the mind which sees it is drik (subject). The mind, with its thoughts perceived by the Self, is drisya (object) and the Self is drik (subject).The Self cannot be drisya (object), not being perceived by anything else. The forms perceived are various, blue and yellow, gross and subtle, tall and short, and so on; but the eye that sees them remains one and the same. Similarly, the varying qualities of the eye, such as blindness, dullness and keenness and of the ears and other organs, are perceived by the mind singly. So, too, the various characteristics of the mind, such as desire, determination, doubt, faith, want of faith, courage,want of courage, fear, shyness, discrimination, good and bad,are all perceived by the Self singly. This Self neither rises nor sets, neither increases nor decays. It shines of its own luminosity. It illumines everything else without the need for aid from other sources.

Readers interested are requested to read below article as well

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/shankaracharyas-drik-drisya-vivekam.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/drik-drishya-vivekam-explains-how-is.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/02/ramana-maharshi-about-different-types.html

Read More

Ramana Maharshi About Process Of Doing Self Enquiry And About Realization Of Self

Talk 25.

On a former occasion B. V. Narasimha Swami, author of Self-Realization, asked: Who am I? How is it to be found?

M.: Ask yourself the question. The body (annamaya kosa) and its functions are not ‘I’.

Going deeper, the mind (manomaya kosa) and its functions are not ‘I’.

The next step takes on to the question. “Wherefrom do these thoughts arise?” The thoughts are spontaneous, superficial or analytical. They operate in intellect. Then, who is aware of them? The analysis leads to the conclusion that the individuality of the person is operative as the perceiver of the existence of thoughts and of their sequence.This individuality is the ego, or as people say ‘I’. Vijnanamaya kosa (intellect) is only the sheath of ‘I’ and not the ‘I’ itself.

Enquiring further the questions arise, “Who is this ‘I’? Wherefrom does it come?” ‘I’ was not aware in sleep. Simultaneously with its rise sleep changes to dream or wakefulness. If I originated from sleep, then the ‘I’ was covered up with ignorance. Such an ignorant ‘I’ cannot be what the scriptures say or the wise ones affirm.‘I’ am beyond even ‘Sleep’; ‘I’ must be now and here and what I was all along in sleep and dreams also, without the qualities of such
states. ‘I’ must therefore be the unqualified substratum underlying these three states (anandamaya kosa transcended).

‘I’ is, in brief, beyond the five sheaths. Next, the residuum left over after discarding all that is not-self is the Self, Sat-Chit-Ananda.

D.: How is that Self to be known or realised?

M.: Transcend the present plane of relativity. A separate being (Self) appears to know something apart from itself (non-Self). That is, the subject is aware of the object. The seer is drik; the seen is drisya.

There must be a unity underlying these two, which arises as ‘ego’.This ego is of the nature of chit (intelligence); achit (insentient object) is only negation of chit. Therefore the underlying essence is akin to the subject and not the object. Seeking the drik, until all
drisya disappears, the drik will become subtler and subtler until the absolute drik alone survives. This process is called drisya vilaya (the disappearance of the objective world).

D.: Why should the objects drisya be eliminated? Cannot the Truth be realised even keeping the object as it is?

M.: No. Elimination of drisya means elimination of separate identities of the subject and object. The object is unreal. All drisya (including ego) is the object. Eliminating the unreal, the Reality survives.When a rope is mistaken for a snake, it is enough to remove the
erroneous perception of the snake for the truth to be revealed.Without such elimination the truth will not dawn.

D.: When and how is the disappearance of the objective world (drisya vilaya) to be effected?

M.: It is complete when the relative subject, namely the mind, is eliminated. The mind is the creator of the subject and the object and is the cause of the dualistic idea. Therefore, it is the cause of the wrong notion of limited self and the misery consequent on such erroneous idea.

D.: What is the relation between mind and object? Is the mind contacting something different from it, viz., the world?

M.: The world is ‘sensed’ in the waking and the dream states or is the object of perception and thought, both being mental activities.

If there were no such activities as waking and dreaming thought, there would be no ‘perception’ or inference of a ‘world’. In sleep there is no such activity and ‘objects and world’ do not exist for us in sleep.Hence ‘reality of the world’ may be created by the ego by its act of emergence from sleep; and that reality may be swallowed up or disappear by the soul resuming its nature in sleep. The emergence and disappearance of the world are like the spider producing a gossamer web and then withdrawing it.

The spider here underlies all the three states - waking, dreaming, and sleep; such a spider in
the person is called Atman (Self), whereas the same with reference to the world (which is considered to issue from the sun) is called Brahman (Supreme Spirit). He that is in man is the same as He that is in the sun. (Sa yaschayam purushe yaschasavaditye sa ekah).

While Self or Spirit is unmanifest and inactive, there are no relative doubles; e.g., subject and object - drik and drisya. If the enquiry into the ultimate cause of manifestation of mind itself is pushed on,mind will be found to be only the manifestation of the Real which is
otherwise called Atman or Brahman.

Source: Talks With Ramana Maharshi Book

Readers interested are requested to read below articles as well

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/05/michael-james-about-nature-of-mind.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/05/michael-james-about-self-enquiry-based.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/ramana-maharshi-answers-to-why-is-there.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/ramana-maharshi-says-walking-and-dream.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/ramana-maharshi-about-transition-stage.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/02/ramana-maharshi-answer-to-question-can.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/ramana-maharshi-says-jnanis-walking-and.html

Read More

Shankaracharya's Drik Drisya Vivekam

Readers Note: Drik Drisya Vivekam Commentary By sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami Garu videos in telugu are available in the below link

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=DhrugDhrushyaVivekam+Volume&search_type=&aq=f


This composition of Shankaracharya was translated into Tamil by Sri Bhagavan. Bhagavan also composed the following introductory verse and introduction.

Oh thou divine Shankara,
Thou art the Subject
That has knowledge
Of subject and object.
Let the subject in me be destroyed
As subject and object.
For thus in my mind arises
The light as the single Siva.

Introduction

‘Brahman is only one and non-dual’ declare the Srutis.Since Brahman is the sole reality, according to advaita, how is it that Brahman is not apparent to us, whereas the prapancha (world, i.e., non-Brahman) is so vivid? Thus questions the advanced sadhaka.

In one’s own Self, which is no other than Brahman, there is a mysterious power known as avidya (ignorance) which is beginningless and not separate from the Self. Its characteristics are veiling and presentation of diversity.

Just as the pictures in a cinema, though not visible either in sunlight or in darkness,become visible in a spot of light in the midst of darkness, so in the darkness of ignorance there appears the reflected light of the Self, illusory and scattered, taking the form of thought.

This is the primal thought known as the ego, jiva or karta (doer), having the mind as the medium of its perceptions.The mind has a store of latent tendencies which it projects as the object of a shadow-show in the waking and dream states.This show, however, is mistaken for real by the jiva. The veiling aspect of the mind first hides the real nature of the Self and then presents the objective world to view.

Just as the waters of the ocean do not seem different from the waves, so also for the duration of objective phenomena, the Self, though itself the sole being, is made to appear not different from them. Turn away from the delusion caused by latent tendencies and false notions of interior and exterior. By such constant practice of sahaja samadhi, the veiling power vanishes and the non-dual Self is left over to shine forth as Brahman itself.

This is the whole secret of the advaita doctrine as taught by the master to the advanced sadhaka. Here the same teaching is contained, which Sri Shankaracharya has expounded concisely without any elaboration, in the following text.

The Text

All our perception pertains to the non-Self. The immutable Seer is indeed the Self. All the countless scriptures proclaim only discrimination between Self and non-Self.

The world we see, being seen by the eye, is drisya (object);the eye which sees it is drik (subject). But the eye, being perceived by the mind is drisya (object) and the mind which sees it is drik (subject). The mind, with its thoughts perceived by the Self, is drisya (object) and the Self is drik (subject).The Self cannot be drisya (object), not being perceived by anything else. The forms perceived are various, blue and yellow, gross and subtle, tall and short, and so on; but the eye that sees them remains one and the same. Similarly, the varying qualities of the eye, such as blindness, dullness and keenness and of the ears and other organs, are perceived by the mind singly. So, too, the various characteristics of the mind, such as desire, determination, doubt, faith, want of faith, courage,want of courage, fear, shyness, discrimination, good and bad,are all perceived by the Self singly. This Self neither rises nor sets, neither increases nor decays. It shines of its own luminosity. It illumines everything else without the need for aid from other sources.

Note: Sri Sundara Chaitanya Swami says

We are self(witness) because we are witnessing various thoughts perceived by the mind and hence we are not mind also but only witness.

Buddhi, as the sum total of the inner organs, in contact with the reflected consciousness has two aspects. One is called egoity and the other mind. This contact of the buddhi with the reflected consciousness is like the identity of a red-hot
iron ball with fire. Hence the gross body passes for a conscious entity. The contact establishing identity between the ego and the reflected Consciousness, is of three kinds.

1. The identification of the ego with the reflected Consciousness is natural or innate.

2. The identification of the ego with the body is due to past karma.

3. The identification of the ego with the witness is due to ignorance.

The natural or innate contact continues as long as the buddhi, but on realization of the Self it proves to be false.The second mentioned contact,that born of past karma, ceases to exist on the destruction of innate tendencies (vasanas).The third mentioned contact is broken when it is discovered by experience that there is no sort of contact of anything at all with the Self, which is Being.

In the deep sleep state, when the body is inert, the ego is fully merged (in the causal ignorance).The ego is half manifest in the dream state, and its being fully manifest is the waking state. It is the mode or modification of thought (with its latent tendencies) that creates the inner world of dreams in the dream state and the outer world in the waking state. The subtle body, which is the material cause of mind and ego, experiences the three states and also birth and death.

Note: Acc to Sundara Chaitanya Swami Garu Here half ego in dreams means there is no kartha(doer) but only bhoktha(enjoyer).Reason is will a person who has lends money to person B asks the same amount in dreams and accepts the dream money? No because the dream body is different and there is no kartha in dreams.

Maya of the causal body has its powers of projecting (rajas) and veiling (tamas). It is the projecting power that creates everything from the subtle body to the gross universe of names and forms. These are produced in the Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being-Consciousness-Bliss) like foam in the ocean. The veiling power operates in such a way that internally the distinction between subject and object cannot be perceived,and externally that between Brahman and the phenomenal world. This indeed is the cause of samsara. The individual with his reflected light of Consciousness is the subtle body
existing in close proximity with the Self that is the vyavaharika (the empirical Self).This individual character of the empirical Self appears in the witness or sakshi also through false superimposition. But on the extinction of the veiling power (tamas), the distinction between witness and the empirical Self becomes clear; and the superimposition also drops away.

Note: Acc to Sundara Chaitanya Swami Garu superimposition is like rope and snake.So our ignorance(miseries) are like super imposition like we think i am thin,i am not good..etc though indeed we are only witness.

Maya has 2 charcteristics.One is avarana(veling power) is like covering the truth. Second is vikhepana(projection) means though there is no snake and only rope but we feel there is snake.

Aham Vritti is not there in deep sleep.

Avarana is like deep sleep where we are not aware of the world,body...

Similarly, Brahman shines as the phenomenal world of names and forms only through the effect of the veiling power which conceals the distinction between them. When the veiling ends,the distinction between the two is perceived, for none of the activities of the phenomenal world exist in Brahman.

Of the five characteristics, Being, Consciousness, Bliss,name and form, the first three pertain to Brahman and name and form to the world. The three aspects of Being,
Consciousness and Bliss exist equally in the five elements of ether, air, fire, water and earth and in devas (gods), animals,men, etc., whereas the names and forms are different.

Therefore, be indifferent to names and forms, concentrate on Being-Consciousness-Bliss and constantly practise samadhi (identity with Brahman) within the Heart or outside.

Note: Acc to Sundara Chaitanya Swami Garu we cannot accept ignorance,miseries anytime.

We will try to iradicate it immediately.For example before sleep husband tells wife that he will tell some secret in next morning.Naturally wife wants to iradicate he ignorance so she keeps asking some clues or atleast some idea etc.So it means our nature is to iradicate ignorance as soon as possible.

This practice of samadhi (identity with Brahman) is of two kinds: savikalpa (in which the distinction between knower,knowledge and known is not lost) and nirvikalpa (in which the above distinction is lost).

Savikalpa samadhi again is of two kinds: that which is associated with words (sound), and meditation on one’s own consciousness as the witness of thought forms such as desire, which is savikalpa samadhi (internal), associated with (cognizable) objects.

First kind is of Savikalpa samadhi is related to words(sound).
Other kind is of Savikalpa samadhi is related to Drusyam.


In Savikalpa samadhi Drik And Drusya are still existing.

Realizing one’s Self as ‘I am Being-Consciousness-Bliss(witness) without duality,unattached, self-effulgent’, is savikalpa samadhi (internal) associated with words (sound).

Coming to nirvikalpa samadhi from Savikalpa samadhi is like a river merged in a ocean

Giving up both objects and sound forms of the aforesaid two modes of samadhi and being completely absorbed in the Bliss experienced by the realization of the Self is nirvikalpa samadhi (internal).

In this state steady abidance is obtained, like the unflickering flame of a light kept in a place free from wind. So also, in the Heart, becoming indifferent to external objects of name and form and perceiving only Being of (or as) Sat, is savikalpa samadhi (external) associated with objects; and being aware continually of that Sat (true existence) as the unbroken single essence of Brahman is savikalpa samadhi (external) associated with words (sound).

After these two experiences, Being, which is uninterrupted like the waveless ocean, is nirvikalpa samadhi (external).One who meditates should spend his time perpetually in these six kinds of samadhi. By these, the attachment to the body is destroyed and the mind that perpetually abides in the Supreme Self (paramatman) wherever it may wander, is everywhere spontaneously in samadhi.

By this constant practice of samadhi, the supreme Self, who is both highest and lowliest,who encompasses Paramatman as well as jivatman is directly experienced, and then the knot of the Heart is loosened; all doubts are destroyed and all karmas (activities) cease too.

Of the three modes of individual being, the limited self (as in deep sleep), the empirical self (as in the waking state) and the dreaming self, only the individual limited by the deep sleep state is the true Self (paramarthika). Even he is but an idea. The Absolute alone is the true Self.

In reality and by nature he is Brahman itself, only superimposition creates the
limitations of individuality in the Absolute. It is to the paramarthika jiva that the identity of Tat-tvam-asi (That thou art) and other great texts of the Upanishads applies, and not to any other. The great maya (the superimposition without beginning) with her veiling and projecting power (tamas and rajas) veils the single indivisible Brahman and, in that Brahman, creates the world and individuals. The individual
(jiva), a concept of the empirical self in the buddhi, is indeed the actor and enjoyer and the entire phenomenal world is its object of enjoyment.

From time without beginning, till the attainment of liberation, individual and world have an empirical existence. They are both empirical. The empirical individual appears to have the power of sleep in the shape of the veiling and projecting powers. It is associated with Consciousness. The power covers first the individual empirical
self and the cognized universe, and then these are imagined in dream.

These dream perceptions and the individual who perceives them are illusory, because they exist only during the period of dream experience.We affirm their illusory nature,because on waking up from dream no one sees the dream,no one sees the dream objects. The dreaming self experiences the dream world as real, while the empirical self experiences the empirical world as real but, when the paramarthika jiva is realized, knows it to be unreal.

The paramarthika jiva, as distinguished from those of the waking and dream experiences,is identical with Brahman. He has no ‘other’. If he does see any ‘other’, he knows it to be illusory.

The sweetness, liquidity, and coldness of water are characteristics present equally in waves and foam. So, too,the Being-Consciousness-Bliss character of the Self (the
paramarthika) is present in the empirical self and through him in the dream self also, because of their being only illusory creations in the Self. The foam with its qualities, such as coldness, subsides in the waves, the waves with their characteristics, such as liquidity, subside in the water, and the ocean alone exists as at first. Similarly, the dream self and its objects are absorbed in the empirical self; then the empirical world with its characteristics is absorbed in the paramarthika and, as at first, Being-Consciousness-Bliss which is Brahman shines alone.

Source: The Collected Works Of Sri Ramana Maharshi

Readers interested are requested to read below article as well

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/ramana-maharshi-answers-to-why-world.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/ramana-maharshi-says-objects-existence.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/drik-drishya-vivekam-explains-how-is.html

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/02/ramana-maharshi-about-different-types.html

Read More

"Drik drishya vivekam" explains How is consciousness the witness

Suppose i see a flower. The flower is the object and eyes are the subject.

When the image falls on the retina, the mind is the subject of that image. So for the mind, eyes are the object, mind is the subject.

Now, when mind has the image, consciousness recognizes its presence. So consciousness is the subject to the objects of mind.

So consciousness is the ultimate subject --- which watches all that we see. But we need to see how it does not involve itself -- then we are done with the proof that it is the witness of everything.

Now. When i replace the flower with a fruit, the object of perception has changed, the eyes do not change.

Same way, when object in the mind is changed, the consciousness does nto change.

So Consciousness is just a witness to everything in mind --- this is to be seen here and now. We need not postpone this.

Now, this means, when i have a pain, its a sensation in the mind and consciousness just witnesses it --- it does not do anything, it does not say that this sensation is good / bad. it does not reject the sensation nor accepts it --- that is pure witness. So the pain, remains just the sensation and does not trasform into suffering.

so the learning here is "I am consciousness, pure witness to everything" --- once we pick this idea, we need to be it. We have forgotten this and started thinking we are the body - mind complex : that is identifying with these dead entities.

Source: http://www.arunachala-ramana.org/forum/index.php?topic=487.15

Read More