in Books, Life

This Place Is A Dream, Only A Sleeper Considers It Real

“Humankind is being led along an evolving course, through this migration of intelligences, and though we seem to be sleeping, there is an inner wakefulness that directs the dream”

The Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks

Rumi reminds us that the world is an illusion, unfortunately when we are in the dream, we perceive whatever is happening to be real.

When we wake up from a bad dream and realize that it was just a dream, we feel better that everything is fine. Do we feel the same when the dream was good? Let’s say, you were talking with your beloved mother whom you have lost many years ago, and you were having a great time and then you were woken up by the loud sounds of this so called reality, you would call the reality a bad dream and you’d rather go back to sleep to continue the dream.

Does the fact that you were having an enjoyable dream make it any less of a dream? I guess it’s still a dream after all, whether it is a good one or a bad one!

Adi Sankaracharya’s Brahmajnanavali Mala verse 20 states that this world is an illusion and Brahman is the Truth.

“Brahma Sathyam Jaganmithya”

“ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः ।
अनेन वेद्यं सच्छास्त्रमिति वेदान्तडिण्डिमः ॥ २०॥”

source: https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_z_misc_shankara/brahmajna.html

Rumi says that we are all being led through an evolving course. Who is leading us, where is the course heading, how long is this course, is there a destination or is the course a looping one? If we finish where we started, is there a point in starting at all?