D.: Can you help me to get rid of ?
M.: What is ?
D.: Attachment to the world.
M.: Was the world in your deep sleep? Was there attachment to it?
D.: There was not.
M.: Were you there or not?
D.: May be.
M.: Then do you deny having existed in sleep?
D.: I do not.
M.: You are therefore now “the same one as there was in sleep.”
D.: Yes.
M.:
| Sleep | Wakefulness |
|---|---|
| No worldNo attachmentThe Self | WorldAttachmentThe Self |
What is it then that raises the question of just now?
D.: The mind was not in sleep. The World and the attachment to it are of the mind.
M.: That is it. The world and the attachment to it are of the mind and not of the Self.
D.: I was ignorant in sleep.
M.: Who says that he was ignorant? Is he not ignorant now? Is he a ?
Ignorance is now mentioned by the contaminated Self here.
D.: Was the Self pure then in sleep?
M.: It did not raise any doubts. It did not feel imperfect or impure.
D.: Such Self is common to all, even in a dead body.
M.: But the man in sleep or in a dead body does not raise questions. Consider who raises questions. It is you. Were you not in sleep? Why was there no imperfection? The pure Self is simple Being. It does not associate itself with objects and become conscious as in the wakeful state. What you now call consciousness in the present state is associated consciousness requiring brain, mind, body, etc., to depend upon. But in sleep consciousness persisted without these.
D.: But I do not know the consciousness in sleep.
M.: Who is not aware of it? You admit “I am”. You admit “I was” in sleep. The state of being is yourself.
D.: Do you mean to say that sleep is Self-Realisation?
M.: It is the Self. Why do you talk of Realisation? Is there a moment when the Self is not realised? If there be such a moment, the other moment might be said to be one of Realisation. There is no moment when the Self is not nor when the Self is not realised. Why pick out sleep for it? Even now you are Self-realised.
D.: But I do not understand.
M.: Because you are identifying the Self with the body. Give up the wrong identity and the Self is revealed.
D.: But this does not answer my question to help me to get rid of , i.e., attachment.
M.: This attachment is not found in sleep. It is perceived and felt now. It is not your real nature. On whom is this accretion? If the Real Nature is known these exist not. If you realise the Self the possessions are not perceived. That is getting rid of . Māyā is not objective, that it could be got rid of in any other way.