Gita 4.35

Sadhak: "Guruji, Krishna promises that after knowing this truth, one never falls back into delusion. But I've had glimpses of clarity that faded. How can any knowledge be truly permanent?"

Guru: "There's a crucial difference between glimpses and recognition. A glimpse is a temporary state—the clouds part, you see the sun, but then they close again. Recognition is different: once you know your mother's face, can you un-know it? Even if she's in disguise, you'll recognize her. What Krishna describes is recognition of your true nature—not a special state but seeing what was always the case."

Sadhak: "But if it's always the case, why do we ever experience delusion?"

Guru: "Have you ever looked at a rope in dim light and seen a snake? The snake was never there—only rope. Yet fear arose, heart raced, you might have run away. Delusion doesn't require the false thing to exist; it only requires not seeing clearly. Once light is brought, you don't have to convince yourself 'it's a rope, not a snake.' Seeing is enough. The snake vanishes instantly and permanently because it was never real. Similarly, the separate self that seems to suffer was never real—only consciousness appearing in a particular pattern."

Sadhak: "The verse says we'll see all beings 'in the Self.' What does that actually mean as experience?"

Guru: "Right now, you believe beings exist 'out there' in space, separate from the awareness that perceives them. But examine carefully: where do you actually experience that tree? Not 'out there'—you experience it as perception arising in awareness, as color and shape appearing in consciousness. The tree-experience is happening where you are, not somewhere else. When this is seen clearly for everything—people, places, all phenomena—you recognize that your experience is all appearing in and as awareness. Everything is 'in the Self' because there is nowhere else."

Sadhak: "But other people have their own awareness, their own experiences. How can I say everything is in my Self?"

Guru: "Ah, this is the key confusion. You're assuming 'my Self' means the particular individual you take yourself to be—this body-mind named so-and-so. That individual is itself an appearance. What you truly are is awareness itself—not personal, not limited. And here's the revelation: the awareness in which 'your' experience appears is not different from the awareness in which all experience appears. There are not billions of separate awarenesses; there is one awareness appearing as billions of perspectives, like one ocean appearing as countless waves."

Sadhak: "Then why does it feel so convincingly like I am separate from others?"

Guru: "The body-mind generates a localized perspective. Through these eyes, not those eyes. With this memory, not that memory. This creates the experience of being a particular someone. It's like putting on virtual reality goggles that show only one viewpoint—you forget you're the awareness behind all possible viewpoints. The goggles aren't wrong or bad; they're doing their job. But identifying exclusively with that one perspective, forgetting what you are beyond it—that is moha, delusion."

Sadhak: "Krishna also says we'll see all beings 'in Me'—in God. How is that different from seeing them in the Self?"

Guru: "In one sense, Self and God are not different—Ātman is Brahman, as Vedanta teaches. But Krishna adds 'in Me' to prevent a subtle error. Someone might recognize that everything appears in awareness and then subtly claim ownership—'It's all in MY consciousness.' This is spiritual ego, trading one limited identity for a bigger one. When you see all 'in Me'—in the Divine—you recognize that this very awareness you are is God's awareness. You're not someone who has become God; you're God who briefly dreamed of being someone. The devotional and non-dual perspectives meet here: all beings are in the Self, and that Self is none other than the Divine."

Sadhak: "What happens to compassion if I see everyone as myself? Wouldn't I become indifferent to their suffering?"

Guru: "The opposite! When the illusion of separation dissolves, others' suffering is felt directly, not through the filter of 'their problem, not mine.' But here's the difference: the suffering is felt without a sufferer to whom it is happening. There's response without reactive identification. A mother soothes her child's pain without believing she is damaged by it. Similarly, the wise one responds to suffering with appropriate action while remaining rooted in the peace that is untouched. This allows more effective compassion, not less—unfueled by anxiety, undrained by despair."

Sadhak: "Is this seeing something that happens once and stays, or does it deepen over time?"

Guru: "The essential recognition doesn't come in degrees—either you see or you don't. But the integration deepens endlessly. At first, you might see clearly in meditation but forget in daily life. Gradually, the seeing stabilizes in more situations—conversations, work, challenges. Old habits of identification continue to arise but are seen through more quickly. The sage is not someone who never has ego arise; they are someone for whom its arising makes no difference because it is seen immediately as empty appearance. The depths of 'seeing all in Self and in Me' are fathomless—one never finishes exploring what this means."

Sadhak: "How do I move from intellectual understanding to this actual seeing?"

Guru: "By attending to direct experience rather than thoughts about experience. Right now, thoughts appear—are they separate from awareness or appearing within it? Sensations arise—are they happening to you or happening as you? Look at another person—where is the boundary that separates their experience from yours? These inquiries don't give mental answers; they shift perception. When you genuinely can't find a boundary, when separation becomes impossible to locate, the intellectual understanding has become actual seeing. Then delusion has no foothold. Then Krishna's promise is fulfilled."