The World Of Illusion

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It was customary of a king to listen to a pandit recite the Bhagavata. At end of each session the pandit in order to confirm if the king had caught hold of the essence, asked if he understood what he had recited. The king always retorted that he has to first understand himself first. The pandit would then go home ponder over the king's words.

One day, it dawned to the pandit who observed spiritual discipline that God alone was real and everything else was unreal. Getting deeply convinced of the illusory world, he discarded his home, family and wealth and was to embark on renunciation. He then sent word to the king that he now understood the essence of his teachings

Hence mere intellectual understanding in spirituality would awaken one to enlightenment, but one would have to indulge in practise of the teachings. It is also to be noted that from the above story, it is not to be taken into account that spiritual discipline would end up in renouncing one's home and wealth.

Renunciation according to Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi is to flower from within. A mind of a renunciate who has retired to a forest can still be clinging on to attachment of the world. Hence one will have to understand the illusory nature of the world and follow the course of one's life with the attitude of a renunciate.