Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/113

 can then live both in God and in the world equally well. Those who follow monistic (Advaita) Ve- danta, however, look upon this world as unreal, like a dream. According to them Paramatman, or the Over-Soul, is the witness of the three states of consciousness, — waking, dream and dreamless sleep. All these are ideas. The dream state is just as real as the waking state. Let me tell you a story. There was a farmer who was a monist; he had attained to some realization. He lived like any other farmer with his family, and he had a child. He and his wife had extreme love for this son because he was their only child. The farmer himself was a very spiritual man. He was respected and loved by everyone in the village. Once he was working in the field, when suddenly a man brought the news of his son's severe ill- ness. He went home, called physicians, took great care, but could not save the child's life. Everybody in the household was overwhelmed with grief, but the farmer looked as if nothing had happened. He consoled others by saying, "What can be gained by mourning over the child?" The next day he went to the field as