The Rope was Never a Snake (Ashtavakra Gita 5.3) - 1st November 2016

Thank you. The third verse: 'Like an imagined snake in a rope, the universe appears to exist in the immaculate Self but does not. Seeing this, you know there is nothing to dissolve.' So, to see that that which comes and goes, that which is constantly changing, is not real, is an illusion. Just like it can appear as if there is silver in mother-of-pearl, just like it can appear in the dark that there is a snake where there is only a rope; therefore, through the play of Maya, this divine energy, you can feel like there is this world.

But once we see that there is no distinction between this world and a dream world, that it is just an appearance, then you find that nothing in reality has ever changed. The rope was always just a rope. To see the illusory nature of this world is the third way. All right? To see that that which changes, that which can be measured, that which has name and form, that is Maya or illusion. To see this is to see that there is nothing in reality to dissolve, because all of this was just one great seeming. It seems to exist but has no reality. So, this is the third way.