Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academ-advaita.com
The Netherlands
11 November 2019
Many Actors (1)
“In Life”
The intelligence in life makes the body move. That is the first very important aspect of life to be understood. Man’s mind does not make the body move. The ego does not make the body move.
The mind thinks that it makes the body move. Therefore, the intelligence in life is a force in us which makes our body move. Just like petrol in a car makes the car move, there is something in us which makes the body move, which is the intelligence in life.
That which makes the body move is the real actor. The real actor, which is the intelligence in life, appears as you. The moment an appearance comes, it is a role which the actor plays.
The ‘I’ is the appearance, just an appearance of the real actor within. Without the real actor within, there cannot be an appearance of the ‘I’ outside. The real actor appears as an individual which appears to be real to the ‘I’. The ‘I’ is an appearance, which is an illusion of sound, but neither reality nor real.
The ‘I’ is all characters. They are all the roles. Made up by that potential actor. There is only one actor. You know in cinemas or a drama, you may see one actor playing many roles. Life indicates in a very intelligent way: look what is happening on the screen or stage is exactly what is happening in life to you too.
One actor is playing many roles. That is why the real actor within is so intelligent. Only one actor. The implication of this is very great. What are its implications? What do you understand by one actor and many roles?
If we have understood that there is one actor only, the implication is oneness, unity or God. Whatever you may call the ‘I’ appears as many actors in many roles with many characters. And the ‘I’ disappears in the night.
Understand that ‘I’ appears as an actor and plays many roles in life as he or she grows. Understand that the ‘I’ has not met the real actor within, which is the intelligence in life.
How could the ‘I’ appear as a witnesser to understand the real actor? When the attention is on the witnesser, the real actor which is the intelligence in life comes into play. When the attention is on the ego, a character comes into play.
The ego is nothing but a reflection by the witnesser. The witnesser is the intelligence in life. When the witnesser reflects an ego, there will be thoughts. And to every thought the ‘I’ will be attached to it.
To a witnesser in a role as a wise man or woman, there is just the sense of ‘I am’, without any thought attached to the feeling of I am. Thoughts come to the witnesser for the moment and disappear as well.
The enlightened realise that the intelligence in life reflects many illusory actors in daily life.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2019
Editor’s Note:
Here is the headline in every newspaper, on every television screen, in every breaking news: One actor achieves the honour for every Oscar in Hollywood this year, playing every role, including those that have or have not been acclaimed. THIS IS NOT FAKE NEWS!’ What an irony of life, gifted by its intelligence – the best publicity ever –understood by very few and rejected by the majority. There are no egos to be seen on the stage of life now – they have all vanished into thin, thin air. Shakespeare wrote: ‘’These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.’’ Language is a remarkable feature of man’s intelligent world. The word, as one example, hides the secret of unity; it also hides the secret of religion: the word is GOD. Change the word to God or countless synonyms for God: revealed is the secret of unity and of the creator. The complexity of belief, faith, denial and misunderstanding vanish into thin, thin air. This is the most exciting news ever!
Julian Capper. UK
German Translator‘s Note:
In the well-known but rarely deeply understood theatre metaphor, Dr. Shankar's article reveals the secret of world theatre and its characters: the individual seems to act, speak and think on its own in everyday life. But everything is based on the intelligence of life, which slips into every role and makes everything flow. So man is not the doer, nor the speaker, nor the thinker. Through this insight into the true functioning of the world stage, the enlightened lives in the here and now and leaves the true, singular actor without mental resistance to perform the rudder – trust and relaxation in every scene of everyday life!
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.