Snake & Rope Analogy:
A man, let's call him Ramu, walks at night on a dark path. All of a sudden, a snake bites him on the leg. The snake is lying on the ground just a few feet from him.
Lying on the floor, he weeps because of the pain and knowing that his life is most likely over. He can feel the poison traveling in his bloodstream and he cries for help.
The nearby farmer hearing him, comes with a flashlight and pointing it to the snake, lo and behold, the snake turns out to be nothing more than a rope.
Superimposition:
This analogy illustrates the concept of superimposition. Ramu, due to his fear of snakes, superimposed a snake upon the rope. He had just been touched by a branch, and the sight of the rope was enough to create the imaginary presence of the snake and pain of the venom.
Now the question is: during the incident, was the snake real or unreal? The answer is that, subjectively, the snake was very real to Ramu. However, objectively, the presence of the snake was all illusory and created by Ramu's mind.
Similarly, this world has its own subjective reality, but upon dawning of the knowledge of Brahman, this relative reality subsides and only the absolute reality of Brahman remains.
In the story, the snake existed only at the time of the incident (the present), while the rope existed in the past (before the incident), the present, as well as the future (after the incident).
Likewise, the world exists in the present moment only - although it is a pretty long moment - while Brahman existed before the creation of the world, exists in the present, and will still exist for ever after the universe's dissolution.
Source: http://yoga108.org/
A man, let's call him Ramu, walks at night on a dark path. All of a sudden, a snake bites him on the leg. The snake is lying on the ground just a few feet from him.
Lying on the floor, he weeps because of the pain and knowing that his life is most likely over. He can feel the poison traveling in his bloodstream and he cries for help.
The nearby farmer hearing him, comes with a flashlight and pointing it to the snake, lo and behold, the snake turns out to be nothing more than a rope.
Superimposition:
This analogy illustrates the concept of superimposition. Ramu, due to his fear of snakes, superimposed a snake upon the rope. He had just been touched by a branch, and the sight of the rope was enough to create the imaginary presence of the snake and pain of the venom.
Now the question is: during the incident, was the snake real or unreal? The answer is that, subjectively, the snake was very real to Ramu. However, objectively, the presence of the snake was all illusory and created by Ramu's mind.
Similarly, this world has its own subjective reality, but upon dawning of the knowledge of Brahman, this relative reality subsides and only the absolute reality of Brahman remains.
In the story, the snake existed only at the time of the incident (the present), while the rope existed in the past (before the incident), the present, as well as the future (after the incident).
Likewise, the world exists in the present moment only - although it is a pretty long moment - while Brahman existed before the creation of the world, exists in the present, and will still exist for ever after the universe's dissolution.
Source: http://yoga108.org/