If there is total dark, we would not see the rope so could not imagine it to be a snake. Hence “ignorance is bliss,” as in deep sleep - there can be no error. Similarly, if there is total light we see the rope clearly - in complete knowledge, we know everything to be Brahman. Knowledge is also bliss! The error occurs only in partial light or when the eyes are defective. Then there is partial knowledge; we know that some “thing” exists. This part, that is not covered by darkness or hidden by ignorance is called the “general part” (sAmAnya aMsha) and is “uncovered” or “real.” That the “thing” is actually a rope is hidden because of the inadequate light or knowledge. This specific feature of the thing, that it is a rope, is called the “particular part” (visheSha aMsha) and is covered. In place of the covered part, the mind substitutes or “projects” something of its own, namely the snake. In the example then, when we say “there is a snake,” there is a real part and an unreal part. The real part is “there is”; this is the “general part.” The unreal part, the snake, only appears to be there because the “particular part” - the rope - is covered. If light (i.e. knowledge) is made available, the rope is now seen. The “general part” - “there is” - remains unchanged but the “particular part,” which was previously projected by the mind, is now uncovered and revealed to be a rope. The snake has not “gone away” since it never existed, except in the mind of the observer, where it might have given rise to very real fears and physical effects (fast heartbeat, sweating etc.). From the point of view of actual reality (paramArtha), only the rope is real, the snake does not exist.

For a perceiver who sees a snake, that snake is “relatively” real (vyavahAra) and causes as much mental suffering as would a truly real snake. There only ever was a rope but the ignorance of this in the mind of the perceiver creates the illusion of a snake and the suffering follows. Once light (i.e. the light of knowledge) is introduced, the mistaken perception of the particular part is corrected; the unreal snake disappears and the real rope is revealed. The associated fear etc. also disappears. What has happened is that a valid means of enquiry has been undertaken into the nature of the particular part to reveal the truth of the matter. The valid means of enquiry in this example was the torchlight. It was appropriate because the mistake was brought about by the dim light. Prayer or meditation would not have been appropriate and would not have revealed the rope. The method has to be appropriate to the nature of the error. Since ignorance of our true nature is the reason for saMsAra, the appropriate means of enquiry for removing the error is self-knowledge.

When a mistake of this type occurs, what is happening is that a real part and an unreal part are getting mixed up and this is effectively how Shankara defines adhyAsa - the mixing up of real and unreal. In the case of the rope and snake analogy, the error can be viewed as a “misperceiving of the rope” or as the “superimposition of a snake” or as “the mixing of part of a real rope and part of an unreal snake.” When we say “there is a snake,” “there is” is the general part, which could be viewed as belonging to the rope, which is real, while “a snake” is the unreal, mentally projected, particular part. The mixing up of real and unreal effectively creates a third entity that is partly real and partly unreal. When someone refers to the “snake,” he does not realize that there are two aspects, one real and one unreal. If he says, “there is a long snake,” the adjective “long” in fact refers to the rope, which is real whilst, if he says “there is a poisonous snake,” the adjective refers to the unreal part. Similarly, when someone says: “I am a shopkeeper” (or whatever), he does not realize that the attribute “shopkeeper” refers to the unreal part. He does not know that there are two parts, only one of which (I am) is real.

In the mind of the ordinary “person” these two things are mixed up and a single, false, jIva is created. It is this mixed-up jIva who is striving for liberation. The purpose of the brahmasUtra is to inquire into the nature of the jIva, by directing the knowledge of Vedanta so that we can discard the unreal part and become established in the knowledge of the real part. When this happens, realization takes place and saMsAra is dissolved as unreal. (Ref. 89) The underlying truth of the unreal snake is the real rope and that of the unreal jIva, the real Self. It is not that a snake has to be removed in order for us to see the rope – the snake is the rope. Similarly, when the five sheaths are spoken of above, it is not that we have to remove each of these in order to find our way to the Self at the center – we are already the Self and the sheaths represent different levels of superimposition or identification. All that is required is a switch in the way that we look at ourselves and the world

Our dissatisfaction doesn’t originate from the absence of the desired object, but from another source: from a compelling sense of lack within ourselves; the lack of something unknown, yet somehow forefelt. If we totally welcome this feeling, instead of doing what we usually do, go out, see a movie, or call up a friend, in an attempt to escape the situation, we would see this lack gradually lose its dynamism and evolve into a peaceful non-experience. This peace comes directly from our true nature. It has always been available. Our sense of lack was our real being reminding us of its presence when we were seeking happiness outside, in the objective world. When we understand this, and open ourselves to our inner core, this lack, as if by magic, changes into causeless bliss.

Without memory to make claims about the past, there is never any proof of a thought other than the current thought, right now