Indian Philosophy v2.c26.s8.23

v2.c26.s8.23

If the world is the objectivisation of the mind (cittaḍṛśyam) imposed on the absolute Ātman, so is the jīva. The individuation of the Ātman into the many jīvas is only apparent. Ātman is compared to universal space, and the jīva to the same enclosed in a jar; and when the enclosure is destroyed, the limited space (ghaṭākāśa) merges into the universal space (mahākāśa). The differences are only in such accidents as form, capacity and name, but not in the universal space itself. Even as we cannot say that the limited space is either a part (avayava) or an effect (vikāra) of universal space, we cannot say that the jīva is either a part or an effect of the Ātman. The two are one, and the differences are apparent, though for practical purposes we have to treat the two as distinct.⁶