Nay, beings do not exist in Me (in reality). Behold My divine yoga. My Spirit, which is the source and support of all beings, does not dwell in them. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter IX verse 5).
Nay, even that was a delusion. The universe is nothing but the supreme Being. It is a divine mystery. We cannot understand it. It seems contradictory that in the preceding verse Bhagavan said that all creatures dwell in Him, and now He declares that they do not dwell in Him. But the explanation follows.
‘It is through My divine yogamaya that it appears to be so. But in reality I am ever unattached to and unconnected with any object. It is all an illusion. The universe is nothing but Me. I create through the universal Mind, and I support My creation by the same power. But I remain always independent because I know My own creation.’ It is and at the same time it is not. You see a rope on your path in the twilight and you think it is a snake. The snake is your own creation. It exists for you but not for him who has seen the rope. How strange! We come across a piece of rope and begin to tremble, cry out and run in the dark. We say, ‘Well, it was a mistake. I thought it was a snake.’ Yes but no matter how many persons tell me that it is a rope, I cannot believe it. In my imagination the snake even moved. No. There is only one way to convince me. I must go and see for myself. I must see and touch the rope. Then I will believe and then alone shall I not be frightened again. So it is with religion. Books and teachers there are plenty. But they cannot convince me. They can at the most arouse the desire in me to investigate. That investigation means the practice of discrimination. Otherwise it is like our belief in spooks. We don’t believe in spooks until it grows dark and we are left alone in a deserted building and some funny noises attract our attention. Then the creeping sensation comes and not until we have investigated these noises and that funny white something flapping in the dark corner shall we be at rest.