What if the outer world is non-existent? What if the inner world is still in existence, but the outer world is non-existent? In other words, it is no longer before us. Will our mind become detached, seeing that the external world is non-existent, it is no longer before us? No. Our mind will stay attached to the external world as long as the inner world is in existence. Let me give you an example to show you what I mean.
Suppose you have a son to whom you are very much attached. And suppose one day he goes off to live in another country. Now your son is no longer in your presence. You cannot see him, hear him, or talk to him. In fact, none of your five senses can experience him. Does this mean that you will become detached from your son? No. You are still attached. Your mind is still attached to your son. You will still think, you will still worry, and think about your son. You will continue to worry and think about your son, although he is no longer in your presence. This is what is meant by the inner world continuing to exist in spite of the absence, even though the outer world is no longer in your presence.
Your son, who is a product of the external world, is non-existent. In other words, he is no longer before you. And yet, the inner world of your thoughts about your son is still in existence. You are still attached to your son, in spite of his absence.
In fact, they say that in cases of extreme attachment, a person may even die merely by thinking about the other person.
And you may be surprised to know that a person who is born blind, blind since birth, sees dreams. He has dreams. This is very surprising, because our dreams are generally a confused mixture of what we see in our daily life. For example, it may be that, looking at a bird flying in the air, all of a sudden you get a strong urge to fly like a bird in the sky. So at night, you see yourself flying in the air, in your dreams. But a person who was born blind has never seen the external world. How does he see the world in his dreams then?
This indicates to us that the internal world of our mind, of our thoughts, of our desires, is so great that it remains intact even in the absence of the external world.
