The true self is the soul, which is in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is changeless witness of the body and world together. This changeless witness is the awareness. Consciousness exists both ways of "in association with waking or dream or duality and dissociation waking and dream and duality as in deep sleep.
It can remain with or without the waking or dream or duality. When ignorance vanishes through wisdom then the three states are mere mirage created out of consciousness. Thus consciousness alone is.
In self-awareness change and changeless are one in essence than only there is self-awareness. The knower and known and the knowledge are also consciousness. When the self which is consciousness becomes aware of its own formless true nature in the midst of diversity or duality it is called self –awareness.
Man and his experience of the world is product of ignorance. Thus it is not the man who is in ignorance; it is the formless self, which is in ignorance of its true nature. When self becomes aware of its true nature than its ignorance vanishes and it alone prevails in its own awareness. Thus body, senses, intellect, ego, world are mere mirage created out of consciousness.
The consciousness is the maker and the preserver of the mind, which is in the form of universe, and it appears as waking and dream and disappears as deep sleep. The Self-Knowledge is the foundation of all physical based knowledge.
By knowing the fact that, the consciousness as the true self of which all three states becomes known?
Two kinds of knowledge must be known. They are the spiritual Knowledge and the physical knowledge. Of these two, the physical knowledge is of the worldly life. And the spiritual [self] Knowledge is that by which the ultimate truth is attained.
By means of the Self- Knowledge, the Gnani behold everywhere consciousness, which otherwise cannot be seen or seized, which has no root or attributes, no eyes or ears, no hands or feet; which is eternal and omnipresent, all—pervading and extremely subtle; which is imperishable and the source of the mind, which appears as waking and dream and disappears as deep sleep.
As the spider sends forth and draws in its thread, as plants grow on the earth, as hair grows on the head and the body of a living man—so does mind, which is in the form of universe arise from the Imperishable consciousness.
Ignorant , dwelling in darkness, but the intellectuals in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.
People, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's purpose. Because these performers of karma do not know the Truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery— stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted.
Ignorant, regarding religious rituals and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know ultimate truth. Thinking of their good work, with a motive to get reward for it in the next life or next world they remain ignorant of higher truth.
Let a seeker, after having examined the mind and its substance that are gained by inquiry, analysis and reasoning, acquire freedom from experiencing the illusion as reality: nothing that is eternal can be produced by what is not eternal. In order that he may understand assimilate and realize that Eternal consciousness.
The seeker who has intense urge to know the truth , whose has the humility to listen and whose is receptive, who does not use his accumulated knowledge as yardstick, will be able to understand ,assimilate and realize the Self- Knowledge, through which one knows the consciousness, which is formless and nondual in its nature.
Consciousness is the self—luminous and formless soul, uncreated and existing both within and without. Consciousness is devoid of life, devoid of mind, pure and higher than the supreme Imperishable.
From consciousness are born the three states. From consciousness come mind, which contains the oceans and the mountains, rivers of every kind of plants and flavours.
The mind alone is the universe. And consciousness is the substance and witness of the mind. The consciousness, hidden within the three states — He who knows this ultimate truth will be able to cross the threshold of duality.
When self is not the form but self is formless than why indulge in attributes based theories which belongs to the form. Smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, love for our friends family and kids are necessary in practical life within the practical world. But experience of practical life within the practical world is mere illusion from the ultimate standpoint. Thus whatever, seen, known, believed and experienced in practical life within the practical world is bound to be illusion. Due to ignorance the illusion is experienced as reality. Only through wisdom the ignorance the illusion will not prevail as reality. Thus human goal is to get rid of the ignorance through wisdom. By indulging in physical oriented theories and ideas will give temporary happiness.
People have the notion that more and more they gratify their senses for attaining worldly pleasures, the happier they will be is not true at all, because they think the physical self is real self, therefore they are unaware of the fact that the self not physical but formless consciousness. The consciousness can stay with or without the mind/’I’.
It is the illusory sense-pleasure that is responsible for the forgetfulness of the Self, which is in the form of consciousness, which result in one’s sorrows and sufferings.
Suffering is the reminder to search for the remedy to overcome the suffering caused by the ignorance of the true self. Pleasure is the cause of ignorance .but if the real self is realized, and then, illusion will not prevails as reality.
Mortals become attached to worldly pleasures because they are in ignorance of the reality of their true existence.
It is the illusion that allures one to enjoy the mundane objects in a futile effort of satisfying the unceasing demands of his senses within the waking or dream. A person within the illusion becomes intoxicated of lust, greed, anger, attachment, false ego, enviousness, stubborn mindedness, and their numerous variations within the illusion.
Consequently, the individual self gets caught in the illusory cycle of birth, old age, disease, and death within the illusion. This is illusion, by which the consciousness is forgotten; emotional attachment and love of duality is born.
The ignorance of the true self is cause of duality. The duality is cause of illusion. The illusion is the cause of experiencing unreality as reality.
Because of this pluralistic phenomena of illusory -vision, the material happiness appears to be followed by sorrow. If there is laughter, there is a cry; if there is a birth, there is a death; if there is a rich, there is a poor; so on and so forth.
Everything in the waking or dream experience is in the state of constant flux; there can be found no everlasting happiness. The ego is in the control of evil passions, evil intent, and duality.
Everyone wishes for happiness, pleasures, joy, peace, etc. and none asks for suffering, misery, etc. But in the wake of pleasure, there comes suffering. The pleasure and pain co-exists within the illusion. People do not understand this.
In a moment, all pleasures of the physical world within the illusion give sense of reality because of which the consciousness was forgotten.
The freedom from experiencing the duality as reality comes from identifying the self with consciousness. Instead, due to our ignorance of the consciousness, which is the true Self, one seeks everlasting happiness in never lasting sense objects.
If one wants freedom from illusory reality then one has to realize the fact that, the consciousness is the true self. Without identifying the consciousness, which is the formless substance and witness of the mind, it is very difficult to acquire nondual wisdom.
The belief that material wealth is the source of real security in one's life is reality within the falsehood. In reality, this entire physical world is false and temporary. It is not possible for an impermanent thing can provide another impermanent thing with a permanent security.
Due to physical consciousness, one feels secure if he has money. On the contrary, he feels insecure if he does not have money. False ones love falsehood within the falsehood. People struggle to acquire material wealth in order to get security in material life, but they fail to realize the fact that they and their experience of universe is mere mirage. When physical consciousness disappears then the mirage vanishes and consciousness alone prevails as nondual existence.
People collect or struggle to collect wealth throughout their lives, but they are unaware of the fact that they and their experience of the universe exist within the falsehood.
Deluded by doubts and confusion, they think day and night; and try to search the truth, which fits their physical outfit.
It is not rejecting the life in total, but realizing the fact that, the burden and bondage of the duality is not on the physical self, which is the cause of anxiety in day today life but it is on the soul which is the true self. Know the truth, and that truth sets you free from experiencing the duality [pain and pleasure] as reality.
Until we are unaware of the fact that the self is not physical we simply take the authorship of the experience o duality and experience the illusory pain and pleasure as reality. When we become aware of the fact that, we are not the author of our own experience then only the burden is shifted to the true author which is the soul. The biblical insight says:- Cast the burden on Christ[truth] within and you go free.
It is the same way rejecting the burden of bondage of the dream after waking, consciously reject the reality of the waking in the midst of waking and live life in celebration of peace and tranquillity of the non-duality in the midst of duality. Only when you are soul oriented then only the witnessing happens and life [pain and pleasure] becomes a passing show.
