Sage Sri Sankara –VC--"All
this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing
else but Brahman which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human
thought
Mysticism encourages people to be lazy, to
think the external objects are created by Iswara
and internal objects created by Jiva. Both Iswara and Jiva are man’s creation.
Seeker of truth should not waste his time in talks of Jiva and Iswara disputes;
rather inquire into the nature of soul.
Sri, Sankara varied his practical
advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never
advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics
completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the
same time he showed just one step forward towards the truth. Sri, Sankara
was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words.
Why Sri, Sankara
says in commentary in Vedanta sutra that what
is accepted without proper enquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such
acceptance will result only in evil, in something which is detrimental to our
spiritual progress. Seeker of truth should not believe blindly in
traditional orthodox nonduality without verifying all the facts from every angle. One has to
reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the
process.
We are discussing about the formless truth in the realm of untruth (duality). If we rectify reasoning base form to formless
then the words and concepts will become meaningless. To travel from ignorance
to wisdom one has to use the words and concepts and as his understanding
matures he has to drop them.
Everyone is not on the same level of understanding, some are in the
elementary level and some are in advanced stages. In elementary stages we have
to use more words and concepts to make them understand and also to overcome the
inherited conditioning, for advanced seekers are sharp enough to understand
assimilate the truth with lesser words.
Spiritual pursuit is a very personal journey. Seeker of truth has
to bifurcate everything which is based on the ego, (false self), such as
religion, god, paths and theories and philosophy.
The seeker of truth should not indulge in condemning religion and yoga
or its gurus or gods and its code of conduct. But he has to highlight its
fallacy for his own information, which helps him to proceed deeper with the
investigation.
The Seeker of truth has to mingle and discuss with like minded people
but never indulge in arguments about religious doctrines and teachers and
teachings and philosophies.
Religion and god and guru glorification and scriptural studies and yoga are not needed in pursuit of truth. Only one must have the intense urge to
know the truth and courage to accept the truth and reject the untruth, when un-contradictable
truth is revealed through inquiry analysis and reasoning.
A receptive mind free from religious and yogic or any sort of
knowledge based on the ego is very much necessary to acquire the nondual
wisdom.
All the accumulated knowledge of religion and yoga and paths and
theories are mere dross in pursuit of truth. Religion and yoga are helpful for
the mass and the society but they are a barricade in unfolding the mystery of the
mind.
Even in the Buddhism: - Buddhist teaching has itself become a kind of interactive and self-evolving process, much like its idea of pratityasamutpada. However, the end goal is still Nirvana, which is an experience ultimately beyond all concepts and language, even beyond the Buddhist teachings. In the end even the attachment to the Dharma, the Buddhist teaching, must be dropped like all other attachments. The tradition compares the teaching to a raft upon which one crosses a swift river to get to the other side; once one is on the far shore; there is no longer any need to carry the raft. The far shore is Nirvana, and it is also said that when one arrives, one can see quite clearly that there was never any river at all.
The scriptures and theories
and teaching based on the ego are not the yardstick. Using them as yardstick to
understand and assimilate the truth will lead one towards the pursuit of arguments.
Seeker of truth has to discover on his own, the truth of his true existence by
inquiring “what is mind?” and “what is the substance of the mind?” and move
forward.
The wisdom consists in knowing the
truth, that everything (mind or physical existence) is consciousness. Freedom (truth)
is always there yet one does not know it.
But to those whose reason is turned away from physicality and who have
attained the serenity of the soul/self (consciousness) are quite near to the
ultimate truth.
To think once own body and his
experience of the world is an illusion is a difficult matter, unless one
realizes the self is not physical but it is formless soul it is difficult to
have a glimpse of truth.
When one realizes the fact that, the
self is not physical but the formless soul, naturally the body and the universe
becomes an illusion.
The Mind (universe) is emanating from the
soul (consciousness) means the mind is being effect from consciousness is not
different from it. Deeper analysis shows it. Analysis needs deeper thinking and
reasoning. The mind is whole universe thus it has a form. But where is the form
in consciousness (soul) because consciousness is like an ocean and mind is like
a wave. The universe is same
consciousness, as the ocean produces the wave, so the consciousness produces
the mind (universe).
The moment one knows the mind (universe)
is consciousness, and then there is no ignorance. If one knows consciousness as
self then everything is consciousness, the consciousness is second to
none. The mind is consciousness but due
to ignorance one mistakes it for something else. One thinks the self is within
the body; but the self is without the body and the world.
The mind ceases to exist without the matter. Without the matter
mind ceases to exist as mind but it exists as a matter- less awareness. Without the mind
neither the world nor its perceiver can exist.
Without the matter there is no duality. Without duality there is no
experience. Without experience it is non-dual reality. Therefore, whatever
prevails without the mind is ultimate reality.
The true nature of the soul (consciousness) is camouflaged by the
illusion/duality. To know the truth one
has to discover and realize the formless substance of the mind or illusion. One
has to learn to view and judge the worldview on the standpoint the formless
soul as self. Self-knowledge is the
prime goal of the truth seeker. This goal is hidden within the mind as its
invisible substance and witness. Therefore, it is necessary inquiry, analyse
and reason into the nature of mind/ duality/illusion in order to unfold the
mystery of mind or duality or illusion.
