Trev Light Bown
It is all a question of what you mean by soul centric reason. How can there be reasoning without mind activity?. Does Ramana or any other Ghani mention this. ?
SK:- First one has to know
what is mind. Thee seeker has to have intense urge to know the truth and start
a fresh then only it is possible to understand, assimilate and realize what I
am driving one at. Till one thinks the mind is within the body he will never be
able to become soul-centric. When one realizes what is mind? What is the
substance of the mind? and what is the
source of the mind?, then he will know
what is truth and ‘what is untruth’. The knowledge based on some books or some teacher
is not yardstick.
Deeper self-search
revels the fact that, the self is neither the waking entity nor the self is
dream entity but the self is the formless soul, which witnesses the coming and
going of the three states. If self is not the waking entity (ego or you) ,which
is the false self within the false experience(waking) then it is erroneous to
view and judge the truth on the ego which is the false self. Thus the truth is
unfolded only when one becomes soul-centric. It takes a long time to become soul-centric.
The words betray the
hollowness. The real cannot be described; it must be discovered and realized.
Whatever the words try to convey is only helpful to grasp the truth. The non-dual truth has to be grasped and realized.
Man knows only the world, and his individual experiences within the
world. He is not aware of the fact
that, he and his experience of the world are part of the illusion. He views and
judges the truth on the base of his birth entity, which is false entity, thus
he is stuck in the muck of illusion or duality. The non-dual truth lies beyond
the physical based understanding. Thus,
it is necessary to verify the fact through deeper inquiry, analysis and
reasoning about his own inherited beliefs and accumulated knowledge, in order
to realize, how they become obstacle in realizing the truth.
The physical
conditioning of the soul will be dropped only when it realizes the fact that,
the physical self or ego is not the self. Thus struggling to get rid of the ego
and ego based conditioning or samskara is a foolish venture.
Constant mental pounding
is necessary through constant reflecting on the truth that, the soul is the
true self and on the base of the soul all else is mere mirage/illusion. When one grasps these truth and becomes firm
in his conviction the physical conviction drops and the nondual wisdom
dawns. Thus, one becomes aware of the non-dual truth in the midst of the experience of duality or illusion.
Knowledge of the
self-gathered from books or gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is
rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization will do that. Realize
yourself, turning the mind inward.
Seeker has to realize
the fact that the right path to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma
Gnana is the inner (mental) path.
If one is seeking truth
one has to drop all religious based dogmas and blind beliefs ritualistic
baggage and move forward in their pursuit of truth.
There is need to study the scriptures. One has to self-search the truth
and realize it without the scriptures. And then when he reads the scriptures he
becomes aware the scriptures are also saying the same thing but everything is
misinterpreted.
Mundaka Upanishad :- This Atman cannot be attained through study of the Vedas, nor through
intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Atman—by him alone is
Atman attained. It is Atman that reveals to the seeker Its true nature. 3 page70upanhsds by Nikilananda
It means the truth is beyond scriptures and egocentric
intelligence. Thus in order to grasp,
assimilate and realize the non-dualistic truth the seeker to employ soul-centric
reasoning faculty.
That is 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 non-duality without verifying
all the facts from every angle. One has to reflect through reasoning over and
over again without getting tired of the process.
That is why Sri,
Sankara:- 58. Loud speech consisting
of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise
erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar,
but are no good for Liberation.
59. The study of the
Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is
equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.
60. The Scriptures
consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to
ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature
of the Self.
61. For one who has been
bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of
Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred
formulae) and medicines to such a one?
62. A disease does not
leave off if one simply utter the name of the medicine, without taking it;
(similarly) without direct realisation one cannot be liberated by the mere
utterance of the word Brahman.
There is nothing more rational, more
intelligible and more un-dogmatic insights of Sri, Sankara, is to drop all the
theistic non-duality or Advaita which is meant for those who are incapable and
not receptive to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.
If one
merely theorizes, tries to understand through his intellect and there contended
he cannot become a Gnani but he becomes a scholar or pundit. Seeker of truth must make what he has
understood and assimilated has to be
realized, to get firm conviction of the non- dualistic truth or ultimate
truth or Brahman, than only it is
possible for him to transcend all the limitations of the experience of form,
time and space.
The existence beyond limitations of form, time
and space is known as Moksha or Nirvana. Spiritual freedom or self-realization
is the goal of every seeker of truth.
