Until and unless the seeker stops searching the truth on the base of the ‘I’, he will not be able to understand and assimilate the self-knowledge. When the reasoning base is rectified from form to the formless , then he will be able to realize the ultimate truth or Brahma truth here and now. That is in this very life, not in the next life or the next world.
The mind is present in the form of the universe. The universe appears as waking or dream (duality) and it, disappears, as deep sleep (non duality). The universe is a mere mirage created out of the soul or consciousness. The individual experiences such as birth, life and death are happenings within the mirage. Therefore, mind is a myth. Therefore, till one realizes the fact that, the self is not the 'I' but the self is the substance and witness of 'I' , the ignorance prevails. Due to ignorance the duality prevails as reality.
A person, seeing a rope in dim light, mistakes it for a snake. He is as much frightened as he would have been if there had been a real snake there. The snake is said to have ‘illusory reality’. The illusory snake is described as a superimposition on the rope. The snake is not real, because, it is found on examination with a light that it never existed there. At the same time, it was experienced as reality till ignorance prevailed. Similarly, this waking experience experienced as reality till wisdom dawns. On the dawn of Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana it is known to have no existence apart from consciousness. Consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman. The waking experience is therefore said to be superimposed on consciousness same way as the dream is superimposed on the consciousness. The waking experience is practical reality, because it is real until the attainment of Self-realization. Consciousness alone has absolute reality; because it is absolutely changeless because it is formless.
One could go on and on but the point is that the Upanishads approach the Supreme immutable truth in multiple ways and try to articulate the manifest and un-manifest aspects of the Brahman(soul or consciousness) .
For those that are deluded, the multiple points of view may amount to contradictory perceptions but Upanishads are the epitome of an attempted understanding of the immortal, immutable Brahman by mortals caught in the dynamism of this Universe.
A person, seeing a rope in dim light, mistakes it for a snake. He is as much frightened as he would have been if there had been a real snake there. The snake is said to have ‘illusory reality’. The illusory snake is described as a superimposition on the rope. The snake is not real, because, it is found on examination with a light that it never existed there. At the same time, it was experienced as reality till ignorance prevailed. Similarly, this waking experience experienced as reality till wisdom dawns. On the dawn of Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana it is known to have no existence apart from consciousness. Consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman. The waking experience is therefore said to be superimposed on consciousness same way as the dream is superimposed on the consciousness. The waking experience is practical reality, because it is real until the attainment of Self-realization. Consciousness alone has absolute reality; because it is absolutely changeless because it is formless.
One could go on and on but the point is that the Upanishads approach the Supreme immutable truth in multiple ways and try to articulate the manifest and un-manifest aspects of the Brahman(soul or consciousness) .
For those that are deluded, the multiple points of view may amount to contradictory perceptions but Upanishads are the epitome of an attempted understanding of the immortal, immutable Brahman by mortals caught in the dynamism of this Universe.
