Sage Sri,
Sankara says in commentary in Vedanta sutra that what is accepted
without proper inquiry 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.
The 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.
Yoga
Vasishtha: -
"Teachers, interpretations of sacred texts, the force of religious
merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth which is
revealed in the clear reflection of the heart, engendered from contact with the
good."
Without
the ego the world ceases to exist. Without the world the ego ceases to exist.
You are the ego. Without the ego you cease to exist. Thus you
cannot be your own servant. Without realizing 'what is what' one will not
be able understand. Assimilate and realize non dualistic truth.
The
ego, body and the experience of the world appear together and disappear
together. The ego + body= waking entity (person). On the Nondualistic perspective the ego, body
and the experience of the world are one in essence. That essence is consciousness. Thus there is
no second thing exists other than consciousness. Thus there is only oneness. There is no division in consciousness in Non-dualistic reality. Till one is egocentric all sorts or doubts and confusion
arise. If one is soul-centric then there are no doubts and confusion because
everything is consciousness.
In a dream there are dream ego, dream body and dream world.
The whole dream disappears when waking takes place. Similarly the whole waking
disappears in deep sleep and also when wisdom dawns. The wisdom dawns when the
waking entity realizes it itself is not the self. The dream is a parallel waking experience and
waking experience is parallel dream. The
one that witnesses the coming and going of the three states is not the waking entity
(ego) but the soul, the innermost self.
Till one hold the ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ as self all the confusion will go on. The
‘I’ is not the self. The ‘I’ is the whole universe in which your body, ego
exists. The ego cannot be killed because the ego and the world appeared to
gather and they disappear together. Who has to kill the ego? How can the ego
kill itself when it is the very basis of the physical existence (universe)?
You are present in the
form of ego. You have an inborn conviction that: - you are an individual apart
from the world. And the world existed prior to you and you are born in this
world and you are living in this world.
Even In the dream one
has the same inborn conviction that: - he is an individual apart from the
world. And the world existed prior to you and he is born in this world and you
are living in this world.
Till this conviction is there the duality prevails. The illusory nature of the dream is exposed
when waking takes place. Similarly the illusory nature of the waking will be exposed
when wisdom dawns. The wisdom dawns when
the waking entity (you or ego) realizes it itself is not the self but the self
is the formless soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states,
in the midst of duality.
The ego cannot be killed. It is a foolish venture to kill or
destroy the ego. There is no need to kill the ego to get self-realization.
Perfect understanding of ‘what is self ‘and ‘what is non self is very much
necessary. The discrimination between
the self and non-self leads to Non dualistic self-awareness.
Holding some teacher or teaching as a yardstick leads to all
types of doubts and confusion and unnecessary argument. An argument fuels the
ego. The argument is possible only when one trying to grasp the Non-dualistic truth on the dualistic perspective. One
has to unlearn what he has learned. Without mentally burning the accumulated
dross it is impossible to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
