Sage Sri, Gaudapada’s rational exposition of
Advaita: - that
whatever is seen, whether external or internal, whether by the ordinary persons
or yogis, is unreal.
The
soul or consciousness, the innermost self is the witness-consciousness that
experiences the action, the actor, and the world of separate things. It is like
a light that illuminates everything in a theatre, revealing the master of
ceremonies, the guests, and the dancers with complete impartiality. Even when
they all depart, the light shines to reveal their absence.
Deeper self-search reveals the fact that: -the experience implies duality. The duality is falsehood from ultimate standpoint. The ego, body and world appear together and disappear together. One cannot get rid of the ego alone. It is no use of challenging or indulging in argument whether one is right and others are wrong, in pursuit of truth, because pursuit of truth is pursuit of verification. It is for the seeker to know how he is right how others wrong and on what standpoint he is right and others are wrong. And seeker has to verify himself what he knows as truth, is truth or not.
Consciousness, the One and Undifferentiated, which by the manifold application of its powers produces, the dual and non dual experiences [waking/dream/deep sleep] and, in the end, withdraws the three states into itself, is indeed the self—luminous.
The substance of all the three states, self—luminous and all—pervading, consciousness dwells always in the three states as its formless clay and witness. Consciousness is revealed by the negative way, discriminative wisdom and the Knowledge of Unity based upon reflection. The one who know consciousness is the true self becomes one with the immortal self.
When there is no ignorance, there is no day or night, neither being nor none—being; the pure Atman alone exists. That immutable Reality is the meaning of "consciousness. From it has proceeded the non dual wisdom.
No one can grasp consciousness as separate entity apart from duality because it is the formless clay and the witness of the experience of duality thus it cannot be grasped as above, across, or in the middle.
Its form is not an object of vision; no one beholds it with the eyes. They who, through pure intellect and the Knowledge of Unity based upon reflection, realize consciousness as the true self becomes one with the immortal.
