Try to understand the structure of the mind; the mind contains the whole universe. All individual experiences of thoughts, feeling, perception, mental formation are happenings within the mind, which appears and disappears as waking or dream. A continuous process of thought, a continuous procession of thoughts -- associated, non-associated, relevant, and irrelevant -- many multi-dimensional impressions gathered from everywhere are belongs to the individual who perceives the world within the mind. The birth, life, death and the world exit within the mind their reality is limited to mind. The nature of the mind is impermanence because it is bound by form, time and space.
A child is born. A child is clear because the ego is not formed. The moment ego appears, the unclarity, the confusion, enters. A child is clear, clarity but he will have to gather knowledge, information, culture, religion, and conditionings necessary, useful to the worldly life. He will have to gather many things from everywhere, from many sources -- opposite, contradictory sources. From many sources he will gather. Then the he becomes store house of hotchpotch knowledge. And because of so many diverse knowledge, doubts and confusion is bound to be there. And whatsoever he gather, nothing is certain, because knowledge based on the ego is always a growing affair. Therefore, there is need to acquire Self-Knowledge to get rid of accumulated dross.
As soon as word "mind" is uttered people think “the mind of an individual", whereas the mind is that which appears and disappears as a whole waking or dream. The body, ego, world are within the mind. Thus, individual exists within the mind and individual experiences are happenings within the mind.
The witness means "that to which anything appears.” This is an important and vital difference. The mind appears to the witness, which is the formless soul. The soul is also the substance of the mind.
Mirage or illusion means which appears to be reality but by close examination one becomes the unreal nature of the mirage/illusion, and becomes aware of the substance from which it is created of.
There is always confusion and there is no clarity about truth when one considers the ego [I] as self. Therefore, the self cannot be that, because on the base of soul, which is the true self there is no confusion and always clarity.
When the mind appears all confusion and doubts arise and when mind disappears all will the doubts and confusion will vanish. Then what is that is aware of the appearance disappearance of the mind. The physical existence [man + universe] is limited to mind, and it is mind. Therefore, mind is limited to the physical existence.
One cannot make the mind clear; without understanding the formless substance from which the mind is made. The nature of the mind is diversity. Thus understanding the mind is necessary to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth.
Mind is mere illusion. What is mind will remain unclear if one never verifies the facts about the mind. Without verifying the fact about the mind one keeps experiencing the duality as reality. When the illusion is taken as reality all the judgements will be based on the physical self, thus all conclusions will be based on the intellectual speculations; therefore one will not be able to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth.
Only when one investigates the mind through deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning He will be able to transcend the mind and come out of it, clarity will happen to him. He can be clear, about the facts of the mind. There is not such a thing as a mind in the realm of truth; never has been and never will be. Mind means the illusion, in which the whole universe with all its contents exists. When there is no mind there is no illusion.
One starts this mental journey unaware of its destination; when he becomes aware of the fact that, the form, time and space are mere mirage created out of single substance, which witnesses the form, time and space. Due to ignorance of that formless substance and witness of the form, time and space we experience the duality as reality.
One has to mentally cross over the borders of time, form and space to cross which is limited to physicality, by realizing the fact that the self is not physical but it is formless spirit. Then only it is possible to crossover from limited to unlimited.
This journey cannot even begin without doubting our own inherited beliefs, which are obstacle in this mental journey. Only after verification of validity of all these man created limits are mere speculated ideas based on the false self/ego.
Many people are not even aware what is soul; though knowing of it, many do not comprehend. Only few expound the knowledge of soul, which is the true self and very rare assimilate and realize it. It is all because of their inherited religious and social background and grooming.
There is a need to dismantle the inherited physical structure mentally to overcome the duality. The whole physical structure is built on the foundation of the ‘ego’. Since they think the ‘ego’ as self, it becomes difficult to grasp and assimilate and realize the non dual truth.
The ego is not the self. The ego, body and the world exist within the mind. Mind appears and disappears as waking/dream. The mind is impermanent; hence it is not the self. The formless knower of the three states is the true self. The ego is not the witness of the three states, because the ego exists within the waking or dream experience and it is limited to the waking or dream. .
Since people think whatever is propagated by the guru/yogi as ultimate truth and blindly accept it as truth, without verifying the validity of their preaching. This blind acceptance becomes a big hindrance in pursuit of truth. If one is seeking truth, one has to verify the validity of any claim through inquiry, analysis and reasoning on the true base, and accept only un -contradictable truth.
Self-knowledge when taught by an unqualified person is not easily comprehended, because it is diversely regarded by disputants. But when it is taught by Gnani, there can remain no more doubt about It. Soul is subtler than the subtlest and not to be known through argument.
Self- Knowledge cannot be attained by reasoning based on the ego/physical self. Atman becomes easy of comprehension, when taught by another. One has to attain self- Knowledge right now in this very life not in next world or next life.
Gnani, by means of concentration on the true Self, realizes that ancient, effulgent hidden and which dwells and pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states as its formless substance and witness.
The knowing the true Self is not born; it does not die. It has not sprung from anything; nothing has sprung from It. Birthless, eternal, everlasting and ancient, it is not killed when the body is killed or when the world disappears.
If the murderer thinks he kills and if the killed man thinks he is killed, neither of these apprehends aright. The Self kills not, nor is it killed.
Soul exists in smaller than the small, greater than the great, and is hidden in the three states as its formless substance and witness. A man who is free from viewing and judging the worldview on the base of ‘ego’ beholds the Self through tranquillity and becomes free from experiencing the duality as reality.
Gnani, having realized Atman as dwelling within impermanent states is bodiless, pervades the three states as its formless substance and witness and permanent and eternal.
Self-knowledge cannot be acquired by the study of the scriptures, or by intelligence, or by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one the soul reveals its own form.
He who has not rectified his reasoning base from the ‘ego ’ [form] base to soul[formless] base , who does not have the intense urge to know the non dual truth and who is not tranquil and subdued and whose mind is not receptive , cannot acquire Self-Knowledge . It is realized only through inquiry, analysis and reasoning on the true base.
