Consciousness is thus beyond the known and the unknown.

From the standpoint of the mind's working, one says that its thoughts are transient and illusory; from the standpoint of ultimate result when he seeks the essence of the objective world he has to resolve it into the One mind.

 Is this mind also illusory, although longer lasting than individual thoughts? To ask such a question is to think about the mind i.e. to set it up as an object, to remain in the world of duality. Hence one cannot get a correct answer about it--only a thought. The mind as knower cannot be known by thought; only by non-thinking, by silence, question- less. 

The meaning of consciousness has not been found. So how can one know that divine Consciousness is infinite? When one is conscious he sees a thing, a second thing. The latter is a finite idea; where is the infinity of it? 

Consciousness is thus beyond the known and the unknown. Nothing can come near this consciousness.  The Gnani knows that the universe is only consciousness, after all, but this is the final position. 

Bondage is something which you have imagined. Hence if one wishes to force himself from it, he needs only free his-self from his imagination. 

Even the highest thought of consciousness must disappear in deep sleep. Thought is changing and unreal. It passes away like dreams. It is impossible to eliminate thought entirely in the waking experience. No one has ever succeeded in doing so. If he does he will at once fall asleep.  It is impossible to see any differences or distinctions in the witness. 

The nature of consciousness is always wisdom, knowing, whether in death or life, sleep or waking. But to understand this knowledge is hard because the world-objects worry one. So one has to get rid of this worry which prevents his insight, he must analyze the mind, to realize the ultimate truth. 

From the standpoint of worldly communication through words one strives to know ultimate truth. But from the highest standpoint words can only be applied to an object. When one say 'I do not know the ultimate truth, there must be something in him which knows him do not know, a Witness, and which thus contradicts him. 

The consciousness in me, the consciousness in him, the consciousness in someone else, are all one and the same; not separate from each other. Nobody has ever seen more than one consciousness. 

The consciousness can be realized wherever one is, whereas if he goes to mountains in search of ultimate truth he finds only universe. It is within the mind (universe) rather than without.

He who knows the witness is consciousness, he remains satisfied. Not he who is concerned with universe. Birth, life and death are part of the illusory universe.

Birth, life and death are happening within the illusory universe, the universe disappears as deep sleep. Birth, life, death and universe are an idea exists in waking and dream states only. Without the consciousness they cease to exist as real.  The consciousness can exist with our without the waking or dream. The witness which sees the three states is consciousness is immortal.

One cannot know the truth until one knows the stuff from which the mind is created

Until one has the conviction that, he is an individual separate from the world and world existed prior to him, and he is born in this world afterwards, he will not be able to cross the threshold of duality [illusion], which he experiences as reality.  If  one accepts the duality [illusion or mind or waking] as reality he will never be able to grasp the ultimate truth.

The duality is reality only on the standpoint of false self[ego].  There is a need to reduce mentally, the whole experience of diversity [man+ universe] into mind and mind into spirit [consciousness], in order to realize the nondual truth.  Consciousness itself is ultimate truth.    

   

Seeker must first know what is before him. If he cannot know that, what else can he know or understand? If he gives up the external world in his inquiry, he cannot get the whole truth.

One cannot know the truth until one knows the stuff from which the mind[universe] is created. The goal of pursuit of truth is to realize the fact that, the true self is not physical but it is the formless soul/ spirit/consciousness. 

Many people are struck with awe or reverence at the outer indications of renunciation, and thus blindly accept a man to be a Gnani. The two have no connection. Because he has no wife, no family, and no possessions" they think man who has merely repressed these desires as though these things had anything to do with wisdom he is mere religious man. People are quite incompetent to judge who is a Gnani between god men, intellectuals, and yogis. A Gnani is neither a god men, nor yogi, nor intellectual.

The man who speaks about god, scriptures and religion is not a Gnani. A yogi who speaks about yoga is not a Gnani. A God man who indulges in miracle is not a Gnani. An intellectual who argues on his own speculated theories is not a Gnani. A Gnani is the one who guides people towards the source of the mind [universe or physical existence] is real Gnani. A Gnani never claims himself a teacher nor does he accept any one as disciple. 

    

The first step is of knowing “Self" is not physical but it is formless spirit.  The second is to know the spirit is ultimate truth, the "whole." Then alone he knows truth and wisdom, i.e. the whole truth.

“Soul” [consciousness] as “Self “is the key that opens the door of ultimate truth. This understanding is certainly necessary at the first stage, when the mind is wandering. At the end the mind gets stilled and knows its formless essence and becomes one with it. Then there is no witness nor witnessed everything is one and the whole. 

The formula "What is ‘I’?" presupposes the existence of an ‘I’. But this is only an assumption. Before proceeding to act on such a formula one ought first to inquire whether there is such a thing as an ‘I’.

Those who have been baffled by unsuccessful enquiry, reading, intellection, have to find out what are the obstacles on the way, what is blocking them from grasping, understanding and assimilating the non-dual truth.

Yoga is intended to remove the hindrance in pursuit of truth such as sexual desire, worries, anxieties, desire for wealth etc. and also to enable one to keep out from irrelevant thoughts whilst making inquiry, analysis and reasoning.

 All this has to be done before indulging in pursuit of truth. Therefore yoga has only a negative value and is a preparatory stage. Pursuit of truth starts from what is seen, i.e. the three states.  Wisdom comes from both knowing the three states and the formless witness of the three states.

To leave out one of these parts is to prevent attainment of wisdom. "Who am I” is useful no doubt, it has certainly a value in its place, and gives some knowledge of self as, the Witness. But what about the witnessed? The three states are mere object to the witness. It must also be looked at. If the witnessed [three states] is ignored, then "Who am I” cannot give the full truth.

“Who am ‘I’” is   yogic inquiry; not the spiritualistic; the latter deals with the whole of life whereas the former deals with a part only.

"Who am I” inquiry limits only to the physical entity, because there, is no person in truth but only in the illusion of mystics.  ‘It should be "What is I?".

  The question "Who am I” is a religious, not a spiritualistic question. It is a most selfish one. It is on a par with "What shall I be after death?" and "What shall I get in return for my good karma in next life?" It is purely egocentric and it is based on the false self.

Only the people who are serious in knowing the truth can lift their thoughts above ego and ask "What is the mind?"  All  the three states  put together make the soul/self, not merely the ego questioning itself ''What is  I.”

People are most interested in themselves before they gets interested in the world therefore, the "Who am I?" inquiry leads only to reveal half-truth.    The “Who am I? – Inquiry is useful as a first stage to show the illusoriness of ego and thus help seeker to get rid of it. It helps the seeker to prepare him to consider the higher question: What is the world, what is mind, what is “Self” the truth about which cannot be learnt by those attached to their ego, with its prejudices against idealism, etc. 

Ultimate truth cannot be known in the sense in which one knows objects of thought.

Ultimate truth cannot be known in the sense in which one knows objects of thought. It can be known only to the extent to which he knows them, for he can only think of the knower when he is in the presence of the known, i.e. objects, for the latter make him aware that a knower must exist.

Thus duality makes one think of the knower, but it cannot make him know the knower. The knower is known in the world of duality only by implication, as he cannot think without knower. The knower is a concept, and cannot be known in itself.

Ultimate truth is known only in the negative way. One cannot make it an object of knowledge. One can know that he cannot have an idea of an object unless he posits a knower, unless the knower is implied already.

The formless witness or knower itself is wisdom, that is, it knows everything else. The self is known only when one sees something else, for that other thing reminds him of it. The self is unknowable as an object, because the mind is an object to the true self (consciousness).

Knowing the ultimate truth means knowing that consciousness exists. The word “know” implies duality, something known; on the other hand non-dual wisdom does imply an object. The witness (true self or Consciousness) knows the three states (body + ego+ universe) as an object. The knowing powers, the witness, the knower can have no statement made about it, other than that its existence cannot be negated. The ultimate truth which one can know is that consciousness is not something to be known.

We are thinking of the mind within the mind, which appears as waking or dream experience. 

The thoughts cannot arise without the waking or dream experience. Absent of waking or dream is absent of thoughts and experiences. The thoughts and functioning of the dream body and dream world are reality within the dream. Same way, the thoughts and all the individual experiences and the waking world are reality within the waking experience. The point here is the waking experience (universe or mind) itself is falsehood on the standpoint of the formless witness.

 Until we wake up in our formless true identity without the body and without world, we keep experiencing the duality (mind) as reality.  Thus, it is necessary to mentally grasp the existence of the formless witness to realize the fact that, the body and universe with all its contents are also mirage created out of consciousness. Thus consciousness alone is and all else is illusion.  The illusion also is consciousness because it created and sustained and finally it dissolves as consciousness.  Therefore, there is neither creation nor creator in nondual reality because the whole diversity (mind) is created out of single stuff.

It takes a time to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth, because we have to burn all the accumulated dross which has become the great obstacle in realizing the truth.

There is no need to know the functioning of the mind is not limited to the body because the mind is the whole physical existence [body+ universe].   Therefore, there is need for correction in our understanding, which is based on the birth entity, which is not the self.

All the accumulate knowledge based on the birth [waking] entity is of no use in understanding and assimilating the Self-Knowledge or Brahma  Gnana or Atma Gnana.     There is a need to learn to view and judge the truth on the base of true self (consciousness) to understand and assimilate the Self-Knowledge or Brahma  Gnana or Atma Gnana.