Katha Upanisad (1.2.5) says; - "Caught in the grip of ignorance, self-proclaimed
experts consider themselves learned authorities. They wander about this world befooled,
like the blind leading the blind."
Each sect concocts a God to suit its own
purposes. Such concocted Gods are mere belief. Faith in religion weakens as man pays
more attention to facts of life and this world. People, who argue that truth is
only in their religion, are vain logicians, depending on mere ideas, imaginations.
One must make an effort to know the
ultimate truth. Self, which is in the form of consciousness, is there always. One
has got it, there is nothing new to be acquired, only have the sharp enough to
see and understand and assimilate it, when told about it. But there is a
difference between understanding and realization.
Only Mental Effort is required for this
understanding and assimilation only, whereas once understood and assimilated
than no special effort is needed to remember one’s understanding and
assimilation: until then he only has an idea of the ‘Self’, which is
consciousness , , he only partially understands it. But once he thoroughly
grasps what it is and that all these things are consciousness, he will then
constantly find its present everywhere without further effort, because he will perceive consciousness, which is ultimate
truth by understanding, even in the
midst of worldly existence.
When there is only one thing [consciousness]
known, there is nothing to change, nothing to appear or disappear; when one
speaks of remembering or forgetting ‘consciousness ‘[ true Self] that implies one
believes in the existence of something
else, i.e. a second thing, which is to be remembered. That would show one has
not known that all is one. But knowing it, there is no second, consequently no
intermittent perception of self or consciousness, but a permanent effortless
understanding that it alone is.
When one gets a glimpse of truth
mentally he has to try to reflect on it a constantly in order to establish it.
The self must raise itself by the Self.
One need not renounce the world by
taking sanyasa To remove doubts we ought not to one has to wrestle with them until he conquers.
If one says that he knows God exists
always implies he must also exist always. It would be correct to say on this
point, I do not know.
The inner revelation flash without any
process of thought to mark the intervening stages; still they are ideas, mental
phenomena in their full nature. When they project themselves into the mind or
universe as an object then one becomes aware of the subject object relation and
also the fact that the object is mere mirage created out of the formless
subject, which is consciousness.
Arjuna says in Verse 63, Chap.18, Gita: - that
all his doubts are cleared, he means his doubts on every question. But this
happy state could not have been reached if he had not begun by having doubts
and asking questions and demanding proofs.
Krishna tells Arjuna: - to overcome doubt by the sword of wisdom,
he does not mean that Arjuna should give up his doubt and believe, as the
Pundits interpret it, but that he should keep on thinking about his doubts
until they are solved; that he should not stop until this point is reached.
Non-dual truth is ultimate truth. Yogis, mystics and religious teachers do not
accept the path of wisdom because it pries into the truth, the source and the
validity of the knowledge they claim. Therefore it is the most difficult part
of the study of nonduality.
Ashtavakra Gita page
224:- It
is not the absence of buddhi that can grasp Advaita but the man who possesses
the highest intellect. Brains are necessary. Such a man, by merely hearing the
truth mentioned will know it.
The action, love and virtue are very much necessary in practical
life within the practical world. But they are not qualification for
self-realization. The freedom arises only when one becomes aware
of the true existence, which is beyond form, time and space. Thus whatever is
based on the form is illusion from the ultimate standpoint.
The one which is aware of the form, time and space is not the
form but formless. The intellectuality
based on the form is not wisdom. Thus one has to use his reason and base it on
the formless self to understand, assimilate and realize the nondual truth,
which is ultimate truth. Thus all intellectual theories based on the form, time
and space are mere imagination based on the form, which is false self [ego]
within the false experience [universe or waking].
Thus, there would be no
freedom without understanding facts
about the Mind or universe. Intellectuality is limited to form, time and
space. Thus reason based on the formless self has to be used to grasp the
truth, which is beyond birth, life, death and the world.
Thus belief, actions, conducts, love, virtue, scriptural
mastery, religion, rituals, prayers which are mere theories based on the false
self are great hindrance in realizing the non-dual truth, which is ultimate
truth.
All religious theories
are meant for those who believe in the practical life within the practical
world as reality because they are not verified the truth of their true
existence. When one verifies the fact
about his true existence through deeper self-search than he becomes
aware of the fact that, the self is no form but self is formless consciousness
than he becomes aware of the fact that the practical life within the practical
world is mere illusion created out of consciousness.
The practical knowledge within the practical world is meant is not
wisdom but it is knowledge based on ignorance. The real wisdom is nondual
wisdom, which arise only when ignorance vanishes.
By holding the blind belief of conceptual God and trying to get
freedom by observing religious code of conduct and leading the orthodox
oriented life within the waking experience
trying to get Moksha is like building the air castle in the sky because
the waking experience itself is unreal. Same way as the dream becomes unreal
when waking takes place the waking experience becomes unreal when wisdom
dawns.
Thus experience of birth, life, death and the world, pleasure
and pain and all actions good deeds, ritual, faith, good or bad conducts,
worships, prayers , belief in conceptual Gods, ancestor worship and yogic Samadhi and practices are
not the qualification for moksha, because the waking experience itself is as false from the ultimate standpoint .
People take to the belief system or of
authoritarianism merely because they are the easiest ways. To seek for proof is
troublesome and time-taking.
Belief system and mysticism are so much
preferred to wisdom because one has only to imagine, not to inquire and reason.
The first is easy, the second is hard.
Belief system and mysticism is a species
of mesmerism affecting weaker or impressionable people. Thus the panoply of a religious
guru's religious robes and religious oriented life style creates unconscious
suggestion in weaker minds of a superior power or magical knowledge. Similarly
visitors to ashrams are suggested into thinking they experience great peace
because they are unconsciously hypnotized into believing that will happen. But
when a strong disciplined rationalistic mind meets a yogi, religious guru or
visits an ashram, he is entirely unaffected.
Scriptures are being added to from time
to time. This process will go on. There is the final authority among them? One
contradicts the other: duality reigns supreme.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says:
- In that unitive state there is neither father nor mother,
neither worlds nor gods nor even Scriptures. In that state there is neither
thief nor slayer, neither low caste nor high, neither Monk nor ascetic. The
Self is beyond good and evil, beyond all the suffering of the human Heart.
Belief system is Successful in propagating
the life after death theory: - what
happens after death-- nobody can deny it because nobody has seen what happens
after death it is mere assumption. When the self is formless than it is birth less
and deathless. This theory based on the physical self is false theory because
true self is not physical.
Nobody can disprove when some mystics even
claim that they have seen God by intuition. But the onus of proof is on those
who make an assertion. Mystics are required to prove; the burden to disprove is
not on their critics.
Mystical experience is ancient
psychology and it is mind game. And its reality is limited to the physical
existence or duality. The duality is
mere illusion from the ultimate standpoint.
Mystics experience is based on the false self therefore it reveals no
truth. A mystic, touching people forehead and thus putting them into mystic trance
is purely a physical or at best a psychological one; based on the power of
suggestions it has nothing to do with formless self, with the question of
truth. It is just a higher variation of the effect produced by patting a person
on the shoulder to encourage him. The
truth is not based on the individuality and individual experiences because the
self is not an individual but it pervades in everything and everywhere in the
universe as its formless substance and witness.
One mystic, experience can be overthrown
by another mystic’s experience of another thus there is no universality in
their experience. Any experience implies duality and duality is not reality
from ultimate standpoint. Mysticism
charms people but reason does not. Faith, feeling or experience is on
everyone's lips.
The mystic experience like divine light, divine sound , divine vibration, divine smell
of perfume etc. are felt interiorly in
meditation is mere hallucination created by suggestions and unproved because the self is not the form but self is
formless.
When a seeker sees all this diversity
and contradiction of beliefs and opinions, he should reflect that there is some
foolishness somewhere. This doubt is the beginning of inquiry into truth.
Chakras in yoga are based on fact and fiction. It was noted that there were nervous
plexuses and nodules at intervals in the spine and other parts of the body.
Upon this basis the yogis started imagining that if the mind is concentrated on
each one a different mystic result would be obtained. But that is mere fancy. When
self is formless the question chakras not arise. It is foolish to practice yoga
after one becomes aware of the fact that self is not the body but the self is
formless consciousness. The body based yogic or mystical theories are not the
means for self-realization.
Without having firm Inner conviction
that the self is not the form but the self is formless consciousness it is
difficult to acquire self-knowledge. It is
useless to argue on the standpoint form as self because self is not form but
self is formless consciousness.
Man and his experience of the universe
is the product of ignorance. Therefore,
everyone is in ignorance of their true existence. Everyone knows about their
birth, life, death and the universe but they are unaware of the fact that their
experience of the birth, life, death and the universe is mere illusion form ultimate
standpoint.
Illusion disappears in deep sleep, death
or one gets the awareness of the true self through non-dual wisdom. If ignorance were permanent nothing could be
known. Pursuit of truth is removal of ignorance by self - knowledge.
In all interpretation based on the “I” leads
to hallucination. Scriptural tenets may
be accepted as authoritative only after one has shown the reality and proved
the truth, for then he can point out that the texts teach the same thing. If one
quotes them before having demonstrated truth, then it is scholasticism or
punditry.
There have been so many conflicting belief
systems, or so many changes, divisions and subdivisions of religion, therefore
religious truth is individual not universal.
Only when one meets with suffering and
disappointments, than the doubts arises about his inherited belief system.
Doubts are absolutely necessary to make men inquire. Thus when man gets doubts
than only he begins to question whether his inherited belief system is true or false.
Pursuit of truth is the getting rid of all doubts. Pursuit of truth begins with doubt. That is, doubting one’s own self, one’s own
beliefs.
Doubts are an essential tool in
pursuit of truth.
Perhaps because
of people’s inherited religious background, they have a tendency to regard
doubt as almost as an enemy because religion is based on blind belief. People
feel that if they have doubts, it means that they are denying the teachings and
that they should really have unquestioning faith. In organized religion,
unquestioning faith is considered a desirable quality.
In pursuit of
truth is pursuit of verification of facts. One has to Investigate,” not “blindly believe.” An
inquiring mind is not regarded as a drawback in pursuit of truth. However, one
who says, “This is not part of my mental framework, therefore I don’t believe
it,” is not a receptive to self-knowledge, and such an attitude is a great
disadvantage for those who aspire to follow any spiritual path. But one who is
receptive, and questions and doesn’t accept things simply because they are
said, but he uses his own reason and investigates on his own till he finds the
un-contradictable truth. .
Many teachers
have their own doctrine. Each claims that his particular philosophy and
practice is the truth, but they all contradict each other. Thus they put
everyone in total confusion. Many people are confused. This confusing situation
is the starting point of pursuit of truth. One should not take anything on
trust merely because it has passed down through tradition, or because his teachers
say it, or because his elders have taught him, or because it’s written in some
famous scripture. When he has verified the validity of his belief on his own
and found to be right and true, then he can accept it.”
All through the
ages it has been understood that the doctrine is there to be investigated and
experienced by each individual. So one should not be afraid to doubt, it is
right for one to inquire. But he needs to inquire with all receptiveness, not
with the idea that everything that fits our preconceived notions is right and
anything that does not is automatically wrong. One must have courage to accept
the truth and reject untruth in pursuit of truth. If one has a set pattern in
place, and everything he comes across must either be stretched out or cut down
to fit it. This just distorts everything and prevents from grasping and
assimilating the truth. Thus, noting has to be accepted as truth without
verification of the facts.
If we come across
certain things that we find difficult to accept even after careful
investigation, that doesn’t mean the whole investigation has to be thrown
overboard. Even after many years of
investigation, one may still find certain things that they are not sure about
it. People to go to some guru and ask him about some of these unsolved queries
which they did not find proper answers, and he may say some answers based on
the some doctrine, which also is inadequate and not satisfying answer.
Seeker has to get all his doubts are cleared, it means
his doubts on every question. But the doubts cannot be cleared without inquiring
and demanding proofs of certainty.
One has to overcome doubt by the sword of wisdom, it
does not mean that seeker should give up
his doubt and believe, as the Pundits or intellectuals interpret it, but that he should keep on
thinking about his doubts until they are solved; that he should not stop until
this point is reached.
