It is very
difficult to find out the state of a Gnani by his external actions. Gnana is
purely a mental state. It is an internal condition. A Gnani only can understand
another Gnani. Atma Gnana or Brahma Gnana is imperishable and inexhaustible
wealth. The material wealth is nothing;
when compared to the priceless self-knowledge.
The root of all misery is ignorance; ignorance
is cause of experiencing the illusion as reality. Until one becomes aware of
the fact that, the experience of birth, life, death and the world are mere
illusion created out of consciousness, which is the inner most self, there is
no freedom from experiencing the unreality as reality.
Wisdom is the direct means
to the attainment of self -realization, it is necessary to keep in mind the
means-end relation. The tool that one chooses must be suitable and appropriate
to the end, which he wants to attain. It is not the case that through any tool
any end can be attained. On the contrary, what tools has to be chosen and how
far it is relevant and appropriate to the end we have in view, must be
considered from the point of view of the nature of the end which is to be
attained.
The tool must be warranted by the end. In
other words, the choice of the tool as well as its suitability and
appropriateness is determined by the end. This point must be borne in mind in understanding
and assimilation of non-dual truth
Mistaking one thing for another or
superimposing the attributes of one thing on another is due to ignorance. Not
knowing the real nature of the Self which is non-dual, which is existence,
knowledge and infinitude, which is free from attributes, which is free
from activity, which is neither an agent nor an enjoyer, the ignorance
is superimposed on it.
The ignorance is cause of experiencing
the illusion as reality. Ignorance is
the root cause of our bondage. So in order to put an end to our bondage and
attain liberation from experiencing the illusion as reality, ignorance which is
the root cause has to be destroyed; and ignorance can be destroyed only by
attaining the self-knowledge, discriminating it from the illusion. Wisdom is
the means by which Self -Realization is desired to be attained. Self-realization
is the highest end of man since it destroys the root of the ignorance, the cause of the entire universe.
Through deeper self-search one has to eradicate the foundational
ignorance, Self -Knowledge alone is the means to the attainment of liberation
from illusion. Only Self -knowledge destroys the ignorance.
He who has realized the ultimate
truth or Brahman transcends the duality or mind where he sees no second thing
other than consciousness. Yogi who sees the universe as reality may try
to deny it because he thinks thoughtlessness is Brahman. The yogi sees the universe as a second thing
and he wants to banish the universe in Samadhi, because he does not know that
in non-duality there is no need to deny the universe. But he has to realize the
fact that, universe is not something different from the self, which
consciousness. Those who cannot grasp and realize this position, misunderstand
it, and wrongly hold it be yogic Samadhi where there is only blankness.
The presence of the universe is no
obstacle to Gnani‘s realization; he does not need yogic Samadhi. But yogi has imagined Brahman as blankness or
thoughtlessness thus he is still in the grip of duality. Thus Yogis Brahman is but a thought. Brahman is not a thought but Brahman is prior
to any mind or universe. Thus one has to
know what is prior to waking experience.
The yogi who wrongly thinks there is
Brahman to be got ,may attempt to do so, and may think he sees it, but all the
time he under the delusion of duality because he bases his- self on physical body, thinking Brahman to be
something different from the soul, which is the true self.
When one becomes aware of the fact
all the experiences of the three states and all the thoughts and words are Mind
and mind in turn is consciousness then he has transcended thinking faculty.
If one is seeking truth but
practicing yoga or Kundalini or any other practice for long years and finding
them inadequate and useless quenching his inner thirst has to drop them by realizing
they are only useful in preparatory stages to make them more receptive to grasp
the ultimate truth and they cannot transport them to ultimate end.
Seeker has to follow up his deeper
self-search and get rid of the inborn samskara or conditioning, which is
present as ‘I’ or ‘I AM’. There is no need of buying reading material or
hearing the sermons and running to one place to another or one guru to another
or surrendering to any guru or glorifying any guru in order to acquire
self-knowledge.
In success or failure or gain or
loss, in society or in solitude there is no difference to the Gnani because for
him everything is mirage created out of consciousness.
Where is performance of ritualistic
or meritorious work, where is worldly wealth, where is sense of enjoyment or
discrimination has no significance for the Gnani who has transcended such dual
notions such as ‘this is to be done and this no to be done.
The one who risen to Gnana is
liberated from experiencing the birth, life, death and the world as reality,
while living in the midst of world before his physical death.
There is no delusion, there is no
universe there is no need of renunciation or meditation there is no desire for
liberation for the Gnani who is resting
in consciousness by realizing everything is consciousness and no second thing
exists other than consciousness.
What is the state of the ego or physical self when it has
realized that the self is not the body? Such souls have attained their pristine
condition. “Self” is not visible to the physical eyes. “Self” is not to be
found in the world as a thing, entity or an object. Self is above these, has
neither beginning nor ending.
A visible object has a
beginning and an ending. Since the soul, which is in the form of consciousness
is invisible to the physical eye; soul or consciousness is without beginning
and ending. Soul is always constant. Just as space is homogeneous everywhere,
so is the consciousness is the same everywhere.
There is no need to renounce anything
within the illusion because as it has appeared it disappears when the wisdom
dawns in the midst of waking experience or on its own as in deep sleep or in
death. . The nature of the self is not something to be acquired by effort; and
it characteristics is to be free from misery; and happiness inseparable from
it.
