Man gets
worried by many things; his mind gets distracted, their family may trouble him.
For such a people the practice of yoga will confer peace and thus provide
useful preparation of mind, prior to taking up the course of thinking and
reasoning which alone lead to truth. Yoga is helpful in preparation to pursuit of truth.
Only when the
mind is made sharp as a razor then only it can grasp the non-dual truth.
Inquiry and reasoning on the true base takes away all those things which are
not truth, and, if the mind is sharp enough, eventually reveals truth.
The ordinary people want this God or that,
wants this belief or that, and thus renders themselves unfit for inquiry and
reasoning because they are prejudiced at the start. Therefore they must get rid
of these "wants" first: when they have done so, they are called
level-headed.
Yoga as a
mind-levelling and conflict-removing tool should not be carried to excess;
otherwise it will create new illusions and fancies and hallucinations.
Seeker of truth
has to develop an attitude of impartial cautious critical examination to be fit
for pursuit of truth.
The seeker must
be level-headed before it can profitably understand the non-dual truth;
otherwise its inquiries will turn into conflicts between ideas which please and
ideas which are true. Yoga helps to remove of these conflicts of the novices.
Unless the ego is understood properly one
cannot know the truth. The first
condition required of' the seeker is to free himself from the grip of ego by
understanding what is mind and what is the substance of the mind. Without
understanding “what is mind”, the ego prevents the unity in experience of
diversity.
Those whose minds
are worried or disturbed should not take up truth pursuit; they should first
get some peace of mind through yoga or religion.
There is no use of sense pleasures when their
objects may disappear or die. It is better to possess ultimate truth which does
not die. This seriousness about life the majority of people have not got.
Unless seeker
keeps out his likes and dislikes on the quest, he cannot know truth. "I
like my body, therefore it must be real", "and I like my religion,
and therefore it must be true", I like my god it must be true, “I like
this world and therefore it must be real. But all his likes and dislikes are
part of the mirage. When one says he like yoga it means he has an idea of yoga
and therefore it is imagination, and will pass away because it is part of the
waking or dream which appear and disappear, not permanent.
Those who are
changeable by temperament, which flit from path to path, need to be free from
conflict and uncertainty, they must try all the paths and practices, and
realize the fact that they are inadequate and useless to quench their spiritual
thirst, and then only they must take up pursuit of truth.
Seeker of truth has realized the fact that
fear, spite, anger, blind credulity, is listed as obstacles to attaining Truth.
The "I" is that which blocks a seeker’s way to realizing truth. It is
first to come, but last to go. Those who accept as truth that which agrees with
their feeling is thereby revealing that the ‘I’ is strongly there, so they are
cheated and miss truth. The idea that the ego is separate is false and leads to
delusion. Therefore seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ or mind is not
limited to the physical entity but to the whole waking/dream.
Until one has the
conviction that he is born in this world and world existed prior to him, he
will not be able to assimilate Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. When he realizes the fact that,
he and his experience of the world co-exits together and disappears together
then he becomes aware of the fact that the physical entity is not the
self. Therefore, it is impossible to
judge the truth on the physical entity, and come to some conclusion and
conviction and then accepting the imaginary truth based on the false self as
ultimate truth is mere theory based on the false self.
Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana
comes through one's own direct realization of truth, not through beliefs and
dogmas or by following religious code of conducts. The religion and its
concepts have value with in the illusion, and have nothing to do with the
truth, which is based on the soul.
The
three states come into being because of ignorance of the permanent self. Thus,
they have no existence of their own without a permanent self, which is the
soul. There is neither the three states nor the witness; only non-dual reality.
Only when the wisdom dawns the waking become unreal. The man who
believes himself as a person born in this world and world existed prior to him
will not be able to assimilate Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
What's most important to understand about the three states is
that they are unreal in their nature. They are mere appearances, because there
are impermanent. Thus the physical
self or ego is not the self because it is limited to the waking or dream. The true
self is the formless substance and witness of the three states, which is the
soul. The soul is apart and permanent.
The soul is the true self because the three states are dependent on the
soul for their existence, whereas the soul exists with or without the three states,
which appear and disappear in succession.
The physical is not an integral, autonomous entity. The
individual self, or what we might call the ego, is part of the waking or dream.
The ego ceases to exist without the waking/dream.
If one can view the three states on the standpoint of the soul
as self, he becomes aware of the fact that, the true which is the soul is not
subject to the birth, life and death. The true self is only formless substance
and witness of the three states.
To understand and assimilate this truth there is no need for the
seeker to lose him self in the labyrinths of philosophy, but goes straight to
the source from which they all arise and subside.
Everything here refers to consciousness , because everything (three states) is
created out of consciousness. On the
standpoint of soul or consciousness there is nothing exists other then the consciousness. Thus everything, which is soul or consciousness , is
perfectly perfect. People who view and
judge on the standpoint of the physical self or ego will not understand this because
they see diversity as reality. People think ‘I’ is self, and body is illusion,
whereas, the body and the ‘I’, both are part of the illusion. They think whatever exists within the waking
experience that is, man and his experience of the world as reality.
There are so many obstacles if one tries to reach non-dual destination
through physical or ego based paths and practices. Therefore, physical or ego based
paths and practices are round about way to reach the non-dual destination.
The scholars are sentimentally and emotionally involved with their
inherited philosophy which is based on the scriptures they will not be able to
grasp the non dual truth. The non-dual truth has to be grasped without the
religion, scriptures and god glorification.
Seeker should not
be carried away by this and that, but think, look at the facts. Seeker has to pursue only non-dual truth for
its own sake. A Gnani does induce the seekers by promising that if one gets
truth, he will achieve bliss. Love of
pleasure and worldly gain may outweigh love of truth if a seeker is a
pretender, deceiving himself or others. His mind does not want to exert itself
to get truth.
The seeker after
truth must be absolutely and imperiously truthful himself. That is why it is
very difficult for diplomats and politicians to take up pursuit of truth, and
truth must be supported by courage and steadfast endurance.
Seekers Mind must
be free for this higher quest. Suppose a friend has done one injury, he must
not be constantly thinking about it or feel hostile to him every day. Better be
forgiving and forget it, so that he may be undistracted to Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
Similarly if one is over-ambitious and discontented with his lot, his mind will
be disturbed again, so be contented with what he has.
Humility, having
no prejudices, free from egoism, preconceptions or if one has them, one ought
to forget them for the time being when he inquiries into truth.
