Seeker of truth has to understand, assimilate and constantly reflect on fact
that, the soul is the true self. However, "believing
in" doctrines about non dualism is not the point of formless path.
Formless path is for understanding the Self and the world in a
different way. Scriptures are not meant to be accepted on blind faith. The
seeker of truth should not be idolatrous about or bound to any scriptures,
theory, or ideology. Formless path is the guiding means; one finds the absolute
truth" when he verifies through deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning on
the base of the soul as self.
The absolute truth cannot be contained in words and concepts.
Thus, merely believing in words and concepts is not the formless path. There is
no point in believing in reincarnation/rebirth, for example. Rather, one
has to indulge in deeper inquiry,
analysis and reasoning on the base of the soul, which is the true self, in
order to realize a self not subject to birth, life and death.
To say that doctrines and teachings shouldn't be accepted on
blind faith. They are important for religionists. Formless path is like maps to
follow on a spiritual journey, or a boat to carry the seekers across a river. Meditation
or mantra or rituals and prayers are pointless in pursuit of truth. But for the
beginners in pursuit of truth they have a real impact on their life and
outlook.
Pursuit of truth is not to accept any belief blindly without
verification. Over the centuries religionists
have developed diverse schools with distinctive, and sometimes contradictory,
doctrines. Often one might read that "one school of thought believe"
such and such a thing, when in fact that doctrine belongs only to one school
and not to all of other schools of thought.
To compound confusion further, throughout world one can find a kind of folk Belief system in which the Sage,Saints, God men and other iconic characters from religious literature
are believed to be divine beings who can hear prayers and grant wishes.
Clearly, most people are with beliefs. Focusing on those beliefs will teach them
little about the ultimate truth, however.
If one wants to know and assimilate the ultimate truth, he has
to put aside all assumptions. Put aside assumptions about belief system, and
then assumptions about religion. Put aside assumptions about the nature of the
self, of reality, of existence. Keep himself open to new understanding.
Whatever beliefs he holds, hold in an open mind and not with preconceived
ideas, and see where it takes him.
Verification is
essential to in pursuit of truth, but not required by religion. Science seeks simpler explanations but in
pursuit of truth everything is simplifies most when it reduces everything to
Mind, and mind to Atman.
A truth is
verifiable in science if it can be tested and in logic if it can be
proved. The weakness of science is that
it has no idea, no definition of truth.
The facts upon
which science must be based are the individual things and events which are
found to occur. Science coordinates them by generalizing their significance
into a hypothesis. The latter is then tested and verified. In pursuit of truth
examines the hypothesis from the point of view of its ultimate truth. No human
being can possibly study all available facts and sciences. Hence one has to
take their generalizations, i.e. hypothesis based on facts.
Truth seekers
need not learn modern science in order to acquire Self-Knowledge. Science helps
us to ascertain truth of the things within the illusion. The science cannot go
beyond the limits of physicality because beyond physicality has to be grasped
mentally. Science is needed us to teach
us precision, exactness and reliance on fact.
The mind has to pass through various stages of growth as it progresses
through disillusionment, enquiry, quest of truth, etc. to reason.
It is to find out
the contradictions inherent in all discussion! To show that duality cannot
yield truth. To prove that words and thoughts can yield only duality, never the
true self. Non dual truth is not with personal interpretations or with views,
but with facts.
Unless a fact is
ascertained and verified, it has no place in pursuit of truth. The religion is
based on speculation and imagination, and mere logic regardless of fact, but in
pursuit of truth it must be based on facts.
If science
pursues its researches and does not stop, if it seeks constantly also to
ascertain truth, it will be led into mental journey through inquiry, analysis
and reasoning on the true base because
there is nowhere else for it to go. Modern Science does not travel to ultimate
and universal questions. It provides the ascertained facts, however, for
dealing with those questions.
The distance from Mumbai to Boston in one’s
dream journey is only mental, within the mind. Similarly in the waking
experience the same distance is also mental.
The sense of form, time space is reality within the waking/dream.
Reason works
upwards from lower to higher certainties in the practical world, mathematics
being the highest of these stages but still does not reach the realm of
non-duality. Reason based on the soul as
self becomes consciousness when it is by itself, chained to no other thoughts: when it
to so chained, then it is reason.
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