Moksha is freedom. Freedom is becoming free from experiencing the illusion or duality as reality by realizing the fact that, the self is not the form but self is formless. It is possible to realize this without realizing the fact that, the individual self or ego is reality within the false experience. Thus all the knowledge accumulated by judging on the base of false self, is false knowledge.
People believe in old myths propagated by their religion. Every religion has propagated its own myth. Every religious belief contradicts other beliefs. It is mere blind belief accepted as truth without verification and evidence. This causes division. Modern science has exposed many Religious dogmas as myth. All these dogma were introduced in primitive era before people had the benefit of modern science. Science attempts to objectively discover how life works, and religion makes one blindly believe and cast his burden on the blind belief without verification, to live in peace and harmony in worldly life.
Seekers main aim is to investigate both dual and nondual experiences to find and define the underlying truth in everything, thereby realizing what the ultimate truth is. Because of so many beliefs propagated by belief system, people think seekers of truth are atheists because they do not accept the belief blindly. Seekers of truth believe the religionist and atheists both are believers because religionist believe in the belief of god and atheists believe in belief of no god.
Pursuit of truth is all about accepting uncertainty and open questions and seeking for the things that are certainty. Believers and nonbelievers will not accept anything other than their inherited belief system or accepted truth. Atheists feel there is no proof for god’s existence. So atheist chooses to just believe there is no such thing called God. And religionists just believe in the existence of their conceptual god. A Gnani is one who is fully aware of the fact that, the existence or non-existence of God cannot be proven on the base of physical self. Therefore deeper understanding is necessary to understand and assimilate the truth about Gods existence to know what is supposed to be the God.
In Vedas the God (Soul/Ataman) has been described as:-
The Self or Ataman is God and God is Self or Ataman.
Sakshi (Witness) Chetan (conscious) Nirguna (Without form and properties). The Soul/God further has been told as Nitya (eternal) Shuddha (pure) Buddha (omniscient) Mukta (unattached).
It means the ultimate truth is god. That is Atman is Brahman. That is the true self is ultimate truth.
In Advaita Vedanta: - Brahman is without attributes and strictly impersonal. It can be best described as infinite Being, infinite Consciousness and infinite Bliss. It is pure knowledge itself, similar to a source of infinite radiance. Since the Advaitins regard Brahman to be the Ultimate Truth, so in comparison to Brahman, every other thing, including the material world, its distinctness, the individuality of the living creatures and even Ishvara (the Supreme Lord) itself are all untrue. Brahman is the effulgent cause of everything that exists and can possibly exist. Since it is beyond human comprehension, it is without any attributes, for assigning attributes to it would be distorting the true nature of Brahman. Advaitins believe in the existence of both Saguna Brahman and Nirguna Brahman; however they consider Nirguna Brahman to be the absolute supreme truth.
Atman is the true self. The true self or Atman is in the form of consciousness is ultimate truth and it is God.
The Atman is within the mind [universe] and mind [universe] is within the soul. The universe) is within the self and self is within universe. The chicken is in the egg and the egg is in the chicken. The tree is in the seed and the seed is in the tree. The same thing that was told by the Vedas was repeated by the Saint John (10-38)? Father is in me and I am in Father. Thus the father [soul/self] is our immediate, neighbour- love thy neighbour. Therefore, one has to love the soul/Christ in order to become one with the formless spirit/soul/ Christ, which are the creator, sustainer and dissolver of the world/duality.
Therefore, self-realization is necessary in order to realize the ultimate truth or god. Self-realization is real God realization.
People are ignorant and they are unaware of the reality of their true existence. Man and his experience of universe is simply a mirage created out of the consciousness, Consciousness is the real Self, the real Atman, is the reality.
Mundaka Upanishad:- The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross The sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.
All the scriptures indicate that Ataman is Brahman, and Brahman is ultimate truth. Therefore the soul, which is in the form of consciousness, is ultimate truth. Thus to realize the ultimate truth is the prime goal. A well-directed inquiry, analysis and reasoning will lead one to his nondual destination.
Self-Realization is direct realization of the ultimate truth or real god, in contrast with traditional paths, which are indirect. And the other paths cannot lead to the ultimate destination because they are based on the false self, which they hold as real self and false experience as reality.
Until and unless one overcomes physical shackle it is impossible to understand and assimilate the nondual truth, which is beyond the physical existence or the universe. Consciousness itself is lord of itself though not of the universe. And having nothing it has all.
Sri, Sankara says in VivekaChudamani :-
56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realisation of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.
58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.
59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.
60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.
61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?
62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utter the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realisation one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.
63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman ? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.
64. Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendour of the entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely saying, ‘I am an emperor’.
65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.
66. Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated births and deaths.
67. The question that thou hast asked today is excellent, approved by those versed in the Scriptures, aphoristic, pregnant with meaning and fit to be known by the seekers after Liberation.
Seeker of truth has to take the direct path and avoid losing precious time and effort loosing himself in philosophical studies.
In Maha Gita- OSHO says:- Even the Bhagavad Gita does not have the majesty found in the Ashtavakra Samhita.
We are embarking on a rare journey. Man has many scriptures, but none comparable to the Gita of Ashtavakra. Before it the Vedas pale, the Upanishads speak with a weak voice. Even the Bhagavad Gita does not have the majesty found in the Ashtavakra Samhita -- it is simply unparalleled.
The most important thing is that neither society nor politics nor any other institution of human life has had any influence on the sayings of Ashtavakra. They are such a pure expression -- transcending emotion, transcending time and death -- there is nothing comparable.
Perhaps this is why Ashtavakra's Gita, the ASHTAVAKRA SAMHITA, has not had much impact. Krishna's Bhagavad Gita has been very influential. The first reason is that Krishna's Gita is a synthesis. He is more concerned with synthesis than with truth. The desire for synthesis is so strong that if necessary Krishna doesn't mind sacrificing the truth a little.
Krishna's Gita is a hodgepodge containing everything; hence it suits everyone, because there is something in it for everyone. It is difficult to find any tradition whose voice is not found in the Gita. It is difficult to find anyone who does not take solace from the Gita. But for such people Ashtavakra's Gita will prove very difficult.
Ashtavakra is not for synthesis -- he is a man of truth. He speaks the truth just as it is, without any artifice or coloring. He is not concerned about the listener, he does not care whether his listener will understand or not. Such a pure expression of truth has never happened anywhere before, nor has it ever happened again.
Before we enter the sutras, it is necessary to understand a few things about Ashtavakra. Not much is known as he was neither a social nor political man, so no historical record exists. Only a few incidents are known -- and they are just wondrous, hardly believable. But if you understand them deeply the significance will be revealed. The first incident happened before Ashtavakra was born. Nothing is known of what came afterwards but this is an incident while he was still in the womb. His father, who was a great scholar, would recite the Vedas every day while Ashtavakra listened from the womb. One day a voice came from the womb saying, "Stop it! This is all nonsense. There is no wisdom whatsoever in this. Mere words -- just a collection of words. Is wisdom found in scriptures? Wisdom is within oneself. Is truth found in words? Truth is within oneself."
Naturally his father was enraged. First of all he was a father and on top of that a scholar. And his son hidden in the womb was saying such things! Not even born yet! He exploded in anger, became engulfed in fire: The father's ego had been hit. And a scholar's ego... he was a great pundit, a great debater, knowledgeable in scriptures.... In anger he uttered a curse: When born, the boy would be deformed; his limbs would be bent in eight parts. Hence his name: Ashtavakra means one whose body has eight bends. He was born crippled in eight places; eight places hunchbacked like a camel. In a rage his father deformed his son's body.
SK :- In pursuit of of truth all the theoris and scriptures are not needed.
Deeper-self-search reveals the fact that, the karma theory is meant for those who are immersed in worldly life thinking the individual life within the particle world as reality. In path of truth the karma theory becomes a great obstacle in realizing the truth.
When Sri, Sankara says clearly, the universe is not real. He says that Brahman and Atman are one. The ultimate and the Absolute Truth is the Self, which is one though appearing as many in different individuals. The individual has no reality. Only the Self is Real; the rest, mental and physical are but passing appearances, then it indicates the form [waking/duality/mind] is unreal the formless is real [soul/spirit/self/FW]. Therefore, only Ataman is real because there is no second thing other than Ataman.
He also clearly mentions that:
The path of religion, theory of karma, path of yoga and the path of wisdom were intended for different classes of people. The wisdom is for the advanced seekers of truth. It deals with the nature of the ultimate Truth and Reality. It is meant for superior aspirants who have inner urge to know the truth and it is not for those who are immersed in earthly desires.
Thus we have to know the fact that Buddha, Goudpada and Sri,Sankara are not only reformers but also the greatest scientists. Since there original thesis have been lost in the labyrinths of philosophy and mutilated by pundits and orthodoxy, it becomes very difficult understand and assimilate the wisdom expounded by the great masters. In addition, the conservativeness of the orthodox scholars will not allow any research other than playing with the words, which suits the mass mind sets, because of their egocentric outlook.
All the add-ons have to be deleted, in order to understand and assimilate the real fragrance of the wisdom expounded by the great masters of Advith, but it is hurricane task. Thus, it is no use going through all the scriptures, when there is direct path to nondual truth. The same time and effort can be used to reach the nondual destination, in lesser time and effort.
Nonduality does not need the support of any Scripture or Revelation like the Veda. For it is based, not upon the varying theological fancies, which are as numerous as the sands of the sea, but upon reason, the common heritage of all mankind, irrespective of colour or creed or clime.
Seeker of truth has to know that something is inadequate in Buddhist or Advaitic teachings to reach the nondual destination because of the add-ons and adulteration. Thus it becomes difficult to reach destination directed by the Buddha, Sri, Sankara and Sri,Goudapada. It is for the seeker to go on his own and remove the obstacle. The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, god, scriptures, and yogic theories. Moreover, attachment to scriptures, personal god and religious code of conduct keeps one permanently in the grip of duality.
When the self is neither the body nor the ego, neither the waking entity not the dream entity, then how the karma based on the false self within the false experience can yield fruits. Therefore, karma is a religious fable.
The karma theory is reality only for those who believe their present physical identity [ego] as real, and world as reality. When the Sri, Sankara declares the world itself is illusion, and Brahman is real, then what value the karma theory has when the world is illusion, because man is part and parcel of the illusory world. Therefore, one has to view and judge the worldview on the standpoint of Brahman [Ataman/true self] in order to overcome the duality, which he is experiencing it as reality. The individuality is reality within the illusory world. Therefore, all the theories created within the illusion on the base of false entity, within the false experience, has to be the part and parcel of the illusion. Thus it is necessary to realize the fact that Ataman is the true self and all else is illusion, to overcome the illusory concept of cycle of birth, life and death. Thus to understand and assimilate Sri, Sankara’s Advitic truth, seeker has to do his own home work through inquiry, analysis and reasoning on the true base, without mixing religion, scriptures, theories concept of god and yoga.
Sri Sankara says in Aparokshanubhuti:-
88. When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman?
89. O enlightened one, pass your time always contemplating on Atman while you are experiencing all the results of Prarabdha; for it ill becomes you to feel distressed.
90. The theory one hears of from the scripture, that Prarabdha does not lose its hold upon one even after the origination of the knowledge of Atman, is now being refuted.
91. After the origination of the knowledge of Reality, Prarabdha verily ceases to exist, inasmuch as the body and the like become non-existent; just as a dream does not exist on waking.
92. That Karma which is done in a previous life is known as Prarabdha (which produces the present life). But such Karma cannot take the place of Prarabdha (for a man of knowledge), as he has no other birth (being free from ego).
93. Just as the body in a dream is superimposed (and therefore illusory), so is also this body. How could there be any birth of the superimposed (body), and in the absence of birth (of the body) where is the room for that (i.e., Prarabdha) at all ?
94. The Vedanta texts declare ignorance to be verily the material (cause) of the phenomenal world just as earth is of a jar. That (ignorance) being destroyed, where can the universe subsist ?
95. Just as a person out of confusion perceives only the snake leaving aside the rope, so does an ignorant person see only the phenomenal world without knowing the reality?
96. The real nature of the rope being known, the appearance of the snake no longer persists; so the substratum being known, the phenomenal world disappears completely.
97. The body also being within the phenomenal world (and therefore unreal), how could Prarabdha exist ? It is, therefore, for the understanding of the ignorant alone that the Shruti speaks of Prarabdha.
98. “And all the actions of a man perish when he realizes that (Atman) which is both the higher and the lower”. Here the clear use of the plural by the Shruti is to negate Prarabdha as well.
99. If the ignorant still arbitrarily maintain this, they will not only involve themselves into two absurdities but will also run the risk of forgoing the Vedantic conclusion. So one should accept those Shrutis alone from which proceeds true knowledge.
The above proves that the karma is reality only on the base of false self, where one thinks body and the universes as reality. When one becomes aware of the fact that, the true self is formless soul, then the karma becomes part and parcel of illusion. My point is that, if one accepts the karma theory as reality, he will never be able to come out of the ignorance. And ignorance makes him believe the cycle of birth, life and death as reality. Thus the freedom which one is seeking will remain distant dream. For the one who accepts the birth life and death as reality, Self-knowledge is impossible. Dialogue
Thought and thinker are reality within the universe. The thinker and the thought exist within the universe. The man and his experience of the universe is reality within the waking experience. The waking experience is mere illusion on the ultimate standpoint. Therefore, the individual experiences are part of the illusion. Thus thought and the thinker are part of the illusion.
Positive and negative thoughts and the thinker are made of same material. Whether one thinks rightly or wrongly he is thinking as person. The thoughts will not rise without the form. Without the form there are neither thoughts nor the thinker. Thus positive or negative thinking or right or wrong thinking are part of the physical existence and nothing to do with ultimate truth. Experience is prior to thought. Only in waking or dream one gets thought. Therefore one has to mentally trace the source of the waking or dream experience in order to realize the waking experience is as unreal as dream.
Only in religion and yogic path one has to follow and practise. Everyone thinks he has to follow some guru or god men. But all these methods are full of frustrations and give no real satisfaction. Reality has no method. Illusion has many methods, many problems and many concepts. To overcome illusion, or concepts, one should know the source of the mind and from where does this mind arise? “When the mind is there the universe is there. Absent of mind absent of universe. Absent of universe is absent of duality. Absent of duality is absent of thoughts. Thus until one becomes aware of what is mind and what is the substance of the mind it is impossible to assimilate nondual truth.
To know the nondual Reality, deeper thinking is required. The thinking faculty ceases and becomes still when it reaches the source of the mind. One has to realize the waking entity is false self within the false experience from the ultimate standpoint.
Where there is no experience then there is no duality where there no duality then there is no second thing exist other than the self-awareness. Therefore seeker has to go deeply in Ramana’s Path and trace and overcome the obstacles. For the sincere and serious seekers the inner Ramana’s grace will guide until the ignorance vanishes and he becomes aware of the fact that the diversity [universe or Illusion] is mere mirage created out of consciousness [Atman].
Waking experience in which a person perceives the world doesn't exists as real in reality because, everything is consciousness, and apart from consciousness there is nothing in the waking experience.
Whatever is thought of within the waking experience makes Him something other than what He is. When the waking experience ends, what happens? It is consciousness alone prevails without the three states.
Awakening is nothing but a complete, perfect understanding and assimilation of what is what. A clear cut understanding of a ‘what is what’ is awakening. Reality is not to be achieved; it is there as it is. After this perfect understanding assimilation and realization, nothing is required.
And we expect "awakening" to be some great, mysterious happening! "Reality is not to be achieved; it is there” as it is, as unchangeable existence within the changeable illusion. Kabir views humanity as being caught up in illusion, searching for Ultimate Reality in all the wrong places, always seeking It outside of ourselves in various rituals, temples, forests and mountaintops, not realizing That for which we seek is already hidden within us.
The ultimate truth or Brahman dwells within the three states like fragrance in the flower; Musk lies within the Musk-deer yet seeks it afar." Until one trace the truth within the three states the illusion of birth, life, death and the world is experienced as reality.
Chandogya Upanishad "When a person is sleeping soundly, free from dreams, with a still mind, that is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme."
Seeker of truth has to direct realization of the true self, through deeper, inquiry, analysis and reasoning and avoid losing precious time and effort loosing himself in philosophical studies.
Both modern science and religion offer hypotheses and theories but there is one vital difference--science begins with facts which it collects; religion begins with fancies. Science evolves its hypotheses from such facts, religion from fancies.
Science declares that oxygen combines with hydrogen to give water. And it also declares oxygen is protons or electrons. But in pursuit of truth the whole physical existence [universe or mind] is considered as illusion and science and their inventions, which are based on the physical existence is limited to physical existence. The truth is within but it is beyond the physical existence. The science demands physical proof.
But the physical proof is part of the illusion. Hence science cannot go beyond physicality because the truth cannot be traced with laboratory conditions. Deeper Inquiry, analysis and reasoning is required if one wants to push its quest deeply enough.
Common people and primitive minds fall into faulty thinking through their inherited conditioning , such faulty thinking and reasoning makes them accept the experience of birth, life and death as reality ; taking what one sees through the senses as real, taking what is apparent obvious and superficial as true because it is less troublesome.
Many People adopt the attitude that what they know is truth. And what others say id false. This attitude makes them not to verify anything other then what they know. One needs to be rational, not merely logical. Logic is has its value only in physical plane.
As one advances towards spiritual plane he sees the logic underlying experience and becomes more rational. His reasoning is two-fold--implicit and explicit.
There is a need of facts of physical proof in scientific invention, whereas in pursuit of truth the proof has to be grasped mentally and realized. Therefore, the truth is realized only by few who take this mental pursuit. “Whatever facts revealed, which is un-contradictable has to be accepted as truth.
The truth based on the formless soul/self is worthwhile; without it, one has something else, not truth. Most people refuse to venture into pursuit of truth; because they do not want to go into the root of things.
The seeker of truth has to study, inquire and reason in the beginning of the pursuit of truth, because it is absolutely necessary in pursuit of truth.
One has to know the true self is not physical but the formless spirit. The spirit or soul or the self is in the form of consciousness. Consciousness gives one the awareness of the three states.
The ignorance of the true self is the cause of experiencing the duality as reality. The ignorance vanishes through realization of the true Self, which is the soul/spirit.
The true the Self does not lie in our body, in our brain, or our ego, but it is the essence of the dual and non-dual experiences, which comes and goes as waking dream and deep sleep.
People are making unlimited sacrifices and enduring unlimited suffering in the name of protecting their religion and god. They are therefore ignorant about the truth and also incapable of understanding the ultimate truth, which is universal god. All organized religions have unequivocally claimed man for the life in the truth; thus it is sheer folly to fight in the name of religion and god.
It is time that humanity had a fresh vision of truth that the mind, which is in the form of universe, is myth and consciousness is the only thing that is real and that matters. On the base of consciousness as self, the physical life is a vain and empty pursuit of illusory values.
Parental grooming is the main cause of religious influence upon the mass mind-set and it cannot be wiped out without knowing the truth of one’s own existence. Thus, teaching children to view and judge everything on religious point of view by their parents, which warps the minds and destroys the capacity to think beyond the belief system of their grooming.
People who are yearning for spiritual truth will not find it what they are seeking for. Religious truth is individual truth and it is not universal truth because the religion is based on individuality.
As one goes in deeper investigation find nothing satisfying in any religion. The more he learns of any religious doctrine they become aware of the fact that, the religion is not the means for self-realization because the true ‘Self” is not the form but the true self is formless. The religion is based on the false self [ego] and false experience [universe]. Religion takes the false self as real self and false experience as reality. Thus whatever is based on the false self and false experience is bound to be falsehood.
The obsession with "our sins" having been "washed away by water of river would be regarded as evidence of a serious mental illness in an individual within any sane society, but when this is an obsession of millions of people it becomes "religious faith", held by many others to be something that should never be criticized.
It was desperately important for the believers of their belief system for some reason that others shared their beliefs because they assume that their religious doctrine is literally true, and then justify their beliefs because "God says so in their doctrine ".
It is no use of arguing with someone who has faith in his belief system because for him there can be no possible refutation of what he believes, so rational argument is entirely useless. He clings to his belief so strongly that he makes no distinction between the truth and his belief. One has to know the fact that god cannot exist without his existence. The truth does not depend on gods’ existence but it entirely depends on man’s existence. Thus it is foolish to venture in knowing the truth of gods existence without verifying the facts about his own existence.
Deeper inquiry revel the fact that, the self is neither the body, nor the ego. If the self is not the body nor the ego then it proves the fact that, whatever is seen, known, believed and experienced on the base of the self as body or ego is bound to be false hood. Thus arguing on the standpoint of the body or ego, which is not the “self”, is erroneous. Thus the whole argument has to be based on the true self, which is not the body or ego. Thus it is necessary to realize the fact that, the “self” is not the form but the “self” is formless in order to realize the Advaitic truth.
Form, time and space Birth, life and death Pain and Pleasure, Burden and bondage Waking, dream and deep sleep Universe/Mind /Duality ---
are mere illusion is created out of consciousness.
Because of ignorance the illusion is experienced as reality. Illusory reality deludes because ‘I’ is based on egocentricity. In egocentricity one does knows not the ultimate truth and permanently remains in ignorance.
