The Self
–Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is goal of the true seeker. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is end of all egocentric
knowledge.
Self-knowledge
or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is declared by the Indian sages in the past has to
be mentally excavated from labyrinths of philosophy. So many conceptual divisions
invented by teachers of philosophy by their excessive analysis and different
idea of truth and interpretations. All these concepts and ideas are never
ending process.
The seeker of truth need not take the path of doubt and
confusion, which takes him nowhere. Fortunate
is the seeker who does not lose himself in the labyrinths of these theoretical
philosophies. By perfect understanding
of ‘what is what’ leads to non-dual self-awareness.
Seeker has to behave in
a normal and sane way and silently
reflect on the subject constantly.
There is no body and no world in realm of truth because the body and the world are one in essence. That essence is consciousness.
The one who has the firm conviction that, he
is an individual separate from the world and world existed prior to him and he
is born in it afterwards is egocentric.
And he is unfit to grasp the ultimate truth or Brahman.
Seeker has to trace the source of the mind or universe to
realize the fact that, mind and its formless substance and the source are one
in essence.
The truth is hidden within the mind which is in the form of universe
and it requires deeper self-search mental excavation, the removal of the ignorance,
which is the cause of experiencing the illusion or duality as reality.
Grasping the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by illusion
or waking or universe, is to be attained through soul-centric reasoning,
followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted
egocentric arguments.
People think self-knowledge is very difficult to achieve or understand.
Self-knowledge which has to be acquired carefully and gradually, through
inquiry analysis and reasoning on the true base.
In the past, spirituality was treated not as a separate subject but as a
part of religion, but it is not so. Religion is based on the form and
spirituality is based on formless. Therefore, spirituality is nothing to with
religion. Spirituality is a rational inquiry regarding all that is known to exist. Every one, each to the extent to
which one's reasoning power admits, is by nature free to exercise this faculty,
at whatever stage one may be. One is able to devote himself exclusively to a
pursuit of the highest Truth, by means of reason.
In the ancient time, religious or Yogic or mystic discipline, which were not
an end in itself, considered to be means for self-realization. But such
discipline is almost impossible task for the modern man to adopt. Day by day
modern man is becoming aware of the fact that religion and yoga are nothing to
do with pursuit of truth. .
The modern mindset is
pre-eminently scientific owing to the great progress that science has made. And
the best method of freeing the one from his inaccurate ways of thinking is to
imbue him as fully as possible with the scientific spirit. It is therefore only
one who possesses a clear knowledge of its methods and results i.e., who is
able to make reason the highest means of inquiry that would be fit for
self-knowledge.
Vedanta itself admits its highest Truth that is Atman or Brahman cannot
be reached by any path other than that of reason and unless the reason is
sharper than the ‘Edge of a razor'.
Reason on the true base is the highest means of attaining self-
knowledge. Religion, theology, mystic
practice and yoga are not the means to acquire non-dual wisdom. Absence of reason is absence of wisdom.
Either
the formless soul or self-witnesses the waking or dream or it does not see it
at all. It means the seer is apart from
the waking or dream. When the formless witness witnesses nothing, one calls it
deep sleep. Thus one has to become mentally aware of the existence of the formless
witness of the three states, which is the formless soul, which is in the form
of consciousness, to realize the fact that, there is no division. The whole
experience of diversity (waking or dream) is mere mirage created out of single
stuff, which is consciousness.
It is difficult to decide the truth on the
waking entity, which is false entity within the false experience. Therefore, it
is necessary to rectify one’s observing base from form to formless to grasp the non-dual truth. It takes time to make the faultless viewing and judging the
worldview, but as one goes deeper reflecting on the formless witness (soul) as
self, he reaches the faultless witnessing.
Theist Scholastic explains non-duality:-
Duality and Non-duality
We live in a world of apparent duality. There is “I” and
there are other people, objects, ideas and emotions. Time, space, causality and
language all depend upon and relate to this world. Whilst every “thing” else
changes, however, “I” who witnesses and knows all of these experiences remain
the same.
This separation is grounded in our use of language. At
the earliest age, we are taught to differentiate and “name” the things around
us – “me”, the subject, and “something else”, the object. But these names are
actually “attributes” and not things-in-themselves. We refer to a “golden ring”
with “ring” as a separate noun but the ring is actually only a transient form
of the gold – we should really call it “ringy gold.” Form is the “attribute” of
the object and should be expressed as an adjective and not a noun.
But gold is only a particular and temporary configuration
of protons, neutrons and electrons, so that it too is an adjective or
attribute. Similarly, protons etc. are themselves made up of still smaller
particles, called quarks. Ultimately, everything is only name and form of that
fundamental reality which is changeless – the only noun which is not an
attribute of something else.
There is a
famous quotation in the Chandogya Upanishad - sarvam khalvidam brahma - all this
(universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances
in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the
non-dual reality.
The orthodoxy which is based on individual conduct is not the
means to acquire self-knowledge or non-dual wisdom, because the self is not
individual. The self is formless and it pervades in everything and everywhere
in the universe. Thus all this
theoretical philosophy and theories based on the individual conduct are not the
means to self –knowledge or Brahma Gnana. Because
the non-duality cannot be mixed with religion and yoga because in religion and
yoga one has to accept blindly and there is no scope for inquiry.
Religion is based on
ego, which is the false self within the false experience whereas the ultimate
truth is based on the formless soul or consciousness, which is the innermost
self.
The orthodox pundits say that Vedas as final authority for the
Vedantins and he has nothing else to believe in it, they do not know the fact
that they themselves are indulging in non-Vedic activities which Vedas clearly bars.
As one goes deeper in the annals of the history, it indicates
the fact that somewhere someone has added the puranas in the name of Veda Vyasa
the grand master of Vedas. It is impossible to accept and believe that Veda
Vyasa authored and introduced the Puranas which has all conceptual gods
because:-
In Vedas the
God has been described as:-
Sakshi
(Witness)
Chetan (conscious)
Nirguna (Without form and properties).
Nitya (eternal)
Shuddha (pure)
Buddha (omniscient)
Mukta (unattached).
It clearly indicates all the gods with form and attributes are
mere imagination based on the false self.
Thus there is adulteration and
add-ons in the past, which has to be bifurcated if one wants pure Vedic
essence.
In Yajurved
says:-
Translation 1.
They enter darkness, those
who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire,
stone, etc).
They sink deeper in darkness
those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example table,
chair, idol etc.)
[Yajurved 40:9]
Translation 2.
"Deep into shade of
blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet
who on sambhuti are intent."
[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph
T. H. Giffith pg 538]
Translation 3.
"They are enveloped in
darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest
depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material
cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship
visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and
the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other
words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow,
and suffer terribly for a long time."
[Yajur Veda 40:9.]
So, Yajur Veda indicates
that:-
They sink deeper in darkness
those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example table,
chair, idol etc [Yajurved 40:9]
Those who worship visible
things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the
like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words,
they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and
suffer terribly for a long time." [Yajur Veda 40:9.]
When the religion of the Veda knows no idols
then why so many gods and goddesses with different form and name are being
propagated as Vedic gods. Why these conceptual gods are introduced when Vedic
concept of god is free from form and attributes.
Who introduced concept of god
with attributes and attributeless gods, when Yajur Veda says: - those who worship visible things, born of
the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like), in place of
God are enveloped in still greater darkness. Therefore, all these add-ons proves
that the form and attribute based concepts are introduced by some sages of the
past with new belief system and code of conducts in the name of Vedas.
Sruti is made the final or
exclusive authority in apara Vidya and that for supporting the tenet of the
CAUSAL relation or creatorship of Brahman, Nirguna Brahman = the "Absolute
beyond qualities," which can be defined only in a negative way. For the
Shankarian school = the Ultimate Reality, higher than the Lord. i.e. of Saguna
or apara Brahman ... The support of Scriptural Revelation is, therefore,
absolutely necessary for this hypothesis of cosmology, this Saguna or apara (=
inferior) Brahman, but not for the absolute truth of Nirguna Brahman. The Sruti itself says: "This Atma is NOT
to be attained by a study of the Vedas. [Katha Upanishad I, 2, 23.]
Therefore, all the add-ons and attribute based knowledge, which
are inferior, have to be bifurcated and excluded to know the ultimate
truth. The seeker of truth has to drop
all the inferior knowledge based on the attributes and go beyond Vedas to
understand assimilate and realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.
One has to go beyond Vedas means go beyond religion. Go beyond
religion means, go beyond concept of god.
Thus, going beyond Veda, religion and conceptual god means going beyond
illusion. That is end of Vedas [Veda
–antha]
When one goes into the annals of the history it looks like the
true Advith expounded by Sri Sankara and his param guru, Goudpada was lost or
mutilated by the orthodox, because the preaching and practice does not match.
It is necessary for the
seeker to do his homework, and verify the validity of all the claims, rather
than blindly believe, what others expound as knowledge, till, the
un-contradicted truth is obtained.
The seeker must have the courage of Buddha to accept the truth
and reject the untruth. Since Buddha rejected religion, idea of god and
scriptures, therefore, it is evident that, he has gone through every aspect and
verified and found them to be inadequate and useless for the pursuit of truth.
Even Buddhism is mixed up with regional culture and traditions
of the local religion, wherever it existed. Thus to get the full essence from
Buddhism is very difficult.
The scriptures are for ignorant masses, who wholly accept the
material world as it presents itself. Wisdom is for those who have begun to
realize that things are not what they seem.
Each sect concocts a God to suit its own purposes. Such concocted Gods have no value in pursuit
of truth. Man himself suggests that
there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion.
But as one goes deeper in self-search one becomes aware of the
fact that, Vedas including Upanishads considered being supremely authoritative,
as revealed truth. But Upanishads
clearly declares that:-
Katha Upanishad delares:
This Atman cannot be attained by the study of the
Vedas, or by intelligence, or
by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals Its own form. [Katha Upanishad Ch-II -23-P-20]
Mundaka Upanishad :-
This Atman cannot be attained through study of the
Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Atman by him alone is Atman attained. It is Atman that reveals to the seeker
Its true nature. [3 page70upanhsds by Nikilananda
It means the truth is beyond
scriptures and egocentric intelligence. Thus
in order to grasp, assimilate and realize the non-dualistic truth the seeker to
employ soul-centric reasoning faculty.
That is why Sage Sri, Sankara says in commentary in Vedanta sutra
that what is accepted without proper inquiry will not lead a person to the
final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in
something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress. Seeker of truth should not believe blindly in
traditional orthodox non-duality without verifying all the facts from every
angle. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting
tired of the process.
