Religion needs a guru to propagate its belief system, whereas in pursuit of truth there is no need for a guru. The ultimate truth has to be ascertained by the seeker alone. Yoga needs a guru to guide its student to practice Samadhi.
Religion encourages the one who can induce himself to feel convinced that he has realized the Self, or has an admirer who believes that he has done so, then it opens up for him the way for the founding of a new sect based on Guru-worship. People, too, have developed curious credulousness. Often they would install an earnest seeker and devotee, or a pious saint, on the throne of God and begin to offer him worship and homage even if he protested and resisted such acts. They would lay prostrate, sing hymns, wave lights (arati) and burn incense before him, and present to him food which was to be returned by him as prasada, wash his toes and sip the wash. At times the disciple would go to the length of getting food, fruit or a betel-nut leaf chewed by him, and taking the morsel back from it.
They would place his photo in the private temples of their homes and perform all these rites and ceremonies which are usually offered to the temple-idols. In this way there might be at present in our country scores of individuals who are worshiped as living God, with a following varying in numbers.
If one is seeking truth one has to drop all religious based dogmas and blind beliefs ritualistic baggage and move forward in their pursuit of truth.
When Chandogya Upanishads :-
This universe comes forth from Brahman and will return to Brahman. Verily, all is Brahman. A person is what his deep desire is. It is our deepest desire in this life that shapes the life to come. So let us direct our deepest desires to realize the Self.
If one is seeking truth then it is necessary to bifurcate and drop the traditional Advaitic path which is not the means to self-knowledge and move ahead without the traditional baggage to get direct realization on his own as suggest by the great sages.
Thus seeker of truth has to know what this universe? What is this ultimate truth or Brahman? In order to realize the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth?
No one can escape the waking experience which is the very basis of the physical existence. What was the waking experience before it appeared? Was their existence before the appearance of the waking experience? When the waking perishes, does the soul or consciousness survive alone? Is there a self or soul? The seeker has to find answers for all these doubts in order to realize ‘what is truth’ and ‘what is untruth’.
As one goes deeper in self-search one becomes aware of the fact that the self is neither the waking entity not self is the dream entity but self is formless substance and the witness of the three states. And the formless substance and witness of the three states are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. If the formless substance and witness are one in essence, then there is second thing can exist, other than consciousness? Thus consciousness alone is real and all else is mere illusion created out of consciousness, which is the innermost self.
People who argue there is nothing beyond the universe; there is nothing other than the matter; that the body was the man; and death was the end of all. According to them there is no truth other than the practical life within the practical world, which they hold as reality. Their only agenda is as long as they live in the world live happily with all the pleasant things of life, who can demonstrate that there is something left after the physical death. Beg, borrow or steal – but live happily is their mantra.
There are also people who believe strongly there was a spirit (consciousness) which defied the ravages of time, which cannot be confined in space; that spirit (consciousness) transcends the limits of this universe in which the body exists.
How one can decide what is truth, when the formless self is bound by birth, life and death or form, time and space?
The consciousness is the innermost self. And the nature of the consciousness is formless and non-dual One should realize the consciousness as a whole universe without parts. To describe non-duality as a system is erroneous because the dual and non-dual is the nature of the self. Duality is the illusory nature of the self and non-duality is the real nature of the innermost self, which is consciousness. Ultimate truth cannot be confined into a narrow set of ideas.
Non-dualistic truth is supreme truth; all dualistic systems hold false self as real self and false experience as reality. Non- dualistic wisdom is culmination of all systems including theistic non-duality The true non-dualist will not quarrel and argue with any theoretical philosophy because he is fully aware of the fact that, this orthodox theistic non-dualistic scholars or pundits like dualist sages could not distinguish between ‘I’ and ‘formless witness.’ The 'I' was the witness. Their highest was the Jiva. One is so much attached to the 'I' that he does not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again one is unable to detach the ‘I’ from the Real witness.
There is need to study the scriptures. One has to self-search the truth and realize it without the scriptures. And then when he reads the scriptures he becomes aware the scriptures are also saying the same thing but everything is misinterpreted.
Religion encourages the one who can induce himself to feel convinced that he has realized the Self, or has an admirer who believes that he has done so, then it opens up for him the way for the founding of a new sect based on Guru-worship. People, too, have developed curious credulousness. Often they would install an earnest seeker and devotee, or a pious saint, on the throne of God and begin to offer him worship and homage even if he protested and resisted such acts. They would lay prostrate, sing hymns, wave lights (arati) and burn incense before him, and present to him food which was to be returned by him as prasada, wash his toes and sip the wash. At times the disciple would go to the length of getting food, fruit or a betel-nut leaf chewed by him, and taking the morsel back from it.
They would place his photo in the private temples of their homes and perform all these rites and ceremonies which are usually offered to the temple-idols. In this way there might be at present in our country scores of individuals who are worshiped as living God, with a following varying in numbers.
If one is seeking truth one has to drop all religious based dogmas and blind beliefs ritualistic baggage and move forward in their pursuit of truth.
When Chandogya Upanishads :-
This universe comes forth from Brahman and will return to Brahman. Verily, all is Brahman. A person is what his deep desire is. It is our deepest desire in this life that shapes the life to come. So let us direct our deepest desires to realize the Self.
If one is seeking truth then it is necessary to bifurcate and drop the traditional Advaitic path which is not the means to self-knowledge and move ahead without the traditional baggage to get direct realization on his own as suggest by the great sages.
Thus seeker of truth has to know what this universe? What is this ultimate truth or Brahman? In order to realize the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth?
No one can escape the waking experience which is the very basis of the physical existence. What was the waking experience before it appeared? Was their existence before the appearance of the waking experience? When the waking perishes, does the soul or consciousness survive alone? Is there a self or soul? The seeker has to find answers for all these doubts in order to realize ‘what is truth’ and ‘what is untruth’.
As one goes deeper in self-search one becomes aware of the fact that the self is neither the waking entity not self is the dream entity but self is formless substance and the witness of the three states. And the formless substance and witness of the three states are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. If the formless substance and witness are one in essence, then there is second thing can exist, other than consciousness? Thus consciousness alone is real and all else is mere illusion created out of consciousness, which is the innermost self.
People who argue there is nothing beyond the universe; there is nothing other than the matter; that the body was the man; and death was the end of all. According to them there is no truth other than the practical life within the practical world, which they hold as reality. Their only agenda is as long as they live in the world live happily with all the pleasant things of life, who can demonstrate that there is something left after the physical death. Beg, borrow or steal – but live happily is their mantra.
There are also people who believe strongly there was a spirit (consciousness) which defied the ravages of time, which cannot be confined in space; that spirit (consciousness) transcends the limits of this universe in which the body exists.
How one can decide what is truth, when the formless self is bound by birth, life and death or form, time and space?
The consciousness is the innermost self. And the nature of the consciousness is formless and non-dual One should realize the consciousness as a whole universe without parts. To describe non-duality as a system is erroneous because the dual and non-dual is the nature of the self. Duality is the illusory nature of the self and non-duality is the real nature of the innermost self, which is consciousness. Ultimate truth cannot be confined into a narrow set of ideas.
Non-dualistic truth is supreme truth; all dualistic systems hold false self as real self and false experience as reality. Non- dualistic wisdom is culmination of all systems including theistic non-duality The true non-dualist will not quarrel and argue with any theoretical philosophy because he is fully aware of the fact that, this orthodox theistic non-dualistic scholars or pundits like dualist sages could not distinguish between ‘I’ and ‘formless witness.’ The 'I' was the witness. Their highest was the Jiva. One is so much attached to the 'I' that he does not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again one is unable to detach the ‘I’ from the Real witness.
There is need to study the scriptures. One has to self-search the truth and realize it without the scriptures. And then when he reads the scriptures he becomes aware the scriptures are also saying the same thing but everything is misinterpreted.
