Quotation may be
quoted to show as authoritative only after one have shown the reality
and proved the truth, for then one can point out that the texts teach the same
thing. If one quote them before having demonstrated truth, then it is
scholasticism.
1. it is repeatedly recited,
2. it is written in a scripture,
3. it was handed from guru to disciple,
4. everyone around you believes it,
5. it has supernatural qualities,
6. it fits my beliefs anyway,
7. it sounds rational to me,
8. it is taught by a respectable person,
9. it was said to be the truth by the teacher,
10. one must defend it or fight for it.
However, only when it agrees with your experience and reason, and when it is conducive to the good and gain of oneself and all others, then one should accept the teachings, and live up to them."
....Buddha.
Everyone is holding some teaching or teacher or
their accepted truth as a yardstick. All that accumulated knowledge is of no
use in pursuit of truth.
That is why Buddha
said:-
Do not
believe a spiritual teaching just because:-
1. it is repeatedly recited,
2. it is written in a scripture,
3. it was handed from guru to disciple,
4. everyone around you believes it,
5. it has supernatural qualities,
6. it fits my beliefs anyway,
7. it sounds rational to me,
8. it is taught by a respectable person,
9. it was said to be the truth by the teacher,
10. one must defend it or fight for it.
However, only when it agrees with your experience and reason, and when it is conducive to the good and gain of oneself and all others, then one should accept the teachings, and live up to them."
....Buddha.
The seeker of truth is one who is ready
verify and has courage to accept and reject the truth when he finds out what is
truth and what is untruth. The meek will stick to their inherited conditioning
remain experiencing duality as reality.
Doubts and
confusion arise to one when he meets setbacks suffering and disappointment in
life. Why have there been so many conflicting religions, or so many changes,
divisions and subdivisions of religion, if it is true?
Doubts are absolutely necessary to make men inquire. Thus when man gets an internal pain he begins to question whether he has eaten something bad. Spirituality is the getting rid of all doubts. Spirituality begins with doubt, it mean doubting one’s self, one’s own beliefs.
To quote religious and yogic masters to makes one their slaves. Seeker has to test one to test what they say for its truth as much as any one else. They are not to be used as authorities, therefore. Those that want truth will not practice control of mind. That is Yoga for duffers. The seeker of truth will inquire and practice discrimination.
Truth can be attained not by intuition but by reason, which is superior to it. Not even a combination of intellect and intuition will find truth. Proof is the first thing in Spirituality, "How do I know that one is God" spiritualists would ask Him, if He appeared.
All the egocentric
paths propagate that to be non-observant and to withdraw: keen powers of observation
are desirable and will help, not hinder one’s pursuit of truth. Seeker should
not do not run away from the world in ascetic fear or shyness of them. To simply
accept the world to be Maya or illusion without first verifying and
realizing in what way the world is Maya
or illusion, and inquiring into them thoroughly is to delude one own self.
Ramana Maharishi:-No. Do you need
all that to see yourself? All that is intellectual wealth, useful in explain
doubts and difficulties if others rise them or if you yourself encounter them
in the course of thinking. But to attain realization, all that is not
necessary. You want fresh water to drink, but you do not require all the water
of the river Ganges to quench your thirst. [Page 111/112 of Practical guide
to know yourself c/e by A.R.N].
This surely indicates Sri, Ramana
Maharishi’s path is independent path nothing to with the religion and
scriptures.
Even
Upanishad say:
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
–page-70
Mundaka Upanishad Upanishads by
Nikilanada)
The scriptures indicate that Atman 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 non-dual 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 non-dual 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.
Gaudapada quotes from
the Upanishads: "There's
no plurality here"; "The Lord [Atman] through his powers appears to
be many"; "those who are attached to creation or production or
origination go to utter darkness"; "the unborn is never reborn, for
who can produce him [Atman]?”
It is only who base on ‘I’ or ‘I
AM’ as self, argue and quarrel amongst themselves. The people who are fully
aware of the fact that, the form, time and space are mere mirage created out of
consciousness have no reason to quarrel, because for them everything is
consciousness and no second thing exist other than consciousness.
This world is common
to every living creature; therefore one must begin his inquiry with the world
that confronts him. . It is only after one has inquired into the nature of the
objective world, that he should inquire into who is the knower or witness. If,
however one inquires into the knower before the inquiry into the universe, then
it is mere mysticism. What is the world? must precede Who is this
ego or physical entity ? in in pursuit
of truth.
In olden times, religious and Yogic and
mystic discipline, which were not an end in itself, considered to be a means
for Self-Realization or truth 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 religious truth is individual truth. Every
religion has its own idea of god, heaven, hell paradise, sin karma, code of
conducts thus they are not universal truth. Religion is based on the false self
and false experience thus religious truth cannot be accepted as ultimate truth
or Brahman. Thus religious oriented Self-Realization is not the means to
acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The religion is the greatest obstacle in the
path of wisdom or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
The modern mindset is pre-eminently
scientific owing to the great progress that science has made. And the best
method of freeing the mind from its inaccurate ways of thinking is to imbue it
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 enquiry that would be fit for Self-Knowledge or
Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
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'.
That is
why Sri Sankara, in Bhaja Govindam says: - [Jnana
Viheena Sarva Mathena Bajathi na Muktim janma Shatena] - one without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in
a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows.
Thus
it proves that wisdom is universal irrespective of any religion of faith one
belongs. Thus religion is not the means
to self-knowledge. Thus Sri, Sankara’s
Advaita minus orthodoxy is true Advaita.
Soul-centric Reason is the
highest means of attaining Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Religion, theology, mystic practice and yoga
are not the means to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Absence of reason is absence of wisdom.
Yoga and religion
are only for beginners; for the more advanced there is reason. Yoga kills the ability to know intelligently,
so that when one believe or are told by Guru that one has seen Atman, there is
no means of his understanding whether this is so. This is because Yoga
suppresses thinking.
Ultimate truth will interest only few people; the rest will say "they have a religion, why do they have to bother about wisdom?" Religion is that teaching which pleases minds which lack vigor.
The scriptures are for ignorant masses, who wholly accept the Waking experience as it presents itself. Wisdom is for those who have begun to realize that things are not what they seem.
When religionists say that God has sent him his needs through human instruments, how does he know? It is only his imagination.
What is meant by sacred? Cow-dung is treated as sacred in India, but despised by rest of the world where therefore there is a standard of sacredness. Everyone thinks what is sacred according to his own standpoint.
How can the atheist prove the god does not exist, unless one is a fool, he will never be an atheist. Each sect concocts a God to suit its own purposes: F.S does not value for such concocted Gods.
Yoga belief is a self-mesmeric condition out of which it is extremely difficult to escape. Man himself suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion.
Prayers and sacrifices belong to a premature stage of development. As Time passes when no answers come to prayers, then priests say that the answers come in the next world. As Time passes again Struggle for existence presses man, and doubt arises again. Faith in religion weakens as man pays more attention to facts of life and this world.
The scriptures have been passed down by hearing from one
generation to the next. They were written down only relatively late. So, no one
would know whether to rely on the times they give. Also, a lot depends on the
translation. Each 'Shloka' (sanskrit verse) is open to many layers of
interpretation.
Those who argue that truth is only in their religion are vain logicians, depending on mere ideas, imaginations. first one has to prove his standpoint true before it can accept the criticism or objection made from it.
If God is everywhere, then he is in dead bodies. Why then do one burn or bury one’s God? One can't get rid of him. Seeker of truth need avoid the subject to remove doubts, as the yogis and mystics do: seeker ought to wrestle with them until he conquer.
To say that God exists always implies one must also exist always to say he exists. Without a man his experience of the world and belief of god cease to exist.
Intuitions exist. But although they flash into the mind without any process of thought to mark the intervening stages; still they are ideas, mental phenomena in their full nature. They must project themselves into the mind as ideas. Thus the intuition is part of the illusion not wisdom.
Yogic and mystic experiences are imaginations projected outwards as the dreamer projects his dream visions.
Intuitions exist. But although they flash into the mind without any process of thought to mark the intervening stages; still they are ideas, mental phenomena in their full nature. They must project themselves into the mind as ideas. Thus the intuition is part of the illusion not wisdom.
