Buddha, Sri,Sankara and Sri, Goudpada have declared non-dual truth centuries back but one has to reach the destination with scientific[rational] investigation not through punditry or intellectuality.

Buddha, Sri,Sankara and Sri, Goudpada have declared non-dual truth centuries back but one has to reach the destination with scientific[rational] investigation not through punditry or intellectuality. Until one mentally reaches the conclusion, the conviction will not arise. Without the firm conviction the wisdom will not dawn. Therefore, there is a need to know consciousness is real all else is myth, which Sri, Sankara declared as the world is myth Brahman alone is real.

Sri, Sankara says -Atman is Brahman and everything is Brahman is scientific declaration not religious or yogic. Sri, Sankara and Goudpada are more scientific than anyone else in the world. Since, the real Advaitic essence is hidden and  it cannot be got without the inner [mental] journey.

The ignorance is the cause of experiencing all sorrow and calamities as reality. Thus eradicating the ignorance completely is necessary. And this is possible only through self-knowledge.   Thus, there is no other road to freedom other than Gnana.  There is no other entrance other than except Gnana.  The ignorance will vanish only when the nondual wisdom dawns. 

 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 religion is not the means to self-knowledge. 

 

If the  Sri, Sankara's Advaita is bifurcated from orthodoxy  than  it becomes more scientific and it becomes very easy to understand , assimilate and realize. All these scientific –inventions are nearer to truth but they are not ultimate truth because the whole universe has to be investigated. the whole universe cannot be investigated through laboratory conditions.  it has to be investigated mentally and grasped and realized.  

In the scientific field knowledge one can bank on discoveries of different scientists.  Newton discovered the law of gravity and Einstein formulated the principle of relativity. And scientists take it for granted that these principles are valid. It is not so in pursuit of truth. If one sage discovers the ultimate truth, it cannot be accepted blindly by the seeker without verification.  Seeker has to discover a fresh on his own to realize’ what is truth’ and ‘what is not truth’ and accept only the truth and mentally  drop the untruth .   Thus constant reflection on the subject is very much necessary in pursuit of truth. 

Jesus said :-  "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you.(Gospel of Thomas, 5)

It means one has to know the world which confronts him to realize his body and world are made of the same essence and that essence is Spirit [father]. 

Sage Sri, Sankara says: one must first know what is before him. If he cannot know that, what else can he know or understand? If he gives up the external world in his inquiry, he cannot get the whole truth.

Sage Sri, Sankara was right in saying :- 63(VC). 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.

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.

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]

 

Seeker has to grow from the inside out by soul centric reasoning. None can teach him none can make him to reach the ultimate end. There is no other guru but the formless consciousness, which the innermost self.

If one  knows the formless witness, nothing else remains to be known. Even  his body and his experience of the world  are unreal for the Gnani because it is part of the illusion.

 Three states are mere an experience  but experiencer  is the  formless  soul. The man and the world are within the waking or dream  experience. Thus man along with the world is mere an experience.   Soul   mere is mere witness of   the three states which comes and goes in succession . 

Everyone thinks that ‘I’ is the  self; this is ignorance. One  enjoys and suffers because he thinks ‘ego ’ or waking entity  is the real  self whereas the ego or waking entity is false self within the false experience.  Soul is only unaffected witness of the pain and pleasure. Soul  means the unchanging witness. The soul is in the form of consciousness.

Only within the waking or dream the experience of  birth, life and death and the world are reality.   The waking is parallel dream and dream is parallel waking. World, the ego and body are made of one single stuff. That stuff is the soul or consciousness . The consciousness  is the formless  substance and witness of the three states.  

 Religionists and intellectuals think that, that there is nothing higher than 'I’ and they try to get rid of the ego. To convince them by argument is a difficult thing, because they do not accept anything else then their accepted truth.

 There are certain principles which are common to all orthodox Advaitic thought, that are taken for granted.  Orthodox assumes that the doctrine of karma is valid because they accept the experience of birth, life, death and the world as reality. It they accept the birth, life, death and the world as reality than whatever Sri, Sankara declaration: - Brahman is the truth The World is Unreal everything is Truly Brahman and nothing Else has any value.

 That is why Goudpada says that:- The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect. Thus  it proves that Advaitic orthodoxy  is not the means to Gnana. 

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. 

Without the self-knowledge it is impossible to cross the illusory ocean of the pain and pleasure.  There no vessel to ferry man across the ocean of illusory form, time and space except Gnana.  

What is Gnana? Gnana means the full and firm realization of truth – a realization beyond all doubts, change and contradiction.

The individuals exist only with in the waking  or dream. Thus, the individual has no value in the realm of truth.   One thinks as a person within the waking or dream. Therefore, the thinker and thought  are  limited to the physical entity whereas the self pervades in everything, and everywhere in the three states. All the objects within the waking  or dream are non-different from the consciousness,which is the innermost self.  The waking contains the world with so many people and egos. One takes the form he imagines as is experienced in dream.

The individual experience within the dream is reality with in the dream. Therefore waking reality is also is reality within the waking. This waking is parallel dream and dream is parallel waking. Only when self-wakes up in waking the dream becomes unreal. When the self-consciously wakes up in its formless non-dual true nature in the midst of waking experience  then all the three states are  mere mirage created out of its formless non-dual true nature.

The form time and space within the dream are falsehood when waking takes place. Similarly the form, time and space of the waking are also falsehood when wisdom dawns. The wisdom dawns only when one realize the self is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity. Thus it is erroneous to judge and reason and conclude the ultimate truth on the base of waking entity and waking world because waking experience itself is illusion.

Suppose you were holding the same view in the dream, all your experiences and views are reality within the dream. The dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. Similarly the waking becomes unreal when you become aware the fact that, the self is not an individual.  Thus whatever individual experiences experienced within the waking is as unreal as dream.

Until one thinks body as body and world as world it is impossible to grasp non-dual truth, because his views and judgments are bases on physical self with the physical existence.  The individuality is reality with the waking experience but the waking experience itself is false hood. Thus holding the view as an individual within the false experience is erroneous on the ultimate point of view.  The waking is parallel dream and dream is parallel waking experience. 

In waking the universe comes: in deep sleep   the waking goes. In waking is one born; in waking one dies. 

In waking one lives, in Waking one suffers. In Waking one earns, in Waking one enjoys. In Waking is one truthful or lies like a liar. In Waking one reflects on Virtue and Sin. In Waking do one lands in Heaven and Hell. In Waking is one happy, in Waking in sorrow. In Waking does one lose the distinctions of caste and creed. In Waking is one wise; in Waking is one unwise.

In Waking one has an urge to know the truth. In Waking one is in the illusion; in Waking is one shadowed by Doubts and confusion, in waking one thinks of reincarnation and rebirth.  In waking one thinks that he is born in this world and world existed prior to him. In waking one is in ignorance of the true self, which is consciousness. If one spots out the true self within the three states, one realizes the way to freedom. 

One is in action in Waking. In Waking one is bound by form, time and space. Waking is in the form of mind. Mind appears and disappears as waking or dream.  If there is no mind then there is no waking or dream. Waking or dream is born out of ignorance of the true self. Getting rid of the ignorance through wisdom is   the way to the release. In Waking or dream, one follows the Writ of habit. Waking or dream is a chronic malady; but within it also is its remedy.

 

When Upanishad itself declares:-   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 [Chandogya Upanishad].  

Then it is no use going roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and witness of the universe, which is in the form of mind.  By tracing the source of the mind or universe one will be able to realize the Brahman.

One becomes aware of the seer within the duality [waking/dream]. In reality, there is no duality.  thus Seer and Three states are mere mirage because the seer and the seen are both one in essence. "I know my physical body," means that there is something, which is aware of the body.  ." It implies there is a something, which is formless, knows the form. There is no connection between the Witness and the three states, which appears and disappears. All  is happy or miserable experiences are happening within the mirage. The one  which the witnesses the three states  remains unconcerned.

There is no such thing as internal and external with reference to the formless  Witness. One cannot say where it is not, He cannot even say that it is not in three states. One has to  begin by separating Seer from Three states mentally. Later one has to take them both together in the end because everything is consciousness, the innermost self. .

 Consciousness is the witness that experiences the action, the actor, and the world of separate things. It is like a light that illuminates everything in a theater, revealing the master of ceremonies, the guests, and the dancers with complete impartiality. Even when they all depart, the light shines to reveal their absence.

What is not consciousness in the experience of diversity [waking]?  The waking and the dream cease to exist without consciousness.  The seeker, seeking and his destination   all are one in essence.

Consciousness is bliss in the sense that it is aware of all. What is it that prevents one from knowing things as such? It is the superimposition of non-existence and non-luminousness on Consciousness or Awareness. It is because one  is thinking. 'I' is the self , he  does not know the fact that ‘I’ is not the self but the soul is the true self .

 One  can never know mind by himself; he can know only the states of mind. Psychology has yet to discover this. Similarly, it is impossible to define mind. For the deeper it go it come ultimately to the witness and it can say nothing about its nature. For if it describe or know it, it becomes an object and is no longer the true Witness! Intellectuals can only learn this from F.S. he  will eventually have to come to this knowledge. Use any word he  likes for mind, the moment he  define it is defining only an idea.

The secret is to know that there is a  formless witness . the formless witness is the soul. Soul  or consciousness cannot be defined: all one  can say of it is "negate!" When intellectuals  became skeptical of the existence of consciousness, first they must  answer  how they  knows there is no consciousness. For it cannot be known ever  soul or Formless Witness  is the knower, never the known. How at any time can it get rid of consciousness? The moment he  is thinking of it, it is there: Every thing exists for him only through consciousness.