Self-Realization cannot be bought in
spiritual super market because Ultimate Truth or Brahman cannot be patented as individual or intellectual property because
the ultimate truth or Brahman is declared by the sage scientists Sri, Sankara and Goudpada 1400 years
back.
Only the orthodoxy which is meant for the lower stage of understanding, who are incapable of grasping the
non- dualistic truth, but to those who are capable must use their own reason.
Thus non-dual
truth can be attained by scientific or rational inquiry and reasoning without
guru, without scriptures by anyone who has urge to know the universal truth or
Brahman.
Thus if one is seeking non-dual
or Advaitic truth he need not go
anywhere because it is within his mind and it is without his mind. Thus perfect
understanding is necessary to assimilate and realize it.
Seeker of truth has to avoid
getting involved with the guru or teaching if wants acquire Self-Knowledge
because emotionally getting involved with guru or teaching becomes great
hindrance and one will permanently remain in the prison of physicality or
duality.
One finds lots of differences between traditional Advaitic preaching and practice. There is need to bifurcate religion, concept of god and scriptures from Advaitic philosophy to assimilate the essence of Advaita.
Sri, Sankara says in Brahma Sutras: that Brahman is the cause of the world, whereas in Mandukya he
denies it. This is because he says that at the lower stage of understanding,
the former teaching must be given, for people will get frightened as they
cannot understand how the world can be without a cause, but to those in a
higher stage, the truth of non-causality can be revealed.
Sri, Sankara himself has warned us not to use ambiguous words,
and to practice semantic analysis in his book "Definition of one's own
Self. [" Page
199, v.24 of "Sankara's Selected Works]
Sri, Sankara founded his Advaita
Vedanta either on reason independent of sruti or on sruti confirmed by
reason." Sri, Sankara's commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad,
II, 1: This [the unreality of duality] is borne out by the Srutis
... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the object world even from
pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose.
Sri, Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti,
or revealed scripture. This may be because Sri, Sankara addressed the
ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea
of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed
that those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine
causality, and can therefore dispense with Sruti and arrive at the
truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason.
Sri, Sankara, in debates with
Buddhists and others who did not recognize the authority of the Vedas, had been
obliged to prove the truth of Advaita by means of reason alone. Mandukya
Upanishad, a scripture which appealed to reason to the exclusion of
Revelation.
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.
Thus, self-knowledge is meant only
for those who have intense urge, and courage to accept the truth with humility
and reject the untruth. Since people start comparing with their scriptural
knowledge, it becomes impossible to assimilate and realize the non-dual
truth. Therefore, there is no need to convince anyone other than
our own-selves to get the firm conviction.
In pursuit of truth seeker has to use
his reason in order to have knowledge and understanding. First one must become aware of the fact that,
‘I’ is not the self and realize the fact that holding ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ as self is
obstruction his realization. This is
possible only when one becomes aware of the fact that ‘I’ is not limited to
body but to the whole world confronting him.
Seekers only goal is to remove all the obstacles which his
blocking his realization. Thus whatever
blocks his realization has to be mentally discarded to realize the ultimate
truth or Brahman. Orthodox
or theist non-duality is no means to self-realization.
That
is why Sri, Sankara says in Viveka Chudamani:-
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.
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’.
Thus Sankara
clearly suggests direct realization of truth is not possible through punditry
or orthodoxy. Why to follow the
traditional path, which does not yield any fruit. Therefore, Seeker of truth has to take the
direct path and avoid losing precious time and effort loosing himself in
philosophical studies and traditional path.
When Sri,Sankara declares:- the world is myth and Brahman alone is real
then why worships the guru and gods of
this unreal world . That is why Veda bars such worships and
people who indulge in such activities will suffer and sink into darkness. And Upanishads says self-realization is the
human goal. Therefore, one has to strive only for self-realization or truth
realization.
When the
self is formless there is no need for pada pooja [feet worship] of Advaitin
gurus to get freedom. A guru, who preaches conduct as the means to freedom,
believes in birth, life death and the world as reality, whereas the Advitic
sage Sri, Sankara declares the world as unreal. Therefore, how actions
performed in unreal world can get moksha or freedom. Therefore there is need to
know the fact that, the self is not physical in order to understand and
assimilate and realize the truth beyond physicality.
That is why Gaudapada says that: - The merciful
Veda teaches karma and Upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect,
while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.
Thus Goudapada suggest that the religious paths and worship of guru and
conceptual god are lower and middling intellect. But in this modern world people are sharp
enough to understand and assimilate ultimate truth or Brahman or god. Thus
people who wants higher truth then it is high time to discard the lower
knowledge and move ahead to realize the ultimate truth, which is Brahman or
God.
They alone in
this world are endowed with the highest wisdom who are firm in their conviction
of the sameness and birthlessness of Ataman. The ordinary man does not
understand their way. [Chapter IV — Alatasanti
Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada]
Therefore, if one
is seeking truth he has to know his true self is not physical but it is the Atman, which is in the form of consciousness.
That
is why Sri, Sankara says in Viveka Chudamani:-
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.
Most people who write
books on nonduality are borrows idea from punditry have commercial interest to
sell their books or ideas. They have not expounded anything new other than presenting the eastern concepts to
suit the western seekers in ornamental words.
Authoritative and
orthodox egoic attitude is out-dated and not suit for the modern mind-sets who are capable of
thinking using their own reason. It is
no use of arguing with people who live in self-imposed orthodox prison and who
impose their false inherited baggage to the next generation. It is high time for the orthodox cult to
wake up and indulge is self-search their belief to realize the non-dualistic
truth expounded by the great sage scientists, Sri, Sankara and Goudpada.
Mundaka Upanishad says:- 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.
When
sages themselves found rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of
samsara, of birth and death and ignored them and they the Mundaka Upanishad
further suggest that, such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the realm of
duality those who try to cross The realm of duality on these poor rafts
are Doomed to shipwreck are. Ignorant of
their own ignorance, yet wise in their own esteem, these deluded people
[pundits] proud of their vain learning go round and round like the blind led
by the blind.
Therefore, if one wants to acquire Atma Jnana
or Bramha Jnana or Self- Knowledge or
knowledge of consciousness one has to drop all ritualistic and orthodox baggage
to move forward in their pursuit of truth.
