Why orthodoxy is not the means to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

 Orthodoxy says the classical tradition has a well-evolved method and it has to be learned from a skillful teacher. And  There is no shortcut. Orthodoxy  propagates  without guru it is impossible to get non-dual wisdom. The orthodoxy recommends scriptural studies , god and guru glorification , rituals and individual  conduct  as means to acquire wisdom.  And they hold scriptural masters or  religious swamis  as gurus. 

Whereas   Sri Sankara himself says: - [VC] 59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

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.

63. 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.

Thus the study of the scriptures is useless.  Accepting the scriptural masters as gurus in path of wisdom or pursuit of truth will lead one to pursuit of doubts and confusion.  Path of wisdom is nothing to do with Orthodoxy.

That is why Swami Vivekananda said: - “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”

Sri Ramana Maharshi said:-"Jnana is given neither from outside nor from another person. It can be realised by each and every one in his own Heart. The jnana Guru of everyone is only the Supreme Self that is always revealing its own truth in every Heart through the being-consciousness 'I am, I am.' The granting of true knowledge by him is initiation into jnana. The grace of the Guru is only that Self-awareness that is one's own true nature. It is the inner consciousness by which he is unceasingly revealing his existence. This divine upadesa is always going on naturally in everyone." 

Thus guru is not necessary in path of wisdom and pursuit of truth.  

 Sri Sankara, in Bhaja Govindam said: - [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.  

 Every human being is qualified for path of wisdom not particular sect  or religion. 

Meher baba said : - There is no difference in the realization of the Truth either by a Muslim, Hindu, Zoroastrian, or a Christian. The difference is only in words and terms. Truth is not the monopoly of a particular race or religion.

 

Swami Vivekananda said :- Creeds and sects have their parts to play, but they are for children, they last but temporarily. Books never make religions, but religions make books. We must never forget that. No book ever created God, but God inspired all the great books. And no book ever created a soul. We must never forget that. (Talk given at Unity Hall, Hartford (Connecticut), USA, on March 8, 1895, as reported in "Hartford Times" (March 11, 1895). Complete Works, 1.324.)

Buddha said : - Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.

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. 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 it cannot be got without the inner [mental] journey.

Buddhism says: all things are illusory and noting exists.  However, Advaita avers that it is not so.  It says that the universe of course is illusory, but there is Brahman, that exists forming the very substratum of all things. 

Sankara was criticized for his views on Maya [illusion] without understanding him. He said that (1) Brahman [the Self] is real (2) the universe is unreal, and (3) Brahman is the universe. He did not stop at the second because the third explains the other two. It signifies that the universe is real if perceived as the ‘Self’ and unreal if perceived as apart from the Self. Hence Maya or illusion and reality are one and the same.  

The realists criticize the concept of illusion without understanding it. He said that:-

(1) Consciousness [the Self] is real

 (2) The universe or mind is unreal, and

(3) Consciousness is the mind or universe, because universe or mind is mere illusion created out of consciousness.  

 One need not stop at the second because the third explains the other two. It signifies that the universe is real if perceived as the Self [consciousness] and unreal if perceived as apart from the Self [consciousness]. Hence illusion and reality are one and the same because both are one in essence. Realizing the essence, which is consciousness as the innermost Self, is Self-Realization or Truth- Realization of GOD- Realization. Thus Sri, Sankara‘s declaration is rational truth, scientific truth and also ultimate truth.

 One should not judge truth holding religious or yogic doctrine as a yardstick.  Religion and yoga is not the yardstick to judge the ultimate truth   because they are practiced on the base of physical self.   The physical self or ego is false self within the false experience.    The nondual truth has to be viewed and judged without scriptures, and on the base of the soul, the innermost self.  This formless path is inner path is without the religion or scriptures or god or yoga. The formless path is pathless path is without guru and self – treading towards direct realization.

Ultimate truth is based on the soul therefore whatever practiced on the base waking entity will not yield any fruit,   because the waking entity is the false self within the false experience. The religion and yoga are based on the form therefore they are   based on the matter (form) whereas the spirituality is based on the spirit (formless).  Thus religion and yoga are not spirituality, hence there is need to bifurcate spirituality from matter (form) based religion and yoga.

Advaita refers to non- duality. Non -duality is not a theory or concept it is the nurture of the innermost self, which Atman (soul or spirit or consciousness).  Thus whatever is based on the soul is spiritual. The soul is eternal identity which has no birth, life and death, because it is the formless.  Soul, which is in the form of consciousness, is the formless substance and witness of the illusory experience of birth, life, death and world.

The religion is based on the form. Without the form there is no question of religion. The religion accepts the concept of god, and believes the body itself as self, and injects theoretical code of conduct to live in the world, whereas in spirituality, the soul or consciousness is the true self and body, ego, world, conceptual god are part of the illusion created out of consciousness. 

The person, who stamped their foot on the ground to refute to show the world, is real, ignore that in dream he would do exactly the same--stamp his dream foot on the ground and assert it to be real. 

Upanishads clearly declare:- 

Katha Upanishad 1:2:23 The Soul cannot be realized through hearing scholarly explanation of the discourses, not even by the intellect.

Katha Upanishad 1:3:6 “Through the knowledge of the Soul, God, one is pure and clean constantly.” Neither by reading the book, nor by taking a bath at holy place has one become pure. Inner purity is possible when one remains in constant touch with the Soul. Constant Soul-Consciousness is the real purity.

Kena Upanishad 2:4 When it is known through every state of cognition, it is rightly known, for (by such knowledge) one attains life eternal. Through one's own self one gains power and through wisdom one gains immortality.

Kena Upanishad 2:5

If here one knows it, then there is truth, and if here one knows it not, there is a great loss. Hence, seeing the Real in all beings, wise men become immortal on departing from this world.

 

Mundaka Upanishad 1:2:8

“Remaining in the fold of ignorance and thinking “we are extremely wise and learned,” the fools with boastful nature ramble about like the blind led by the blind alone.”

Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:3

 

“The weak and timid cannot realize the Self. Self-Realization is not possible through intellect or hearing spiritual discourse. One who welcomes God in every activity, through a thorough controlled and disciplined life, to him also the Soul is revealed."

Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:3

 

The Soul cannot be realized by the weak and timid.

 

All the penances are external because they are based on the individuality. Investigating the mind, alone leads to self-realization. To know what is mind, profits much rather than searching the truth in external world moving from one ashram to another and one guru to another and one mountain to another.  When one starts investigating the universe that confronts him will mentally move inwards and will reach the ultimate end and become fully aware “What is truth?”  and “What is untruth?” in his own home or city  and establish in truth by realizing what is untruth. 

 

The truth is beyond all philosophy. When one realizes  all our accumulation of knowledge from outer sources is inadequate and useless in quenching our spiritual thirst, we will start our inner [mental] journey on our own.  The journey is full of obstacles because we have to drop all the accumulated dross and all the conditioning [samskaras] to cross the ocean of duality or samsara. 

As one indulges in deeper self-search he will know somewhere he is going wrong, and it is for him to   overcome the entire obstacle on his own by knowing what is obstructing his realization.  The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, god, scriptures, and yogic theories and intellectual speculations and logical conclusions. Moreover, attachment to scriptures, personal god and religious code of conduct keeps one permanently in the grip of duality.

 

The religion, concept of god and scriptures are greatest obstacle to acquire self-knowledge.  The scriptural knowledge fuels the ego. And ego makes one experience the duality as reality.  Duality makes one blind to the truth, and makes one accept, the egocentric theories based on the false self as authority. 

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.

Gaudapada 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.

This clearly indicates that religion, which is based on individual conduct, prescribes karma and Upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, therefore religion is for the lower intellect. And wisdom is for those are capable of inquiring into their own existence.  

Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (brahmano hi pratisthaham, Bhagavad Gita 14.27)

If Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness then, it is necessary to realize, the consciousness as self, which pervades all the three states to realize the fact that there is no second thing exists other the consciousness. Thus, consciousness [Atman] is ultimate truth [Brahman].   

ISH Upanishads indicates : - By worshiping gods and goddesses you will go after death to the world of gods and goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spend there is wasted, because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of gods and goddesses you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

It clearly indicates that:-If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying the conceptual gods and goddesses to go in to deeper darkness. Instead   spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal.   

Since it is eternal and infinite, it comprises the only truth. The goal of Vedic religion, through the various yogas, is to realize that the consciousness (Atman) is actually nothing but Brahman.

 The Vedic pantheon of gods is said, in the Vedas and Upanishads, to be only higher manifestations of Brahman. For this reason, "ekam sat" (all is one), and all is Brahman.

Thus, the goal is to realize Atman [consciousness].  If Atman [consciousness] is nothing but Brahman and by realizing Atman [consciousness] as Brahman [ultimate truth] is truth realization or Self-Realization , then there is no need to follow religion, study scriptures or glorifying gods and gurus and  follow the path of doubts and confusion by losing oneself in the labyrinths of philosophy, when there is an easier path.  By mentally tracing the source of the mind from where it rises and subsides one becomes aware of the fallacy of the mind, which rises as waking or dream and subsides as deep sleep.  The mind raises form consciousness and subsides as consciousness.

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 is the consciousness, which is in the form of consciousness.  

Self-knowledge cannot be attained by study of the Vedas and intellectual understanding or by bookish knowledge.  Therefore there is no use of studying the Vedas and other scriptures in order to acquire the non-dual wisdom.  That is why Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sri, Sankara indicated that, the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, concept of god and scriptures. 

Thus it is necessary to follow the path of wisdom dropping all the accumulated baggage and move forward to reach the destination in lesser time and effort.