Friday, February 25, 2011

One need not run pillar to post to realize the Advaitic or non dual truth.




If one wants self-realization he has to first discard all inherited belief and stop going after the gurus or any teaching. If one is not after self-realization then he must follow what makes him happy and contended.  Self-knowledge is only for those who are in quest of ultimate truth or Brahman.    

People who think by worshiping their gurus as God in human form in order to get self-realization are unaware of the fact that, accepting someone as guru and himself as disciple is greatest obstacle in the path of truth. The person who accepts himself as guru is not a Gnani, because he has already accepted self as body whereas the self is not the body. The person who accepts himself as disciple of some guru also considers his self as body thus; it becomes a great hindrance in path of truth. Guru is essential in religious and yogic path but not for Self-Realization.      


One  must study the wisdom propagated by Gnanis like Ramana Maharishi very deeply and try to attain the same realization which he  had, rather than spend their energies by indulging in  glorifying and worship his form. As per the scripters worshiping human form leads on to darkness.  The main aim of human life is to acquire self-knowledge.

Religious literature of Hinduism   one finds  many such aphorisms as ' there is no higher deity than the Guru', 'the Guru is the ultimate Truth and Deity  ; 'God and  Avatars (incarnations) are secondary to the Guru in importance  ;  ' there is no higher refuge, no higher target, no higher destination than the Guru ' ; ' the Guru is God Himself ' ; ' God and the Guru are one , he who makes a  distinction between the Guru and God is ignorant; and scores of  similar others. They abound both in Sanskrit and in modern Indian languages.  Some celebrated philosopher-saints also like Jnandev, Eknath and so many others all over India have offered their first salutations and importance to the Guru in their various books.


GURUR BRAHMD GURUR VISHNU
GURUR DEVO MAHESHVARAH,

GURUH SAKASHATH  PARAM BRAHMA
TASMAI SRI GURAVE NAMAH.

Sri Ramana Maharishi never claimed himself as guru nor did he accept anyone as his disciple. He was eminent sage, well respected, and the world regarded him as a great and noble seer.


My views in my blogs derived from deeper self-search are general and irrespective of any particular person or person beliefs. 

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.  
Until and unless one overcomes physical shackle it is impossible to understand and assimilate the nondual 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.

Sri, Sankara says in VivekaChudamani   :-

56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realisation of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.

58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.

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.

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’.

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.

67. The question that thou hast asked today is excellent, approved by those versed in the Scriptures, aphoristic, pregnant with meaning and fit to be known by the seekers after Liberation.

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.

All the religionists  believe in god and goddesses [vidyaand performing rituals  and other sacrifices[Avidya] both are hindrance to self-knowledge according to Ish Upanishds,  then why the seeker of truth needs worshiping of  god and goddesses, when essence of Adavita  is Ataman is Brahman [soul or self as ultimate reality]. 

When Sri,Sankara declares:-  the world is myth and Brahman alone is real the 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 Advitin 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 Advaitic 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. 

Isa Upanishads indicates that: By worshipping gods and goddesses and going to the world of gods after death is of no use.  The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend same time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is the main goal. One cannot reach the non-dual destination by glorifying god and goddesses and by doing that, one goes deeper and deeper into darkness. It surely indicates the fact that, the seeker of truth has to drop the worshiping god and goddess in order to get self-knowledge.

It also indicates that, Religious Rituals [Avidyais Karma [actionand therefore a hindrance. By performing Agnihotra and other sacrifices [Avidyais a roundabout way of purifying the mind, and it is also groping in the dark.

In addition, it indicates the karma is limited only to the religious rituals, not on the whole human life. This karma theory based on the human conduct must have been adopted from Buddhism and other theories based on human conducts. 

When it says: Perform the obligatory karmas without any attachment to the fruits, and at the same time worship gods and goddesses, again without any desire to go to heaven - then you can get the benefit of both, liberation and bliss. For those who are not yet ready to renounce, this path is recommended, it mean that the religion and its  idea of god and goddesses and code of conducts, and its rituals are meant for the mass who are incapable of thinking of the beyond.

In addition, it also speaks of heaven the abode of gods, where one goes after death, and it speaks of rebirth, this contradiction, seeker has to conclude that religion, rituals god and its code of conducts are meant for the mass that is not receptive to self-knowledge. 

When the self is not the body [‘I’] whatever one sees, knows, believes, experiences and feels on the base of the body [‘I’] as self is bound to be illusion.  Thus, the karma performed in illusion is bound to be illusion. The birth, life and death is happening within the illusion, therefore it is bound to be illusion. Thus, rebirth and reincarnation theories based on the false self within the false experience are bound to be illusion on the base of the true self. Only the witness of the illusion is real [Brahman].  Therefore, everything has to be viewed and judged, on the base of the Formless Witness [soul] in order to overcome the illusion/duality. 

Seeker of truth has to know somewhere he is going wrong, and it is for the seeker to go on his own and remove the obstacle.  The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, god, scriptures, and yogic theories. Moreover, attachment to scriptures, personal god and religious code of conduct keeps one permanently in the grip of duality.
Seeker has to have courage to accept the truth and reject the untruth. Most people will not be able to subscribe to path of truth because they sentimentally and emotionally involved with their inherited belief system and even if one does he has to overcome all his doubts confusion and despair.  These are problem for the seekers who are from religious back ground because of their conditioning and they are made to accept their blind belief as truth and their interest or insight is not deep.  Thus all my blogs are useful analyze these problems because they highlight the what is not truth according to their own religious scriptures  and make  them to accept the truth and reject all the false conditioning and move ahead in pursuit of truth.
It becomes difficult for the orthodox cult to accept anything else as truth other than their accepted belief, which they hold as truth. Although all religious followers are participants alike in the spiritual endeavor of the world, overzealous   followers of each religion are not prepared to accord equal status to other faiths and assert the superiority of their own. Thus universal brother hood is total impossibility because it is difficult to accept anything other than their inherited belief system.        
Most of the pundits are egoic and they try to snub others who question them.  They think they are unquestionable authority.  They quote the citation from the scriptures as proof without verifying the validity.  All punditry is a great obstacle in realizing the Advaitic truth expounded by the Sri, Sankara and Goudapada.
The foreign disciple come to India to study scriptures and write great books to feed the seeking crowd but all this bookish knowledge of ornamental worlds can satisfy only the emotions and feeling. The truth is beyond emotions and feelings.  The religious path is emotional path and it is for the worldly people. Considering the traditional path as path of truth is great mistake.  There is no need to condemn the traditional paths but seekers of truth have to realize the fact that, they are not the means for Self-Realization. Thus it is necessary to realize the fact that, traditional path which are based on the scriptural authority cannot transport the seeker to their non-dual destination as declared by the Upanishads.  Self-Realization cannot be bought in spiritual super market because truth cannot be patented as individual property because it is universal.  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 Adavitic preaching and practice. There is need to bifurcate religion, concept of god and scriptures from Adavitic philosophy to assimilate the essence of Adavita.   

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. 

 I am not trying to prove my views, but it is for every seeker who is in the path of truth to prove himself to know “What is truth, “and “What is untruth?” to assimilate the self -knowledge. 

When one is unable to quench his spiritual thirst from his guru or teaching he has to look elsewhere to clear the cobwebs of his understanding and to move forward in his spiritual quest.

It is difficult for tradition-bound people to accept anything as truth other than what they inherited from then parental grooming. Only intense urge to know the truth and courage to accept the truth after verification with better understanding one will be able to drop all his accumulated dross, which is the main obstacle in self-realization.
  
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 him alone.  Yoga needs guru to guide its student to practice Samadhi. 

Religion encourages 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, the 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 prasdda, 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 temple-idols.  In this way there might be at present in our country scores of individuals who are worshipped as living God, with a following varying in numbers.

If one is seeking truth one has to drop religious 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 is. What is this Brahman in order to realize the nondual or Advaitic truth?    

Adyathmic Discussions -132



BLOG REFFRED - “ME” is not limited to the body alone but “ME” represents the whole universe in which the individual exists.

Q:-

I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS BODY [BRAHMILA] IS NOT ME.BUT SOUL IS CAPTURED IN THIS BODY DUE TO KARMAS. TO MERGE WITH THE UNIVERSAL AND [DIVINE] SOUL HAS TO BE FREE FROM ALL KARMAS SO THAT IT NEED NOT TAKE ANY MORE PHYSICAL FORMS.
 
So to be devoid of more karmas we should be 'Sthitapragnas' in pain and pleasure.

A:-By accepting karma theory one is  accepting the false self, as real self, and world as reality, therefore there is no need for Self-inquiry “Who am ‘I’ “, because one has  accepted the present physical identity and world as reality.  Self-inquiry makes one realize the fact that,  self is not the body or ego. After knowing the fact that.  self is not the body or ego , then it is erroneous to think again as the body as self, and holding the body based theories as reality.  Thus karma theory becomes a biggest obstacle in the path of inquiry and truth, because it does not allow the seeker to cross the threshold of duality.

 The physical body and the world which exist only in waking or dream(duality) are impermanent and illusory in nature, because they appear and disappear as mind. The soul which is the formless substance and witness of the duality is permanent. Therefore, whatever is seen known and believed and experienced as real within the waking also is as real as dream.

Sri, Sankara says in Aparokshanubhuti:-

   88. When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman?

  89. O enlightened one; pass your time always contemplating on Atman while you are experiencing all the results of Prarabdha; for it ill becomes you to feel distressed.

90. The theory one hears of from the scripture, that Prarabdha does not lose its hold upon one even after the origination of the knowledge of Atman, is now being refuted.

91. After the origination of the knowledge of Reality, Prarabdha verily ceases to exist, inasmuch as the body and the like become non-existent; just as a dream does not exist on waking.
92. That Karma which is done in a previous life is known as Prarabdha (which produces the present life). But such Karma cannot take the place of Prarabdha (for a man of knowledge), as he has no other birth (being free from ego).

93. Just as the body in a dream is superimposed (and therefore illusory), so is also this body. How could there be any birth of the superimposed (body), and in the absence of birth (of the body) where is the room for that (i.e., Prarabdha) at all?

94. The Vedanta texts declare ignorance to be verily the material (cause) of the phenomenal world just as earth is of a jar. That (ignorance) being destroyed, where can the universe subsist?
 95. Just as a person out of confusion perceives only the snake leaving aside the rope, so does an ignorant person see only the phenomenal world without knowing the reality?

    96. The real nature of the rope being known, the appearance of the snake no longer persists; so the substratum being known, the phenomenal world disappears completely.

     97. The body also being within the phenomenal world (and therefore unreal), how could Prarabdha exist? It is, therefore, for the understanding of the ignorant alone that the Shruti speaks of Prarabdha.
     98. “And all the actions of a man perish when he realizes that (Atman) which is both the higher and the lower”. Here the clear use of the plural by the Shruti is to negate Prarabdha as well.

   99. If the ignorant still arbitrarily maintain this, they will not only involve themselves into two absurdities but will also run the risk of forgoing the Vedantic conclusion. So one should accept those Shrutis alone from which proceeds true knowledge.

The above proves that the karma is reality only on the base of false self, where one thinks body and the universe as reality. When one becomes aware of the fact that, the true self is formless soul, then the karma becomes part and parcel of illusion.   My point is that, if one accepts the karma theory as reality, he will never be able to come out of the ignorance. And ignorance makes him believe the cycle of birth, life and death or pain and pleasure as reality.  Thus the freedom which one is seeking will remain distant dream. For the one who accepts the birth life and death as reality, Self-knowledge is impossible.

Thus it is necessary for the seeker of truth to know the fact that, the body which is born, lives and dies is not the self. Since he is taking the body to be the self, he is experiencing the duality as reality.

 As Sri, Sankara says:  When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman.

 If body is not the Atman(self), then the karma theory has no meaning on the standpoint of the truth. Thus no second thing exists other than Atman, therefore why to view the worldview on the standpoint of the waking entity as self when the waking entity is the false self within the false experience(waking), and the Atman or consciousness  is the innermost  self is real and eternal.

 If body is not the self, then the birth, life, death and the universe are bound to be illusion.  If birth, life and death are illusion then all conducts actions and their fruits are mere illusion. If body is not the self, then the existence of god, heaven and hell is mere illusion.  If body is not the self then all religious beliefs of god is mere illusion.  If body is not the self but the Atman [soul] which is in the form of consciousness is the true self, then there is no scope for second thing other than consciousness,    therefore consciousness, which is Atman is Brahman or ultimate truth.  The Brahman alone is real and eternal.  Thus whatever is real eternal has to be identified as god. To identify the real and eternal, one has to overcome the ignorance caused by the illusion. To overcome the ignorance one has to acquire the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 
     
 Essence of Astvakara Gita is: - Realizing Atman or consciousness  as self, the liberation is possible in this very life right here and right now, not in the next life  or next world.

Religion, theories scriptures and concept of god are created as tool for conditioning the mass mind set, to control their individualized mind, to self-judge, what is good and what is evil, with the fear of conceptual god, who will in turn punish them, or reward them with good or bad life, in life after life which is only illusion.  And this fear helps to maintain peace and harmony in the society to some extent. But man and world exist within the mind and mind is myth on the standpoint of the soul as self, thus all the theories based on the false hood, have no relevance in the realm of the non-dual truth.   Therefore, individual actions and conducts are not the means to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana .

There cannot be delusion when oneness is realized.  One cannot know the ultimate  truth or brahman,   if one has not mastered the analysis of the three states of consciousness.

By reading and reflecting, constantly on the subject matter, one understands assimilates the hidden reality. Consciousness, the Supreme Reality, is the undifferentiated One. Everything, in the final analysis, is reducible to the ultimate essence, Consciousness.  

Prior to the appearance of the mind, what was the mind



Prior to the appearance of the mind, what was the mind? It did not exist as waking or dream. What was it? What prevail without waking or dream? What is it that is aware of all the three states, which appears and disappears in succession? Only when one is able to know the existence of  this formless knower of the three states then he will be able to  to realize the self is neither the waking entity nor the self is dream entity but the self is formless witness of the three states which come and go in succession.

Only when  one realizes the the three states are and object to formless subject than only   he will have the mental yardstick to judge what is real and what is unreal.


Without the knower, there is no such thing as known. The knower is formless and known is the form. Therefore, until one takes the form as the knower, he remains ignorant of the true self. Without realizing the fact that, the body or mind is not the self, it is impossible to assimilate the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.


The witness of the three states can remain with or without the waking or dream. When it remains with the waking or dream, it is called deep sleep in ignorance. Consciously becoming aware of the true self is the soul and learns to view and judge the worldview on the base of the soul, will lead to the freedom from duality in the midst of duality.


The individual experiences within the waking or dream are noting to do with the witness. The individuality is part of the illusion. The soul or consciousness, the innermost self  pervades everywhere and in everything in all the three states. 

 The birth, life and death are part of the individual experiences with in the waking or dream. Individual experiences are reality within the waking or dream. The waking or dream appears and disappears hence they are not permanent. The witness of the three states is permanent and eternal. Thus, it is necessary to view, analyze and judge, and conclude the truth on the base of the formless witness, which is the soul or consciousness, the innermost self, in order to realize the ultimate truth. The ultimate truth is no second thing exists other then the soul or consciousness, the innermost self  hence it is non-dual. 

Meditation on symbols is meant for dull and mediocre intellects.


Even we find A, U, M in Vedantic literature, which in Hinduism uses as “OM”.

The word AUM has been chosen because it is a short easily remembered syllable. The separate sounds of the word are symbols, nothing more. The combination of these three letter sounds in the one word symbolizes the world's unity.

The three divisions of time--past present and future--are also symbolized. Moreover AUM contains three letters and Atman contains three states. Finally just as it requires four quarters to merge and make up a whole unity, so A, U, and M are three of these quarters.

A: When one  think of himself as seeing the waking experience ; but when he thinks of  the self apart from that self is  Atman.
 U: he regards his -self as being in the dream. This is a higher idea, because he knows that the universe is an object to the subject which is Atman.

M: When one understands that through deep sleep he is able to measure all else, that all other things (and the sounds A and U symbolizing them) merge back into Deep sleep, are all found in it, and re-appear from it. This is a still higher degree.

Even if one takes any language he likes, he finds that A involves the opening of the mouth whereas M involves shutting it. Now all sound implies soundlessness, because it begins from that and ends with that. Hence the two always go together.

Similarly the knower and Known go together to form Brahman, are always present together although we do not usually recognize it. AUM= Turiya: This is not a state, as the ignorant Orthodoxy think.

 This word includes all the three sounds, which have merged in it. So the waking merges in dream, the latter in sleep and all the three in AUM. The latter is a unity, nevertheless it contains a trinity. Thus when the word is made the subject of intelligent reflection, such meditation becomes a great help to attainment, as Advaitins says, for it thus becomes an examination of the whole of life.

Sounds imply names, names imply objects, objects imply whole world. "Au" is beginning of all sounds, "uM" is the end of all sounds, even other sound is included within them, i.e. within AUM.
Whatever may come in the future, whatever object existed in the past, whatever thing you can think of in the present--all these are included in the single word AUM, because all are named, hence are ideas, hence within the single mind.

The word is a mnemonic purposely invented to give men in one short syllable, in the smallest compass, a handy reminder that everything--this table, your neck-tie, that cow,--is of one and the same essential character. Every time any object is seen, you utter Aum and thus remember that it, and all other things, are the self. Every object in the external world is indicated by a name. Hence the phrase "the universe consists of names and forms.” All names are but words. As soon as a word is uttered, what does your mind do? A thought comes. Now all these words in every language, all these sounds, all these thoughts, are compressed in the one word Aum; which also enables all objects to be comprehended by the Mind as being ideas. Hence this word is unique. Nothing exists which is outside the scope of referential meaning AUM.

Aum therefore is the whole of existence, the universe. But why is this specific word Aum chosen for such high office? Take the first letter "AH". It is the sound phonetically uttered by the mouth when it first opens. "UM" is the sound it utters when at last it closes. Hence all sounds, without a single exception must be comprised between the opening and shutting of the lips, i.e. between "AH" and "UM" and as Brahman is silence, so ultimately the AUM disappears with the sounding of "UM" into silence, because the mouth must then shut. You have to use words to denote things, objects. You have to use letters to form words. The word AUM summarizes all other words. Finally even this word disappears when the sound of it goes. So the letting go of AUM is to make you drop the whole world and make you think of Brahman. Thus the mystery of AUM is wrapped in the meaning of words. Semantics aim at clarifying meanings but AUM ultimately shows you that all words are futile because they cannot express the ultimate nature of anything: Silence alone does this.

One cannot produce any sound without opening the mouth and the first sound he utters while opening the mouth is A. Thus A is said to pervade all sounds. A is considered to be the symbol of the universe because all objects are indicated by ideas, and all ideas are indicated by sounds and all sounds are pervaded by the letter A.

When we utter the word "sound" how can we understand the meaning of sound? It is only by distinguishing it from soundlessness that we can understand sound. All sounds are got from soundlessness. Similarly all the states are got from the Turiya, corresponding to soundlessness. We have to merge waking into dreams, then merge dream into deep sleep. And finally we have to merge even this into Turiya.

AUM is conceived as the whole universe, which has got four quarters. How can one know that the universe and the self-[soul] are identical? The answer is "Look into his -self--the Atman.” This Atman has also four corresponding quarters.

 When one utter the word AUM, the waking comes before him: when he thinks of dream, the dream states come before him; and so also with sleep. Thus every time he utters the word AUM the three states come before him.

Meditation on symbols is meant for dull and mediocre intellects. When we utter the word AUM we must think of the three states and also of the Ataman.

Aum is a sound, how can it be an elephant? "All sounds" means all objects, or entire Brahman.
Anything which is a thought, is an idea, and hence a superimposition. Aum is the substratum of all the words. It is the word of Atman. Aum stands for the sound and not the letter which is found in all languages. It sums up all the sounds in all the languages. As upon the mind everything else is super-imposed, so upon the Aum everything else is superimposed.

The sound has for its substratum or substance one’s own self. It comes from and disappears into the self, which is Atman.

All this baggage is not necessary in pursuit of truth. Seeker has to find and realize “What is mind?” and “What is the substance of the Mind?” nothing else in order to unfold the mystery of the physical existence [universe].  The individual experiences happening within the universe, such as birth, life and death and pain and pleasure are nothing to do with the self, which is formless consciousness. Thus, it is necessary to know the self is formless to realize the fact that, the burden of the human is not on the body but it is on the Self [soul or consciousness], which the religionists call it as God or Brahman or  Christ or Buddha and intellectuals call it as Consciousness. 

Thus consciousness alone is real.  The human and universe is mere mirage created out of consciousness. Know the consciousness as true self then one becomes free from experiencing the mirage (experience of the birth, life, death and the world )as reality.