Wisdom or Self-Knowledge cannot be bought in spiritual super market.

Wisdom or Self-Knowledge   cannot be bought in spiritual super market.  Ultimate  truth  or Brahman cannot be patented as individual property.   Whatever is there for sale  in spiritual supermarket is not wisdom but  just mental junk. The ultimate truth or brahman  is not buying and selling  commodity  but it has to be shared free of cost  with whole humanity.

  The ultimate truth or Brahman is declared by the sage scientists Sri, Sankara and Goudpada 1400 years back  is scientifically investigated truth.

The orthodox non-duality  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. 

Non-duality 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. 

So long as one is egocentric he only believes in experience of birth,life,death and the world as reality.

From the standpoint of the waking entity the universe is a reality from the standpoint of the soul, the innermost self, the universe is mere illusion created out of consciousness. When wisdom dawns then one realizes the whole universe is consciousness. The dualistic view is possible only in ignorance. At the dawn of Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana there is only non-dualistic view in the midst of duality because the whole universe is consciousness. Thus all the contents of the universe are also consciousness. Thus form, time and space are mere illusion created out of consciousness. If the form time and space are consciousness than the experience birth, life and death also consciousness.  --FORMLESS PATH 

  

So long as one is egocentric  he only believes in experience of birth,life,death and the world as reality.  But his unaware of the fact that his individual experience of birth,life,death and the world are reality within the waking experience,  but waking experience itself is impermanent and unreal. he remains ignorant of his true existence because he is fully immersed himself in practical life within the practical world.

 common people have  no time for him  to investigate about the truth of his true existence. because the truth of his true existence is not priority in the practical life in the practical life.  people are   engrossed  themselves in their inherited belief system and belief of  god and their  own accepted truth  and also the circumstances  of their practical life. 

Only few people have the inner urge to know and realize the truth.  Upanishads says that the truth will be revealed to those whom it choses.  To such a one Atman reveals Its own form. Therefore,  the one who is seeking truth is chosen one.

 

Katha Upanishad:-  This Ataman 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 Ataman reveals Its own form.(Ch-II -23-P-20)

Mundaka Upanishad  :- This Ataman cannot be attained through study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Ataman—by him alone is Ataman attained. It is Ataman 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.

The Soul in illusion is called mind! When illusion ceases, the mind  sinks back as soul,which is in the form of consciousness. The essence, the substance or material of the three states it is consciousness.   The formless Soul or Consciousness is the innermost self and witness of the three states. 

One does not perceive an object as it really is in truth, but only as it appears through the screen of imagination within the illusion. because the subject and object are one in essence in the realm of truth.  that essence is consciousness.  Consciousness is cause of the illusion and it itself is uncaused.

 Illusion means that one knows the unreality of a thing only when it disappears. When one knows these three states are continuously appearing and disappearing, he may perceive its unreality. As one goes deeper inquiry he becomes aware the consciousness is in process of changing every moment, to moment. 

The experience of birth,life Death and the world are reality within the waking or dream.   birth,life and death  are  connected to the waking or dream entity . Waking or dream comes and goes. But that which witnesses  the waking or dream is the neither the waking entity nor the dream entity but the formless soul or consciousness, the innermost self. , the true self. The true self is immortal.

Knowledge does not destroy the world within the waking; it only destroys the ignorance and exposes the unreal nature of the mind or universe or waking. —because the form,time and space are one in essence in the realm of truth.

 Knowledge of the dream world, which does not destroy the dream world; it shows that everything is mental or unreal.

Because of one’s attachment to the body, and his identification with it, he does not   feel this waking to be unreal. Not having inquired one is unaware of the fact that,  the body and the world are within the waking or dream and waking or dream are of constantly changing in their nature. One has to take the Witness-attitude to see the three states as fleeting appearance. 

Waking experience is continuously presenting with changing conditions. Whatever is within the waking experience may appear to be real and existent. It is a mistake to think that mental creations are seen to be unreal and non-existent. 

One knows most intimately and directly of his waking experience; whatever seen, known, believed, experienced of the world are within the waking experience. One is first aware of the existence of his body and the world within waking experience. but he is unaware of the fact that the waking experience itself is mere illusion. only when the wisdom dawns he becomes aware of the fact that, all the three states are mere illusion, because all the three states are one in essence.   

People mistake and have impression that how can external world be illusion, when they are experiencing it.  They say they are born and living and they are going to die in it.  Suppose one is born, living and going to die in dream world, which is as real as the waking world, he will find it as reality until waking takes place.  Same way the waking world in which man exits is reality until wisdom dawns. One can call it illusion only when the non dual wisdom dawns. Until then he experiences the duality as reality.

 The world does exist as reality, but it exits within the waking or dream. But the existence of waking or dream is mental. The waking is illusion on the standpoint of its formless witness or soul or consciousness, the innermost self   

As nobody has ever seen the beginning of the three states, nobody can ever see its end, and hence it cannot be mortal. This does not refer to things in the waking or dream, those one does see have a beginning and an end; it refers to the waking or dream as a whole.

The idea of time is within the waking or dream; of seeing this at one time and that at another; time does not touch the perceiver. It is mirage. 

It is impossible to get to the knower, the formless witness, before it is understood that the three states are mere mirage.

The soul or consciousness  itself is the Formless Witness: it can never be seen. One knows nothing of it directly.  The three states come and mind goes; they do not really exist. Nothing external to the formless witness exists. The three states come and goes are external to the Formless witness.  That which saw knows this is the real self: the Formless Witness; the rest is mirage. To perceive this requires a special sharpness and receptiveness. 

Does God exists or not is the question that succeeds not only dividing people, but creates a tug of war within every individual thinker.

Does God exists or not is the question that succeeds not only dividing people, but creates a tug of war within every individual thinker. Ironically, if one believes in the concept of god then noting else matters and if one is an atheist, too noting else matters.  Those who have implicit faith in god bow their head in submission to what they call divine will. They believe the world is testing ground and sorrows must be borne with patience in order to prove their love to god. On the other hand, the Atheist claim the whole world is random creation arising, so to speak from chemical gravy that is accidental.  Both these arguments based on the false self within the false experience. On the base of the soul as self, the waking experience itself is mere mirage. 

The man and his experience of the world are reality with in the waking experience.   The waking experience itself is falsehood from the ultimate standpoint.  The man and his belief of god is reality within the false experience.  thus it is necessary to realize 'what is truth' and 'what is untruth'.  

 The waking experience is mere dream witnessed by the soul,which is the innermost self. Thus, all the physical based theories are mere imagination based on the false self within the false experience. The formless substance and witness of the false experience, which is the soul or consciousness  is real and eternal.

Innumerable people all over the world have been killed and being killed in the name of religion and god. This is because people are not aware of the ultimate truth of their true existence.

 People take their inherited belief as ultimate truth without verifying their  validity of their inherited belief.   One has to realize  the fact that, man and his world are  reality with in the waking experience, same way as the dream entity and dream world are reality within the dream.  

 The three states are not witnessed by the physical entity within the waking or dream  but  they are witnessed by  the soul or consciousness ,which is the innermost self.  The soul is the true self and it is the substratum and witness of the three states.  Thus, it is erroneous to view and judge the ultimate truth on the base of the ego or waking entity, which appears and disappears, along with the waking or  dream.  The source of the waking or dream is the soul or consciousness . Therefore, the source itself is the self.  Thus, the truth has to be based on the source of the three states.  There is no man, no world; no god exists on the standpoint of the soul as self, because the waking experience is mere mirage created out of the formless  soul or consciousness . 

The scriptures are self-contradictory because every religious scholar gives conflicting interpretations of them.  using one’s own reason  is the best way . there is no  need to give up the scriptures, but one should apply his  reason to them. Reason is common to all, whereas religious schools are separatist.

Religions  says "If one follows the religious doctrine , he will go to heaven and paradise, while others “go to hell," these are only  religious fables.

People assume  that God answers  their prayers it means He interferes and thus changes; hence he can't be relied on as the unchanging eternal one: he may even die, if he can change. It also implies that He could free us from our own troubles but won’t, hence he is cruel. 

People still think visiting gurus, saints and sages and yogis and indulging in god and guru glorification and yogic practice and meditation they get enlightenment. But all these are only for the people who are unable to investigate through inquiry and reasoning about the reality of their own existence.

·       How can the god and the universe exist without the man?

The universe and the idea of god are dependent on the man for their existence. Therefore it is necessary to investigate one’s own existence to verify the existence of God.

Man ceases to exist without the mind. Therefore it proves that man, god, and universe cease to exist without the mind. And it also it proves that all these things together is mind.  Thus the experience of duality which present as waking state is mind. Mind which appears and disappears, means it becomes dual and non-dual. Therefore it is for the seeker to discover and realize what is mind in order to unfold the mystery of his own existence.

People are thinking by killing the ego one can get enlightenment therefore they involve in all types of acrobats prescribed by the religious scriptures, gurus and yogis.  But is it is impossible to overcome the ego. Ego, man and the world, idea of god and whatever known and seen are within the mind. And mind is Waking experience. Therefore one has to overcome the mind or experience of duality in order to realize the true identity which is formless  non-dual Atman or consciousnesses.

Man has to make sure whether he is man or mind through inquiry and reasoning then only he will become aware of the fact that,  he is not a man but mind. Therefore his physical identity that is ‘ego ’ is not the Self. Therefore searching the self by inquiring 'Who am ‘I’ will not yield result, until and unless one knows what ‘I’ really is? Therefore searching truth as a person knowing the ‘I’ is not self is erroneous and leads one to intellectual hallucination.

It is very much necessary to know what mind is,  in order to know man and his experience of the universe and his idea of god and religion,  and whatever seen , known are part of the illusory experience which is present as 'I' or mind.  mind is in the form of universe and universe as waking or dream  and  disappears as deep sleep.  The  formless the substance witness of the  of the  three states  is  formless consciousness . Formless consciousness is the innermost self.  the innermost self is ultimate truth  or Brahman and ultimate truth  or  Brahman is God because consciousness is cause of everything and it itself is uncaused.   wisdom is only too  To realize the  the ultimate truth or Brahman. thus self-realization is God realization. 

The new gospel is that “God is not a believing experience”, “God is a feeling experience”—“God did not create man, Man created God can be accepted but only after they are able to answer who created man and the universe. Until unless they get answer of this question simply believing god does not exist is a foolish venture based on personal belief therefore there is no difference between religionists and atheist because both are believers of belief.  Religionists believe that there is GOD and Atheists believes that there is no god. Thus truth cannot be viewed and judged on personal belief. Religionists have to prove their claim that god exists without their scriptures. And atheists have to prove how they are able to tell god does not exist.  Neither the religionists nor atheist can prove their claim of god and no god belief.

If one blames Karma why did he make with the certain possibility of all creatures falling into error and consequent pain, as we see everywhere, which possibility he must have foreseen as He is Omniscient? No, the theory cannot hold. And if God is unchanging and does not alter his mind, what is the use of praying to such God?

How to resolve the contradiction when “One part of one’s scriptures say Atman is changing, another that it is immortal. Hence even by faith one cannot arrive at fixed notions of certitude. It is possible only by reason. 

The scripture can be interpreted in many different ways and hence can never finally determine truth. Every Realized Mind has different interpretations for example. Most Realized Minds take their own interpretations and call it philosophy.

Thus    only truth the ultimate truth is the only tool  . Those who have no capacity to think beyond their physical existence , have the belief in religion are like children playing with toys. 

Religion is not truth merely because it always shows contradiction. That is to say "I and my father are one" or Ahum Brahmasmi  are  merely a dogmatic statement based on the belief. Why should one believe it? If one asserts that the sentence must be interpreted in a special way, the immediate contradiction arises because one’s interpretation may disagree with others.

• v  How does one know that the writers of the religious scriptures have spoken only the truth?
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• v  How can one look into their minds when they have passed away  several centuries  back?

Observe how one religion is inimical towards another. Why has God created them so? The seeker has to learn to view and judge the worldview when examining yogis' and mystics' marvels and one will find they are nothing but people's exaggeration or unconnected coincidences happening within the illusory Waking experience.

 The seeker of truth should not judge by the confusion of issues and say “He is such a good man, such lofty character, that what he says must be true." A man may be sincere, enthusiastic, having high character, but withal a shallow thinker who believes ‘I’ as self Waking experience as reality.

In the world millions of people are still in a primitive stage of mentality. They talk of a soul leaving the body at death, when a civilized man knows that nobody has ever seen this soul.  Experience shows that God has been unable to do anything either for one as individuals or for world.

Religionists say scripture is infallible. The scriptures are mere book of words! The words are mere thoughts.  When no one can peep  into another man’s mind, then it is impossible to see if the scripture-writers thoughts are founded in fact or not.  All heavens and paradise of all religion are imagined.

Any sincere and serious seeker can   discover and realize the reality of their true existence in lesser time and effort without the help of religion, god glorification or yogic practice.  there is no need to  condemn yoga or religion or its guru or god but it only says they are helpful in manipulating the ups and downs of  the practical life within the practical life,  therefore they are all part of the illusory Waking experience. But on the question of truth Waking experience itself ceases to exist as reality.

The seeker of truth must be aware of the fact that ,obedience to authority leads to loss of one’s thinking power; it is being overdone and harmful. Thinking must be combined with obedience and reason .

The whole practical world has to be resolutely weighed, and accurately, observed in pursuit of truth by seeker of truth

Sage Sri, Sankara says: - Whatever thing remains eternal is true, and whatever is non-eternal is untrue. Since the world is created and destroyed, it is not true.

Truth is the thing which is unchanging. Since the world is changing, it is not true.

Whatever is independent of space and time is true, and whatever has space and time in itself is untrue.

Just as one sees dreams in sleep, he sees a kind of super-dream when he is waking. The world is compared to this conscious dream.

The world is believed to be a superimposition of the Brahman. Superimposition cannot be true.

On the other hand, Sage Sri, Sankara claims that the world is not absolutely false. It appears false only when compared to Brahman. In the pragmatic state, the world is completely true—which occurs as long as we are under the influence of Maya. The world cannot be both true and false at the same time; hence Sage Sri, Sankara has classified the world as indescribable. The following points suggest that according to Sage Sri, Sankara, the world is not false (Sage Sri, Sankara himself gave most of the arguments)

• If the world were false, then with the liberation of the first human being, the world would have been annihilated. However, the world continues to exist even if a human attains liberation.
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• Sage Sri, Sankara believes in Karma, or good actions. This is a feature of this world. So the world cannot be false.
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• The Supreme Reality Brahman is the basis of this world. The world is like its reflection. Hence the world cannot be totally false.
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• False is something which is ascribed to non-existent things, like Sky-lotus. The world is a logical thing which is perceived by our senses.

Consider a scientific logic. A pen is placed in front of a mirror. One can see its reflection. To our eyes, the image of the pen is perceived. Now, what should the image be called? It cannot be true, because it is an image. The truth is the pen. It cannot be false, because it is seen by our eyes. 

The whole  practical world has to be resolutely weighed, and accurately, observed in pursuit of truth  by seeker of truth. He  must find answers for:- 

 What is this world?

 What  is  I?

Why the  'I'  present only  when universe or Waking  is present?

 Deeper self-search  is a necessary foundation. The Yogi who looks only inside and ignores the world throws away part of the materials needed to find  ultimate truth or Brahman. 

Without knowing the nature of the  mind, it is impossible to know truth. the mind is in the form of universe. the universe appears as waking or dream.  What is the use of trying to find one’s inner self before one understands the  world that confronts him.

If one does not analyze three states which appear and disappears, the experience of duality, one is only drawing on his imaginations. Then he says “The  self  is like this, or like that." but it will be only his mental construction.

First one must inquire into the nature of the physical body that is matter. Second one must inquire into the nature of the mind or universe,which is also is matter  and realize the fact that the whole Waking experience which contains the person and the world is mind. And mind itself is matter. and the substance of the mind is Spirit or consciousness. 

Analyze the three states and realize the fact that , the witness of the three states which appear and disappears in succession is apart but the witness is within the three states as its formless  substance.

Look at the three states because in every thing there is  consciousness  as their formless  substance and witness.  Seeker should not avoid  the three states in their inquiry.

Keen powers of observation are desirable and will help, not hinder one’s pursuit of truth. Seeker has to take experiences as they come to him, and he should not run away from the worldly life in ascetic fear or shyness of them.

To say they are Illusion without first examining them and inquiring into them thoroughly is to delude one’s self. This universe is common to everyone; therefore one must begin his  inquiry with it and not flee.

It is only after one has inquired into the nature of the objective world and realizes the fact that the world and its perceiver are within the Waking experience, that one should inquire into who is the knower of the Waking experience. If, however one inquires into the knower before the inquiry into the universe, then it is mere mysticism. What is the world? Must proceed” What is ‘I?” in  pursuit of truth. 

Yoga has its place rather than its value and that its value is for a certain type of mind. Yoga will give steadiness of mind, education of mind, but never Truth because it ignores the external world.

One cannot live without the physical world; it is the basis of one’s life, so it must be the starting point of one’s inquiry. Things, not imaginations, must be the seekers  material.