Those who are of a dulled mind say that
to be non-observant and to withdraw: keen powers of observation are desirable
and will help, not hinder the pursuit of truth. The seeker has to take
experiences as they come to him and he should not run away from the world in
ascetic fear.
To
say the universe is an illusion without first examining it and inquiring into its
nature thoroughly is to delude oneself. This world is common to every one of
us; therefore the seeker of truth must begin his inquiry with it. It is only
after he has inquired into the nature of the objective world he realizes the universe which through ignorance appears
as of diverse forms, is nothing else but the soul, which is present in the form
of consciousness is absolutely free from
all the limitations of human thought.
First the seeker must inquire into the
nature of the three states to realize the three states are one in essence. One has to observe everything in the three states
because all three states are one in essence and that essence is consciousness
(soul or Atman) Atman is Brahman. The
seeker should not shut his eyes to the nature of the three states, because they
are a mere mirage created out of consciousness.
Form,
time and space are one is essence. That essence is consciousness. Consciousness
is ultimate truth or Brahma. Brahman cannot be described, because description
implies distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than self.
Man is primarily interested in himself. Hence, to get him started on a higher quest he has to go to the root of his own self, i.e. to inquire "What is “I”?" This is a spiritualistic formula.
When as a later consequence of this inquiry he gets more impersonal he has to go to the root of the physical existence (mind or universe), to realize the whole physical existence is mirage created out of consciousness."
one has to know what is what in order to realize ultimate truth or Brahman. thus he has to know :-
“What is this universe?”
“What is I”?
“What is the meaning of life as a whole?"
Truth is all is consciousness(soul), the innermost self. Soul is in the
form of consciousness. One cannot get away from body or thoughts. They are part
of the mind [waking or dream] so is the universe. Hence need to understand universe,
if he wants ultimate truth.
Most of the dualistic sages approach was more practical, and
they stuck with the reality of the world, they took it as real. Whereas 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 says :- VC 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.
Sri, Raman Maharshi says :- The world is nothing more than an embodiment of the objects perceived by
the five sense-organs. Since, through these five sense-organs, a single mind
perceives the world, the world is nothing but the mind. Apart from the mind can
there be a world?
If the world is nothing but Mind then the WHO AM I? Inquiry prescribed
by Sri ,Raman Maharishi revels only half truth because Who am I? inquiry helps to expose the falsehood of the ego or waking entity not of the fallacy of the whole world whereas Sri, Sankara declares the world is an illusion.
Yoga Vasishta, says: - that the world is both real and unreal. It is real
because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense,
that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.
If
the Advaita is bifurcated from orthodoxy it becomes more
scientific then it becomes very easy to understand and assimilate. All these
scientific –inventions are nearer to truth but they are not truth in
themselves.
Until a person is receptive and
ripe enough it is difficult to understand, assimilate the non-dual truth.
It should be understood by
novices that both religion and yoga and intellectuality are all right in their
places and that they are steps which should lead to the path of ultimate truth,
but when religion, yoga and intellectuality are made ends in themselves and not
means to be used later in conjunction with inquiry, they may become and do
become detrimental. Yoga is not useless,
but it is not the means to acquire Self-Knowledge. Yoga cannot remove
ignorance. It is only a step. It removes obstructions.
Only through non-dual wisdom
the individual soul realizes through knowledge its identity with the universal
soul. The one who knows truth knows what the universe is. One has to make use of treason based on the
self/soul to know “What is reality” and
“What is unreality” .
Even Sage Sri, Sankara says: - that Yoga is not the means of liberation ( page 132-133 of his
commentary on Brihadaranyakopanishad).
The one who loses touch with the
external world and gives himself over to his thoughts alone takes his illusions
to be reality.
One has to know mind and its
substance if one is to find truth. Yogi avoids inquiring, hence cannot find
truth. If he thinks he does not see the world by shutting his eyes and omitting
it from his thought, he is an ignorant and not a Gnani. The mere absence of the
external world from cognition gave ultimate truth, and then everyone would
attain knowledge of truth because they lose the universe in deep sleep.
BRIH. UPANISAD: page 32. "Yoga does
not yield truth or liberation."
BRIHAD UP. (Page 133 1st para) :- points out
that even yoga cannot give perfect concentration and that the only way to gain
it is philosophical realization. This confirms Mandukya's statement that yoga
can no more succeed than the ocean can be emptied with a blade of grass.
One may read the Mahabharata for all
philosophical, yogic and cosmological teachings but at the end it finally says
"All is imaginative."
Brihad Upanishad is next in importance
to Mandukya. It too declares Yoga cannot give you truth.
Brihad Up(Page 78) .: To see Him
whole mystics may have similar ideas of the "universe in a dew-drop,"
but Vedanta demands proof.
It is not possible by mental
control alone, by yoga, to achieve Brahman, but at best one falls into a sleep.
It is like trying to eat food from the ears or nose, to try the yogic way.
The dualist only shuts his eyes and does not
see the universe. He does not examine
the phenomenal universe and hence is not aware of the truth that the universe
also is consciousness. He takes his body
and universe as real and talks of humanity and world peace, which are unreal on
the standpoint of the true self.
Inquiry must begin with duality,
i.e. with a universe to inquire into. It will end with unity. The dualist tries
to avoid this duality by ignoring the universe. Hence he gets a false unity
only.
