Yogic experiences are not Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

In pursuit of truth the ultimate truth has to be proved, not assumed. Pundits who take scriptures for granted are not Gnanis.  The intellectuals by questioning others and trying to provoke  others are unaware of the fact that,  the ultimate truth will not be reveled through intellectualism but   it reveals  only through soul-centric reasoning.  It is foolish to argue on the base of waking entity,   which is not the self.

If one says that he speaks to God everyday therefore he is sure that God exists always implies he must also exist always. Without his existence the god who speaks to him cease to exist. Thus he has to exist for his God to exist.

The inner revelation flash without any process of thought to mark the intervening stages; still they are ideas, mental phenomena in their full nature. When they project themselves into the mind or universe as an object then one becomes aware of the subject object relation and also the fact that the object is mere mirage created out of the formless subject, which is consciousness.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana cannot come if anything is left out. All the three states must be included  in his inquiry in order  to realize  the three states are one in essence.  Only when all is known can all be known to be but ideation. Hence yogis Samadhi cannot lead to self-knowledge or brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

The thought, the ego, the body the world belongs to the waking experience. The intellectual may get the knowledge that the ‘witness  is separate from witnessed , but he will never know the ultimate truth  without inquiring into the world confronting him, because he is giving up the world, and hence cannot discover his unity with the world because man and his experience of the world are one in essence.  The Gnani regards everything in the world as consciousness; the intellectual rejects the world. Thus there is a fundamental difference.  The Gnani is soul-centric whereas the intellectual is egocentric.

Without inquiry into the world, which confronts one and its nature i.e. matter, there can be no such thing as self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Yogi who says he has experienced mystic exaltation, trances, meditations and peace is his individual experience thus it cannot be accepted as truth because the self is not an individual because it is formless. Thus Yogic experiences are not Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. It vanishes when he comes out of trance or Samadhi because it was not the highest insight. A  Gnani, however never loses his Gnana. Once one has thoroughly assimilated the truth he simply can't fall away from it.

Yogi enjoying mystic exaltation and peace, but whether it passes away soon or endures the whole of life, it is not Self-knowledge or brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, because it did not come through striving to investigate the nature of the world confronting him, it came only through meditation on the self; that is the yogic reward for such meditation but it is only one half.

That is why Sri, Sankara says in (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.

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.

The individual experience within the dream is reality with in the dream. Therefore waking reality is also is reality within the waking. This waking is parallel dream and dream is parallel waking. Only when self-wakes up in waking the dream becomes unreal. When the self-consciously wakes up in its formless non-dual true nature in the midst of waking experience  then all the three states are  mere mirage created out of its formless non-dual true nature.

The form time and space within the dream are falsehood when waking takes place. Similarly the form, time and space of the waking are also falsehood when wisdom dawns. The wisdom dawns only when one realize the self is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity. Thus it is erroneous to judge and reason and conclude the ultimate truth on the base of waking entity and waking world because waking experience itself is illusion.

Suppose you were holding the same view in the dream, all your experiences and views are reality within the dream. The dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. Similarly the waking becomes unreal when you become aware the fact that, the self is not an individual.  Thus whatever individual experiences experienced within the waking is as unreal as dream.

 Until one thinks body as body and world as world it is impossible to grasp non-dual truth, because his views and judgments are bases on waking entity with the waking world .  The individuality is reality with the waking experience but the waking experience itself is false hood. Thus holding the view as an individual within the false experience is erroneous on the ultimate stand point.  The waking is parallel dream and dream is parallel waking experience.

A  Gnani not only gets such inner peace but also truth because he has turned outwards also and grasped the truth about matter, which is as much consciousness as his innermost self.

The deathless Self has neither caste nor race, Neither eyes not ears nor hands nor feet.

Those who realize the fact that, the Self is neither the waking entity nor the self is dream entity but the self is formless soul or consciousness [formless] enter into the realm of non-dual Self-Awareness or Brahmic -Awareness or Atmic -Awareness. . They are fully aware of the fact that, the soul or consciousness is the innermost self and it pervades everywhere and in everything in the universe, which is present in the form of the mind or ‘I’. the ‘I’ or mind or universe appears as waking or dream and disappears back as formless soul.

Thus the mind (I) which is in the form of universe is mere mirage created out of consciousness.   The mind (I) or universe is myth on the standpoint of consciousness, which is the true self.  Whatever the mind (I) or universe or waking contains is myth.  Thus, the birth, life and death or pleasure and pain which are happenings within the mind or universe are myth.   Thus judging the truth on the base of the waking entity or ego is erroneous. 

The gross universe is merged into the mental universe in the sense that when it is analyzed, it is found to exist inseparably in and as the mind alone. All "spiritual" planes are really mental: those who regard them as different or higher will remain ignorant.

A Gnani is free from experiencing the illusion [body + universe] as reality, he is fully aware of the fact that, his body and his experience of the world as consciousness, which is ultimate truth.  

People who are incapable to inquire and reason are tending to follow some philosophy without verification. Therefore the more ignorant they are the easier to get them into a religious fold. Religion is so strong and popular because it makes no demand on the intelligent: It simply requires belief in guru and his teachings.

It never strikes believer to doubt whether his inherited belief system is true. They never use their reason because they start and conclude that their belief system   alone is true, because they never question.

Theological philosophers say God is a perfect being, but they have never known God, never proved his existence; hence their ascription of perfection to Him is purely self-imagined or assumed.

The scholastic or mystic argument is endless. If one says "God is formless” another will reply, "No, God has attributes! If one says "his religion is higher" another will reply, "No, it is lower." It is impossible to get anywhere with such talk because both sides are merely imagining because they think on the base of the false self and false experience. When the self is not physical then whatever seen, known, believed and experienced as person is bound to be falsehood.   Therefore, there is need to know the fact that, the self is formless. 

The paradise or heavens and hell are mere religious injected imagination.  When the self is formless then the experience of birth, life death and the universe are mere mirage.  But where people have got a little thinking capacity, they begin to disbelieve through the contradictions of various contending orthodox claims and descriptions.

               

For religion one can interpret texts as he likes, in whatever way that pleases him, he simply imagine away. 

 Mundaka Upanishad:- The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy and all the arts Can be called lower knowledge. The higher Is that which leads to Self-realization. The eye cannot see it; mind cannot grasp it. The deathless Self has neither caste nor race, Neither eyes not ears nor hands nor feet. Sages say this Self is infinite in the great And in the small, everlasting and changeless, The source of life.