Soul is present in the form of consciousness. consciousness is
all-pervading in everything and everywhere in all the three states . consciousness is not limited to waking experience alone because it pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states. It is only because
of our ignorance of its real nature that we consider the 'Self' is limited to the
physical body and separate in each body. The Self is unattached and is not affected
by the individual experiences goes on in waking or dream.
The soul, the innermost self is different and apart from the known. Soul, the innermost Self
is not an object which can be known or experienced by any one because it is prior
to all that is known.
Man can experience only external objects within the waking or dream and so he cannot know the indwelling soul, which is the formless substance and witness of the three states. The only way to realize the Self is to trace the formless substance and witness of the three states.
The true self never undergoes any change; and physical existence that
undergoes change is unreal. The soul alone is real. All the three states, which
appear and disappear, are unreal. The experience of diversity (waking or dream)
is mere name, created by words alone; the formless substance and witness
of the three states alone is real and eternal.
The soul is sentient that gives life to the waking and dream.
The waking or dream is insentient and dependent on the soul for their existence,
whereas the soul can remain with or without the waking/dream.
The soul,the innermost Self is free from the limitations of the form, time,
space and objects. Actions do not taint the soul; the soul never hankers after
the fruits of actions. One, who knows the true self is the soul thus, does not
become bound by actions.
The soul , the innermost self is not a doer and that he has no desire for
the fruits of actions because it is formless. Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana alone
makes one free from bondage of experiencing the duality as reality.
The one who knows the soul as self and realizes that he is not a doer and has no craving for the fruits of actions incurs no bondage. His actions cease to be the cause of further ignorance of taking the ego to be the self.
Thus, what is necessary is the realization that, the self
is not physical but the self is formless spirit. He who knows truly the formless substance and witness to be the true
self becomes free from the experiencing the illusory birth, life, death and the world as
reality. He becomes fully aware of the
fact that the cycle of birth, life and death are mere passing show.
The one who realizes that the self is the soul and self has
neither birth nor any activity, because they pertain only to the waking entity,
will become liberated from experiencing the illusion as reality.
The ignorant disregard the soul as self, taking themselves
to be an individual born in this world and the world is separate from them.
They think the world existed prior to them and they are born in this world
later on. Until this conviction is there, it is impossible to assimilate the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana. The body, ego and the
world appear together and disappear together.
The seeker has to make sure of this fact by constant reflecting on the
subject.
The soul or spirit dwell in all the three states as their
formless substance and witness. People worship only images, thinking that God
is there. People do not recognize soul as the self to be the real God, but that
they do not realize that god, as the soul, which pervades in everything and
everywhere in all the three states.
The ignorant people are not capable of discriminate
and reason to unfold the mystery of the mind. Therefore they will not be able
to grasp the non-dual truth. It is realization the true self that will free one
from bondage of duality. But the belief
system makes them to believe the duality is reality therefore, they cannot
think beyond physicality.
The formless substance and witness is different from
everything that appears in the waking or dream, which is always subject to change,
is insentient and limited by form, time, space and the world.
Knowledge means ‘pure consciousness and not the knowledge
based on physicality, which has a beginning and an end and is therefore finite.
This consciousness is not distinct from soul, but it is its essential nature,
like the light of the sun or the heat of fire. This consciousness is eternal
and is present even during deep sleep. A specific act of knowing takes place
only when there is waking. But this must be distinguished from pure
consciousness, which is ever present in all the three states. It is this
consciousness which is known as ultimate truth. The soul, the innermost self becomes a ‘knower’
only when the known is superimposed on it.
The Self is looked upon as a knower only because of illusion.
No word can express ultimate truth, “Words cannot cross the threshold of
duality. The true Self which is the soul is without any attributes.
