When one realizes all his accumulation of knowledge from outer sources is inadequate and useless in quenching his spiritual thirst, then he will start his inner (mental) journey on his own

The truth is beyond all philosophy. When one realizes all his  accumulation of knowledge from outer sources is inadequate and useless in quenching his spiritual thirst, then  he will start his  inner (mental) journey on his own.  The journey is full of obstacles because we have to drop all the accumulated dross and all the conditioning (samskaras) to cross the ocean of duality or Samsara. 

As one indulges in deeper self-search he will know somewhere he is going wrong, and it is for him to   overcome the entire obstacle on his own by knowing what is obstructing his realization.  The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, God, scriptures, and yogic theories and intellectual speculations and logical conclusions. Moreover, attachment to scriptures, personal god and religious code of conduct keeps one permanently in the grip of duality.

All religions of the world and all philosophies of the world are based on the individuality or ego; find no answers for many questions. Truth seekers all over the world are trying to find answers for themselves, and they imagine and write articles and books of their ideas and others will read and blindly accept them as truth.

There is no need to condemn any ones’ views and ideas or writing, but without being judgmental, seeker has to verify whether the author is speaking on the standpoint of ego, or whether he is speaking on the standpoint of soul, the innermost self.  If his views are based on the standpoint of the waking entity or ego, then there is many doubts and confusion. If his views are based on the soul as self then there is no confusion and doubts of any sort.   

Nothing has to be accepted without verifying the validity of any claim in pursuit of truth. Only un-contradictable truth has to be accepted as truth.  There is no need to condemn any religion or any saints or sages, but seeker has to think beyond religion, scriptures and individualized gods.   

The religious, yogic and worldly truths are individual truth based on the ego or waking entity.  The spiritual truth is universal truth, which is based on the  formless soul, the innermost self. The soul,  innermost self is present  in the form of  consciousness. The truth which is based on the formless  soul, the innermost self is the ultimate truth or Brahman or Christ or Emptiness.  

The religion is based on the body (form) as self, since it is based on the birth. Spirituality is based on the soul [formless]. Thus there is need to bifurcate the religion from spirituality. Religion views and judges on the standpoint of the physical self/ego, whereas the in pursuit of truth everything is viewed, judged and concluded on the base of the soul, which is the true self.  Whatever is based on the physical entity is not spirituality because the soul has no form, so it has no religion.  Therefore, seeker of truth has to rectify the reasoning base, from form to formless, to understand and assimilate the Self-Knowledge or  Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.    

In self-awareness the body is not considered as body, ego is not considered as ego and the world is not considered as world because body, ego and the world too are nothing but consciousness

 The nature of the mind, which is present in the form of universe, is constant flux.  The universe appears as waking or dream. Without being aware of the existence of the formless witness the three states people think everything is in flux in the universe.

 The permanent thing is the substance of the mind or universe.  The formless substance is the witness of the mind (I) or universe.  The formless substance and witness are one in essence. That essence is soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  The soul or consciousness is real and permanent.  The universe is mere mirage created out of consciousness.

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.

Intellectuals   approach was more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real.

On the standpoint the soul, the innermost self the universe is mere mirage.  The soul is the permanent all else mere illusion.  Man and exist in the unreal universe and by discussing on the standpoint of the ego (waking entity) which is the false self within the false experience will leads to perversity.    

In self-awareness the body is not considered as body, ego is not considered as ego and the world is not considered as world because body, ego and the world too are nothing but consciousness.   In self-awareness there is no flux. There is unity in diversity.  Only in ignorance the illusion is experienced as reality. The nature of the illusion is impermanent and constant flux whereas the nature of the soul or consciousness is permanent and still.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is to know, what is it, that is real, and base the reasoning on that real.

If one knows the ultimate truth OR Brahman, then he will know there is neither cause nor effect.  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana  is to know, what is it, that is real, and base the reasoning on that real.

Even the Advaita Sage, Sri, Sankara' gave religious, ritual or dogmatic instruction to the mass but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.

In commentary to "Brahma Sutras  Sage Sri, Sankara writes:-" "The highest beatitude is not to be attained by Yoga." [Sacred Books of East Series page 298 Vol.1.]   And he also says Samadhi is the same as sleep [p.312]. ---this indicates that yoga is not the means to self realization.  And yogic Samadhi is not non dual wisdom.

Viveka Chudamani 165-166 :-The vital- air-Sheath cannot be the self because it is the modification of air (Vayu). Like air it enters the body and goes out of it never knowing the joy and sorrow like others. It is ever dependent on the self.  

Breath, body and the world are one in essence. That essence is formless consciousness.   Consciousness (soul) is the innermost self.  Breath, body and the world are part and parcel of the illusion. By holding the breath (vital force) as self, one cannot get rid of the ignorance. Without getting rid of the ignorance wisdom will not dawn. Wisdom dawns only when one realizes the form, time and space are one in essence.

When reasoning is done on true base, then one has the yardstick to know what is truth, and what is untruth, and he will be able to reject the unreal or untruth mentally.  Therefore, one has to make sure the self is not the body or ego or waking entity but the self is Atman or soul, which is in the form of consciousness.

 If one accepts the self as body, then the karma becomes universal principal. If one accepts the soul or consciousness as self, then the physical body, ego, world and whatever one has seen known and believed and experienced as a person becomes unreal (illusion) on the standpoint of the formless soul , the innermost self.

 By accepting karma theory, one is accepting the unreal as real, and permanently remains in the clutches of duality thinking the cycle of birth, life and death as reality.  Therefore, to overcome the illusory cycle of birth, life and death, one has to know the fact that, the waking entity  is not the self, but the formless soul is the true self. Thus the self is within the mind (universe) but it is without the mind (universe).   Thus the self is within the ‘I’ but it is without the ‘I’.

Thus karma theory is a hindrance in the path of truth because one accepts the false self as real self and false experience as real experience and he thinks all his action will yield fruits. Thus he will remain permanently in the realm of unreality or ignorance.  Without getting rid of ignorance truth realization or Self-realization is impossibility.

When the self is genderless then it is impossible to get enlightenment through sexual intercourse or tantric sex.  It is impossible to get freedom by taking sanyasa or renouncing the worldly life which is mere body based theories. When the self is not physical then what value is there to take sanyasa or renouncing the worldly life? One has to renounce the ignorance, which is the cause of experiencing the illusion (body+ universe) as reality.

If one thinks nondual truth is the ultimate truth, then one has to drop all theories based on the physical body (I) as self, because nondual truth is based on the consciousness (soul), which is the true self.  

No idea is permanent, not even the idea of God.

The birth, life, death and the world are mere appearance.  It can only be applied to waking or dream. That to which such words cannot be applied is the Formless Witness(soul) because the . It is the only thing known that does not vanish. For this reason we call it “the unborn.” But as everything that is seen, everything that is known, is only your own self, the Formless Witness(soul), therefore all things are really unborn, uncreated.

the seeker has to look within, think deeply, and he will  find that the Formless Witness, the knower is really his innermost self, and that what he  regards as his mortal self  is ultimately the unborn Formless Witness(soul).

That which blocks the way of acceptance of Non-dualistic or  Advaitic truth even on the part of great thinkers  is  because of their  egocentricity. If  thinker   is soul-centric  then  he will realize the truth without much effort. Egocentricity prevents  understanding  and realization.  

Egocentricity  causes a person to be strongly attached in the belief that  he is an individual separate from the world.  

Which is the true ego? Egos are always changing. As a boy one  had different ideas of what he has now. The ‘I’ then was not the same as the ‘I’ now.

Psychologists glibly use the word personality but they do not see it is a term to be used with the greatest difficulty, because which of all the changing personalities of a man can be ascertained to be his real one? The truth is that a number of other things or thoughts have combined with the soul ( Atman), the Formless Witness, and must be separated from it.

The earliest ancient sages used the word ‘I’ to the witness of the three states not to the ego as moderns use it and think the ‘I’ without the body is self. The seeker has to understand the fact that the fact that ‘I’ is not the self but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true self, which is eternal. 

People think that the ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’ is something different from the mind. They believe that the mind is really two. This is the confusion among religionists and intellectuals. If ‘Soul’ has any meaning, if ‘spirit’ has any meaning, so long as one thinks of them, they are merely ideas. 

The Soul or Atman is the highest. Soul is present in the form of consciousness.  Consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman because the whole universe is created out of consciousness.

The individual is a bundle of memories, desires within the waking or dream. The memories and desires are part of the duality. Therefore the individual self is entirely part and parcel of the mirage. Peoples ideas of that they will go to some world after death, some astral plane or religious heavens will disappear as nonsense with the disappearance of belief in the reality of the ‘I’.  

Dualist say ‘I’ shall go to Heaven or ‘I’ shall attain Brahman. 

 What is that ‘I’? It is an imagination. Buddha was partly right in teaching that it was an illusion.

Once one understands the mind, he will have understood of what is truth and what is not truth. he  must learn that the mind  is different from the soul.

Homogeneity is the natural condition of the soul. Through ignorance we create dissociations within it. The first dissociation is the I.

There is no such thing as I or you, the ego is false self within the false experience. Therefore the understanding of the mind  and its nonexistence is of vital importance.

There, in this sphere of discussion and book study, we have Formless Witness and witnessed; when one  use the word "Formless Witness" in talking he  imply a duality. When however he  do not talk about it is witnessed for what it really is--non-dual.

If a book has no reference to the mind, it cannot understand ultimate truth or Brahman. For until that is understood there will be no attempt at self-elimination to get at the ultimate  truth.

Consciousness is the substance and witness of the duality.  The duality is present in the form of mind. Mind is present in the form of universe. The universe appears as waking or dream and diapers as deep sleep. The one which is aware of the coming and going of the three states is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity but the formless soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  When the soul becomes aware of its formless non-dual true nature in the midst of duality it is called self –awareness. It is foolish to limit the consciousness only to duality because the consciousness pervades all the three states 

 Many thinkers are vitiated in value because they do not inquire into the nature  mind.

The waking  appears and disappears  in sleep. The 'I' is present only when the mind is present. the mind is present only when the waking or dream is present. 

If  one has one idea--say I or ego, he  cannot have ultimate truth Brahman, one idea leads to several. The treasure of Brahman is coiled by the black-serpent "I"--with its three strings of three attributes. the seeker has to give up immediately the 'I' identification.

How can one say that "soul " is different from “mind.” It is the ego that thinks of the “self.” What is mind? That which becomes aware of anything is Mind or self; one  may call it by any term. one  cannot say where his  mind is or his mind is not; then how can he say that God is here or is not here or any where. No idea is permanent, not even the idea of God.

Thinking is impossible if there is no  Witness. This consciousness is exactly the same as the soul; the names only are different. Those who advocate Sunya or Void   is talking impossible nonsense, because if there was no seer to say so we would be blocks of wood, incapable of thought. The ego is the thing we are attached to most, our attachment to the body is less.

Knowing the ultimate truth means knowing that consciousness(soul) exists.

The Soul is in the form of consciousness. The consciousness is the innermost self. The witness (consciousness) can never be something known. The ego being known cannot be the witness. Whatever is seen and known cannot be taken as reality. Therefore, mind (universe or waking or dream) cannot be considered as real, because they appear and disappear.  The witness of the appearance and disappearance of the mind (universe or waking or dream) is consciousness. Consciousness is ultimate reality or Brahman.   

Ultimate truth is known only in the negative way. One cannot make it an object of knowledge. One can know that he cannot have an idea of an object unless he posits a knower, unless the knower is implied already. The witness itself is wisdom, that is, it knows everything else. The self is known only when one sees something else, for that other thing reminds him of it. The self is unknowable as an object.

Knowing the ultimate truth means knowing that consciousness(soul) exists. The word “know” implies duality, something known; on the other hand Wisdom does imply an object. Consciousness, the innermost self knows the universe or waking or dream as an object. The knowing powers, the Formless Witness, the knower can have no statement made about it, other than that its existence cannot be negated. The ultimate truth which one can know is that consciousness is not something to be known. 

Ultimate Truth or Brahman is not only that which is beyond contradiction, but also that in which is no possibility of contradiction

Bhagwan Raman Maharshi says: Take Vedanta, for instance: it speaks of 15 pranas the names and functions of it   which the student is asked to commit memory. Will it not be sufficient if he thought only one prana does the whole work of maintaining the body? Again the antakaran is said to think, to desire, to will, to reason etc. Why all these details? Has anyone seen antakarana, or all these pranas? Do they really exist? They are conceptual divisions invented by teachers of philosophy by their excessive analysis. Where do all these concepts end? Why should confusion created and then explained away? Fortunate is the man who does not lose himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, but goes straight to the source from which they all arise. (GURU RAMANA .By S.S Cohen -vii Danger of philosophy-Page -58-59)

 And it is very true.

The truth has to be proved without the scriptural authorities. The scriptural authorities cannot be accepted as proof until it is verified thoroughly in pursuit of truth. Intellectually knowing the truth is only an imagination, whereas realizing the truth knows it as such.

Ultimate Truth or Brahman  is not only that which is beyond contradiction, but also that in which is no possibility of contradiction. Such a state can only be realized as non-duality, where there are no second thing. The illustration for that is deep sleep but sleep is not the ultimate reality. It is merely an analogy. "If one thinks there is another entity whether man or God there is no truth." This is the truth of those who have inquired and reasoned on the true base.

What is ‘I’? The ‘I’ disappears in deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is illusory.

There is really no ‘I’. It dies in deep sleep. But the notion of its unreality will gradually grasp by the serious and receptive seekers. Individuality is illusory.

One is ignorant of the fact that the ‘I’  o mind comes and goes as waking or dream and has no permanent existence, is only a mirage after all.

Atman cannot be known in the sense in which one knows objects of thought. It can be known only to the extent to which one knows them, for he can only think of the knower when he is in the presence of the known, i.e. objects, for the latter make him aware that a knower must exist. Thus duality makes one think of the knower, but it cannot make him know the knower. The knower is known in the world or waking only by implication, as one cannot think without a knower. The knower is a concept, and cannot be known in itself.

The witness is only one. Why and how? The word seer or witness is got at by eliminating the seen (universe or waking or dream) mentally. There never have been two seers/witnesses; if there be two one becomes seen to the other.

When one thinks seer or witness is the ego; he is mistaking the Atman, for the ego which appears and disappears. This is the great stumble block in understanding and assimilation the nondual truth.  Everyone thinks that when the ego is not, nothing remains. When one is aware of the ego, there must be the formless knower, which is Atman, which is in the form of consciousness. This directly opposed to all other systems. How can one talk of ego unless there is something which witnesses it as known.

The seeker has to analyze the whole mental experiences [dual or nondual].Psychology does not go beyond duality or mind or the universe. But who sees this analysis? The one which is conscious of the relation between subject and object is the Atman or consciousness the innermost self. It is that of which everyone is absolutely certain and it cannot be proved. It is self-evident.

People accept the reality of the idea of the individual soul, is because they cling to this I as self, because they lack the humility to give up the ego, because they don't understand that the ego(waking entity) is not a permanent thing; the ego(waking entity) along with the waking world dies in deep sleep.

Everyone thinks   that the consciousness in one person is different from the consciousness in another person. No one can measure consciousness, and say that it is confined to this or that person, or that it starts here and stops there. Therefore people who say our souls are different cannot prove existence of the individual soul. When the self is neither the waking entity not the self is dream entity but the self is the formless soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states.  Different souls in the dram along with the dream world becomes unreal when waking takes place similarly the when the waking entity becomes aware of the fact that it itself is not the self in the midst of waking experience than whatever sees ,known, believed  and experienced  of the waking world as waking entity becomes falsehood.

People accept the reality of the idea of  the individual soul, is because they cling to this I as self, because they lack the humility to give up the ego, because they don't understand that the ego(waking entity)  is not a permanent thing; the ego(waking entity) along with the waking world    dies in  deep sleep.

Dualists’ sages could not distinguish between ‘I’ and ‘Formless Witness.’ The 'I' was the Formless Witness. His highest was the Jiva. You are so much attached to the 'I' that you do not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again you are unable to detach the ‘I’ from the Real Witness.

Dualist sages say: - If everything else is false, your statement that you are Brahman is itself false. But when one says Nonduality or Advaita is false, there must be the awareness, consciousness, behind the very statement.  They are unaware of the fact that the formless soul, which witnesses the waking entity and waking world together. They are basing themselves on the waking entity and waking worlds. The three states are an object to the formless subject. When they are part of the object (waking) , which they take it as real. Thus they are based on the waking entity which is bound by birth, life, death and world whereas as the soul is birthless, deathless and world less because it is formless.   Thus dualist is a theory based on the waking entity, which is based on birth, life, death and rebirth which is false theory based on the false self and false experience because the soul the innermost self is birthless and deathless therefore the question of rebirth and reincarnation does not arise from the standpoint of the formless soul, the innermost self. 

Till you hold ‘I’ as self you are holding false as reality

You are not the self.  Till  you hold ‘I’ as self you are holding false as reality. One has to get rid of the ‘I’. 'I'  is the physical shackle. 

·         ‘I’ is ignorance.

·         ‘I’ is illusion.

·         ‘I’ is duality

·         ‘I’ is universe.

·         ‘I’ is waking.

·         ‘I’ is dream.

·         ‘I’ is mind

 What is ‘I’? The ‘I’ disappears in deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is illusory.

There is really no ‘I’. It dies in deep sleep. But the notion of its unreality will gradually grasped by the receptive seekers. Individuality is illusory.

One is ignorant of the fact that the ‘I’ is present as mind. Mind is present in the form of universe. The one that comes and goes as waking dream and has no permanent existence is only a mirage after all.

Soul or consciousness, the innermost self is that which knows everything, that which sees. Atman alone remains after one gets rid of waking or dream entity by identification with true self. Atman is the seer. The true nature of Soul or consciousness, is formless and nondual.

There must be a perceiver which knows that all these are illusions. The experience of the diversity is on a substratum--mind. Imaginations are possible only in duality. Even when one say he exists he is he exists as a person in duality.

That, which becomes conscious of the experience of diversity, is the seer/witness, the Atman, the Knower.  No one has ever seen the Atman, for it is never an object. Hence logic, inference, cannot be applied to it, because intellect, logic is for objective world and waking experience only, the state where one infers effects from causes. The greatest mistake is considering the duality as reality, to confuse the object with the subject. There is no proof that the seer is confined to waking or dream. It is universal.

If the knower also had been changing along with the changes, how could it ever have known of the changes? It is only that which is known which is changing, otherwise it could not have been known. Those who say the self is also changing are uttering words without meaning. How could one know whether anything is changing unless there were something which itself did not change and could thus note the changes?

One knows of no changes in the Atman; one knows only the changes in what is perceived by the Atman. When one realize the nature of Atman the true self, he knows the Real can never change, hence never die. Death is only in the region of the "seen/duality."

That of which one is aware and which is nearer to him is the Formless Witness. Yet no statement can be made about it. All words will concern ideas about it, i.e. seen (waking or dream)-never the Formless Witness.

Without the individual self one could never think. Through such thinking he is able to prove the existence of Atman, for the individual is finally identical with the Atman.

If the unchanging had also been changing, then the fact of change would never be perceptible to one. The Formless Witness never alters and is thus the true witness.

The Formless Witness is immortal, because one sees change always in seen(waking or dream). One never sees it in Formless Witness because he never sees Formless Witness. Hence one cannot ascribe mortality to Formless Witness as we can to seen (waking or dream). He can only remain silent about it.

Everything of which one is aware is he is aware within the duality (waking or dream). As the ego is something of which one is aware is part of the duality (waking or dream).

Whatever one says about Atman, it is only a thought or word, i.e. a seen (waking or dream). Reason when applied to seen (waking or dream) he can grasp it; but it can never grasp the Formless Witness. Reason can tell you the Formless Witness is there, but it cannot grasp it. 

This is the limit of reason. But the Formless Witness is always there; it cannot be known, or understood because knowing implies a second thing. But in all acts of knowledge, the Formless Witness is there when you are thinking, you are therefore seeking Atman. Hence Atman is known only in idealessness. It is impossible to be free from Atman, for it is impossible for any thought to arise without it.

One must analyze himself and see that whenever there is it seen (waking or dream), there must be the Formless Witness which is aware of it. When he sees this, he knows the Atman. Hence Formless Witness-Seen analysis is so fundamental and so difficult.

People wrongly think that the ego is the Witness, even though the ego vanishing along with the waking or dream.

When one inquire and reasons deeply enough the ego disappears he finds there are no separate individuals at all, there is no variety of beings, all are really the undivided Atman.

Blind faith is the greatest obstacle in the pursuit of truth. Pursuit of truth demands deeper self-search People do not want to think deeply because it is too troublesome.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (8) - Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (9) - Children, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's purpose. Because these performers of karma do not know the Truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery-stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10) - Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.

Blind  faith is the greatest obstacle  in the pursuit of truth. Pursuit of truth demands deeper self-search People do not want to think deeply because it is too troublesome. They say why Worry about the to know the truth they have enough problem in practical world.  Such mindsets are not fit for pursuit of Truth. Without the inner urge one should not venture into pursuit of truth. 

Reasoning is interpretable in two ways. The defective interpretation is to apply it only to waking state, which is egocentric. The correct interpretation is to apply it to the three states, which is soul-centric. The latter leads to final settlement of the problems because it takes all data into consideration.

A   person, seeing a rope in dim light, mistakes it for a snake. He is as much frightened as he would have been if there had been a real snake there.  The snake is said to have ‘illusory reality’.  The illusory snake is described as a superimposition on the rope. The snake is not real, because, it is found on examination with a light that it never existed there. At the same time, it was experienced as reality till ignorance prevailed. Similarly, this waking experience experienced   as reality till wisdom dawns.  On the dawn of Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana it is known to have no existence apart from consciousness. Consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman. The waking experience is therefore said to be superimposed on consciousness same way as the dream is superimposed on the consciousness.  The  waking experience   is practical   reality,  because  it  is  real  until  the  attainment  of  Self-realisation.  Consciousness alone has absolute reality; because it is absolutely changeless because it is formless.      

One could go on and on but the point is that the Upanishads approach the Supreme immutable truth in multiple ways and try to articulate the manifest and un-manifest aspects of the Brahman.

For those that are deluded, the multiple points of view may amount to contradictory perceptions but Upanishads are the epitome of an attempted understanding of the immortal, immutable Brahman by mortals caught in the dynamism of this Universe.

Truth is the understanding of things in accordance with the scriptures, which contain records of the true experiences of the ancient seers. It is the same thing that when practiced, is called justice and when understood in accordance with the scriptures, is called truth. Therefore the mantra says that which is justice is truth. 

Everything has to be verified before accepting it as truth.  To be applied to every statement or assertion or speculations: It is “Is this true?” “Where is the proof?”

Opinions belong to scholasticism, not to Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. There is no scope for opinions in path of  wisdom.

A Gnani prefers not to cross examines others or indulge in argument and try to prove he is right others are wrong. He will say what he has to say.    He does not impose others to accept his statements. . He tries to expose their fallacies of every path and practices to help the serious seekers no to condemn their chosen paths. . By showing that all other paths and doctrines are erroneous, he reveals that the path of wisdom or Truth is left as the only alternative.

If one has a belief, it is because somebody else believes it; or the majority believes it--or it is his own experience. Is it religious authority or religious sanction or is it based upon a feeling of certainty? Does one believe it merely because it works well or is it true? If one asks the question of Truth, it becomes a question of philosophy. Does one’s belief rest upon Reason? Nearly all people want their own imagination, not truth.

Blind beliefs without verification and argument and interpretation on the base of false self( ego or waking entity)  are not verified knowledge therefore it is not truth.

v  What is the use of arguing on base of the birth entity, which is not the self?

v  What is the use of knowing what happens after death when the self is birthless? 

v  What is the use of thinking of the heaven and hell when the self is not an individual and it is never born and never dies?

When formless consciousness, is the innermost self, which pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states, what value the theoretical philosophies and scientific inventions   which are based on individual intellectuality will have.  

The consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman. Consciousness is ground of the universe, the consciousness is the first cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused. 

Ultimate truth cannot be defined in positive terms because any definition would mean limitation.  One has to realize the fact that, the universe and all its contents are a mere mirage created out of consciousness.  That means the mind and the soul, which is the innermost self are one in essence.  

Oneness is the nature of Brahman.

Brahman means ultimate truth. Oneness is the nature of Brahman.  The soul is the innermost self. The soul is present in the form of consciousness.  The nature of the consciousness is oneness. 

In scriptures one will find many way to realize Brahman but after getting all the information about all the path one has to begin to investigate, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman cannot be realized through scriptures, religion or god or guru glorification because the ultimate truth or Brahman is beyond form, time and space whereas man and his experience of the world his religion, his belief of God are within the scope of form, time and space.  From ultimate standpoint form, time and space are illusion because they are one in essence.

Scriptures prescribe much way to find Brahman but they are mere information. After verifying all the information one will not find Brahman in of these.  One will never succeeds in realizing the ultimate truth unless his soul, the innermost self becomes restless for acquiring the ultimate truth of Brahman.  One must begin  to do his own home work without the scriptures , only then  it is possible to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

All the egocentric paths propagate that to be non-observant and to withdraw: keen powers of observation are desirable and will help, not hinder one’s pursuit of truth. Seeker should not do not run away from the world in ascetic fear or shyness of them. To simply accept the world to be Maya or illusion   without first verifying   and realizing   in what way the world is Maya or illusion, and inquiring into them thoroughly is to delude one own self.

Ramana Maharishi:-No. Do you need all that to see yourself? All that is intellectual wealth, useful in explain doubts and difficulties if others rise them or if you yourself encounter them in the course of thinking. But to attain realization, all that is not necessary. You want fresh water to drink, but you do not require all the water of the river Ganges to quench your thirst. (Page 111/112 of Practical guide to know yourself c/e by A.R.N).

This surely indicates Sri, Ramana Maharishi’s path is independent path nothing to with the religion and scriptures.

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

Mundaka Upanishad  :-This Atman cannot be attained through study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Atman—by him alone is Atman attained. It is Atman that reveals to the seeker Its true nature.(   3 –page-70  Mundaka Upanishad  Upanishads by Nikilanada)

The scriptures indicate that Ataman 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 nondual 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 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.

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 or consciousness)?”

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.