You are not different from the ego because you are the ego.*****

You are not different from the ego because you are the ego. The ego, body, and the world appear together as waking or dream (duality) and disappear together as deep sleep (nonduality). The dream is a parallel waking experience and the waking experience is a parallel dream.

We need not focus our attention on the ego but we have to find the truth of the whole waking experience (universe).

The seeker has to find out: ~

‘What is it that appears as the waking?’

“What is it that appears as a dream?’

‘What is it that disappears as deep sleep?’

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that, whatever appears and disappears is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness.

The witness of the appearance and disappearance of the three states also the Soul.

All the three states are created out of single clay. And that single clay is the consciousness. in reality, the witness (Soul) and the witnessed (three states) are one in essence.

The knowledge of the single stuff is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara says: ~ There is no need to study philosophy, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.******

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to study the Scriptures, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~ then why you indulge in studying the scriptures.

 Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to study philosophy, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why you indulge in studying philosophy.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to indulge rituals, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why you indulge in rituals.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to indulge yoga, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why you indulge in yoga.

Sage Sri, Sankara says the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by the illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, (Gnani)

~ then why you are sticking a Guru who is not a Gnani.

Sage Sri, Sankara says: ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then why you are indulging in other types of meditation. 

For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the religion and yoga will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

That is why Sage Sri, Sankara VC~.61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?

VC-  v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not  even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together

Sage Sri, Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be experienced. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely a noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it,  your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by subtle arguments

• What is the use of reading millions of pages on truth?
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•  What is the use of searching for Gurus in order to get truth realization what is
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• What is the use of wandering in the mountains is the search of the truth?
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• What is the use of indulging in yogic Samadhi or meditation within the unreal world?

The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole. Without realizing what is this ‘I’ you will never realize the truth which is beyond the form, time, and space.

All the Gurus glorified the ‘I’. Thus, it becomes very difficult to discard the ‘I’. Those who have accepted the ‘I’ based teaching refuse to accept anything other than their accepted truth.

Till you hold the ‘‘Self’’ as the ‘I’, your knowledge remains skin deep.

What is it that appears as the ‘I’ and disappears as the ‘I-less? It is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness.

Do not make the mistake of holding the ‘I’ as the ‘Self’ because it is not permanent. ‘I’ disappears and becomes ‘I’-less.

 ‘I’ is an illusion and the ‘I-LESS’ is real and eternal. The ‘I-LESS ‘appears as ‘I’ and ‘I ’‘disappears as I-LESS.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole.

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 the ‘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. 

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘‘Self’’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers. 

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana frees the Soul from the cage of the illusory form, time,  and space.

Due to ignorance, the Soul, the innermost Self is in forgetfulness of its own true nature in the dualistic illusion.  When the Soul wakes up from its sleep of ignorance,   the unreal nature of the world, in which you exist, is exposed.

The ‘Self’ is not within the body***.

Nothing is needed for acquiring Self-knowledge of Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana other than perfect understanding, assimilation and realization of ‘what is what'. 

The dualistic illusion is present only when form, time, and space are present. The form, time and space are one, in essence. The ego, body, and the world are one, in essence.   The birth, life, death and the world are one, in essence. The three states are one, in essence. That essence is consciousness. The thinker, thought and the world are one, in essence.  Thus, there is no division in consciousness in reality. 

The ‘Self’ is not the body.

The ‘Self’ is not within the body.

You are not the ‘Self'.

You are bound by the form, time, and space.

You are bound by the experience of birth, life, death and the world.

You are never free because the world in which you exist is the product of ignorance.

The world in which you exist created out of single clay. That single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. The Soul is the innermost Self. The Soul is not ‘I’. The Soul is the witness of the ‘I’ which appears and disappears.

The Soul is the only permanent thing and the ‘I’ is  an illusion. If you do not understand this truth you will never be able to cross the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion.

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes.

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole.

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the 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.

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take it as real because some Gurus have propagated the Self is the ‘I’. is no need to convince such mindsets. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.

That is why Sage Sri, Sankara says: - VC-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.

People refuse to accept anything other than their Gurus words. For them, their Gurus words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such mindset.

Such mindsets are not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth. 

Why WHO AM 'I'? is not the ultimate.+

The purpose of the pursuit of truth is Truth-realization.  The seeker has to remove all the obstacle which is blocking his realization of the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

That is why Bhagavan Buddha said: ~ “Believe nothing because a wise man said it, Believe nothing because it is generally held. Believe nothing because it is written. Believe nothing because it is said to be divine. Believe nothing because someone else said it. But believe only what you, yourself judge to be true.”

All the penances are external because they are based on individuality.  The Soul, the innermost Self is not an individual because it is formless.  Investigating the mind, alone leads to Self-realization. To know what is mind, profits much rather than searching the truth in the external world moving from one ashram to another and one Guru to another, and one mountain to another.

Sage Goudpada: ~ To establish the truth of Nonduality by sheer reasoning alone. He begins by defining "What is real?" "What is unreal?" etc, because that is the right way to discuss or teach. People must first know what they are talking about. (Manduka Karika)

When one starts investigating the universe that confronts him will mentally move inwards and will reach the ultimate end and become fully aware of “What is the truth?”  and “What is untruth?” in his own home or city and establish in truth by realizing what is the untruth.

The seeker has to overcome all the doubts and confusion in the later stages of Self-inquiry.  The seeker finds some doubts and confusion, which cannot be overcome if the inquiry is practiced in the present format prescribed in the Self-inquiry book. Deeper Self-search reveals the fact that the ‘Self’-inquiry in the present format will yield only half-truth. 

The following confusion arises from  Ramana Maharshi's Who Am I? -teaching:~

If the mind is the same as Atman (consciousness), how can it vanish--when the mind appears and disappears as Waking or dream?

How can one be certain when one leaves the external world--when the person is within the world?

Why leave the external world when everything is Brahman---when everything is Brahman why create division between the world and its perceiver?

How can the world alone cease to exist if one does not look at it—how can the person remain without the world and where he will exist without the world?

Who has the subtle mind projecting through the brain and senses? How can one see his subtle mind?--when the brain is also a piece of gross matter? ---then how can the brain come into existence after the world is created if the latter depends on the brain.

The heart is the idea created by the mind, how the mind can emerge from it---when the heart disappears along with the mind and reappears along with the mind, how the mind emerges from it.

In deep sleep, swoon, and trance, the mind turns inwards and enjoys its natural state--if so why should one inquire if one gets Atman in sleep. With the drug, one can get sleep and peace or bliss.

If sleep gives Brahman then why trouble with inquiry--better get it through pills. There are many seekers practicing inquiry for many years and waiting for something mystical to happen, why nothing happens, and why their inquiry does not yield fruits.

Since  Sage Ramana Maharishi is not present physically to guide the seekers to overcome these obstacles in the path of inquiry on his own.

I was surprised to know David Godman’s interview with Mr. Sivapraksh Pillai (one of the close aid to Sage Ramana Maharishi) that even after 50 long years he was unable to achieve his goal through inquiry, hats off to his sincere and honest statement.

In my honest opinion with all due respect to every Soul who was involved in recording and publishing the Self-inquiry which is a great treasure and which opens the golden gate for the seeker to enter into the spiritual world from the religious world, still, there is lots confusion and doubts which are impossible to get answer the way the inquiry is presented in the books. But one will be able to overcome the same after lots of research.

It is impossible to do research in the present framework of the ‘Self’-inquiry. Since everyone is waiting for some mystical experience to happen and refuses to verify and accept the truth because of their conservative outlook. Even the intellectual- classes who have authored many books viewed and judged Ramana from the mystic point of view were unable to deliver goods due to their inherited religious background. Sage Ramana Maharishi was a mystic for the mass, but he was Gnani for the class.

It also becomes evident that different people who have interviewed Sage Ramana Maharishi at different times had different backgrounds and mindsets. Therefore, it is necessary to bifurcate the religious views of Sage Sri Ramana Maharishi from his spiritual views to get the hidden essence of Sage Ramana Maharishi’s teaching.  

The great Sage Ramana Maharishi has indicated many ways to realize the ‘Self’,  other than WHO AM "I?, therefore it is necessary for the seeker to go beyond  WHO AM 'I'?  inquiry to cross the threshold of dualistic illusion, which is present in the form of the 'I'.

Sage Raman Maharishi: ~ He placed his right hand on his right breast and continued, "Here lies the Heart, the dynamic, spiritual Heart. It is called Hridaya and is located on the right side of the chest and is clearly visible to the inner eye of an adept on the spiritual path. Through meditation, you can learn to find the Self in the cave of this Heart." ~ Mercedes de Acosta, Here Lies the Heart

Santthosh Kumaar: ~ The spiritual heart is the Soul, the innermost Self, not the physical heart.   The world in which you exist is within the Soul, the spiritual heart. Mistaking the spiritual heart within the body is a great error. Even some Advaitic Guru says that the Self is within the spiritual heart. And the spiritual heart is on the left side.  Such a declaration is merely an imagination, based on the false Self. When the ‘Self’ is bodiless, then the question of the heart being left side or right side does not arise.

The Seeker must realize the Soul, the innermost Self, itself is the spiritual heart.  The Soul the spiritual heart is ever formless. The Soul itself is the spiritual heart that is present in the form of the spirit or consciousness.

Without form, time, and space, the Soul, the innermost Self, becomes naked. The nature of the Soul, the innermost Self, is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

If the Self is not ‘I’ but the Self is the Soul then from the standpoint of the Soul, the

• Where is the ‘I’?
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• Where is the body?
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• Where is the mind?
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• Where is the world in which you exist?
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• Where are form, time, and space?
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• Where is the waking experience?
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• Where is the duality?
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• Where is void?

They are or have become one with the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth of Brahman or God in truth.

The ‘I’ is present only when the mind is present. The mind is present only when the world is present. The world is present only when there is a waking experience.

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the waking experience is not considered different from the world. The world is not considered different from the mind. The mind is not considered different from the I’. This truth has to be assimilated.

The ‘I’ is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. ‘I’ is not the subject. The ‘I’ is an object to the Soul, which is the formless, timeless, and spaceless subject.

• If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion.
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• If the ‘I’ is an illusion then three states, are bound to be an illusion.
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• If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the form, time, and space are bound to be an illusion.
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• If the 'I’ is an illusion then the individual experience of birth, life, and death is bound to be an illusion.
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• If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the words and thoughts are bound to be an illusion.
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• If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the duality is bound to be an illusion.
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• The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure of the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes.
• 
  

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal.

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take as reality because some Gurus have propagated the Self is the ‘I’. is no need to convince such a mindset. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.

That is why Sage Sankara says: - VC-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.

People refuse to accept anything other than their Guru's words. For them, their Guru's words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.

Such a mindset is not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth. :~Santthosh Kumaar

The only Real Knowledge is the Knowledge that God***

Meher Baba said: ~ Give no importance to creed, dogma, caste or the performance of religious ceremonies and rites.

The only Real Existence is that of the One and only God Who is the Self in every (finite) Self.

The only Real Love is the Love for this Infinity (God), which arouses an intense longing to see, know and become one with its Truth (God)

The only Real Sacrifice is that in which, in pursuance of this Love, all things—body, mind, position, welfare and even life itSelf—are sacrificed.

The only Real Renunciation is that which abandons, even in the midst of worldly duties, all Selfish thoughts and desires.

The only Real Knowledge is the Knowledge that God is the inner dweller in good people and in so-called bad, in saint and in so-called sinner. This Knowledge requires you to help all equally as circumstances demand without expectation of reward, and when compelled to take part in a dispute, to act without the slightest trace of enmity or hatred; to try to make.

The real love is the love for the innermost Self. Thus ‘Love Thy Self'. 

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says: - In that unitive state there is neither father nor mother, neither worlds nor Gods nor even the Scriptures. In that state,  there is neither thief nor slayer, neither low caste nor high, neither Monk nor ascetic. The Self is beyond good and evil, beyond all the suffering of the human Heart.

Rig Veda: 1.164.46:~    Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti”  "The Reality (Truth) is One:  The Wise Call It by Various Names."

A  Gnani will easily appreciate the high flights of Sage Sri, Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is one of the 'most majestic structures and valuable products of the Genius of man in his search for Truth.

In India people think that religion as a stepping stone to higher truth,  but it is not so because the religion is based on the false Self (waking entity or ego) within the false experience (waking or the world).

One must go beyond form, time, and space. The theistic tradition has been kept alive by the orthodoxy. The orthodoxy is the path of ignorance because it is based on the ignorance.  The orthodoxy is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. Thus,  it is not the path of ultimate truth or Brahman. People who stuck to orthodoxy never will be able to cross the prison of duality. Without crossing the prison of the duality,  Self-awareness is an impossibility.  Thus Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana is necessary to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Each sect concocts a God to suit its own purposes. Such concocted Gods are mere a belief. The belief is not truth but  a myth.

Faith in religion weakens as  the man pays more attention to  the facts of life and this world. People, who argue that truth is only in their religion, are vain logicians, depending on mere ideas, imaginations  based on inherited samskaras and conditioning.

To know the ultimate truth. There is nothing new to be acquired.  The truth  is always there,  but it is hidden by the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion. The seeker has to be  sharp enough to  grasp  and understand, assimilate and realize it when told about it. But there is a difference between understanding and realization.

Only mental effort is required for this understanding and assimilation of the truth, which is beyond the form, time and space. Once  the truth is realized  then no special effort is needed to remember the realized truth.

To overcome all your  doubt and confusion  by the sword of self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The pundits say  you should give up  your  doubts and  blindly believe in God and the Saints words.

 You  should keep on thinking and reasoning  about  your doubts until they are solved,  that  you should not stop until this point is reached.

When all your  doubts are cleared,  that is the  doubts on every question. But this happy state could not have been reached if he had not begun by having doubts and asking  himself the questions and demanding proof.

Ashtavakra Gita (page 224):~  It is not the absence of buddhi (Reason)  that can grasp Advaita but the man who possesses the highest intellect. Brains are necessary. Such a man, by merely hearing the truth mentioned will know it.

 The Advaitic  truth is the  ultimate truth.  Yogis, mystics, and religious teachers do not accept the path of wisdom because it pries into the truth, the source and the validity of the knowledge they claim. Therefore, it is the most difficult part of the study of nonduality.

Katha Upanisad (1.2.5) says; -"Caught in the grip of ignorance, self-proclaimed experts consider themselves learned authorities. They wander about this world befooled, like the blind leading the blind."