Trev Light Bown:-
What is your view about this organization.?
Founder
Swami Chinmayananda, founder of Chinmaya Mission, taught spirituality as the art of living. Through jnana yoga (the Vedantic path of spiritual knowledge), he emphasized the balance of head and heart, pointing out selfless work, study, and meditation as the cornerstones of spiritual practice.
Not satisfied by worldly aspirations or his degrees in literature and law, Balakrishna Menon pursued spiritual studies for nine years in the Himalayas, under the guidance of Swami Sivananda (Divine Life Society) and the tutelage of Swami Tapovanam (Tapovan Maharaj). He eventually came to share this Vedantic knowledge with the masses, in the form of the dynamic teacher known as Swami Chinmayananda.
Swamiji is renowned worldwide as a spiritual master and one of the foremost teachers of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. He is credited with the renaissance of spirituality and cultural values in India, and with the spreading of the ageless wisdom of Advaita Vedanta, as expounded by Adi Shankaracharya, throughout the world.
Dearest Trev,
Thank you. Greetings.
I will not comment on any particular guru or person and their organization. I respect their views and wisdom.
As per my conviction:-
I only say path of wisdom is independent path and wisdom will not dawn by hearing sermons or following and surrendering to some guru or by practicing yoga or studying scriptures or by giving sermons on mythological stories.
I respect all the sages of
truth of the past. And I also respect the views and wisdom of the religious saints and gurus and I admire their service to the humanity. Sage Sri, Sankara's religious path is meant for the mass. All these gurus and organization belongs to Advaitic orthodoxy is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. Thus seeker of truth has to bifurcate the religious path from path of wisdom or reason in order to unfold the mystery of the 'I' or mind or universe.
I am only highlighting how the other paths hinder the realization truth which will help the seeker to overcome all the obstacles in his pursuit of truth. The guru is not necessary in path wisdom.
Sharing the knowledge is my only mission. Inspiring the serious and sincere seekers of
truth and divert their attention towards the inward reality is very much
necessary. And I humbly request all my
fellow seekers do not hold any teacher or teaching or wise men as a yardstick
and indulge in argument instead try to list out the doubts and confusion arises
from that teaching or declaration and try to find answer independently on their
own, which opens the inner dialogue, and the inner discrimination will start on
its own in subconscious, and then the truth will start revealing on its own
without intellectual spoon feeding. It is not my advice but it is my humble
suggestion because the advice comes from the ego and suggestion comes from the
inner core of the existence.
There is no need to follow
anyone. If one wants Brahman follow the inner guru not Hinduism. If one wants ultimate truth follow Christ
within not Christianity. If one wants
Nirvana follow Buddha not Buddhism. By
glorifying the form and name of the sages will not yield truth. Deeper
self-search is needed in order to realize what is what. It is not the man who
has to get self-realization but it is the self that has to realize it is not
the man and the world but it is consciousness. Thus it is the self, which has urge
for freedom from this illusory prison called universe or mind.
The universe will not
vanish, when wisdom dawns, only the ignorance disappears and unreal nature of
the universe or mind or waking is exposed, same way as the unreal nature of the
dream exposed when waking takes place. The wisdom dawns in the midst of duality
because in reality there is no duality.
Nothing is needed other
than perfect understanding of what is what is needed.
The path of orthodoxy is not path of
wisdom or Brahman. The orthodoxy has to be discarded if one wants ultimate truth
or Brahman. thus it is very much necessary to bifurcate all the teachers and their teaching if one chooses
the path of truth if he is searching the
truth nothing but truth.
Most of the saints and sages of the past
are mostly social reformers, thus they are more concerned to the humanism
rather than the truth. Their contribution is very valuable to live in the
practical world. But their contribution
is not the means for acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
Thus humanism is part and parcel of the universe, which is mere illusion.
Mundaka Upanishad:- 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. (First Mundaka -10- Chapter I [Source:
"the Upanishads - a new translation" by swami nikhilananda in four
volumes)
The humanism is limited to practical
life within the practical world. The path of love is path for
humanity therefore, it is individualized path. Thus path of love is limited to
the physical structure, it cannot transport one to ultimate end. Thus
seeker has to understand the fact that the practical life and practical world
are part of the mirage from the ultimate standpoint.
The simple reason is that the average
person may have desire for knowledge but when the whole society is immersed in
belief system and feeling himself out of place because of societal
fear and surroundings circumstances and he thinks it unfits him to pursue the
path of truth.
That is
why Buddha said:-
Do not
believe a spiritual teaching just because:-
1. It is repeatedly recited,2. it is written
in a scripture,3. it was handed from guru to disciple,4. everyone around you
believes it,5. it has supernatural qualities, 6. it fits my beliefs anyway,7.
it sounds rational to me, 8. it is taught by a respectable person, 9. it was
said to be the truth by the teacher, 10. one must defend it or fight for it.
However, only when it agrees with your experience and reason, and when it is conducive to the good and gain of oneself and all others, then one should accept the teachings, and live up to them."
....Buddha.
The seeker of truth is one who is ready
verify and has courage to accept and reject the truth when he finds out what is
truth and what is untruth. The meek will stick to their inherited conditioning
remain experiencing duality as reality.
People think their individualized God
is the means to self-realization but they are unaware of the fact that, such God,
men and the world in they exist are made of the single stuff. Thus the religion
and its god and its path of wisdom are not the means of self –realization. That is why Buddha rejected religion, concept
of God and Vedas. Thus anyone takes the
religious path will not be able to get rid of the ignorance. Whoever goes in
deeper self-search they will discard the religion, idea of God and scriptures.
Belief is very much necessary in
practical life within the practical world. Belief implies duality. Whatever is of duality is falsehood. Thus belief
is reality within the falsehood. Belief is
religious tool. Without belief there is no religion. Religion is based on the
false self (waking entity or ego) within the false experience (waking).
Thus, organized religion is meant for
the mass that is incapable searching the truth of their own existence. There is
no use of finding fault with religious people because they have groomed to follow
the belief system. All the religious and
god based organization are meant for the ignorant mass. The mass can understand
what they perceive through senses because they cannot think beyond form, time
and space. In such cases the perception itself is limited because they are
stuck to the reality of the world. That is why all the religious based so called
philosophers are not philosophers because they blindly accept the scriptures
and their religious code of conducts as final. And head of such organization
who propagate untruth as truth with skill in expounding sermons with ornamental
words are religious Gurus not Gnanis. Religious
gurus play very important role in practical life in
practical world to the mass, which is not seeking truth but worldly peace and
comforts.
The seeker of truth will not blindly accept
anything as truth without verification. There is no question of personal god, pilgrimages,
good and evil, a world beyond form, time and space. The serious truth seeker will
discard the religion and its concept of God and scriptures like Buddha as he
progresses in his pursuit of truth.
The experience of practical life
within practical world is reality within the waking experience but waking
experience itself is mere illusion created out of consciousness. Thus lover and
love are one in essence. Thus path of love is religious path because religion
is path of individuality or duality.
The humanism is limited to practical
life within the practical world. The path of love is path for
humanity therefore, it is individualized path. Thus path of love is limited to
the physical structure, it cannot transport one to ultimate end. Thus
seeker has to understand the fact that the practical life and practical world
are part of the mirage from the ultimate standpoint.
The simple reason is that the average
person may have desire for knowledge but when the whole society is immersed in
belief system and feeling himself out of place because of societal
fear and surroundings circumstances and he thinks it unfits him to pursue the
path of truth.
The seeker of truth is one who is ready
verify and has courage to accept and reject the truth when he finds out what is
truth and what is untruth. The meek will stick to their inherited conditioning
remain experiencing duality as reality.
When a yogi realizes that yoga is not
the means to acquire self-knowledge than takes up deeper self-search by
dropping all the yogic discipline. Yoga
is inadequate and useless in quenching his inner thirst. By indulging in deeper
self –search he realizes the self is formless consciousness and the three
states are mere mirage created out of consciousness. Therefore he attains
Gnana.
The
ignorance is the cause of experiencing all sorrow and calamities (universe) as
reality. Thus eradicating the ignorance completely is necessary. And this is
possible only through self-knowledge or Gnana.
Thus, there is no other road to freedom other than Gnana. There is no other entrance other than except
Gnana. The ignorance will vanish only
when the non-dualistic or Advaitic wisdom dawns.
That
is why Sri Sankara, indicated in Bhaja Govindam says: - [Jnana
Viheena Sarva Mathena Bajathi na Muktim janma Shatena] - one without knowledge does
not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith
he follows.
Then it is no use
going roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and
witness of the universe, which is in the form of mind. By tracing the source of the mind or universe
one will be able to realize the Brahman.
Swami Vivekananda said: - “You have to grow from the inside out. None can
teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own
soul.”
It is for the seeker
to mentally excavate by deeper self-search and realize what is truth and what
is untruth and accept only un-contradictable truth. Truth is not some theory or teaching but it
has to be ascertained by the seeker himself.
That is why Sage Sri, Sankara said: - 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 arguments.
One cannot expect
mental spoon feeding for everything. The
seeker has to do his own homework. The ultimate
truth will not be assimilated through argument. Argument leads nowhere but to
perversity.
Universe exists only
when the mind exists. The universe ceases to exist without the mind (I). When there is no mind there is no universe. In
deep sleep there is no mind therefore there is no universe. Therefore mind
itself is universe the universe appears as waking or dream. The waking
experience is parallel dream and dream is parallel waking experience. The formless substance and witness of the waking
or dream or universe is Atman, which is in the form of consciousness. The formless substance and witness are one is
essence that essence is Atman (consciousness).
Thus Atman is Brahman that is consciousness is ultimate truth. Thus on the standpoint of Atman the universe (mind)
is mere illusion.
That is why Sri Sankara
quoted:-
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.
Upanishads: - They alone in this world are endowed with the highest
wisdom who are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of Atman. The ordinary man does not understand their way. (Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by
Nikilanada)
Thus, Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is meant only for
those who have intense urge, and courage to accept the truth with humility and
reject the untruth. Since people start comparing with their scriptural
knowledge, it becomes impossible to assimilate and realize the non-dual
truth. Therefore, there is no need to convince anyone other than
our own-selves to get the firm conviction.
So they clearly indicate rituals and theories are not meant for
those who are searching for the higher knowledge or wisdom. The path of wisdom is the only means.
Orthodox Advaitins
indulge and immersed themselves in ritualistic oriented life style and follow
the path of karma and upasana which is meant for lower and middling
intellect and not for realizing the Advaitic truth. Many chose these orthodox scholars as their
gurus. But these gurus are good to learn the conceptual Advaita meant for
those orthodox who believe and worship non-Vedic God and Goddesses barred by
Vedas and they believe in their conduct oriented life style leads to Moksha (place
in heaven). Advaitic Orthodoxy is not the means to acquire Self –Knowledge or Brahma
Gnana or Atma Gnana. Those who are
seeking ultimate truth or Brahman have to do their own homework in order to
acquire ‘Self –Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
The orthodox Advaitins Gurus say :-
The rituals mentioned in the
karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the jnanakanda which is
also part of the same scripture. While the karmakanda enjoins upon you the
worship of various deities and lays down rules for the same, the jnanakanda
constituted by the Upanisads ridicules the worshipper of deities as a
dim-witted person no better than a beast.
This seems strange, the latter part
of the Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals throughout
with karma, while the second or concluding part is all about jnana. Owing to this
difference, people have gone so far as to divide our scripture into two
sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to mean the karmakanda and the Upanishads
(Vedanta) to mean the jnanakanda.
Vedanta it is that Lord teaches us in
the Gita and in it he lashes out against the karmakanda. It is generally
believed that the Buddha and Mahavira were the first to attack the Vedas.
It is not so. Sir Krishna Paramatman
himself spoke against them long before these two religious leaders. At one
place in the Gita he says to Arjuna :"The Vedas are
associated with the three qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas.
You must transcend these three
qualities. Full of desire, they (the practitioners of Vedic rituals) long for
paradise and keep thinking of pleasures and material prosperity. They are born
again and again and their minds are never fixed in Samadhi, these men clinging
to Vedic rituals. “In another passage Krishna declares : "Not by the Vedas
am I to be realised, nor by sacrifices nor by much study. . . . "
Does not such talk contradict all
that I have spoken so far about the Vedas, that they are the source of all our
dharma?
With some thinking we will realise
that there is in fact no contradiction. Would it be possible for us, in our
present condition, to go beyond the three gunas even to the slightest extent
and realise the true state of the Self spoken of in the Upanisads? The purpose
of the Vedic rituals is to take us, by degrees, to this state. So long as we
believe that the world is real we worship the deities so as to be vouchsafed
happiness. And this world, which we think is real, is also benefited by such
worship.
Thinking the deities to be
real, we help them and in return we are helped by them. Living happily on this
earth we long to go to the world of the celestials and enjoy the pleasures of
paradise. So far so good. But if we stopped at this stage would it not mean
losing sight of our supreme objective? Is not this objective, this goal, our
becoming one with the Paramatman? Would it not be foolish to ignore this great
ideal of ours and still cling to mundane happiness?
In our present state of immaturity it
is not possible to think of the world being unreal. Recognising this, the Vedas
provide us the rituals to be performed for happiness in this world. Because of
our inadequacies we are unable to devote ourselves to a formless Paramatman
from whom we are not different.
So the Vedas have devised a system in
which a number of deities are worshipped. But, in course of time, as we perform
the rituals and worship the deities, we must make efforts to advance to the
state of wisdom and enlightenment in which the world will be seen to be unreal
and the rites will become unnecessary. Instead of worshiping many deities, we
must reach the state in which we will recognize that we have no existence other
than that of our being dissolved in the Paramatman. We must perform Vedic
sacraments with the knowledge that they prepare us to go to this state by
making our mind pure and one-pointed.
If we perform rituals with the sole
idea of worldly happiness and carry on trade with the celestials by conducting
sacrifices (offering them oblations and receiving benefits from them in
return), we will never come face to face with the Truth. Even if we go to the
world of the celestials, we will not be blessed with Self-realization. Our
residence in paradise is commensurate with the merit we earn here and is not
permanent.
Sooner or later we will have to
return to this world and be in the womb of a mother. The ritual worship and
other sacraments of the Vedas are to some extent the result of making an
adjustment to our present immature state of mind. But their real purpose is to take
us forward gradually from this very immature state and illumine us within. It
would be wrong to refuse to go beyond the stage of ritual worship.
If, to begin with, it is not right to
refuse all at once to perform Vedic rites, it would be equally not right,
subsequently, to refuse to give them up. Nowadays, people are averse to ritual
to start with itself. "What? " they exclaim. "Who wants to
perform sacrifices? Why should we chant the Vedas? Let us go directly to the Upanishads.
“Some of them can speak eloquently about the Upanishads from a mere
intellectual understanding of them. But none has the inward conviction of the
truths propounded in them and we do not see them emerging as men of detachment
with a true awareness of the Self. The reason for this is that they have not
prepared themselves for this higher state of perception through the performance
of rituals. If this is wrong in one sense, refusal to take the path of jnana
from that of karma is equally not justifiable.
Ish Upanishad declares: - Those
people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus
committed suicide
10/11/12
Those people who
have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed
suicide, as it were, are doomed to enter those worlds after death.
This is a
condemnation of people who do not try to attain Self-knowledge. They are, in a
real sense, committing suicide, for what can be worse than being a slave to
sense enjoyment, completely oblivious of the real purpose of life, which is to
be your own master? In order to be your own master you have to realize that you
are identical with Atman, the true Self, that you are Pure Consciousness, ever
free, without name and form, and unconditioned.
You are not
subject to any modification, without beginning and end, beyond thought and
speech. You are Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, and Bliss Absolute.
When you know this you are free. You no longer swing between birth and death.
If you do not try to know who you really are, you are indeed committing suicide.
You are inviting the ignominy of a slave's life in this world and a similarly
unfortunate fate after death. The Self, is one without a second, complete in
itself.
It never moves. It is always still, always the
same, yet it moves faster than the mind. It is the power that moves everything,
and it makes the whole world go the way it does. It gives those who
mechanically perform sacrifices (avidya) go into darkness that is like being
blind. But those who merely worship gods and goddesses (vidya) go into a deeper
darkness. [IX]
"Blinding
darkness' here implies ignorance. And those who worship gods and goddesses go
into a deeper darkness because they seek rewards for their worship. As long as
there is the sense of "I' and "mine' within us, there can be no Self-knowledge.
When you say "me' and "mine' you automatically identify yourself with
your body-mind complex. This shows that you are ignorant of your real Self,
which is Pure Consciousness and which is also the Self of all. The sign of an ignorant person is in the way
he uses the words "I' and "mine'. He says: "I am so and so. I
own this much property,' and so on.
An ignorant
person has many desires in his mind, and because of these desires he is born
again and again. He has to have a body; otherwise he cannot satisfy his
desires. But the more he tries to satisfy them, the more they grip his mind.
This goes on endlessly. But it is given to a human being to think, reason, and
discriminate. Thus he soon comes to realize that the path he has been following
cannot give him peace of mind. He understands that he has to choose another
path the path of renunciation. As long as he does not practice renunciation, he
gropes in the dark like a blind man and he suffers.
There are two
types of such people who grope in the dark. One type worships avidya
(ignorance) that is, they mechanically perform the prescribed sacrifices
without any thought as to why they are doing them. No wonder they grope in the
dark. They are doomed unless someday the truth dawns on them that to save
themselves they must seek Self-knowledge.
Worse, however,
is the situation of the other type those who worship vidya. The word vidya ¸
usually means "knowledge', but here it is used to mean "gods and
goddesses'. Some people worship gods and goddesses so that they may someday
attain the same status. They may get their desire fulfilled, but this will only
delay their liberation. That is why the Upanishad says that they will be in
deeper darkness.
Scholars say that
the path of avidya (performing aganihotra and other sacrifices) and the path of
vidya [worshiping gods and goddesses] produce different results. Wise men
confirm this. [X]
Vidya and avidya
both are hindrances to Self-knowledge, but vidya is even worse than avidya. The
word vidya is used here in a special sense; here it means worshipping gods and
goddesses. By worshiping gods and goddesses you will go after death to the
world of gods and goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spend there
is wasted, because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving
forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of gods and
goddesses you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.
Avidya is karma
and therefore a hindrance. You perform avidya - i.e., you perform Agnihotra and
other sacrifices. This is a roundabout way of purifying the mind, and it is
also groping in the dark. But it may not have as heavy a toll on your time and
energy as the other.
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
the validity of their inherited belief.
For religion one
can interpret texts as he likes, in whatever way that pleases him, he simply
imagine away. The idea of god injected
in the past and inherited by people and they refuse to verify the facts,
because they think it blasphemy even to question their inherited belief
system.
In pursuit of truth
the ultimate truth has to be proved, not assumed. Pundits who take scriptures
for granted are not Gnanis.
Pundits teach
that all is your-self, but none of them can show that this is so, none has analyzed it scientifically, and none can prove it. Rational proof is needed, so
that one arrive at knowing truth i.e. wisdom; punditry is mere dogma,
parrotism, repetition of what they read in scripture. Scripters are not
yardstick and scriptural truth is not proof.
Pundits take Scriptures as authority.
Authoritarianism merely assumes as true what another says, but what has
yet to be proved.
Pundits have to
test truth in this world not in the next world.
There is no proof other than blind belief based on the scriptures,
belief is not truth. So, doctrines are
not the means to realize the ultimate truth. There is no need to follow them.
Gaudapada says: - the merciful Veda teaches karma
and upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while jnana is taught
to those of higher intellect.
So they clearly indicate rituals and theories are not meant for
those who are searching for the higher knowledge or wisdom. The path of wisdom is the only means.
All the orthodox Advaitins indulge and immersed themselves in
ritualistic oriented life style and follow the path of karma and upasana which
is meant for lower and middling intellect
and not for realizing the Advaitic truth. Many chose these orthodox scholars as their
gurus. But these gurus are good to learn the conceptual Advaita meant for
those orthodox who believe their conduct oriented life style leads to Moksha
[liberation]. But religious based
Adavaita is not the means to acquire
self –knowledge or non-dual wisdom. Those
who are seeking truth have to do their own homework in order to acquire self-knowledge.
Doubts and
Confusions arise when seeker finds the scriptures and yoga are inadequate or
useless to quench his spiritual thirst.
Disappointments in religion or yoga or even science imply error or
ignorance.
When serious
seeker reaches a stage with all his baggage of accumulate knowledge, then
uncertainty haunts him. Whether he is
right?" Where is the certainty that he is proceeding on right lines?"
Thus doubts arise and the inquiring spirit comes and impels to search elsewhere
for truth where it will not be possible even to have doubt. The test is
therefore in experience. And only in non-duality, where there are no two to
argue about views or to have difference of opinion can such doubtlessness be
possible. Belief depends upon unstable
bases whereas certainty depends on proof.
Seeker of truth
has to get rid of his doubts through deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning on
his own, to realize the fact that, the self is not the form but self is
formless. Thus his analysis and reasoning has to be based on the formless not
on the form. By simply go on believing
and accepting whatever said by the punditry will not lead one towards path of
wisdom. All the doubt has to be got rid of "by the sword of Self - Knowledge." The scriptures, yoga are not necessary if one
follows the inner [formless] path.
Religion and yoga are not the means to path of wisdom.
Upanishads: - They alone in this world are endowed with the highest wisdom
who are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of Atman.
The ordinary man does not understand their way.(Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana
95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada)
This passage
indicates the fact that everything is Atman, which present in the form of spirit
(consciousness) . The one who views and judges the worldview on the base of his
birth entity will not realize the fact that, the man including the world is
created sustained and finally dissolves as Atman or spirit. Thus Atman or
spirit or consciousness alone is, and all else is mirage created out of consciousness.
Thus Self-knowledge
or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is the aim of every human being. Since everyone
thinks the ‘I’ is the self, their aim is misdirected and they
focus their attention on materiality which makes one feel the duality (waking) as
reality.
Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or
Atma Gnana is the aim of every human being. Since everyone
thinks the physical body is the self their aim is misdirected and they focus
their attention on materiality which makes one feel the duality (waking) as
reality.
Therefore there is no need to study scriptures, or indulge in god and
guru glorification or performing religious rituals. Since, they are not the means to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. It is only waste of time and effort to indulge in those things.
The orthodoxy has to be dropped if
one has chosen the path of wisdom.
The orthodoxy is
greatest hindrance in pursuit of truth because it makes the inborn samskara or
conditioning more and stronger. Till this conditioning prevails it is
impossible to grasp, assimilate and realize the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth.
The orthodoxy is egocentric and egocentricity is greatest obstacle in path of
truth. The orthodoxy is indulging non-Vedic rituals because
of add-ons and adulteration and such rituals leads one nowhere and it is waste
of time and effort. Thus orthodoxy is not for those who are seeking
truth nothing but truth. Mixing orthodoxy and preaching non-duality is
foolish venture. Thus religious gurus
preaching nonduality is meant for the mass is only skin deep.
Sage Sri, Sankara says in Aparokshanubhuti:-
88. When the whole universe, movable and
immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is
negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman?
89. O enlightened one; pass your time always
contemplating on Atman while you are experiencing all the results of Prarabdha;
for it ill becomes you to feel distressed.
90. The theory
one hears of from the scripture, that Prarabdha does not lose its hold upon one
even after the origination of the knowledge of Atman, is now being refuted.
91. After the
origination of the knowledge of Reality, Prarabdha verily ceases to exist,
inasmuch as the body and the like become non-existent; just as a dream does not
exist on waking.
92. That Karma
which is done in a previous life is known as Prarabdha (which produces the
present life). But such Karma cannot take the place of Prarabdha (for a man of
knowledge), as he has no other birth (being free from ego).
93. Just as the
body in a dream is superimposed (and therefore illusory), so is also this body.
How could there be any birth of the superimposed (body), and in the absence of
birth (of the body) where is the room for that (i.e., Prarabdha) at all?
94. The Vedanta
texts declare ignorance to be verily the material (cause) of the phenomenal
world just as earth is of a jar. That (ignorance) being destroyed, where can
the universe subsist?
95. Just as a
person out of confusion perceives only the snake leaving aside the rope, so
does an ignorant person see only the phenomenal world without knowing the
reality?
96. The real nature of the rope being
known, the appearance of the snake no longer persists; so the substratum being
known, the phenomenal world disappears completely.
97. The body also being within the
phenomenal world (and therefore unreal), how could Prarabdha exist? It is,
therefore, for the understanding of the ignorant alone that the Shruti speaks
of Prarabdha.
98. “And all the actions of a man perish
when he realizes that (Atman) which is both the higher and the lower”. Here the
clear use of the plural by the Shruti is to negate Prarabdha as well.
99. If the ignorant still arbitrarily
maintain this, they will not only involve themselves into two absurdities but
will also run the risk of forgoing the Vedantic conclusion. So one should
accept those Shrutis alone from which proceeds true knowledge.
The above proves
that the karma is reality only on the base of false self, where one thinks body
and the universe as reality. When one becomes aware of the fact that, the true
self is formless soul, then the karma becomes part and parcel of illusion. My point is that, if one accepts the karma
theory as reality, he will never be able to come out of the ignorance. And
ignorance makes him believe the cycle of birth, life and death or pain and
pleasure as reality. Thus the freedom
which one is seeking will remain distant dream. For the one who accepts the
birth life and death as reality, Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is impossible.
Thus it is
necessary for the seeker of truth to know the fact that, the body which is
born, lives and dies is not the self. Since he is taking the body to be the
self, he is experiencing the duality as reality.
As Sri, Sankara says: When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to
be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then
any room to say that the body is Atman.
If the waking entity is not the Atman (self),
then the karma theory has no meaning on the standpoint of the truth. Thus no
second thing exists other than Atman, therefore why to view the worldview on
the standpoint of the waking entity as self when the waking entity is the false
self, and the soul (Atman) is the true self.
The
seeker should be beware of everything that is untrue: stick to truth and he
shall succeed, may be slowly, but surely.
