The ‘I’ hides the Soul, which is the innermost Self.***

The ‘Self’ does not reside in the human heart, and one will not find the ‘Self’ in the human heart   if he searches for it. The Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. The consciousness pervades everything and everywhere in the world in which we exist.  Limiting the ‘Self’ to the human heart is erroneous. The truth is not belief propagated by the belief system. 

You are limited to form, time and space. You are not the ‘Self ‘because you are bound by birth, life, death and the world whereas the Soul, the innermost Self is limitless because it is formless, timeless and spaceless existence.  Till you think ‘I’ as the Self the Soul will remain in the cage of the dualistic illusion. The Soul, the innermost Self, is the fullness of the consciousness without the division of the form, time and space. 

Till you hold the ‘Self ‘as the ‘I’ you will never be able to get Self-realization. The  ‘I’ hides the Soul, which is the innermost Self. ‘

I’ is ignorance.

‘I’ is the duality.

‘I’ is the form, time and space.

‘I’ is the universe.

‘I’ is the waking.

‘I’ is the dream.

‘I’ is the illusion.

‘I’ is the experience of birth, life, death and the world.

Without the ‘I’ there is no ignorance.

Without the ‘I’ there is no duality.

Without the ‘I’ there is no form, time and space.

Without the ‘I’ there is no universe.

Without the ‘I’ there is no waking.

Without the ‘I’ there is no dream.

Without the ‘I’ there is no illusion.

Without the ‘I’ there is no experience of birth, life, death and the world.

The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole. The ‘I’ hides the truth.

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.

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

It is time to discard the ‘I’. Never use world the ‘I’ or I AM for the Self.  

The Soul is the innermost Self. The Soul is present in the form of the consciousness.  The nature of the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness, is awareness. The all-pervading consciousness is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material in the world in which we exist.

The consciousness is the cause of the world in which we exist and it itself is uncaused. The consciousness alone is real and eternal, and the world in which we exist is mere an illusion created out of the consciousness. 

Sage Sri, Sankara's wisdom (Advaita) —Without a Parallel Sage Sri Sankara's wisdom is lofty, sublime and unique. It is highly interesting, inspiring and elevating.

Sage Sri, Sankara's wisdom (Advaita) —Without a Parallel Sage Sri Sankara's wisdom is lofty, sublime and unique. It is highly interesting, inspiring and elevating. No other wisdom can stand before it in boldness, depth and subtle thinking.  Sage Sri, Sankara’s philosophy is complete and perfect

Sage Sri Sankara was a mighty, marvelous genius. He was a profound thinker of the first rank. He was a sage of the highest realization. His wisdom has brought solace, peace and illumination to countless persons in the world. The Western thinkers bow their heads at the lotus-feet of Sri Sankara. His wisdom has soothed the sorrows and afflictions of the most forlorn persons, and brought hope, joy, wisdom, perfection, freedom and calmness to many. His wisdom commands the admiration of the whole world.

Biographical anecdotes about his childhood about the crocodile story and the story in Sage Sri,   Sankara's life of going to Benares and occupying the body of another man and then having sex intercourse with his wife, is a myth created by orthodoxy hiding the real fact the reason best-known to the orthodoxy. Sage, Sri, Sankara had the scientific spirit and when told by Saraswathi the woman that he was talking emptily about sex, being a Sanyasi, he at once went to learn the truth by having actual intercourse himself and thus learning by experiment and observation.

Thus all the myth about Sage Sri, Sankara is nothing to do with the seeker of truth because the seeker is concerned only with the wisdom of the Sage Sri, Sankara. 

Sage Sri, Sankara: - "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." (Select Works of Sage Sri, Sankara" also his commentary on Brihad)

Sage Sri, Sankara: - The Gnani "should pass through life", not run away from life and should take a middle course between seeking worldly honor and worldly abasement. (Chap.3.4.50; Sankara's commentary to Brahma Sutras)

Sage Sri, Sankara's work has got two aspects: the practical and the spiritual. He gave religious, ritual or dogmatic instruction to the populace but pure wisdom 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.

Sage Sri, Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never told them to give their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time he showed just one step forward towards the truth.

Sage Sri, Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words. He was no fool in writing.  Sage Sankara did more than write books or initiate Sanyasin: He brought India into a unity as a nation. He told people to Worship what they wish, remain in their particular religion, caste and creed, but remember also you are part of a larger whole.

                                                                                                                

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through the observer views it. In fact our mental and intellectual conditions will determine the phenomenal world observed and experienced.  The orthodox pundit   seeing Sage Sri, Sankara will see differently from the A Gnani seeing the same Sage Sri, Sankara.  Each one of them interprets the world that they see in terms of their existing knowledge.  The orthodox sees Sri, Sankara as founder of their religion and also as a guru of Advaitic orthodox sect.  A man of truth sees Sage Sri, Sankara not as a guru but as a Gnani. The orthodoxy believes their experience of the birth, life, death and rebirth and the world as reality. Whereas a Gnani sees the world is mere illusion created out of consciousness.  Thus Gnani sees no second thing other than consciousness. The one who treads the path of wisdom gains the knowledge of the reality beyond form, time and space. A  Gnani has delved into and he transcended consciously all identification with the experience form, time and space.

Similarly orthodoxy has to be bifurcated from philosophy. To know Non-dualistic wisdom of Sage Sri, Sankara one has to be free from all superstitions and dogmas and orthodoxy and scriptural knowledge.  The seeker has to be more rational and scientific in his attitude.

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman. Thus, the purva mimam.sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the Jnana Kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

Meher Baba: ~ The scriptures are like rotten bones rotted and are as food for worms***

Meher Baba: ~ "There is no higher or lower goal. There is only one goal, Self-Realization." 

Meher Baba: ~ When religion has become merely a matter of external rituals and ceremonies, it has become a cage for the Soul.

Meher Baba said: ~ God is your innermost Self. Do not search for God outside of you. Let these words be inscribed in your heart. Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God. God is everywhere and does everything. God is beyond us and is everything. God alone is and all else is illusion. 

Meher Baba: ~ The scriptures are like rotten bones rotted and are as food for worms. 

Theosophy and philosophy are like good bones rotted and are as food for vultures.

The writings of inspired poets are like fresh bones and are as food for dogs. 

The writings of spiritually advanced saints are like flesh and are as food for tigers.

The writings by living Perfect Masters are like brain and are as food for men!

Good bones when rotted have some semblance of bone, but rotten bones when rotted are like filth.

 So, you may go through the scriptures superficially — only to drive away the barking dogs when necessary; for instance, when you are called upon to answer the queries of the priests and the orthodox. [Lord Meher 15: 5267]

Meher Baba: ~ When the reality appears this ignorance which one thinks as reality becomes unreal. 

The pursuit of truth is not an intellectual discussion***

The pursuit of truth is not an intellectual discussion. All the intellectual wealth is mental garbage. Individual opinions are not a yardstick to judge the truth.  There is no need to argue or discuss. There is only need to think and reason deeply to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

Until one makes his accepted truth as his yardstick without verification, he will never will be able to cross the threshold of duality because his understanding is  based on the ego, is not matured enough to grasp the  Advaitic  truth, which is prior to his physical existence (mind) which is in the form of universe.

The Guru is not needed in pursuit of truth because the truth has to be ascertained by seeker himself. Advaitic or Nondual Wisdom will not rise from intellectual spoon feeding but it arises only from deeper Self-search to the sincere and serious seeker who has an intense urge to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.    The guidance comes from within because the Guru is within. People think Self is the body, they think their Guru also has the body and the Guru would do something tangible to them. 

People who are stuck with branded Masters and Guru and takes their Guru’s word as final without verifying the validity of their Guru’s teaching.  They are stuck with their egocentric intellectuality, which is the greatest hindrance in realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Sage Sri Sankara says: ~  What is accepted without proper inquiry will not lead to the final Goal. (Commentary on Vedanta Sutra). 

 Nothing has to be accepted  as truth without verification. Nothing is needed for acquiring Self-knowledge of Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana other than perfect understanding, assimilation and realization of ‘what is what'.