One cannot know the truth until one knows the stuff from which the mind is created

Until one has the conviction that, he is an individual separate from the world and world existed prior to him, and he is born in this world afterwards, he will not be able to cross the threshold of duality [illusion], which he experiences as reality.  If  one accepts the duality [illusion or mind or waking] as reality he will never be able to grasp the ultimate truth.

The duality is reality only on the standpoint of false self[ego].  There is a need to reduce mentally, the whole experience of diversity [man+ universe] into mind and mind into spirit [consciousness], in order to realize the nondual truth.  Consciousness itself is ultimate truth.    

   

Seeker must first know what is before him. If he cannot know that, what else can he know or understand? If he gives up the external world in his inquiry, he cannot get the whole truth.

One cannot know the truth until one knows the stuff from which the mind[universe] is created. The goal of pursuit of truth is to realize the fact that, the true self is not physical but it is the formless soul/ spirit/consciousness. 

Many people are struck with awe or reverence at the outer indications of renunciation, and thus blindly accept a man to be a Gnani. The two have no connection. Because he has no wife, no family, and no possessions" they think man who has merely repressed these desires as though these things had anything to do with wisdom he is mere religious man. People are quite incompetent to judge who is a Gnani between god men, intellectuals, and yogis. A Gnani is neither a god men, nor yogi, nor intellectual.

The man who speaks about god, scriptures and religion is not a Gnani. A yogi who speaks about yoga is not a Gnani. A God man who indulges in miracle is not a Gnani. An intellectual who argues on his own speculated theories is not a Gnani. A Gnani is the one who guides people towards the source of the mind [universe or physical existence] is real Gnani. A Gnani never claims himself a teacher nor does he accept any one as disciple. 

    

The first step is of knowing “Self" is not physical but it is formless spirit.  The second is to know the spirit is ultimate truth, the "whole." Then alone he knows truth and wisdom, i.e. the whole truth.

“Soul” [consciousness] as “Self “is the key that opens the door of ultimate truth. This understanding is certainly necessary at the first stage, when the mind is wandering. At the end the mind gets stilled and knows its formless essence and becomes one with it. Then there is no witness nor witnessed everything is one and the whole. 

The formula "What is ‘I’?" presupposes the existence of an ‘I’. But this is only an assumption. Before proceeding to act on such a formula one ought first to inquire whether there is such a thing as an ‘I’.

Those who have been baffled by unsuccessful enquiry, reading, intellection, have to find out what are the obstacles on the way, what is blocking them from grasping, understanding and assimilating the non-dual truth.

Yoga is intended to remove the hindrance in pursuit of truth such as sexual desire, worries, anxieties, desire for wealth etc. and also to enable one to keep out from irrelevant thoughts whilst making inquiry, analysis and reasoning.

 All this has to be done before indulging in pursuit of truth. Therefore yoga has only a negative value and is a preparatory stage. Pursuit of truth starts from what is seen, i.e. the three states.  Wisdom comes from both knowing the three states and the formless witness of the three states.

To leave out one of these parts is to prevent attainment of wisdom. "Who am I” is useful no doubt, it has certainly a value in its place, and gives some knowledge of self as, the Witness. But what about the witnessed? The three states are mere object to the witness. It must also be looked at. If the witnessed [three states] is ignored, then "Who am I” cannot give the full truth.

“Who am ‘I’” is   yogic inquiry; not the spiritualistic; the latter deals with the whole of life whereas the former deals with a part only.

"Who am I” inquiry limits only to the physical entity, because there, is no person in truth but only in the illusion of mystics.  ‘It should be "What is I?".

  The question "Who am I” is a religious, not a spiritualistic question. It is a most selfish one. It is on a par with "What shall I be after death?" and "What shall I get in return for my good karma in next life?" It is purely egocentric and it is based on the false self.

Only the people who are serious in knowing the truth can lift their thoughts above ego and ask "What is the mind?"  All  the three states  put together make the soul/self, not merely the ego questioning itself ''What is  I.”

People are most interested in themselves before they gets interested in the world therefore, the "Who am I?" inquiry leads only to reveal half-truth.    The “Who am I? – Inquiry is useful as a first stage to show the illusoriness of ego and thus help seeker to get rid of it. It helps the seeker to prepare him to consider the higher question: What is the world, what is mind, what is “Self” the truth about which cannot be learnt by those attached to their ego, with its prejudices against idealism, etc. 

Ultimate truth cannot be known in the sense in which one knows objects of thought.

Ultimate truth cannot be known in the sense in which one knows objects of thought. It can be known only to the extent to which he 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 of duality only by implication, as he cannot think without knower. The knower is a concept, and cannot be known in itself.

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 formless witness or knower 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, because the mind is an object to the true self (consciousness).

Knowing the ultimate truth means knowing that consciousness exists. The word “know” implies duality, something known; on the other hand non-dual wisdom does imply an object. The witness (true self or Consciousness) knows the three states (body + ego+ universe) as an object. The knowing powers, the 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.

We are thinking of the mind within the mind, which appears as waking or dream experience. 

The thoughts cannot arise without the waking or dream experience. Absent of waking or dream is absent of thoughts and experiences. The thoughts and functioning of the dream body and dream world are reality within the dream. Same way, the thoughts and all the individual experiences and the waking world are reality within the waking experience. The point here is the waking experience (universe or mind) itself is falsehood on the standpoint of the formless witness.

 Until we wake up in our formless true identity without the body and without world, we keep experiencing the duality (mind) as reality.  Thus, it is necessary to mentally grasp the existence of the formless witness to realize the fact that, the body and universe with all its contents are also mirage created out of consciousness. Thus consciousness alone is and all else is illusion.  The illusion also is consciousness because it created and sustained and finally it dissolves as consciousness.  Therefore, there is neither creation nor creator in nondual reality because the whole diversity (mind) is created out of single stuff.

It takes a time to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth, because we have to burn all the accumulated dross which has become the great obstacle in realizing the truth.

There is no need to know the functioning of the mind is not limited to the body because the mind is the whole physical existence [body+ universe].   Therefore, there is need for correction in our understanding, which is based on the birth entity, which is not the self.

All the accumulate knowledge based on the birth [waking] entity is of no use in understanding and assimilating the Self-Knowledge or Brahma  Gnana or Atma Gnana.     There is a need to learn to view and judge the truth on the base of true self (consciousness) to understand and assimilate the Self-Knowledge or Brahma  Gnana or Atma Gnana.   

The formless witness which is aware of the three states, is within the three states, but it is without the three states.

Deeper inquiry reveals the fact that, the self is not the body. If body is not the self then what is it that witnesses these three states without the body?

The dream is witnessed as a whole without the physical apparatus. Same way the waking experience also is witnessed by the same witness, which witnessed the dream as a whole. 

The dream body and the dream world were within the dream. Same way the waking body and the waking world are within the waking experience. The formless witness which is aware of the three states, is within the three states, but it is without the three states.

It is within the three states, as their formless substance. It is without three states as their formless witness. The witness is apart from the three states, because it is formless, therefore it is not an entity or identity within the waking and dream.

The formless witness has to be grasped mentally to realize the fact that, the formless witness alone is real and eternal, and all the three states, which come and go, are mere mirage created out of the formless witness, which is in the form of consciousness.

Deeper analysis is very much necessary to understand and assimilate the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Yoga is not the means of liberation

People dip into meditation but they do not understand that that is only one half of the truth and that this dipping is also a mental discipline to for them to understand the true nature of the external universe, which understanding they must next get if they are to become Gnanis.

Thus in the Gita, Chap.XII Krishna tells Arjuna that knowledge of both matter and spirit is the True knowledge. One is living in the body, which is the world, and he has to eat and move and work in the external environment. One cannot get away from it. It is his life.

Therefore he ought to know, understand and grasp its meaning. A person who refuses to do so is refusing to face the whole of reality.

Sankara definitely says that Yoga is not the means of liberation [page 132-133 of his commentary on Brihadaranyakopanishad].

The truth has to be proved without the scriptures.

There is no need for scriptures in pursuit of truth. The truth has to be proved without the scriptures. Until we get rid of all accumulated knowledge based on the body as self, the ignorance bound to persist. Thus for the seekers of truth, it is necessary to drop all the accumulated baggage to understand,assimilate and realize the non-dual truth. 

The religious truth and yogic truth are individual truth not universal. Non-dual truth is universal truth. 

The Bhakti and yoga are meant for the worldly mass ,who believes the body as self. Because they are based on the false self, within the false experience. Whatever is based on the body as self is bound to be falsehood. 

The one who has progressed in his pursuit of truth does not require religion,concept of god or scriptures or guru. He is fully aware of the fact that the self is not physical and he has learnt to view and judge the three states on the base of the true self ,which is consciousness.

On the base of consciousness[soul] as self the three states are impermanent and mere mirage. Thus the man and his experience of the world which is present only in waking is unreal, same way as the dream. The dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. The waking becomes unreal when wisdom dawns.