Waking and dream emerge from consciousness. The emergence of the waking or dreams does not make any difference to the consciousness. The consciousness remains unchanged and unaffected by the waking or dream, even though both the waking or dream objects and the waking or dreams are aspects of the consciousness.
The dreamer would not realize that dream objects and the dreams are simply aspects of the consciousness unless he wakes up from the dream. Once the waking takes place the dream becomes unreal, same way when wisdom dawns the waking becomes unreal. The unchanging reality behind the waking or dream experience is the consciousness.
The waking or dream experiences are external manifestation of consciousness. As long as a person is caught up in the phenomenal existence, he does not see the unity behind the multiplicity. When one wakes up to the consciousness as it is in itself, not perceived or interpreted, or noumenal level he becomes aware of the one, non-dual consciousness, which was the cause of the three states.
Thus, consciousness is supreme. It is the reality. It has no beginning and end. It is eternal and beyond the reach of pain and pleasure. Consciousness is indivisible, immeasurable, without names and forms. It cannot be avoided, as it is present everywhere. Consciousness cannot be grasped, as it is transcendent. It cannot be contained in anything, as it contains everything. Consciousness is indefinable, for it is beyond the range of action and speech. Thus, consciousness is reality itself, pure and absolute consciousness.
Consciousness is ultimate reality is defined as that which persists. Consciousness exists in all periods of time and remains the same in the past, present and future.
Consciousness is ultimate reality exists both in the manifest and the unmanifested. The mind, which is in the form of universe arises out of the consciousness .The consciousness exists in all the three states. The mind rises from it and Merges back into consciousness.
Consciousness is the substratum and the three states. Consciousness is like the ocean and mind is like wave. Wave exists in ocean and Merges back into ocean. Similarly the mind or universe is nothing but consciousness. Everything is consciousness
Therefore, consciousness is a principle of utter simplicity. There is no duality in consciousness for no qualities are found in the concept of consciousness. It is also simple in the sense that it is not subject to inner contradictions, which would make it changeable and transitory. To understand the nature of consciousness and to speak of it, consciousness in its reality, is not a metaphysical postulate that can be proved logically, but it must be grasped and realized mentally not through argument or logical conclusions but perfect reasoning. Thus, consciousness is one: It is not a `He or She ', a personal being; nor is it an `It', an impersonal concept. It is that state which comes about when all subject-object distinctions are obliterated.
The true self, is in the form of consciousness without waking or dream, whole and oneness. In the cloud there is nothing other than water, so too consciousness is nothing other than itself. It is the absolute without a second.
The moon reflecting on water and appearing as many, the self is just like the reflection of the moon on water which increases with the volume of water and decreases with its reduction, which moves when the water moves, and which differs as the water differs. The moon seems to conform to the characteristics of water, but in reality the moon never has these increasing or decreasing qualities. So also, from the highest point of view, consciousness always retains its sameness; it seems to conform to such characteristics as increase and decrease of the limiting adjunct, owing to its entry into such an adjunct as a universe.
Thread is drawn from cotton and is woven into cloth. But the reality of cotton is in both of these forms, viz., thread and cloth. Similarly, the projections of names and forms of this material universe on consciousness do not alter the nature of consciousness. It remains as it is without any change.
One can also illustrate the uniqueness of consciousness by analysing the phenomenon of dreams. Dream is parallel waking experience. And waking experience is parallel. The three states are an object to the subject, which is formless consciousness. The consciousness is the formless substance and witness of the three states one is unaware of the subject because he considers the waking entity as self and views and judges the three states, which is erroneous. The waking entity is limited to the waking experience, and the dream entity is limited to the dream experience. In deep sleep the waking or dream experiences are absent, thus the witness remains in its formless nondual true nature, but due to ignorance of the true self, which is the substance and witness of the three states, one experiences the three states as reality. When one becomes aware of the formless witness of the three states then one becomes aware of the fact that, the three states are mere mirage on the standpoint of the true self, which is consciousness.
Thus whatever seen, known, believed and experienced within the waking experience is falsehood. Thus the experience of universe and birth, life and death are myth. Thus the belief of god, heaven, hell, paradise, sin, karma, rebirth, reincarnation is myth.
Thus by worshiping individualized god and following religion studying scripters are for those who are incapable of realizing the truth of their true existence. .
Without understand “what is mind?” and “what is the substance of the mind?” the self –realization is impossible. Without self-realization the nondual peace, which is nature of the true self is impossible
Man can live his life either as entangled with the illusory world or being open to the spiritual realities. The human life does not consist in being caught up in the physical existence, but rather in a depth living, in which, one must experience the source of the universe within oneself.
The task of human life is not to search for one’s ultimate destiny externally, but to move into himself and discover the ultimate truth of his own existence. It is not a new knowledge, but a realization of what one really is. It is a self-realization, in which one realizes consciousness as one's indwelling spirit (soul).
The goal of self-realization is consciousness, the ultimate universal spirit behind the mind, which is in the form of universe and soul, which is in the form of consciousness, the ultimate principle within the three states. Only when one has true knowledge about both mind and soul can one begin to experience the oneness between the two. The seeker of truth has to clarify these two notions in preparation for the analysis of the nature of mind and the self.
The mind, which is in the form of universe, is created out of consciousness. Consciousness is principle substance and the cause of the illusion, which is in the form of universe. Consciousness is the unitary and supreme reality, which is hidden within the illusion but remains the same and resists change, thereby the knowledge of which frees one from experiencing the illusion, which is in the form of universe as reality.
Consciousness is the cause of the illusion, which is in the form of universe and it itself is uncaused. Consciousness signifies the absolute and unlimited reality, which forms the substratum and the foundation of the illusion, which is in the form of mind or universe, and on which everything depends for its existence.
Consciousness is self-sufficient and does not depend on anything else for its existence. Hence, it must be a spiritual entity since matter is dependent, limited and subject to change.
Whatever exists is in the illusion or universe is created out of single substance, and this one universal substance is consciousness. Consciousness is absolutely homogeneous in nature. It is pure. It is absolutely destitute of qualities, and whatever qualities or attributes are conceivable can only be denied of it. Thus, consciousness is without qualities and beyond the order of one’s empirical and worldly experience; so one cannot grasp consciousness with his empirical experience. In other words, consciousness is a priori and cannot be grasped by a posteriori or limited experience.
Though consciousness is the ultimate reality that underlies the multiplicity of the phenomenal universe cannot be strictly expressed in terms of empirical language.
The consciousness is the true self. When the seeker realizes the fact that, the self is not physical but self is the formless consciousness then he also realizes the fact that, the universe in, which he exists is mere mirage created out of consciousness. Thus there is no second thing exists other than consciousness. When one realizes the fact that his body and universe also consciousness, then he realizes the fact that, there is no second thing exists other than the consciousness, which is the true self. Thus the consciousness, which is the true self, pervades all the three states as their formless substance and witness.
Consciousness is eternal; is not bound by time; imperishable, deathless and changeless; and immaculate and not affected by any limiting adjuncts. Just as electricity works through different equipment, yet remains unaffected, so also consciousness, though it functions through everything visible, is unaffected by it. Consciousness is liberated, i.e., it is not affected by burden and bondage of the illusion or universe and always free. Thus knowing the consciousness as self is important for getting freedom from experiencing the illusion or duality as reality.
Consciousness is One. Though due to superimposition, the illusory universe is projected on consciousness it remains untouched by them. Just as a dream is super imposed on consciousness, so also the waking experience is super imposed on consciousness. Only by realizing the fact that, the self is not physical but self is consciousness one become aware of the fact that the three states are mere mirage created out of consciousness. When the self- knowledge dawns, the illusory reality or the universe becomes unreal and only consciousness exists.
Consciousness is unbroken existence. Unlike the passing joys derived from material things, the unbroken tranquillity of self-realization is absolute and eternal. Therefore, the consciousness is unbroken and everlasting. Consciousness is non-dual. Consciousness is all pervading. It alone exists, and it exists everywhere. If it were not so, there would be a place where consciousness has no access and it would limit consciousness. So it is limitless and all pervading.
Consciousness is formless. Since it is all pervading and existing everywhere, it is beyond form. Having a form limits a being. So, limitless consciousness is formless. Consciousness is ultimate truth, because it is that which remains the same at all times -- in the past, the present and the future. Consciousness as truth is ever the same and unchanging. Consciousness as, wisdom, is absolute knowledge.
One cannot have knowledge of consciousness, as he has knowledge of sound, smell, taste, pain and pleasure; but consciousness is unconditional knowledge. Knowing consciousness as self is self-realization. Consciousness is endless and infinite.
Waves have temporary existence, but the sea is permanent. In the same way, the three states are passing and consciousness, the infinite and the endless is the substratum upon which the mind or universe appears.
Because of one’s inability to grasp the true nature of consciousness, only with the help of deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning, whatever positive descriptions one develops about consciousness in the light of the discrimination will remain in the level of physical experience. As consciousness is beyond the physical experience, so is it beyond physical based knowledge.
At the same time the word `existence' cannot be attributed to consciousness and to the empirical world in the same way, for consciousness’s existence is of a different nature. The existence of consciousness is opposed to all empirical existence, so that in comparison with this it can just as well be considered as non-existence.
Consciousness is the formless substance and witness of all the three states. The nature of consciousness is so transcendent that it cannot be compared with anything in the world one knows. At the same time, consciousness is present in all its manifestations, for without the consciousness nothing can exist. Yet the empirical experience of consciousness is not possible. Thus, consciousness is that unalterable and absolute Being, which remains identical with itself in all its manifestations. It is the basis and ground of all experience, and is different from the space-time-cause world. Consciousness has nothing similar to it, nothing different from it, and no internal differentiation, for all these are objective distinctions. It is non-, non-objective and wholly other, but it is not non-being.
Westerners come to India to learn Vedas and Upanishads from the pundits. They accept them as gurus and sentimentally get involved with them. By studying Vedas they will become only pundits but not be able to go deeper in their pursuit of truth and get nondual wisdom.
Sri, Sankara says: one 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.
In Brahma Sutras Sri,Sankara says: Brahman is the cause of the world, whereas in Mandukya he denies it.
This may be because that at the lower stage of understanding, the former teaching must be given, for people will get frightened as they cannot understand how the world can be without a cause, but to those in a higher stage, the truth of non-causality can be revealed.
In dualistic philosophies the imaginary god is made as creator basing on cause and effect theory. Then the doubt natural arises, who is the cause of the creator. The creator is dependent on creation for his existence. Without the creation the creator ceases to exist. Thus the dualistic theory holds no water, because it is based on mere imagination and speculation, which they try to prove it on citing the mythological stories and doctrine of code of conducts. When the self is not the body then all these dualistic ideologies hold no water. Therefore the devotional paths, which are based on the human conducts, are not the means for TRUTH –REALIZATION.
Even the religious based non-dualism is not the means for truth realization, because their preaching is based on the nonduality but their practice is based on dualistic view point. Therefore, it is difficult to get TRUTH –REALIZATION from conduct based orthodox non-dualism. Thus it looks like the real essence of non-dualism is lost or destroyed in the past by the orthodox oriented priest craft and propagated and injected only priest-crafted non-dualism, to the mass, the reason best known to the masters of the past. Therefore, it is impossible to come out of all these priest crafted confusions in one life time. Through orthodox non-dualism it is impossible to get truth realization.
There is no need to collect all these baggage of confusions, if one is seeking truth, nothing but truth. The guru is necessary only in religious and yogic paths, but guru is not necessary in pursuit of truth. Path of truth is a personal path and it is the path of verification. But in religion and yoga the verification is not allowed. Blind faith is main ingredient in belief system and yoga. Gurudom is playing with words because maybe the meaning is floating somewhere in between the spaces of words...
People who think themselves to be in a position to air their knowledge forget one basic fact, namely that they go by mere appearances. Someone expounds knowledge and the one who receives it begins to ape the person from whom he has received the knowledge. They never question the validity of that knowledge.
Thus, whatever the guru wears, he will wear; whatever mannerisms the guru affects, he will imitate. Thus, they only learn to pretend. And all so-called accumulated knowledge" is mere speculation based on the physical self/ego. This is how tradition became established and traditional forms of worship came into being and passed it on the one generation to the next. All these have nothing to do with the Self- Knowledge.
Whatever One has heard, whatever he has been told, will have no value as far as the ultimate point of view. Whether one accepts the fact that, the only knowledge that he really has is the knowledge that he exists, that is consciousness. Other than that, whatever knowledge he thinks he has as a person, is part of the illusion, something acquired, based on the illusory consciousness.
The realization of truth is not intellectual understanding. Self- Realization is about realizing the fact that, the self is not physical, but it is the formless soul or consciousness. Intellectual, logical, analytical perspective is based on the false self, will not help the seeker to reach his non-dual destination. The truth is beyond intellectual understanding and only the serious seekers who are free from preconceived accumulated ideas can get there.
The seeker of truth moves ahead by verifying the facts and by removing all the obstacles and reaches his non-dual destination.
There is a need to bifurcate spirituality from the religion. Since most people from the west think that Hinduism is a religion but it is not so. The Indus [Sindu] valley culture is named as Hinduism by the Muslim invaders in the past, who were not able to pronounce Sindu they called Sindu culture as Hindu culture. Thus name Hindu came into existence. Hinduism is mere culture not religion. This Hindu culture consists of different caste, creeds, ideologies, beliefs and way of life in different regions of India.
Santana Dharma was pure Vedic religion prior to the existence of the present day Hinduism. Hinduism is not pure Vedic religion; it is hotchpotch mixture of many ideologies adopted by other ideologies, cultures and traditions.
As one goes deeper in annals of the history he becomes aware of the fact that, the so called present Hinduism has adopted many things from Buddhism, religion of Abraham, Jainism and Islam. If one goes deeper enough he will become aware everything is mixed up and messed up in time.
No one is taken pains to rectify it because; because people have been inherited them, from their ancestors and they think it is blasphemy even to hear anything against their inherited religion and belief. Once one gets involved with the religious class it is the end of the pursuit of truth.
J.K and Osho went deep in to it and exposed their fallacies to some extent, but it is only in surface level. Maharishi, Dayananda in his book Satyarth Prakash clearly mentions what is Vedic and what is non-Vedic. But the orthodox class still wants to maintain the inherited falls legacy as supreme truth. Thus, there is no use of arguing or convincing the people who accepted their false legacy and propagate them as truth. Since, the pursuit of truth is a very personal journey; and it is not the pursuit of argument, there is no need for to indulge in convincing others, seeker of truth has to get convinced for him-self to drop all conditioning, which he has inherited from his belief system.
Prior to Sri, Sankara in 8th century there was no Advith in Santan Dharam. The duality came only in 12 th century. The Advith and Dwaith were add- ons. Both Advith and Dwith schools based on Vedas and they condemn each other with Upanisads and Puranic citations and prove one is right and another is wrong.
Only pretenders show such external works or claims. People who do not understand the scriptures generally misinterpret all scriptures references to the ‘indifference’ of the sage as meaning sitting idle, remote from worldly concerns. "Though the scripters speak of a direct knowledge of ultimate truth by a study of the holy texts it does not become established..." It is therefore not enough to say one understand the theories of Advaita; he may grasp idealism and Mandukya but it is not enough.
The citations from scriptures are not proofs. The ultimate truth has to be proved without the scriptures. The ultimate truth is universal truth and it does not belong to any religion. The religion causes diversity in unity, whereas, the ultimate truth brings unity in diversity.
It is impossible to bring unity in diversity through religion. The religion is the cause of the wars and violence in the world. If ultimate truth injected propagated to the mankind the fallacy of the religion is exposed and people will know “what truth” is and “what is untruth” and find the universal peace, which is the very nature of their true identity.
After Osho’s death now they are realizing what he said about many things was right, but they do not want accept it in the name of protecting their Religion and its culture. We have to thank Sri, Sankara for hiding the truth within the religious based Advith, which has to be discovered by the seekers of truth on their own by bifurcating religion/ god /gurus/ scriptures/yoga.
There is no need to condemn the any religion but one has to know the fact that, it is meant for the mass mind set and it is not the means to Self-Realization/Truth Realization. There is no need to study religious doctrine in order to acquire Self-Knowledge.
The religion and yoga are meant for preparatory stages, but they are not the means for Self-Realization.
The mind cannot be stilled other than acquiring the non-dual wisdom. People try all the mental and physical acrobatics to still the mind. Until they are based on the body the thoughts will go on appearing. Until thoughts are there the stillness is impossible. The thoughts will stop only when there is perfect understanding through non dual wisdom. The thoughts cannot arise without the form, feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness. If one of these is missing then the thought will not form.
To make the mind still one has to have the perfect understanding of the whole experience without mixing up with accumulated ideas from the religion, scriptures and yogic ideas and theoretical knowledge based on the logic. The mind becomes still only when one accepts the fact that consciousness is the true self, and rejects ‘I’ as self mentally. There is no use of seeking truth on the base of ‘I’ which is not the self. This base can be rectified through deeper Self-search through perfect understanding and assimilating. Though it may look difficult at first gradually the serious seeker will get a hang of it, and will start feeling the non-dual tranquility.
This is possible only through constant mental effort through reflection on the formless witness of the three states.
The word illusion is used as suggestion to the subconscious to bifurcate the real from the unreal. Since truth pursuit is completely a mental journey, suggesting the right suggestions to subconscious is the only way. The word illusion scares many, but there is no need to get scared, nothing is lost, only the ignorance will disappear and one will be able to view and judge the birth, life and death on the base of consciousness, thus the burden of the duality will be shifted from form to formless thus one gets freedom from experiencing the duality which he is experiencing as reality right here and now, consciously living within the duality, until it disappears on its own and become one with the eternal identity.
Investigation of the Self and Investigations of the 3 states of existence - waking, sleeping, deep sleep the self has a single unitary existence; its inherent nature is "Existence, Consciousness and Bliss". Universe and its contents are truly this at its core, but have seemingly forgotten about their true nature, in the present state of duality, which is caused by ignorance of the reality.
The nondual bliss is not an individual experience but it is the nature of the consciousness, which is the true self. Consciousness pervades all the three states thus the self is not limited to the waking entity or waking world or dream entity or dream world. Consciousness is the formless witness of all the three states and witnesses the waking or dream experience as a whole without the physical apparatus.
This uninterrupted Blissful state is achievable by every being in this life itself, once he/she realizes this and works towards discarding the "unreal” by discriminating between real and unreal mentally.
Consciousness, which is the “true self”, does not have birth, life and death. It has not taken birth and it will not take birth. It is beyond birth, life and death, it is immortal, and it is ancient, it does not perish when the mind, which is in the form of universe, perishes. The universe or mind is like the wave of the see but not the sea, which is the “true self” or consciousness.
Consciousness cannot be cut, cannot be burnt, cannot be melted; neither can be dried. It is eternal, unmoveable, unlike the universe or mind which perishes. It is the cause of duality. It is the consciousness or self, which oversees the duality or the universe or the mind.
The consciousness projects itself as the inherent power of the universe. The self-i.e., Consciousness is the essence of all happenings and circumstances in, which the seeker attempts to know the truth of his true existence.
All experiences of individual actions, conducts happenings are within the universe are mere mirage created out of the true self, which is consciousness. All the conceivable actions and happenings are attributable to the true self in the form consciousness.
Consciousness is real and consciousness is both real and unreal because the unreal universe or mind is erupted out of the real, which is consciousness. Whoever does not know the truth that the self is consciousness, falls prey to his ignorance and suffers by experiencing the illusory pain and pleasure as reality.
All the experiences of happenings such as birth, life and death, good or bad pain and pleasure, past ,present and future are mere mirage created out of consciousness itself . When wisdom dawns, the ignorance vanishes and the consciousness alone prevails as eternal reality.
Self-Knowledge is achievable without the grace of any guru or conceptual god or the mercy of some god men. Seeker has to simply wake up to the Reality [consciousness], which is the formless substance and witness of the unreality [universe of mind].
At the end of the quest the seeker becomes aware of the fact that, the true self is consciousness. There is nothing exists other than consciousness. Thus consciousness is Ultimate Reality.
Consciousness is being identified by another name "Nothingness", because truly if there was Nothingness in the end, there must be one "final witness" to that Nothingness
The universe is abode of the multifarious beings things and experiences. Everything is bound by form time and space. It gives the feeling that everything is well ordained cause and cause leads to result. Religious theory that Material concept of universe in resists the concept of personal god and universe exists and things will happen in the manner in which they do without the interference of the god or Supreme Being. The diversity of experiences human beings enjoy and suffers leads him to visualizing the God inherent in all the things and happenings determining their destiny is mere Religious theory based on the false self.
Therefore, it is necessary to inquire, analyse and reason to realize the fact that the self is not physical [form] but the self is consciousness [formless], when one becomes aware of the fact that , the self is not the form but the self is formless. Then whatever seen, known, believed and experienced as form bound to be false hood. All the religious theories, yogic theories or any theories are mere speculation based on the form base, which is the false base. Thus religion and yoga are based on the false self are not the means for Self-Realization.
The true self, is in the form of consciousness that pervades in all the being and both animates and inanimate, meaning it pervades the whole universe, which is in the form of mind. The consciousness is imperishable is present in the universe, which is perishable.
One will be able to grasps, assimilates, understands and realizes this truth only when he is able to view the universe or mind, on the base of the true self, which is formless.
The paradox of the duality is solved when one understands that the universe is the manifestation of the consciousness. Thus, universe [mind], which is full of diversity, is created out of single substance, which is consciousness. The duality [universe] ceases to be real, when one becomes aware of its formless substance and witness, which is consciousness. Thus consciousness alone is real and the universe is unreal.
There is no time when the consciousness is not. The consciousness pervades all the three states. Consciousness exits with or without the waking or dream experiences as the formless substance and witness. The universe perishes but the formless substance and witness of the universe, which is in the form of mind, will prevail eternally.
Whoever considers “Self” [consciousness] to be the breath and whoever considers the self to be the breather, do not realize the truth. The “Self” is neither the breath nor breather; because “Self” is the cause of the breather and the breath and it, itself is uncaused. The universe or mind is mere mirage created out of consciousness, which is the true self.
