Scriptural scholars are not Gnanis

Scriptural scholars are not Gnanis. Scriptural scholars  strongly believe  scriptures are proof  to decide what is  ultimate truth but it is not so. Orthodox people strongly believe their rituals and code of conduct are the means to  Moksha.
 

Kabir lived in Kashi, a place abounding in scholars. They believed it was enough to read, to accumulate knowledge from books. They were well versed in the Vedas, in the Upanishads and the other scriptures, and  they looked upon Kabir as ignorant, as an  illiterate man. In one sense, you can say Kabir was illiterate. If you consider a scholar as literate, as a well-educated man, then Kabir was definitely illiterate. But of what value is the scholar’s knowledge? A scholar will go on and on about the immortality of the soul, but when death approaches you will find him trembling  and weeping and wailing. All this talk of immortality will crumble into nothingness because he has not known it.. --Osho -The Great Secret, ch. 2.

It is no use to discuss with scriptural scholars  and orthodox who are stuck up with their own framework. by discussing and arguing with them the truth will not reveal.    

 Upanishads  declares:-

  This Atman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, or by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals Its own form. (Katha Upanishad Ch-II -23-P-20)

Mundaka Upanishad  :-

This Atman cannot be attained through study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Atman—by him alone is Atman attained. It is Atman that reveals to the seeker Its true nature. (3 –page-70 Mundaka Upanishad  Upanishads by Nikilanada)

When the Upanishads declares:-

It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals its own form.  Then what is the use of indulging through our intelligence or our accumulated knowledge, when one is not chosen by the self, which is the soul, which is in the form of consciousness.

There is no need for any philosophy in pursuit of truth because they take the seeker nearer to truth but they create more doubts and confusions.

 

The scriptures and theories and teaching based on the ego are not the yardstick. Using them as yardstick to understand and assimilate the truth will lead one towards pursuit of arguments. Seeker of truth has to discover on his own, the truth of his true existence by inquiring “what is mind?” and “what is substance of the mind?” and move forward.  

The ultimate truth is one without the second, the one is not in the sense half or two, but the one that remain forever One, without the second.  The consciousness is all pervading. There is no place where consciousness is not.

Consciousness is in everyone, consciousness is in everything,  consciousness is one behind many. Consciousness alone is. It means the universe and its contents are the visible form of consciousness. And consciousness in turn is invisible form of the universe, which appears as mind.  

The scriptures are  not the yardstick to judge the ultimate truth. The ultimate  truth has to be  judged without scriptures.  There is scope  for  religion, scriptures, belief of god and yoga  in path of truth or wisdom. seeker has to strive for direct realization without the Aid of scriptures. 

This Atman cannot be attained through study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Atman—by him alone is Atman attained. It is Atman that reveals to the seeker Its true nature.(3 page70upanhsds--by Nikilananda)

It means the truth is beyond scriptures and egocentric intelligence.  Thus in order to grasp, assimilate and realize the non-dualistic truth the seeker to employ soulcentric reasoning faculty. 

That is why Sri, Sankara says in commentary in Vedanta sutra that what is accepted without proper enquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.

Thus    Seeker of truth should not believe blindly in traditional orthodox non-duality without verifying all the facts from every angle. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process.

For the same reason Ramana Maharishi said:  fortunate are the one who do not lose themselves in the labyrinths of philosophy. Bhagwan says: Take Vedanta, for instance: it speaks of 15 pranas the names and functions of it   which the student is asked to commit memory. Will it not be sufficient if he thought, only one prana does the whole work of maintaining the body? Again the antakaran is said to think, to desire, to will, to reason etc. Why all these details? Has anyone seen antakarana, or all these pranas? Do they really exist? They are conceptual divisions invented by teachers of philosophy by their excessive analysis. Where do all these concepts end? Why should confusion created and then explained away? Fortunate is the man who does not lose himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, but goes straight to the source from which they all arise. (GURU RAMANA .By S.S Cohen -vii Danger of philosophy-Page -58-59)

Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is based on the formless soul(spirit), the innermost self.  The religion and yoga are based on the form(matter).  thus whatever is based on the matter is not spirituality. Hence there is need to bifurcate spirituality from religion and yoga.

Advaita  refers to non- duality. Dvaita refers to duality.  Non -duality and duality  is not a theory or concept but it is the nurture of the formless  soul, the innermost  self.   the duality is the illusory nature of the soul whereas the non-duality is real nature of the soul or spirit.

 Whatever is based on ego or waking entity is falsehood and  whatever is based on the  formless soul, the innermost self  is ultimate truth or Brahma. The formless  soul is eternal identity which has no birth, life and death, but it is the formless substance and witness of the illusory  experience  of birth, life,death and the world.

The religion is based on the form. Without the form there is no question of religion. The religion accepts the concept of god, and believes the body itself as self, and injects theoretical code of conduct to live in the world, whereas in pursuit of truth, the soul is the true self and body, ego, world, conceptual Gods and scriptures are part of the illusion. 

Orthodoxy is trying to prove the truth on the base of scriptural authorities, whereas in  the truth has to be proved on through soul-centric  reasoning without the help of any scriptures.

 Orthodoxy  holds the caste, religious rites, god and guru glorification, scriptural studies, virtues, good deeds and physical conducts as the means to acquire the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  Self-Knowledge  or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is acquired by the seekers who have  intense urge to know the truth, receptive mind, sharpness to grasp, courage to accept the truth and reject the untruth. 

Holding religion and yoga as the source of Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana leads to all sorts of confusions.

It is no use arguing Buddha is wrong or Sri Sankara is right, but where we are going wrong in our understanding and realization of  the non-dual or Advaitic  truth, propagated by the great sages of the truth.  


Some say, that without the sunyavada, Advaita philosophy could not have come into existence; Because Advaita starts from where sunyavada ends.  That is why they say it is extension of Buddhism.  If Advaita existed prior to Buddha, he would not have advocated sunyavada at all because Advaita is final and ultimate truth. 

Since the Buddhist and Vedic  scriptures have been passed down by hearing. They were written down only relatively late. So one wouldn’t know whether to rely on the times they give. Also, a lot depends on the translation. Each 'Shloka' or sutta is open to many layers of interpretation. 

Most  people will not show interest acquiring Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.   Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana  is for those who found the path of religion, path of yoga and all theoretical philosophy and scriptural studies inadequate and useless to  quench their inner thirst.

  

People are searching for remedies for their problems of practical life within the practical world.  Path of love is very valuable in practical world. A Gnani follows path of love in practical world and he loves the whole humanity but he inwardly he is fully aware of the fact that, the practical life within the practical world are part mere illusion created out of consciousness. . 

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]

In Brahma Sutras Sankara says that Brahman is the cause of the world, whereas in Mandukya he denies it. This is because he says 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.

Brahma Sutras, i.e. "Vedanta Sutras" by Badarayana, are intended for those of middling intellects, not for those who have the best brains: it is a semi-theological, semi-philosophical work; it starts with the assumption that Brahman exists.

A man who describes Sankara's philosophy as negative (because of his Neti, Neti) does not know that this is applied only to the objective world , the critic ignorantly believes that it is also applied to the formless witness of the objective world(witnessed). One must understand the fact that, the formless witness(soul) cannot be neageted , only the witnessed(objective world). 


Scriptural mastery is not wisdom.
 

 That is why That is Sri Sankara, 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. 

Thus it proves that wisdom is universal irrespective of any religion of faith one belongs.  Thus religion is not the means to self-knowledge.  Thus Sri, Sankara’s Advaita minus orthodoxy is true Advaita. 

Sri Sankara himself says [VC] 59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

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?

62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utter the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realisation one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

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.

As one goes deeper in the subject one becomes aware of the fact that,  the religion, scriptures and concept of god and the universe  is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because universe is mere illusion from the standpoint of ultimate truth or Brahman.


the orthodox Advaitic knowledge and theories are  meant for the mass, who are stuck with reality of the practical life and the practical world. path of wisdom is nothing to do with orthodoxy. Scriptural mastery is not wisdom.


 

Sri, Sankara himself has warned us not to use ambiguous words, and to practice semantic analysis in his book "Definition of one's own Self. [" Page 199, v.24 of "Sankara's Selected Works]

Sri, Sankara founded his Advaita Vedanta either on reason independent of sruti or on sruti confirmed by reason."   Sri, Sankara's commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad, II, 1:  This [the unreality of duality] is borne out by the Srutis ... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the object world even from pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose.

 Sri, Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture.  This may be because Sri, Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter.  He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can therefore dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. 

Non-duality does not need the support of any Scripture or Revelation like the Veda. For it is based, not upon the varying theological fancies, which are as numerous as the sands of the sea, but upon reason, the common heritage of all mankind, irrespective of colour or creed or clime.

The religion and yoga are not the means to Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana. Holding religion and yoga as the source of  Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana leads to all sorts of confusions.   There is no need to collect all these baggage of confusions, if one is seeking truth, nothing but ultimate truth or Brahman. 

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...

Devoid of Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana one is enveloped in ignorance.

 One can attain it by realizing the the form,time and space  are one in essence. One has to keep reminding himself that the three states  are not real that is,  they are not real in the sense that it is transitory. Only consciousness the innermost self  is real because it is imperishable. One must  mentally renounce this unreal three states  and focus on the formless witness of the three states. Universe  may be alluring, but it is transitory.

One should realize the fact that,  the mind is in the form of   the universe . The universe appears as waking or dream . So the mind or universe or waking or dream is one and the same thing. Universe or      Waking experience also ephemeral.  Ignorance is because of identifying the  waking entity or ego as false self. never consider  the false  self or waking entity  as self  and try to view and judge the truth,which is beyond form,time and space. 

 To one who knows that this waking experience is unreal it becomes easy for his to grasp the non-dual truth. One must be concerned only with consciousness  become immersed  in consciousness  by realizing all the three states are one in essence and that essence is consciousness. consciousness alone is real. And consciousness is innermost  self . and consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman. 

A man may wish to live for a hundred years, performing his worldly duties as prescribed by the religion and scriptures. But religion and scriptural knowledge is not the means to acquire the self-knowledge.  There is no other way other then  path of wisdom. 

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.

Thus, self-knowledge 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. 

There is no point in running after the pleasures of the world. Pleasures and pain are momentary. If on e run after pleasure of the world he will not be able to cross the threshold of duality. But not everyone is in a position to acquire self-knowledge id one is receptive.

by reading FP blogs and posting and reflecting on them gradually   makes one more and more  receptive to receive self-knowledge, the spirit of discrimination will grow strong, and love for Self-knowledge will develop. When this happens they will be able to grasp the non dual truth. The end result is that they will acquire nondual wisdom, and able to realize the duality is mere mirage on the standpoint of the soul, which is the true self.

Inquiry, analysis reasoning on the true base is only way to acquire self-knowledge. One need not feel lost. It takes time to assimilate. People who are practicing other paths sooner or later they have to come to the path of truth if they are interested in the acquiring non-dual wisdom. Till then they must continue the chosen path.

Devoid of Self-knowledge  or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana one is enveloped in ignorance. ISH Upanishads  says:- 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.

Man exits within the world and the world exists within the waking or dream

In this ever  changing universe or waking everything is subject to change, yet everything is covered by the consciousness, the innermost self.  Seeker has to practice discrimination between the subjects and object, and renounce the object and he has to be strong in the conviction that everything in this three states   is  mere mirage created out of  consciousness.

This world and everything in it is constantly changing. Man exits within the world and the world exists within the waking or dream. But that which sustains the three states is never changes. It is always the same. That is the consciousness the formless substance and witness of the three states. On consciousness everything rests. It is like a movie projected on a screen. The movie changes but the screen is constant. Similarly, the waking or dream is projected on the consciousness.

Universe is a mere mirage. The mirage has no independent existence. It exists because of its substance from which it is created out of, and it ceases to exist as soon as a one becomes aware of the substance. The Mirage then dissolves into the substance from which it is created out of. In the same way, when one knows the true self is consciousness, the three states merges into it and one realize that subject and object are one in essence.

 

To attain self- knowledge is the goal of truth seeker. The three states then cannot taint the true self. Atman's  contact with it is merely like that of a piece of sandalwood, which has long been under water and has thereby come to acquire a bad odor. For a while the fragrance of the sandalwood is suppressed and the bad odor prevails. But if the sandalwood is rubbed a little, the bad odor disappears and the natural fragrance of the sandalwood becomes predominant. Similarly, soul’s (consciousness) attachment to the three states is temporary. It cannot be permanent.

 Think of the true self as Soul, which is in the form of pure Consciousness. Think intensely and constantly in this way. The attachment one now has to the waking experience will gradually vanish. 

WHAT IS THIS 'I'? WHAT IS THIS MIND? WHAT IS THIS UNIVERSE? WHAT IS THIS WAKING? WHAT IS THIS DREAM?

The dream is mere mirage created out of consciousness. Similarly the waking also is mere mirage created out of consciousness.  until one thinks the dream as dream waking as waking deep sleep as deep sleep  it is difficult to grasp the ultimate truth.  instead of inquiring WHO AM'I'? WHAT AM 'I' ? - inquire WHAT IS THIS 'I'? WHAT IS THIS MIND? WHAT IS THIS UNIVERSE? WHAT IS THIS WAKING? WHAT IS THIS DREAM? to unfold the mystery of the physical existence. 

 When one has a dream, what is it? This analysis requires self-elimination, purging of preconceptions. What is the dream now, at this moment, in the waking experience? If one concentrates he perceives dream is only an experience, an idea; it is only the mind. The mind is an experience without the physical experiencer. Therefore, there is a need to trace the formless witness of the three states mentally, which is aware of the appearance of the mind as waking or dream [duality] and disappearance of it as deep sleep [non-duality].   

Similarly, all the action and thoughts of waking experience will be nothing but experience, ideas. Hence all one is doing is, in the waking experience is, nothing but an idea. Yet it falsely appears because of attachment to the false idea that all this is real.  But when the formless witness is traced and realized the fact that, it is the consciousness, which is the source from mind rises and sets is the true self.

 The aim of yoga is to empty the mind of its contents, but this is successfully achieved by millions of men during the deep sleep state. Yet they never find Truth. That is why something more is needed. Deep sleep is not liberation. It is not Reality. Reality is existence in the external world of matter, as much as in deep sleep, but only the Gnani can perceive this.

Deep sleep is simply having no duality. Sleep is a gift to humankind to enable them to rest without the duality or without the ‘I’.

Nature of the soul is like deep sleep. Deep sleep is mere illustration to get the idea of nondual reality. The deep sleep is not wisdom. The wisdom will dawn only in the midst of waking experience, which is the state of ignorance.