God is mere belief; no one has proved that there is a God. No one has proved that the individual is God or Brahman

Yogi takes for granted that there is an Iswara--God, gives it to people for concentration purposes, and then they naturally find God in their meditations. But it is only his imagined God. 

Mystics see what they are looking for or that whose existence they presuppose. Therefore Yoga belongs to religion, not Philosophy. 

God is mere belief; no one has proved that there is a God. No one has proved that the individual is God or Brahman.  Personal experience which is not universally valid is no proof, neither is ecstatic feeling. 

What one knows must be tested, to see if it be true or not. Experience must be taken, checked, analysed and corrected. It is the characteristic of all human beings to believe they understand, even when they do not. Otherwise he may be merely imagining as he like. 

The reasoning base has to be rectified from form to formless to get faultless judgment.  The defective interpretation is to apply it only to waking state. The correct interpretation is to apply it to the three states. The latter leads to final settlement of the problems because it takes all data into consideration.  Opinions belong to scholasticism. And opinions are of no use in pursuit of truth. 

If one has a belief, it is because somebody else believes it; or the majority believes it--or it is his own experience. Is it religious authority or religious sanction or is it based upon a feeling of certainty?

People believe it merely because it is for them to believe and very difficult for them to reason.  The belief makes one more and more ignorance of the true self. Without realizing the true self is not the physical but the formless soul, the true will not be revealed.  The belief system rests on the belief because it is based on the belief. The truth is based on the reason not on the belief.  Nearly all people want their own imagination, not truth.

Most people who write books on non-duality are borrows idea from punditry have commercial interest to sell their books or ideas. They have not expounded anything new other than    presenting the eastern concepts to suit the western seekers in ornamental words.  

Authoritative and orthodox egoic attitude is out-dated and not suit  for the modern mind-sets who are capable of thinking using their own reason.  It is no use of arguing with people who live in self-imposed orthodox prison and who impose their false inherited baggage to the next generation.   It is high time for the orthodox cult to wake up and indulge is self-search their belief to realize the non-dualistic truth expounded by the great sage scientists, Sri, Sankara and Goudpada.   

Mundaka Upanishad says:-  The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross The sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.

When sages themselves found rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death and ignored them and they the Mundaka Upanishad further suggest that, such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the realm of duality those who try to cross The realm of duality on these poor rafts are  Doomed to shipwreck are. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise in their own esteem, these deluded people [punndiths] proud of their vain learning go round and round like the blind led by the blind.

 Therefore, if one wants to acquire Atma Gnana or   Bramha Gnana or Self- Knowledge or knowledge of consciousness one has to drop all ritualistic and orthodox baggage to move forward in their pursuit of truth. 

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’.

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 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.  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 non-dual 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 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 [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 enquiry; 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. 

All the accumulated knowledge based on the birth [waking entity] entity is of no use in understanding and assimilating the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Without using any scriptural words it can be explained in the following way.  The scriptural baggage is of no use in pursuit of truth as declared in Upanishads.  

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 (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 accumulated knowledge based on the birth (waking entity) 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.  

Bondage is something which one has imagined as a waking entity. Hence if one wishes to force himself from it, he needs mentally free his-self from the whole waking experience.

From the standpoint of the mind's working, you say that its thoughts are transient and illusory; from the standpoint of ultimate result when you seek the essence of the objective world you have to resolve it into the One mind.

 Is this mind also illusory, although longer lasting than individual thoughts? To ask such a question is to think about the mind i.e. to set it up as an object, to remain in the world of duality. Hence one cannot get a correct answer about it--only a thought. The mind as knower cannot be known by thought; only by non-thinking, by silence, questionless. 

The meaning of consciousness has not been found. So how can one know that divine Consciousness is infinite? When one is conscious he sees a thing, a second thing. The latter is a finite idea; where is the infinity of it? 

Consciousness is thus beyond the known and the unknown. Nothing can come near this consciousness.  The Gnani knows that the universe is only consciousness, after all, but this is the final position. 

Bondage is something which one has  imagined as a waking entity. Hence if one wishes to force himself from it, he needs mentally  free his-self(soul)  from the whole  waking experience by realizing the three states are one in essence.

Even the highest thought of consciousness must disappear in deep sleep. Thought is changing and unreal. It passes away like dreams. It is impossible to eliminate thought entirely in the waking experience. No one has ever succeeded in doing so. If he does he will at once fall asleep.  It is impossible to see any differences or distinctions in the witness.

The nature of consciousness is always wisdom, knowing, whether in death or life, sleep or waking. But to understand this knowledge is hard because the world-objects worry one. So one has to get rid of this worry which prevents his insight, he must analyze the mind, to realize the ultimate truth. 

From the standpoint of worldly communication through words one strives to know ultimate truth. But from the highest standpoint words can only be applied to an object. When one say 'I do not know the ultimate truth, there must be something in him which knows him do not know, a Witness, and which thus contradicts him. 

The consciousness in me, the consciousness in him, the consciousness in someone else, are all one and the same; not separate from each other. Nobody has ever seen more than one consciousness. 

The consciousness can be realized wherever one is, whereas if he goes to mountains in search of ultimate truth he finds only universe. It is within the mind [universe] rather than without. 

He who knows the witness is consciousness, he remains satisfied. Not he who is concerned with universe. Birth, life and death are part of the illusory universe. Birth, life and death are happening within the illusory universe, the universe disappears as deep sleep. Birth, life, death and universe are an idea exists in waking and dream states only.  Without the consciousness they cease to exist as real.  The consciousness can exist with our without the waking or dream. The witness which sees the three states is consciousness is immortal.

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.

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.  

In pursuit of truth seeker has to use his reason in order to have knowledge and understanding.  First one must become aware of the fact that, ‘I’ is not the self and realize the fact that holding ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ as self is obstruction his realization.    This is possible only when one becomes aware of the fact that ‘I’ is not limited to body but to the whole world confronting him. 

The seekers only goal is to remove all the obstacles which his blocking his realization.  Thus whatever blocks his realization has to be mentally discarded to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.    Orthodox or theist non-duality is no means to self-realization. 

Just as a ripened fruit separates effortlessly from the tree and falls, the seeker who is ripened and matured, will be able to grasp the non dual truth.

Truth realization takes place when one becomes aware of the fact that ‘I’ is not the self and start identifying with the formless soul or consciousness the innermost Self. Identifying with   ‘I am this (form) and replacing it with ‘I am that (formless), does not get to the root of the problem of false identification because the self is not limited to the ego or waking entity but it pervades all the three states as their formless substance. By limiting ‘I’ or ‘I AM to the waking entity saying ‘I AM not this body but ‘I AM THAT is erroneous.  When the self is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity but the self is the formless witness of the three states and it is always apart from the three states. It is apart because it is not an entity or identity or thing in waking or dream. Thus the self has to be mentally grasped. It cannot be identified with words like ‘I’ or ‘I AM.    

Thinking, ‘I am a person who has renounced’ is only mental imagination because ‘I’ exist only in realm of duality. In realm of truth transcends the ‘I’ and such imagination. Only through self-awareness one becomes free from ‘I’, which is cause of the ignorance. And ignorance is cause of experiencing illusion as reality.  Experiencing illusion as reality is cause of experiencing the birth, life, death and the world as reality.  Thus getting rid of the ‘I’ or ‘I AM leads to Self-Awareness. 

The seeker has to follow up his deeper self-search and get rid of the inborn samskara or conditioning, which is present as ‘I’ or ‘I AM’. There is no need of buying reading material or hearing the sermons and running to one place to another or one guru to another or surrendering to any guru or glorifying any guru in order to acquire self-knowledge.    

   Most people have a complex "I know". Unless one gives up the “I know” business   he can’t get rid of the ideas "which are full of contradictions" to the Truth seeker. But those who do not want the truth do not see the contradictions and are satisfied with their accepted truth.

Dualist sages could not distinguish between ‘I’ and ‘formless witness.’ The 'I' was the witness. Their highest was the Jiva. One is so much attached to the 'I' that he do not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again one is unable to detach the ‘I’ from the Real witness. 

Most of the modern Gurus are also stuck with ‘I’ awareness as self-awareness. The ‘I’ awareness is present only when the mind is present. Mind is present only when the universe is present. Universe is present only when the waking or dream is present.   The ‘I’ awareness is absent when the mind is absent. Mind is absent than the universe or waking or dream is absent. Thus ‘I’ awareness is mere illusion.   The self-awareness is ‘I- LESS AWARENESS.  Thus ‘I’ AM THAT or self is ‘I’ without the body is erroneous because ‘I’ itself is illusion and ‘I’ exists only in the realm of the illusion or duality.  

  By deeper thinking and realizing the self is not the form but self  is formless consciousness and mentally shifting the attention from the objectified subject to the formless subject ,which is consciousness the inner most self. By realizing the formless consciousness as the inner most self, one realizes the consciousness alone exists the three states are mere mirage created out of consciousness.   Thus the three states are unreal created out of consciousness, which alone is real.    

The one who discriminates between the Real and the unreal, whose focus of attention is turned away from the illusory physical existence, who possesses calmness and who is longing for freedom from experiencing the illusion as reality, is alone considered qualified to take path of reason.

People who are yearning for spiritual truth will not find it through intellectual speculation and assumption. Intellectual truth is individual truth.