Sage Sri, Sankara says :- VC-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.

Sage  Sri, Sankara says :-  VC-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.

65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

There is nothing more rational, more intelligible and more un-dogmatic insights of Sri, Sankara, is to drop all the theistic non-duality or Advaita which is meant for those who are incapable and not receptive to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Swami Vivekananda said: - “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”

It is difficult to understand assimilate within a framework of some teaching or holding some philosophy as a yardstick.  We have to drop all our accumulated dross to understand and assimilate and realize the non-dualistic truth.  I am highlighting some scriptural citation only to show the seeker that the non-dual sages themselves declare that scriptures, religion and idea of god are unimportant in pursuit of truth.  It is easier to understand, assimilate   and realize the ultimate truth or non-dualistic truth by rationalizing our views and understanding:-  There is only mind which is present as the universe. Thus we have to investigate the world that confronts us. 

The soul or  consciousness is that which knows everything, that which sees. Consciousness alone remains after one gets rid of all thoughts and ideas by identification with self. Consciousness is only the seer; it is not Brahman that is an error. It becomes Brahman only after an inquiry and reasoning.

Firstly, we have to realize the mind is not within the body but the body and world are within the mind. Therefore all our practical life within the practical world is within the mind, which is in the form of the universe. The universe appears as waking or dream (duality or mind) and disappears as deep sleep (Nonduality or no mind).  Thus the waking entity is not the self. The self is that which witnesses the coming and going of the three states.  The self is not an individual because it pervades everything and everywhere in all the three states. Therefore our practical life within the practical world, which is based on individuality, is nothing to do with the self, which is ever formless.

One becomes aware of the fact that, the universe or mind, which appears and disappears, is the only form and shape created out of consciousness and nothing else. The consciousness alone is positive proof and on the standpoint of the consciousness or soul as self, one becomes aware of the   falsity of this universe or mind, which is mere appearance. The one which appears as mind (universe) and disappears as no mind (soul) is consciousness alone. Therefore, the mind and soul are one in essence.  Without consciousness, which is the innermost self, the universe ceases to exist.

Mental analysis shows that, the existences of the formless witness, which witnesses the three states coming and going without a break. This, on closer analysis, is found to be that changeless, soul or consciousness itself.

Thus we have to focus our attention only on the three states.  The mind, which appears as waking or dream is duality and deep sleep is nonduality.  Therefore we have to find out what is it that becomes duality (waking or dream as a whole) and nonduality (deep sleep).  The individual experience happening within the waking and dream is nothing to with the consciousness, which is the innermost self.

Identifying   consciousness as innermost self is necessary to realize the unreal nature of the mind. The mind cannot be destroyed but when one overcomes the ignorance through wisdom than he realizes his body, his ego and his experience of the world to be consciousness.  Thus for Gnani the body is not body , the ego is not ego , the world is not the  world but everything is consciousness even though he is in the midst of illusion knowing  and realizing the ultimate truth  in the midst of illusion is called wisdom.    It becomes very easy to assimilate non-dualistic or Advaitic truth, if one is able to drop his accumulated knowledge and inborn samskara.  Only one has to realize his body and his experience of the universe are one in essence to bring unity in diversity in our understanding and in turn it leads to self-awareness.   

Dualists could not distinguish between ‘I’ and ‘formless witness.’ They take ‘I’ as the self and witness. Their highest was the Jiva.

People are so much attached to the 'I' that they do not want to think that 'I' itself is mere illusion. Thus it is necessary to know the fact that “I’   is mind. And the mind is universe. And the universe is the waking experience. And the waking experience is the illusion. Thus they are unable to detach the ‘I’ from the Real witness.

The  dualists and intellectuals keep on objecting: - If everything else is false, your statement that self is Brahman is itself false.    But when one says consciousness is false, there must be the awareness, consciousness, behind the very statement. The duality (mind or universe)   disappears as non-duality (deep sleep).  One has to rely upon that which is permanent. Formless witness or consciousness alone is permanent. Anything that one say is a he is saying within the illusion, but there is consciousness (formless witness)   before any statement could be made.

Again as a step leading to formless witness, the arguments, the three states avails. But if one knows the existence of the formless witness of the three states, nothing else remains to be known.

The world is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense, that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

The world is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense, that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

Peoples approach is more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.--FORMLESS PATH  

Some think that the world has proceeded as a creation from the vital activity, others consider creation as an expansion of that cause from which it has proceeded; others imagine that creation is like dream and illusion; others, that creation proceeds simply by the will of the god ; others that it proceeds from time; others that it is for the enjoyment of the God  or for his play only, for such is the nature of the god , that he creates, but he cannot have any longing, as all his desires are in a state of fulfillment, but everyone fail  to recognize the fact that,  whatever they think and imagine is part of the waking experience. The waking experience is as real as a dream.  One has to realize the fact that, when man and the world are within the waking/dream, then what is it that, witnesses the waking or dream. That formless witness has to be traced mentally to unfold the truth of one’s true existence.  

One should not wish for the easy way to search the truth. In the easy way, there is ignorance. The ignorance is inborn. The ignorance is in the form of 'I'.  The ignorance has been nourished and passed on from one generation to the next. Without getting rid of this inborn ignorance, it is impossible to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. The man+world are a product of ignorance.   The man+world cease to exist without the ignorance.   In self-awareness, there is neither the man nor the world because man+world are a mere mirage created out the soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The soul is the innermost self. On the standpoint of the soul, the innermost self the man+world are mere illusion.

Ignorance is in the form of 'T'. 'I' is in the form of mind. The Mind is in the form of the universe. The universe appears in the form of waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (non-duality)   

The ‘I’ is inborn samskara or conditioning, because of this inborn samskara or conditioning one has accepted the ‘I’ as ‘self, he is ignorant of the fact that, he has accepted illusion as reality.  The ‘I’ itself is the illusion.  And whatever is connected to the ‘I’ is bound to be the illusion.  

The self is not an individual because it is birthless because it is formless.  The self is not limited to waking experience alone because it pervades all the three states.  Thus identifying the self without the form alone is erroneous.   The self is without the form, without the time and without the space

The soul is the innermost self. The innermost self is present in the form of the consciousness. The consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman.  And the soul, the innermost self is formless and nondual in its nature. The soul, the innermost self   is falsely conceived as taking part in birth and death, coming and going and as existing in all bodies; but howsoever it be conceived, it is all the while not different from its true nature .

 All things that appear as compounded are but dreams and illusion. Duality is a distinction imposed upon the soul, the innermost self by illusion. The soul, the innermost self is immortal; it cannot therefore by its own nature suffer change. It has no birth. All birth and death, this entire manifold is but the result of an imposition of illusion upon it.

The consciousness (soul or Atman) appears as many in the dream, so also in the waking experience the consciousness (the soul or the soul, the innermost self )  appears as many, but when the mind is stilled then arises,  the nondual natural state free from fear, and all sorrows, final cessation.

Thinking experience of duality to be misery one should divert his attention from desires and enjoyments and thinking always of the soul, the innermost self  as true self. In this way he should awaken the mind into its final dissolution and pacify it when distracted, he should not move it towards diverse objects when it stops.

The seeker should constantly reflect on the soul, the innermost self and by wisdom remain unattached, by strong mental effort making it motionless and still, when he neither passes into dissolution nor into distraction; when there is no sign, no appearance that is the perfect state of The soul, the innermost self. When there is no objective awareness it is the formless nondual state of The soul, the innermost self . That is nature of Sahaja Samadhi.

Thus thought, the thinker and the world are part of the illusion

Thought and thinker are reality within the universe. The thinker and the thought exist within the universe. The man and his experience of the universe is a reality within the waking experience.  The waking experience is mere illusion on the ultimate standpoint.    Therefore, the individual experiences are part of the illusion. Thus thought, the thinker  and the world are part of the illusion. The self is ever that which is aware of the thought, thinker and world together without physical apparatus. The thoughts will not rise without the form whereas the self is formless.   Thus Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to know what is what.

Positive and negative thoughts and the thinker are made of the same material.  Whether one thinks rightly or wrongly he is thinking as a person. The thoughts will not rise without the form.  Without the form there are neither thoughts nor the thinker.  This positive or negative thinking or right or wrong thinking is part of the physical existence and nothing to do with ultimate truth.    Experience is prior to thought. Only in waking or dream one gets thought. Therefore one has to mentally trace the source of the waking or dream experience in order to realize the waking experience is as unreal as a dream.  When waking experience itself is than the waking entity and its thoughts are part and parcel of that illusion.   Self-awareness arises only when wisdom dawns. Wisdom dawns only when waking entity realizes it itself is not the self.

Only in religion and yogic path one has to follow and practice. Everyone thinks he has to follow some guru or god men.  But all these methods are full of frustrations and give no real satisfaction. Reality has no method. Illusion has many methods, many problems and many concepts. To overcome illusion, or concepts, one should know the source of the mind and from where does this mind arise? “When the mind is there the universe is there. Absence of mind absent of the universe.  Absent of the Universe is absent of duality. Absent of duality is absent of thoughts.  Thus until one becomes aware of what is the mind and what is the substance of the mind it is impossible to assimilate the nondualistic or Advaitic  truth.

To know the nondual Reality, deeper thinking is required. The thinking faculty ceases and becomes still when it reaches the source of the mind. One has to realize the waking entity is false self within the false experience from the ultimate standpoinWhere there is no experience then there is no duality where there no duality then there is no second thing exist other than the self-awareness.  Therefore seeker has indulge in deeper self-search and trace and overcome the obstacles. For the sincere and serious seekers the inner grace will guide until the ignorance vanishes and he becomes aware of the fact that the diversity [universe or Illusion] is a mere mirage created out of consciousness [Atman].    

Waking experience in which a person perceives the world doesn't exist as real in reality because, everything is consciousness, and apart from consciousness there is nothing in the waking experience.

Whatever is thought of within the waking experience makes Him something other than what He is. When the waking experience ends, what happens? It is consciousness alone prevails without the three states.

Through soul-centric reasoning one can acquire the Self –knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana in lesser time and effort

Everyone’s inner work leads towards a new understanding and realization. When doubts crop up and when one does not get a reasonable reasoning for his doubts from the other source, then only he indulges in his own personal research, and try to investigate, and then only he becomes aware of the truth. As he goes deeper and deeper into the subject the truth will start to reveal. 

At every stage of life, wherever one turns or goes, ignorance meets him. One always worries what is going to happen in the future to him, or to the world? What will happen to the money if he deposits it, will it be safe? What is happening inside his body? What is the ultimate condition of this world? He will not get answers. Because futures have yet come, he is thinking of the past and future fears in the present. The present is always built on the past and survives on the hopes of the future. But when one becomes aware of the fact that time is mere illusion and one which is aware of the time is timeless existence, which is the consciousness. To overcome the sense of time one has to realize the one which is aware of the form and space also is consciousness. Thus consciousness alone is real and form, time and space are unreal because they are one in essence.

Adopting the neutral, impersonal point of view of the Witness also helps us transcend form, time and space. In fact, the memory of the past, knowledge of the present, and projection  into the future require the existence of the  consciousness which is in itself outside form, time and space. By learning to view and judge the three states in witness position can transcend a sense of form, time and space, which helps to reduce its grip of  the duality. 

One has to  reduce all the three states as mind. The first effect of this practice is a lessening of the impact of individual experience. In the next stage, one has to train himself to ask where the mind dwells. The answer one arrives at is: in the soul, which is present in the form of  the consciousness! The three states come and go; what remains after they vanish is the consciousness . The source and the  three states are one in essence.  That essence is consciousness . Thus consciousness  alone is real. 

Meditation remains necessary only in preliminary stages, but meditation is not the means to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The highest state attainable by yoga is no better than deep sleep. Only the path of reason leads one  to the realization of ultimate truth or Brahman. 

As Sri, Ramana Maharishi said: scriptural knowledge is 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.

When Ramana Maharishi indicated the direct path to the truth, is the source from which the false arises. Thus the source is the soul or Atman, which is the true self. Ataman itself is Brahman. Thus it is necessary to view and judge, the  three states on the base of the soul,which is  the source to unfold the mystery of the mind.  The soul,which is present in the form consciousness is the  formless substance and witness of the three states . Through soul-centric reasoning one can acquire the Self –knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana  in lesser time and effort. The unity in diversity is possible only through Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana not by mastering the Scriptural knowledge.

Orthodox and pundits have “I know” attitude, therefore, they think others know nothing. They pretend to be listening but they think others are in a primitive person who could not possibly have anything to share with them.” This type of outlook is a great obstacle in the pursuit of truth. The orthodoxy is the greatest hindrance in realizing the non-dualistic or Advaitic  truth

Gnani says that a thing exists on the standpoint of the form as self and things ceases to exist without the formless self.

Science is based on objects; its invention is based on object as subject. Thus the modern science can get the truth of objectified subject. Elimination of object mentally and realizing the subject then judging the worldview on the base of the pure subject leads to discovery of ultimate truth.

The feelings and impressions and notions are based on the physical self. The scientific inventions are based on the physical self. A deeper self - search reveals the fact that, the physical self (waking entity or ego) is false self within the false experience (waking). 

Modern science is the very opposite of the Gnani’s standpoint of view. Gnani says that a thing exists on the standpoint of the form as self and things  ceases to exist without the formless self. 

Therefore, it is necessary to know the fact that, the true self is not physical but the formless spirit, which we call it soul or self.

There is a need for sufficient distinction or discrimination has to be made between the witness and the witnessed. The witness is mixed and identified with what it witnessed and the result is doubts and confusion still prevailed without identifying the witness. 

Personal feelings, ideas, judgments entered into the presentation of facts by the so called gurus and the whole mass passed as truth, the process often being given the high-sounding name of Intuition, Vision or Revelation which are mere fancy based on the physical self. 

The religious idea of rewarding the virtuous and punishing the sinner in graded degrees are popular among the mass. These are some of the very well-known instances of pathetic fallacy, that is to say, introducing the element of personal sentiment in our appreciation of events and objects. Even today's literate mass follow or observe these religious dogmas superstitions and tradition. 

Both modern science and religion offer hypotheses and theories but there is one vital difference--science begins with the facts which it collects; religion begins with fancies. Science evolves its hypotheses from such facts, religion from fancies.

Science declares that oxygen combines with hydrogen to give water. And it also declares oxygen is protons or electrons. But in pursuit of truth the whole physical existence [universe or mind] is considered as illusion and science and their inventions, which are based on the physical existence is limited to physical existence. The truth is within but it is beyond the physical existence.  The science demands physical proof.  But the physical proof is part of the illusion. Hence science cannot go beyond physicality because the truth cannot be traced with laboratory conditions.  Deeper self-search is required if one wants to push its quest deeply enough.

Common people and primitive minds fall into faulty thinking through their inherited conditioning , such faulty thinking and reasoning  makes them accept the experience of birth, life and death as reality ; taking what one sees through  the senses  as real, taking what is apparent obvious and superficial as true because it is less troublesome.

Many People adopt the attitude that what   they know is truth. And what others say id false. This attitude makes them not to verify anything other than what they know.   One needs to be rational, not merely logical. Logic has its value only in the physical plane.

As one advances towards the spiritual plane he sees the logic underlying experience and becomes more rational. His reasoning is two-fold--implicit and explicit.

There is a need for  physical proof in scientific invention, whereas in path of wisdom  the proof has to be grasped mentally and realized.  Therefore, the truth is realized only by the few who take this mental pursuit.  “Whatever facts revealed, which is un-contradictable has to be accepted as truth.

The truth based on the formless soul, the innermost self is worthwhile; without it, one has something else, not truth.  Most people refuse to venture into pursuit of truth; because they do not want to go into the root of things.

The seeker of truth has to study, inquire and reason in the beginning of the pursuit of truth, because it is absolutely necessary in pursuit of truth.

One has to know the true self is not physical but the formless spirit.  The spirit or soul or the self is in the form of consciousness. Consciousness gives one the awareness of the three states. 

The ignorance of the true self is the cause of experiencing the duality as reality.  The ignorance vanishes through realization of the formless soul, the innermost self

The soul or  conciousness, the innermost  self   does not lie in our body or in our brain, or our ego, but it is the essence of the dual and non-dual experiences, which comes and goes as waking dream and deep sleep.