The ultimate truth or Brahman has to be proved, not assumed

A Gnani is one who attains the  self-awareness  in the midst of duality. A Gnani is in self –awareness and he is fully aware of the fact that,  the form, time and space are mere mirage 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 Ataman. The ordinary man does not understand their way. [Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada]

This passage indicates the fact that everything is Ataman/spirit. The one who views and judges the worldview on the base of his birth /body will not realize the fact that, the man including the world is created sustained and finally dissolves as Ataman. Thus Atman alone is, and all else is mirage.

Thus self-knowledge is the aim of every human being. Since everyone thinks the physical body is the self, their aim is misdirected and they focus their attention on materiality which makes one feel the duality [waking] as reality.

 The ultimate truth or Brahman  has to be proved, not assumed. Pundits who take scriptures for granted are not Gnanis.

Pundits teach that all is your-self, but none of them can show that this is so, none has analysed it scientifically, and none can prove it. Rational proof is needed, so that one arrive at knowing truth i.e. wisdom; punditry is mere dogma, parrotism, repetition of what they read in scripture. Scripters are not yardstick and scriptural truth is not proof.   Pundits take scripters as authority.   Authoritarianism merely assumes as true what another says, but what has yet to be proved.

Pundits have to test truth in this world not in the next world.  There is no proof other than blind belief based on the scriptures, belief is not truth.  So, doctrines are not the means to realize the ultimate truth. There is no need to follow them.

Doubts and Confusions arise when seeker finds the scripters and yoga are inadequate or useless to quench his spiritual thirst.   Disappointments in religion or yoga or even science imply error or ignorance.

When serious seeker reaches a stage with all his baggage of accumulate knowledge, then uncertainty haunts him.  Whether he is right?" Where is the certainty that he is proceeding on right lines?" Thus doubts arise and the inquiring spirit comes and impels to search elsewhere for truth where it will not be possible even to have doubt. The test is therefore in experience. And only in non-duality, where there are no two to argue about views or to have difference of opinion can such doubtlessness be possible.  Belief depends upon unstable bases whereas certainty depends on proof.

Sri, Sankara says in Viveka Chudamani indicated that:-

56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realisation of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.

58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.

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.

64. Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendour of the entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely saying, ‘I am an emperor’.

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.

66. Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated births and deaths.

Thus Sri Sankara clearly indicated that: - yoga, intellectualism, scriptural mastery is not the means to self-knowledge.  But by the realisation of one's identity with consciousness, which is ultimate truth or Brahman, freedom from experiencing the illusion as reality is possible, and by no other means.

Seeker of truth has to get rid of his doubts through deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning on his own, to realize the fact that, the self is not the form but self is formless. Thus his analysis and reasoning has to be based on the formless not on the form.  By simply go on believing and accepting whatever said by the punditry will not lead one towards path of wisdom. All the doubt has to be got rid of "by the sword of Self - Knowledge."  The scriptures, yoga are not necessary if one follows the inner [formless] path.  Religion and yoga are not the means to path of wisdom.  

He who has realized the ultimate truth or Brahman transcends the duality or mind where he sees no second thing other than consciousness.

He who has realized the ultimate truth or Brahman transcends the duality or mind where he sees no second thing other than consciousness.   Yogi who sees the universe as reality may try to deny it because he thinks thoughtlessness is Brahman.  The yogi sees the universe as a second thing and he wants to banish the universe in Samadhi, because he does not know that in nonduality there is no need to deny the universe. But he has to realize the fact that, universe is not something different from the self, which consciousness. Those who cannot grasp and realize this position, misunderstand it, and wrongly hold it be yogic Samadhi where there is only blankness. 

The presence of the universe is no obstacle to Gnani‘s realization; he does not need yogic Samadhi.  But yogi has imagined Brahman as blankness or thoughtlessness thus he is still in the grip of duality.  Thus Yogis Brahman is but a thought.  Brahman is not a thought but Brahman is prior to any mind or universe.  Thus one has to know what is prior to waking experience. 

The yogi who wrongly thinks there is Brahman to be got ,may attempt to do so, and may think he sees it, but all the time he under the delusion of duality because he bases his- self  on physical body, thinking Brahman to be something different from the soul, which is the true self.

When one becomes aware of the fact all the experiences of the three states and all the thoughts and words are Mind and mind in turn is consciousness then he has transcended thinking faculty.

If one is seeking truth but practicing yoga or Kundalini or any other practice for long years and finding them inadequate and useless quenching his  inner thirst has to drop them by realizing they are only useful in preparatory stages to make them more receptive to grasp the ultimate truth and they cannot transport them to ultimate end. 

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.  

   

In success or failure or gain or loss, in society or in solitude there is no difference to the Gnani because for him everything is mirage created out of consciousness. 

Where is performance of ritualistic or meritorious work, where is worldly wealth, where is sense of enjoyment or discrimination has no significance for the Gnani who has transcended such dual notions such as ‘this is to be done and this no to be done.

The one who risen to Gnana is liberated from experiencing the birth, life, death and the world as reality, while living in the midst of world before his physical death. 

There is no delusion, there is no universe there is no need of renunciation or meditation there is no desire for liberation  for the Gnani who is resting in consciousness by realizing everything is consciousness and no second thing exists other than consciousness. 

What is the state of the ego or physical self when it has realized that the self is not the body? Such souls have attained their pristine condition. “Self” is not visible to the physical eyes. “Self” is not to be found in the world as a thing, entity or an object. Self is above these, has neither beginning nor ending.

 A visible object has a beginning and an ending. Since the soul, which is in the form of consciousness is invisible to the physical eye; soul or consciousness is without beginning and ending. Soul is always constant. Just as space is homogeneous everywhere, so is the consciousness is the same everywhere.

There is no need to renounce anything within the illusion because as it has appeared it disappears when the wisdom dawns in the midst of waking experience or on its own as in deep sleep or in death. . The nature of the self is not something to be acquired by effort; and it characteristics is to be free from misery; and happiness inseparable from it. 

Many People adopt the attitude that what they know is truth, and what others say is false

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 is false. This attitude makes them not to verify anything other then what they know.   One needs to be rational, not merely logical. Logic is has its value only in physical plane.

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

There is a need of facts of physical proof in scientific invention, whereas in pursuit of truth the proof has to be grasped mentally and realized.  Therefore, the truth is realized only by 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/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.

Until one gets firm conviction of the ultimate truth he has to constantly reflect on the nature of the true self, till he achieves the equilibrium.  Thus renouncing the worldly life is not necessary in order to acquire nondual wisdom. 

This universe is but a state of ignorance.  In reality universe is nothing but illusion created out of consciousness. The existent and non-existent of forms, name and things do not lose their inherent nature. The consciousness self-existing, which knows both existence and non-existence, never ceases to be because it is cause of the illusion and it itself is uncaused. 

The nature of the consciousness, which is the true self, is free from mental contents [three states], effortless, immutable, and spotless is neither far way nor near but ever present in all the three states as their formless substance and witness. When the formless substance and witness are one in essence the three states are mere mirage created out of that formless essence.

The universe exists because of consciousness. The moment the ignorance vanishes the universe with all its contents becomes unreal. Thus realizing the unreal nature of the universe or waking experience in the midst waking experience leads to self-awareness. Self-awareness frees one from experiencing the waking experience as reality.

Nondual Peace is the true nature of the true self, which is consciousness. Peace is lost when one admits the second thing, which is the cause of ignorance. Ignorance is the cause of experiencing the duality [waking] as reality.

Consciousness, that which know or is.  There can be no ignorance in its true nature. Taking things for what it is not, leads to self –awareness. Just as a dream reality lasts only a short time so with Gnana or nondual wisdom the delusion of the waking reality disappears. i.e. the universe is seen as no reality but as an illusory appearance.  

All worldly enjoyment depends on the waking experience, which is a second thing; whereas the everlasting happiness is only in nondual reality.  

If one gets abundant enjoyment by acquiring all kinds of worldly objects than surely he cannot be happy without renouncing all.   But one need not renounce them for the sake of getting wisdom being in the midst of illusion one must know and realize the unreal nature of the waking experience by mentally renouncing the waking experience in the midst of waking experience leads to self-awareness.

One has drop all his accumulate knowledge, which he is using as a yardstick and lands himself in pursuit of argument without reaching anywhere.

There is no practice as such but perfect understanding is needed.   Deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning revels the fact that, the self is not physical but the self is formless consciousness. Therefore, all the accumulated knowledge, experiences and understanding based on physical self [ego or body as Self] are falsehood based on the false self, within the false experience [waking].   Thus, whatever is based on the waking entity is bound to be falsehood because waking experience itself is false hood.   Since many teachers and teachings are based on the false self [ego or body as Self] and they consider the false experience [three states] as reality, they are incapable of grasping the witness, which is within the three states, but it is without the three states.

 Thus, the formless knower of the three states has to be grasped mentally and realize the fact that, all the three states, which comes and goes, are mental.  They are impermanent. The formless witness or knower of the three states is permanent and eternal.  Therefore, there is a need to understand “What is Mind?” and “What is the substance of the Mind?” in order to understand and assimilate the non-dual truth.

 One has drop all his accumulate knowledge, which he is using as a yardstick and lands himself in pursuit of argument without reaching anywhere.  One has to think deeper and analyze and verify everything and accept only un-contradictable truth.  Nothing has to be accepted as truth because some great thinker says it or I am saying it.  

Those who lack the intelligence to discriminate between formless witness [subject] and three states [object] will not be able to grasp what is real and what is unreal. Both subject and object are consciousness, not subject alone.

The truth can never change. The nature of truth is, it can never be changed under any circumstances. It may be misrepresented. It must apply to the whole of existence, to the whole of the universe. It is in the object [three states] alone that one has all changes, as deeper analysis points out.

 The subject [formless witness] remains unchanged. The subject [formless witness], as such remains immortal. It can never die for it never changes. The body and world are an object, and goes, but the subject or knower of the body and the universe, can never go. Seeker has to take this principle as his guiding thread and non-dual truth becomes easy to grasp. The formless witness can never be subject to the changes of the object; it is unchanged. The mistake usually made is that subject becomes object, or that object is subject.

If one wants to have absence of contradictions, absence of duality, there must be one entity, one being. If one has experience which is an object [mind], there is contradiction between subject and object, for "mind” is an object.

The duality is reality on the standpoint of the false self [ego or body as Self].  The duality is mere mirage on the base of the true self, which is formless consciousness. This understanding comes only to the serious seeker, who has real urge to know the ultimate truth, which is beyond the all the teachings and teachers. There is neither teaching, nor teacher, nor student in the realm of truth.   

There is no freedom without the realisation of one’s identity with the soul or consciousness, which is the innermost self.

FORMLESS PATH: - Mind is present in the form of ‘I’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of the universe. The universe appears in the form of waking or dreams (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (non-duality).   

The ‘I’ is inborn ignorance; because of this inborn ignorance the mind is born. Without the ignorance there is no mind. Without the mind there is no universe. Without universe there is no waking or dream. Without waking or dream there is no duality.  Without the duality there is only non-dual reality. Non-duality is the nature of the soul, the innermost self.

Ignorance of the true self gives rise to the universe’, which appears as waking or dream. The waking or dream is full of form, shapes colours. The waking or dream is bound by form, time and space. The waking or dream is bound by birth, life and death. The individual experiences are happenings within the waking or dream. The dream becomes unreal, when the waking takes place. The waking becomes unreal, when one becomes aware of the fact that, the soul is the true self. On the base of the soul, the three states are unreal. Therefore, the soul alone is real and eternal. Therefore, Atman, which is in the form of consciousness, is ultimate truth or Brahman.

Consciousness is always present everywhere. It is within the form, time and space but it is beyond form, time and space, with not before or after. It is undeniable and obvious. Nothing can be said about it because it exists prior to the appearance of form, time and space and also it prevails after disappearance of the form, time and space. 

As soon as one realizes that self is not the form but self is formless   then he becomes free from experiencing the illusory birth, life, death and the universe as reality.   True Self is free from the bondage of Karma, from the fetters of desires, from the mirage of this mundane life and its concomitant evils and miseries.

One sees the clouds. The clouds move continuously but their moment is within the waking or dream. If one takes a photograph, he sees the clouds in the picture, but there is no motion of clouds in the picture. Motion is mental creation within the waking or dream.

Motion means duality.  Motion is mind. The object appears to move only. Motion is illusion. Behind the objects that move there is the absolutely motionless consciousness which witnesses the motion. Consciousness is still, it is all-pervading, and Infinite.  Consciousness is everywhere, because it is all-pervading and infinite.

The soul is the innermost self. soul is in the form of consciousness, which is hidden within the three states, and its nature is formless and non-dual  It can be known only through discrimination between the dual and non-dual experiences.  And it is beyond the reach of speech and words and thoughts and form, time and space.

By  discriminating between the soul, which is in the form of consciousness and mind, which is in the form of universe one realizes what is real and what is unreal. by identifying  consciousness as true self  one becomes aware the mind which is in the form of universe is mere mirage created out of consciousness  and consciousness alone is real and ultimate truth or Brahman.

Liberation from experiencing duality or illusion cannot to be attained through penance, scriptural studies and yogic practice or indulging religious rituals or god or guru glorification.

Inner longing to know the truth, sharpness to grasp and courage to accept the truth leads one to self-awareness. People are immersed in ignorance and remain experiencing the illusion as reality and they do not to exert themselves to know the reality of their true existence.  By clinging to things unreal they think their experience of birth, life, death and the world as reality.

By quoting the Scriptures and sacrifice to the gods, by performing rituals and worship the deities, but there is no freedom without the realization of one’s identity with the soul or consciousness, which is the innermost self.

There is no hope of immortality by means of riches.  Action   or inaction cannot be the cause of freedom because inaction also is action and action and inaction are part of the duality. People think by using lesser words or by keeping silence the truth emerge on its own but they keep hoping and remain in the prison of duality.

The Seeker of truth has to strive his best for freedom from experiencing the illusion as reality, and fixing his attention on the formless substance and witness of the three states. The formless substance and witness are one in essence. That essence is consciousness. The consciousness alone is real and eternal and it is the source of the mind, which rises as universe and subsides back as consciousness.

Having grasped, understood the ultimate truth intellectually, one should recover oneself, immersed in the illusory experience of ocean of birth, life, death and the world by means of devotion to right discrimination.

The seeker of truth, having commenced the path of the self- realization has to give up all physical based theoretical practices and try to realize the fact that, the waking experience in which the individual experiences birth, life, death and the world as reality is also is as unreal as the dream. By realizing the formless substance and witness of the three states as consciousness one becomes free from experiencing the duality as reality.

Karma means action. Action leads to believe the experience of birth, life, death and world as reality, not to perception of the Reality. The realization of Truth is brought about by discrimination and not in the least by individual conduct and act.

By adequate reasoning the conviction of the reality about the true existence is gained, which puts an end to the great fear and misery caused by the waking experience worked up in the ignorance.