Ultimate truth cannot be known in the sense in which one knows objects of thought.

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 (universe or 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 accumulate knowledge based on the birth [waking] 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 or Brahma  Gnana or Atma Gnana.   

The formless witness which is aware of the three states, is within the three states, but it is without the three states.

Deeper inquiry reveals the fact that, the self is not the body. If body is not the self then what is it that witnesses these three states without the body?

The dream is witnessed as a whole without the physical apparatus. Same way the waking experience also is witnessed by the same witness, which witnessed the dream as a whole. 

The dream body and the dream world were within the dream. Same way the waking body and the waking world are within the waking experience. The formless witness which is aware of the three states, is within the three states, but it is without the three states.

It is within the three states, as their formless substance. It is without three states as their formless witness. The witness is apart from the three states, because it is formless, therefore it is not an entity or identity within the waking and dream.

The formless witness has to be grasped mentally to realize the fact that, the formless witness alone is real and eternal, and all the three states, which come and go, are mere mirage created out of the formless witness, which is in the form of consciousness.

Deeper analysis is very much necessary to understand and assimilate the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Yoga is not the means of liberation

People dip into meditation but they do not understand that that is only one half of the truth and that this dipping is also a mental discipline to for them to understand the true nature of the external universe, which understanding they must next get if they are to become Gnanis.

Thus in the Gita, Chap.XII Krishna tells Arjuna that knowledge of both matter and spirit is the True knowledge. One is living in the body, which is the world, and he has to eat and move and work in the external environment. One cannot get away from it. It is his life.

Therefore he ought to know, understand and grasp its meaning. A person who refuses to do so is refusing to face the whole of reality.

Sankara definitely says that Yoga is not the means of liberation [page 132-133 of his commentary on Brihadaranyakopanishad].

The truth has to be proved without the scriptures.

There is no need for scriptures in pursuit of truth. The truth has to be proved without the scriptures. Until we get rid of all accumulated knowledge based on the body as self, the ignorance bound to persist. Thus for the seekers of truth, it is necessary to drop all the accumulated baggage to understand,assimilate and realize the non-dual truth. 

The religious truth and yogic truth are individual truth not universal. Non-dual truth is universal truth. 

The Bhakti and yoga are meant for the worldly mass ,who believes the body as self. Because they are based on the false self, within the false experience. Whatever is based on the body as self is bound to be falsehood. 

The one who has progressed in his pursuit of truth does not require religion,concept of god or scriptures or guru. He is fully aware of the fact that the self is not physical and he has learnt to view and judge the three states on the base of the true self ,which is consciousness.

On the base of consciousness[soul] as self the three states are impermanent and mere mirage. Thus the man and his experience of the world which is present only in waking is unreal, same way as the dream. The dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. The waking becomes unreal when wisdom dawns.

The duality is reality only on the base of false self, which is the ego.

When the mind is dropped consciously through wisdom, then the self (consciousness) arises in its true nature, and then there is only the oneness. One becomes fully aware of the fact that, the diversity [mind or universe] is mere mirage created out of consciousness.  One has to grasp the fact that, the mind, which is in the form of universe, is identical with the formless source from where it arises. Thus there is no duality in the true nature of the true self, which is consciousness. The duality is reality only on the base of false self, which is the ego.  The ego is the false entity within the false experience [three states].

The true self [consciousness] is within the three states and it is without the three states and also it is apart from the three states. It is apart because it is the formless knower of the three states, which comes and goes. The three states depend on the formless knower [witness] for their existence but the formless knower can exist with or without the three states.  This has to be grasped mentally in order to reach the witness consciousness.