Sage Sri Ramana Maharishi is right in saying :-

Sage Sri Ramana Maharishi is right in saying :- 

The intricate maze of philosophy of different schools claims to clarify matters and reveal the Truth, but in fact they create confusion where no confusion need exist. To understand anything there must need be the understanding being. Why worry about his bodies, his ahankar, hisbuddhi, creation, God, Mahatmas, world – the not-Self – at all? Why not remain yourself and be in peace?

Take Vedanta, for instance: it speaks of the fifteen pranas, the names and functions of which the student is asked to commit to memory. Will it not be sufficient if he is taught that only oneprana does the whole work of maintaining life in the body? Again, the antahkarana is said to think, to desire, to will, to reason, etc. Why all these details? Has anyone seen the antahkarana, or all these pranas? Do they really exist? They are all conceptual divisions invented by teachers of philosophy by their excessive analysis. Where do all these concepts end? Why should confusion be 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 rise.

Ramana Maharshi says: this self –inquiry is not the critical study of the scriptures. When the source is reached the ego gets merged into it. The result of self-inquiry is the cure for all the sorrows. It is the highest of all the results. There is nothing greater then it.  It only indicates there is no necessity to study the scriptures to acquire self-knowledge. (Page-66-practicle guide to know yourself c/e by A.R.N).

Ramana Maharshi  says:

Q by D:- Is not necessary to study the Vedas or at least the Prasthanatraya (the Bhagavad Gita,Dasopanishad and Brahma Sutras, all with commentaries)to ensure firm realization?

Ramana Maharshi:-No. Do you need all that to see yourself? All that is intellectual wealth, useful in explain doubts and difficulties if others rise them or if you yourself encounter them in the course of thinking. But to attain realization, all that is not necessary. You want fresh water to drink, but you do not require all the water of the river Ganges to quench your thirst. (Page 111/112 of Practical guide to know yourself c/e by A.R.N).

Why go round and round, by various tortuous paths

When the Vedas and Upanishads declare that Consciousness or Atman is actually nothing but Brahman, then why go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind. One has to realize the fact that, the mind is in form of universe.  Trace the source of mind and realize that source is consciousness. The mind rises from consciousness as waking or dream and subsides as deep sleep.

  

Looking at all these facts it makes one clear that, the Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana  is main goal of the every human being. Indulging in god and guru glorification is meant for the mass that is incapable of grasping the truth.   Thus, people who are capable and have urge to know the ultimate truth or Brahman has to realize the truth is beyond religion, god and scriptures.  By glorifying the fake gurus and indulging in rituals one will not be able to overcome the duality, which is mere mirage. 

Thus, the goal is to realize Atman ( soul or consciousness).  If Atman (soul or consciousness) is nothing but Brahman and by realizing Atman (consciousness) as Brahman (ultimate truth) is truth realization or Self-Realization , then there is no need to follow religion, study scriptures or glorifying gods or  gurus and  follow the path of doubts and confusion by losing oneself in the labyrinths of philosophy, when there is an easier path.  By mentally tracing the source of the mind from where it rises and subsides one becomes aware of the fallacy of the mind, which rises as waking or dream and subsides as deep sleep.  The mind raises form consciousness and subsides as consciousness.

The mind or universe cannot be described as both real and unreal, because these two contradictory qualities cannot exist in the same substance.

"It is this Supreme Oneness which alone is real, since there is nothing else but the Self. Verily, there remains no other independent entity in the state of realization of the highest Truth." –FORMLESS PATH

The mind,which is present in the form of  universe cannot be described as both real and unreal, because these two contradictory qualities cannot exist in the same substance. It must therefore be said that the mind is neither real nor unreal because it is mere mirage.

Mind is myth because it is mere mirage created out of the soul ,which is present in the form of conciousness. ‘Universe appears to exist as real because of our ignorance of  the soul,which is the innermost self. Thus the mind, which is in the form of universe, is reality on the base of the physical self (ego or waking entity), which perceives the world as a person, within the mind. 

Man and universe exist as reality  because of ignorance of the soul ( consciousness), which is the real self.  This ignorance not only covers consciousness, but it projects the universe as a reality. The universe has no reality apart from consciousness.  When the Self- knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana  arises, the universe is seen as a mere appearance of consciousness.

Another illustration may be taken to explain this. Ornaments of different sizes and shapes are made out of one metal. Their appearance and the use for which they are meant vary, but the fact that,  they are all really only metal, in spite of the different appearances and uses, cannot be denied. The appearance may change, a bangle may be converted into rings, but the metal always remains as metal. Similarly, on the dawn of the  Self- knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana, though the different forms of  shapes of  beings, creatures,  animals and things, etc. continue to be seen by the Gnani, he sees them all only as appearances of the consciousness.  Thus the perception of difference and the consequences of such perception, such as looking upon some as favourable and others as the  opposite, and the consequent efforts to retain or get what is favourable and to get rid of or avoid what is not favourable, come to an end.

This is the state of freedom even in the midst of waking experience, which is freedom from experiencing duality as reality. Similarly, bondage has no real existence at all. Even when we are ignorant of consciousness and think of ourselves as limited by the body, we are really none but the infinite consciousness. Freedom is thus only the removal of the wrong identification with the body, and the world. The attainment of the state of freedom from ignorance is the goal of the  seeker of truth. 

 

Ignorance  is cause of experincing the illusion as reality. The  illusion is what conceals consciousness and projects the universe. It is because of this that everyone identifies himself with physical self or waking or dream and is ignorant of the truth that “self” is none other than consciousness(soul). Illusion may be looked upon from few different standpoints.

For the ordinary worldly individual who looks upon the world as real, illusion which is the cause of the appearance of the universe is real.

For the enlightened person the self is consciousness.  It is possible to discriminate between truth and untruth, if the reasoning base is rectified from waking or dream [form] to soul (formless),   for the easy understanding, assimilation and realization.

Consciousness’ means ultimate truth, and ‘Mind’ stands for the universe or illusion. The purpose of the pursuit of truth is the destruction of primal ignorance, which leads to the attainment of the ultimate truth or Brahman.  

Man and universe exits within the waking or dream. Waking has waking entity and waking universe. Similarly the dream has dream entity and dream universe. And deep in sleep has neither the waking entity nor waking universe nor dream entity nor dream universe. 

The freedom arises even in the midst of waking experience, which is freedom from experiencing duality as reality.

Similarly, bondage has no real existence at all. Even when we are ignorant of consciousness and think of ourselves as limited by the body, we are really none but the infinite consciousness. Freedom is thus only the removal of the wrong identification with the body, and the world. The attainment of the state of freedom from ignorance is the goal of the  seeker of truth. 

One has to realize the fact that, it is not the waking entity (you) which witnesses the three states.  The formless soul is the witness of the coming and going of the three states. The soul is immutable. The soul is unaffected by the happening within the three states because the three states are mere mirage created out of the formless soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The soul or consciousness is the innermost self.

The self is neither the waking entity nor the self is dream entity but the self is the formless soul. The on the standpoint of the soul, the innermost self the three states are non-existent as reality.     

Sage Sri Sankara:- "As fire is the direct cause of cooking, so knowledge, and not any other form of discipline, is the direct cause of Liberation; for Liberation cannot be attained without Knowledge."

 Sage Sri Sankara:-  "The world, filled with attachments and avrsions, and the rest, is like a dream: it appears to be real as long as one is ignorant, but becomes unreal when one is awake.

Sage Sri Sankara:-  "As fire is the direct cause of cooking, so knowledge, and not any other form of discipline, is the direct cause of Liberation; for Liberation cannot be attained without Knowledge." (Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana).

Sage Sri Sankara:-  As the moon appears to be moving when the clouds move in the sky, so also to the non-discriminating. Atman appears to be active when in reality the senses are active.

When one is thirsty, he cannot sit idle he runs about for water. Until the thirst for truth has not come, he is immersed in the worldly pleasures. The desire for knowledge has not grown strong in people; therefore they are satisfied with the worldly or religious life. One who is in quest for truth begins to inquire deeply until he reaches his destination.

The seeker has to discriminate between the three states and realize the fact that, body, world, people are all in waking and waking experience is absolutely unreal like a dream.

The seeker has to always think that this body is only an illusory apparatus created out of consciousness within the illusory experience (mind).  The mind is contained within the consciousness which is the true self. 

The indivisible changeless, effulgent consciousness is lying hidden under these delusive veils; therefore its real nature is unknown to waking or dream. The direction of the waking or dream which always runs after the senses has to be turned within. One has to overcome the ignorance in order overcome the illusion. 

The body and universe are but gross -- it dissolves as the consciousness. Because of the accumulated mental impressions it remains until the Self - knowledge arises. Therefore, the seeker has to indulge in spiritualistic discrimination plunge this mind in the consciousness, which is ultimate reality. When the mind becomes aware of its formless substance, all limiting adjuncts vanish and one is established in ultimate reality.

It is difficult for people to direct their uncontrolled ego (waking entity) towards the ultimate truth because of their inherited conditioning.

To navigate along the way, language can be very useful, if it is used to point beyond its symbols and descriptions. Its function is to sacrifice itself, to burn up so completely that no trace of smoke or ash remains, so as to interfere with what its meaning shows. It is the ‘higher reason’ that uses language in this way. The function of the higher reason is precisely to burn up all obscuring residues that language leaves behind.  

The reasoning base has to be rectified from form to formless in order to discover, understand, assimilate and realize the non-dualistic or Advaitic  truth. The rectified reason functions, through discerning inquiry, to dissolve the mind into pure consciousness, from where the mind rises and subsides. And as the rectified reason functions, it makes use of mind reflectively, in order to bring the mind back to consciousness, which is the source from where the mind rises and subsides. There is no question of the rectified reason being an instrument of any mind. It is always the other way about. 

The thoughts and feelings did not exist prior to the appearance of waking or dream.  Only after the appearance of the waking or dream the man became aware of the universe and his individuality.  Only in waking experience one is aware of the birth, life, death and the world. Thus waking or dream appears as a whole and disappears as a whole.  Deeper inquiry reveals the fact that, the self is not physical, therefore the waking, dream and deep sleep are not the experience of the physical body but the formless soul, which is in the form of consciousness. 

The process of ‘rectified reason’ is purely empirical. Each question is tried out to see what result it leads to. And then, further questions rise empirically. They arise from actual experience of the result, not just from imagining or theorizing in advance what it might be. Thus, the process must go on relentlessly, until the actual experience of a truth where questions do not further rise – where all possibility of questioning is utterly dissolved. All this requires that each questioning attack is turned back upon one’s own mistakes of assumption and belief. Otherwise, the reasoning is merely theoretical based on the waking or dream.

The deeper self-search is required to get the un-contradictable truth.  That is possible only through reasoning based on the soul as a self. 

Since change and time do not apply to consciousness, that consciousness is a changeless and a timeless principle of all experience. Consciousness illuminates the whole waking experience. Consciousness illuminates the whole Dream. In deep sleep, consciousness shines alone. In all these states, it remains the same. It is always utterly unchanged in its own existence, which illuminates itself. 

Ultimate truth is accessible to anyone who has an intense urge to know the ultimate truth or Brahman. The one  who is ready to drop all his accumulated dross in order to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana will succeed. The seeker has to hold the deep sleep experience as a ‘key to the ultimate reality. If a seeker is ready to consider deep sleep as true self, then this alone is enough, without the need for a yogic cultivation of Nirvikalpa Samadhi.  On the standpoint of the deep sleep, the waking and dream are mere appearances. 

 In the realm of duality one seeks truth. In the realm of Non-duality all contradictions are dissolved. The soul or consciousness never parts within any of the three states. In deep sleep, the conscious is in its true nature. In waking or dream, it witnesses the experience as the whole. It is nothing to with the individual experience happening within the waking or dream because the three states are mere an object to the consciousness, which is the subject.