Advaitin Sage and Maya.+

It is erroneous to mix practical life and the practical world in the pursuit of truth.  The ups and downs of practical life within the practical world are nothing to do with the Soul, the Self. 

In Self-awareness, nothing disappears on the dawn of wisdom, but the unreal nature of the waking is exposed in the midst of the duality. 

Gnani sees his body as consciousness, his ego as consciousness, and the world as consciousness. Thus,  there is a unity in diversity in his understanding. In Self-awareness,  the unknown restlessness disappears.  Self-awareness brings stillness to the mind in the midst of action or duality.    

Thus, searching for the truth within an illusion with the illusory Self, within the illusory world is bound to be an illusion. 

The illusion is created and sustained and finally dissolves as the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  Since there is no second thing other than the Soul or the consciousness; the consciousness itself is the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

Advaitin Sage and Maya

The King of the Hoysalas was a dualist and was greatly incensed at the doctrine taught by Advaitin Sage that everything here below is an illusion. He wanted to teach the exponent of this doctrine a lesson. So he invited the then Advaitin sage to his palace. That Advaitin sage went there and stoutly maintained that everything in this world was an illusion. The king had arranged to let loose an infuriated elephant against, Advaitin Sage. The beast rushed at Advaitin sage who took to a precipitate flight to save himself.

'Oh, Venerable Sir,' shouted the king, 'why do you run so fast seeing that the elephant is only an illusion?'

'Oh, king,' said Advaitin Sage in the course of his flight, 'my running too is an illusion. Everything in this world is an illusion.

---

Similarly, the practical life within the practical world is merely an illusion. All our hopes and desires or pleasure and pain are A reality within the illusion.  

We all are searching for truth within the illusion not being aware of the fact that the illusion is created out of single stuff which is the Soul or consciousness. 

The Soul is the Self.  When the waking entity realizes it is not the Self in the midst of the waking experience it enters the nondual Self-awareness, which is free from the illusory form, time, and space. 

A Gnani is fully aware of ‘what is truth’ and ‘what is untruth’. A Gnani e is fully aware of the fact that the experiences the pleasure and pain within the waking experience are merely an illusion because the waking experience itself is an illusion.

Thus, life within the waking experience will go on, on its own.  It is nothing to do with the Soul the  Self.  The waking or dream is merely an object to the formless witness. The Soul is the Self. 

The Soul is the witness. The Soul the witness is nothing to do with the three states because it is the witness of the coming and going of the three states or illusion. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

The Self is not you because you are bound by the experience of the birth, life, death and the world***

The experience of birth, life, death and the world is nothing to do with the Soul the innermost Self. When you are not the Self, then how can you relate the Self with your experience of the birth, life, death and the world. When the Soul wakes up with its own awareness, then you and your experience of the world becomes unreal same way as the dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place.

If you imagine within the dream it becomes unreal when the waking takes place. Your imagination within the dream remains a reality till the waking takes place. The same way you imagination within the waking remains reality till wisdom dawns. Wisdom dawns when you realize you are not the Self, but the Self is the formless Soul. If you are not the Self then your imagination has no value because you are the false Self within the illusion (waking).

When the “Self” is not you then what is the use dropping the ignorance. It is not you who have to drop the ignorance but the Soul, the innermost Self has wakes up from the sleep of ignorance. When The Soul, the innermost Self wakes up, then the world in which you exist cease to exist as a reality. 

First the seeker has to know ‘what is the subject’ and ‘what is the object’.  Deeper Self-search reveals the fact that”:  the world in which we exist is an object to the formless subject. The formless subject is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness.

Deeper verification reveals the fact that, the object and the subject are one in essence. That essence is the consciousness.  Thus, object only and illusion created out of the formless subject.  Thus, in reality, the subject is real and  exists eternally.

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. In fact, our mental and intellectual conditions determine the object (three states), observed and experienced.  The commoner viewing the object (three states) will see differently from a Gnani viewing the same three states. Each one interprets the three states that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego therefore object (the world in which he exists as a reality), whereas a Gnani sees everything as the consciousness and he is fully aware of the fact that, there is no second thing exists other than the Soul or the consciousness (subject). Thus, all the objective observation has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time and space. 

Some Gurus say scriptures says “Brahman = I" is an error because the ‘Self’ is not the ‘I’.***

Sage Sri, Goudpada says:  that whatever is seen, whether external or internal, whether by the ordinary persons or yogis is unreal.

The Gurus say scriptures says “Brahman = I" is an error because the ‘Self’ is not the ‘I’.    If the scriptures says ‘I’ wasn’t there it means there is no ‘I’.  Thus, do not hold ‘I’ as the ’Self’.   Do not use the word ‘I’, for the ‘Self’ because the ‘Self’ is the witness of the ‘I’.  

What is it that appears as the ‘I’ and disappears as the ‘I-less? It is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness.

Do not make the mistake of holding the ‘I’ as the Self because it is not permanent. ‘I’ disappears and becomes ‘I’-less.  The ‘I’ disappears as I-LESS.

Bhagvad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole. The ‘I’ is an object to the Soul, which is the formless subject.

The earliest ancient sages used the word ‘I’ to the witness of the three states not to the ego as moderns use it and think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal. 

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers. 

People who are saying ‘I AM GOD’ are hallucinating that they become God. First, you must know what is God.+*****

The man alone does not become Brahman (God) because the world in which man exists is merely an illusion.  The illusion is created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God.

The Self is not you because you are bound by the experience of the birth, life, death, and the world.

The experience of birth, life, death, and the world is nothing to do with the Soul the innermost Self. When you are not the Self, then how can you relate the Self with your experience of birth, life, death, and the world. When the Soul wakes up with its own awareness, then you and your experience of the world becomes unreal same way as the dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place.

It is foolish to say ‘I AM GOD’ when the Self is not you,  but the Self is the Soul. Therefore, the Soul, the innermost Self,  is God.

People say Aham Brahmasmi ~ I am God, I am Brahman. But when Brahman is, how can "I" remain? Only Brahman remains, not the ‘I’.

The Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

RIG VEDA: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

In Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~   It has been said that God Supreme or Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus,   Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

People who are saying ‘I Am GOD’ are hallucinating that they become God. First, you must know what is God. 

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "mine," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

Only religious Godmen declare: I AM GOD. Gnanis say the Soul, the  Self is God. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Brahman (God)

Brahman (God)

Soul is the innermost self. The soul is present in the form of consciousness.  Consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman. Ultimate truth or Brahman is God. Realize that to be Brahman which is Existence, Knowledge and Bliss Absolute, which is non-dual and infinite, eternal and One and which fills all that exists.

 After realization of Advaitic truth, the attainment of which leaves nothing more to be attained, the pure blessedness, and the Knowledge after which nothing needs to be known. When seen, there is nothing more to be seen. Having become after which one is not born again in the world of becoming.

Consciousness permeates everything and everywhere in all the three states. Consciousness illumines the whole universe that includes the Sun, Moon and the whole galaxy.

The consciousness pervades the entire Universe outwardly and shines of itself, as the fire that permeates a red-hot iron ball both inwardly and outwardly shines of itself. There exists nothing that is not consciousness. People perform all their actions in and through consciousness, but they are ignorant of the soul, the innermost self not being a consciousness is a mere illusion. From illusion springs separation wherein the experience of birth, life, death and the world have root. 

Ashtavkara Gita: - The universe rises from you like bubbles from the sea. Thus know the Self to be One and in this way enter into the state of dissolution."

For the Gnani who realize everything as consciousness, what is there to meditate or not to meditate, what to speak or not to speak, what to do or not to do? Those who give up the highest and purest Brahmic consciousness live in vain and though human, are like into beasts. Having turned the visible into the invisible, one should realize everything to be consciousness itself. A  Gnani always dwells in nondual awareness. The ever-existent soul or consciousness shining within the three states can be realized only through self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  The self indeed are this soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, not the phenomenal universe which is present in the form of the mind.

Sage Sri, Gaudapada:- - The non-dual Atman is realized when the individual self (jiva) is awakened from its ignorance. Atman is unborn, dreamless, sleepless, and motionless; and is beyond duality. It is cognition at its purest. It is Brahman- Ayam Atma Brahma, this Atma is that Brahma; Thus epitomizing the core of Upanishad teachings.

Gaudapada expands further on these states of consciousness. The Self is AUM. It represents manifest and un-manifest aspects of Brahman. It is the single syllable that symbolizes and embodies Brahman, the Absolute Reality. It is the Pranava that which pervades all existence and is our very life breath.

Vaisvanara in waking state is A the first part of AUM, One, who realizes this, attains his desires.

Teijasa in dream state is U the second part of AUM. One, who realizes this, attains knowledge.

Prajna in deep sleep is M the third part of AUM, concluding the sounds of the earlier two parts. One, who realizes this, attains compressive understanding of all.

The Syllable AUM in its entirety stands for the fourth state, Turiya the one beyond the phenomenal existence, supremely blissful and non-dual.

AUM in its integral whole stands for the fourth state which is transcendental, devoid of phenomenal existence; and is the source of all existence. AUM represents Ultimate Reality.AUM is thus verily the Self itself. One who realizes this merges into that Self. Meditate on AUM as the Self.

In Vedas the God has been described as:-

v  Sakshi (Witness)

v  Chetan (conscious)

v  Nirguna (Without form and properties).

v  Nitya (eternal)

v  Shuddha (pure)

v  Buddha (omniscient)

v   Mukta (unattached).

The nature of the Atman (soul) is:-  

   

v  Witness

v  conscious

v  Without form and properties

v  eternal

v  pure

v  omniscient

v  unattached

Thus it refers to formless and attributeless God, which it the Atman (soul), the innermost self.  It indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false self.  Thus Atman or soul, the innermost self is God.

The mind is present in the form of the universe.  The universe appears as waking or dream. From the ultimate standpoint the universe is mere illusion. Whatever the universe contains is a mere illusion.  The whole illusion is created, sustained and finally dissolves as consciousness; therefore there is no second thing exits other than consciousness. Thus consciousness pervades in everything and everywhere in the all the three states. Hence it is nondual.  Thus limiting the self to the waking entity or ego is the cause of the ignorance.  And ignorance is the cause of duality. Duality is the cause of experiencing the illusion as reality.

Orthodoxy accepts the concept of god in many forms. Sages of truth declare the Atman is Brahman.  That is the soul, which is in the form of consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman.  That is ultimate truth is God.  And the ultimate truth itself is worthy of Godhood. 

 Kena Upanishad (6) Chapter I - That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say, the mind is apprehended-That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (7) Chapter I - That which cannot be perceived by the eye, but by whichthe eye is perceived-That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (8) Chapter I - That which cannot he heard by the ear, but by which the hearing is perceived-That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (9)- Chapter I -That which cannot be smelt by the breath, but by which the breath smells an object-That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship.

Swami Vivekananda:-

The masses in India cry to sixty million gods, and still die like dogs. Where are these gods?

Knowing this, stand up and fight! Not one step back that is the idea. ... Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the sphere! Let the whole world stand against us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards. ... Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune. You have cried to all the gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The masses in India cry to sixty million gods, and still die like dogs. Where are these gods? ... The gods come to help you when you havesucceeded. So what is the use? Die game. ... This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, my soul. You are infinite, deathless, birthless. Because you are infinite spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. You are the entire world. Who can helpyou? - Swami Vivekananda 

(Delivered In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900) -The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Lectures And Discourses/The Gita II

The Self is indeed Brahman, but through ignorance people identify it with intellect, mind, senses, passions, and the elements of earth, water, air, space, and fire. This is why the Self is said to consist of this and that, and appears to be everything. - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

Yajurveda says: - if one worships God 

Translation 1.

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon,animals, fire, stone, etc.).

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol etc.) -(Yajurveda  40:9)

Translation 2.

"Deep into shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darknessdeeper yet who on sambhuti are intent.("Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3.

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in thegreatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that:-

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol etc _(Yajurved 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

The Hindus believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which were introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs caste and creed. 

When the religion of the Veda knows no idols then why so many gods and goddesses with different form and name are being propagated as Vedic gods. Why these conceptual gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is free from form and attributes.

Who introduced the concept of God with attributes and attributeless gods, when Yajur Veda says: -   those who worship visible things, born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like), in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness. Therefore, all these add-ons proves that the form and attribute based concepts are introduced by some sages of the past with a new belief system and code of conducts in the name of Vedas. 

It clearly indicates that: -If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying the conceptual gods and goddesses to go into deeper darkness. Instead   spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal.  

Since it is eternal and infinite, it comprises the only truth. The goal of Vedic religion, through the various yogas, is to realize that the consciousness (Atman) is actually nothing but Brahman.

The Vedic pantheon of gods is said, in the Vedas and Upanishads, to be only higher manifestations of Brahman. For this reason,- "ekam sat" (all is one), and all is Brahman.

Kena Upanishad (1) Chapter II - If you think: "I know Brahman well," then surely you know but little of Its form; you know only Its form as conditioned by man or by the gods. Therefore Brahman, even now, is worthy of your inquiry.

Kena Upanishad (2) Chapter II - The disciple said: I think I know Brahman. The disciplesaid: I do not think I know It well, nor do I think I do not know It. He among us who knows the meaning of "Neither do I not know, nor do I know"-knows Brahman.

Kena Upanishad (3) Chapter II - He by whom Brahman is not known, knows It; he by whom It is known, knows It not. It is not known by those who know It; It is known by those who do not know It.

Kena Upanishad (4) Chapter II -Brahman is known when It is realised in every state of mind; for by such Knowledge one attains Immortality. By Atman one obtains strength; by Knowledge, Immortality

Kena Upanishad (5) Chapter II - If a man knows Atman here, he then attains the true goal of life. If he does not know It here, a great destruction awaits him. Having realised the Self inevery being, the wise relinquish the world and become immortal

Thus, the goal is to realize the Atman (consciousness).  If the Atman (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 the religion, study the scriptures or glorifying the Gods and the 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.