Sage Sankara says: -Self- knowledgeb arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the non-self.+

Sage Sankara: ~ VC~ All this universe, which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman (Consciousness), which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.

When you finally realize the Self is not you, but the Self is the Soul, then you will recognize the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Sage Sankara says: - VC-47 All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the non-self.

Till you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world that existed before you, and you are born in it afterward,

ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there, the universe prevails as a reality.

Remember:~

The invisible Soul, the Self, is hidden by the universe because the universe is merely a dualistic illusion (Maya) created out of the invisible Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.

If the universe is an illusion, then your individual experience of birth, life, and death, which happens within the universe, is bound to be an illusion.

Remember: there is no individual Soul. The Soul is one, and the Soul is hidden by the illusory universe.

Only the ignorant think of the individual Soul and the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality.

The Soul is one, but individuals are many. Many souls' idea is the religious idea.

People believe the Soul is within the physical body, but in reality, the Soul is hidden by the universe because the universe is merely an illusion created out of the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Advaita means the Soul, the one without the second. There is no scope for the second Soul. Advaita is ekathma vada.

Sage Sankara asks his opponents, "How do you know there are separate individual Souls? Have you seen the Soul of a Man? You can only say that you have seen different bodies. To say more is to misuse language. Therefore, I call you liars unless you give proof, which is impossible.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe.

So, it proves that the Soul is not an individual, but it is the support of all that exists in this universe.

The invisible Soul is not limited to an individual. The individuals are many, but the Soul is one. The individual exists within the illusory universe.

The invisible Soul is not within the human body because it pervades everything and everywhere in the illusory universe. Thus, whatever illusory universe contains is bound to be the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

All the Gurus propagated that the Soul is within the human body or heart; this is the great mistake. ;~Santthosh Kumaar

You just study the nature of the universe with all the seriousness and sincerity to unfold the mystery of the universe.+

Sage Sankara says: ~ “What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in something detrimental to our spiritual progress.

The seeker should inquire into the nature of the world which confronts him first, then into the individual, and finally, into the Soul, the Self.

Sage Sankara: ~ VC-63- "Without knowing and examining the universe, one can’t know the Truth, as the idea that the external world exists won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

If the inquiry does not include the universe, then it is incomplete.

The universe itself is what God is all about. The totality of the universe is what God is all about. You just study the nature of the universe with all the seriousness and sincerity to unfold the mystery of the universe. That is all you have to do.

Look into the nature of the universe. And you will be able to see that the universe by its very nature is illusory. The moment you understand that the universe is illusory, ignorance disappears and Self-awareness arises.

Manduka Upanishad has no assumptions whatsoever. It is an honest and bold inquiry into truth. It rises above scripture.

The seeker should stop wasting his time imagining things. He should search for the truth, which means he must examine what is before him.

Yoga and religion omit this important preliminary inquiry into the world and hence never reach the truth. It does not mean the world should disappear in Samadhi, but that its true nature should be determined. If the yogis really got emancipation in Samadhi, then ordinary men would also get it in deep sleep!

Therefore, the seeker must always be engaged in an inquiry into the nature of this world in which he exists and the invisible Soul.

When the notions of reality of the world in which he exists are destroyed, what remains is the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The destruction of ignorance exposes the unreal nature of the world in which he exists. It does not mean that the world disappears, but there should arise a determination of their unreal nature: for if that were not the case, people may find emancipation without efforts on their part, as during dreamless sleep, and fainting (when percepts altogether disappear).

If a person cannot undertake the study into the nature of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness through Soulcentric reasoning.

The seeker must be constantly engaged in reflecting on the nature of the invisible Soul.

The Yogi who moves unseeing through this world is not better than mentally blind; it is not imperception of the world that is needed, but the intellectual realization that its substratum is an idea. ~Santthosh Kumaar

If the inquiry does not include the universe, then it is incomplete.+

WHO AM ‘I’? - inquiry one finds it inadequate and useless for the realization of the Self hidden by the 'I'.

By knowing who you are, Advaitic wisdom will not dawn. You are part and parcel of the illusory world. Your existence is as illusory as the world in which you exist.

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take as real because some Gurus have propagated that the Self is the ‘I’.

There is no need to convince such mindsets. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth, nothing but the truth.

Remember:~

Self-inquiry is for discovering that the Self is not the ‘I’ but the Self is the invisible and unborn Soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the ‘I’.

Self-inquiry is finding out the Self, which is hidden by the illusory world in which we exist. By inquiring, ‘Who am I?’, ignorance will not vanish.

Without getting rid of ignorance, the Advaitic wisdom will not dawn. Without the Advaitic wisdom, it is not possible to realize the Advaitic truth, which is hidden by the illusory world in which we exist.

That is why Sage 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.

If the inquiry does not include the universe, then it is incomplete.

What is the use of saying ‘I AM THAT’- without knowing what the Self is in actuality?

Without knowing the truth of the Self, without realizing the truth of the world in which you exist, it is impossible to realize the truth beyond form, time, and space. By a mere utterance of the word ‘I AM THAT'- the truth will not be revealed.

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

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self, which is the cause of the 'I'.

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self.

The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the invisible Soul, the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self.

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 are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take 'I' as real because some Gurus have propagated that the Self is the ‘I’. There is no need to convince such mindsets. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth, nothing but the truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The ultimate truth is not dependent on any books or any religion or religious God based on blind faith, or religious rituals.+

The ultimate truth is not dependent on any books or any religion or religious God based on blind faith, or religious rituals.

All religions are dependent on their religious scriptures or holy books and their Gods based on blind belief.

Without their religious scriptures, holy books, and gods based on blind faith or blind belief, religion ceases to exist.

Religion holds its scriptures and holy books as proof. The truth is hidden by the universe in which we exist.

No books or Guru can help us to find the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Religious truth is limited by form, time, and space, whereas the ultimate truth is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. Thus, religious truth has nothing to do with the ultimate truth.

Even without the scriptures and holy books, we can get the truth of the whole, which is beyond form, time, and space. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is not had by resorting to a Guru nor by the study of scripture, nor by good deeds: it is attained only by means of inquiry and reasoning inspired by the words of wisdom of Gnanis.

You are being conditioned by the religious myth, which has made you a non-thinker. The seeker has to come out of the religious myth by realizing God in truth.

Remember:~

Normally, people will not understand what I am driving at because they are seeking something that they can enjoy.

People's ambition is to acquire wealth and enjoy practical life within the practical world. They are looking for an advantage in the world to take care of their daily life.

Thus, to get what they want in practical life, they indulge in the numerous paths of dogmas and rituals prescribed by the Gurudom, expecting their daily life to go on comfortably.

The so-called Gurus and yogis focus their ambition on acquiring wealth by making the masses more and more dogmatically oriented. No one inquires why they are in this hell. This begging to God and Guru goes on and on. If their wish is fulfilled, they indulge more and more; if the wish is not fulfilled, they indulge again and again because of fear of getting curses of God and Gurus. Thus, to get rid of this path of begging, one has to know the truth of his true existence.

That is why 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 garments. 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 have succeeded. 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, and birthless. Because you are the 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 help you? - Swami Vivekananda (Delivered In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900) -The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Lectures And Discourses/The Gita II

Yoga Vasistha says:~ ‘Self’-knowledge or knowledge of truth is not had by resorting to a Guru (preceptor) nor by the study of scripture, nor by good works: it is attained only by means of inquiry inspired by the company of wise (Gnani). One’s inner light alone is the means, naught else. When this inner light is kept alive, it is not affected by the darkness of inertia.

There is no need to condemn Gurus, but there is a need to highlight how they become an obstacle to realizing 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.”

The Guru is useless so long as the ultimate truth is unknown, and the Guru is equally useless when the ultimate truth or Brahman has already been known.

A Guru is needed in the religious and the yogic path. There is no need for a Guru to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Advaita is not a religious concept. Advaita is the nondual nature of existence hidden by the illusory dualistic universe.+

Sage Sankara cautioned that the study of the Upanishad alone would not lead to Moksha.

Ashtavakra:~There is no wisdom whatsoever in the scriptures-just a collection of words.

Discussion with the right people is always better than arguments with the wrong people. Silence is always better than meaningless.

To come to a more precise understanding of what non-duality is or might mean, we must return to the original linguistic and philosophic backgrounds from which the word has been translated into English.

If we limit a probe of the meaning of non-duality to Sanskrit literature, we find that the most frequently used term is “Advaita”.

Advaita is not a religious concept. Advaita is the nondual nature of existence hidden by the illusory dualistic universe.

Remember:~

Second Mundaka - Chapter 2 (7) - He who knows all and understands all, and to whom belongs all the glory in the world-, Atman, is placed in the space in the effulgent abode of Brahman. It assumes the forms of the universe. By the knowledge of that which shines as the blissful and immortal Atman, the wise behold Atman fully in all things.

Second Mundaka - Chapter 2 - The fetters of the heart are broken, all doubts are resolved, and all works cease to bear fruit when He is beheld who is both high and low.

Second Mundaka - Chapter 2 (9) - There the stainless and indivisible Brahman shines in the highest, golden sheath. It is pure; It is the Light of lights; It is That which they know who know the Self.

Second Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10) - The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, not to speak of this fire. When Brahman shines, everything shines after Brahman; by Brahman's light, everything is lighted.

Second Mundaka - Chapter 2 (11) - That immortal Brahman alone is before, that Brahman is behind, that Brahman is to the right and left. Brahman alone pervades everything above and below; this universe is that Supreme Brahman alone.

The misinterpretation is because of Buddha himself. Most of the questions were answered only by silence, leaving many to interpret as per their understanding. The enlightenment of Buddha and which again was indirectly accepted by Sage Goudapada. : :~Santthosh Kumaar

Though the three states appear as real on the dawn of non-dualistic knowledge, their unreal nature is exposed.+

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 world, observed and experienced. The commoner viewing the world will see it differently from a Gnani viewing the same world. Each one interprets the world that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego; therefore, experiences the birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas a Gnani sees everything as consciousness, and he is fully aware of the fact that there is no second thing exists other than the Soul or consciousness.

Thus, all the egocentric knowledge has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Anubhav, in the Advaitic context, is not an experience, but it is the realization of the invisible Soul, the Self hidden by ignorance.

Remember:~

The waking experience, which is referred to as the witnessed and the invisible Soul, the Self.

The invisible Soul, the Self which is present in the form of consciousness, referred to as the witness of the witnessed, is wrongly looked upon by every one of us as equally real, though the waking experience has no reality in the absolute sense.

The invisible Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate reality or Brahman.

The waking experience appears to be real in the same manner as when a rope is mistaken for a snake; the illusory snake appears to be real.

The snake is said to be superimposed on the rope. The body and the world are within the waking experience. The waking experience is an object to the invisible Soul; the Self is the subject.

All three states are objects to the invisible Soul, the Self, which is the subject. One finds that the object and the subject are of different natures.

Their relationship is of the form of superimposition of each on the other, as also of their qualities, as a consequence of the absence of discrimination between the real nature of the witnessed and the witness of the witnessed.

This is like the association of a rope, nacre, etc., with the superimposed snake, silver, etc, owing to the absence of discrimination between them. The association of the witnessed and the witness of the witnessed in the form of superimposition is described as false knowledge.

After having known the distinction between, and the nature of, the witnessed and the witness of the witnessed, one becomes aware that the witness and the witnessed are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness.

Thus, from the ultimate standpoint, there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness; hence, it is nondual.

He who realizes the witness of the witnessed are one in essence, and who has the firm conviction realizes the three states are unreal. Though the three states appear as real on the dawn of non-dualistic wisdom, their unreal nature is exposed. :~Santthosh Kumaar

Manduka Upanishad, Brahman and Atman are defined as the same.+

Atman is Brahman (God in truth), the One without A Second.

In Manduka Upanishad, Brahman and Atman are defined as the same:~ sarvam hyetad brahmaayamaatmaa brahm soyamaatmaa chatushpaat –

Manduka Upanishad, verse-2

All indeed is this Brahman; This Atman is Brahman; God, this Atman has four steps/quarters.

While Brahman lies behind the sum total of the objective universe, some human minds boggle at any attempt to explain it with only the tools provided by reason. Brahman is beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, beyond imagination.

Indeed, the highest idea is that Brahman is beyond both existence and non-existence, transcending and including time, causation, and space, and thus can never be known in the same material sense as one traditionally 'understands' a given concept or object.

The Atman is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny the Atman, because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. The Atman is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs.

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is real and eternal. The world in which we exist is an illusion created out of consciousness.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul or Spirit) is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the ‘Self’. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

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

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described, because description implies distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is no distinction of substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitute the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal

Thus, it refers to a formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the ‘Self’ within the false experience. Thus, it indicates clearly that all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false ‘Self’. Thus, Atman or the invisible Soul, the Self, is God.

Sage Sankara wanted to establish the existence of the Brahman. For this purpose, He made the Atman as the Brahman. He brought out the identity of the Self with consciousness and made the Atman the Brahman. Since one will not negate the existence of his Self, he will accept the existence of the Brahman, which is the Atman or Soul, the Self. Both Buddha and Sage Sankara kept silent about the absolutely unimaginable God. The same philosophy was dealt with by them in different angles in different situations.

Sage Sankara not only proved the existence of God from the Vedic perspective but also proved the existence of God rationally by pure reason.

Sage Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture. This may be because Sage Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus, in the idea of God, and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed that those of superior intelligence have no need of this idea of divine causality and can therefore dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason.: ~ Santthosh Kumaar