Sage Goudpada: ~ To establish the truth of Non-duality by sheer reasoning alone.+

Advaitic wisdom is not any type of teaching, but it is Soulcentric knowledge.

Only when one thinks from the nondualistic perspective, the Advaitic truth will be revealed.

When one thinks deeply on a nondualistic perspective, then he realizes what he is seeking.

Different teachers and Gurus teach Advaitic on different standpoints based on their imagination. All imaginations are based on the dualistic perspective.

Advaitic wisdom dawns only when the seeker learns to view and judge the world in which he exists from a nondualistic perspective.

Sage Goudpada: ~ To establish the truth of Non-duality by sheer reasoning alone. He begins by defining "What is real?" "What is unreal?" etc, because that is the right way to understand and assimilate. (Manduka Karika)

The form, time, and space are present when the ‘I’ is present.

The ‘I’ is present when the mind is present.

The mind is present in the form of the universe.

The universe appears as waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality).

If there is no ‘I’, then there is no mind.

If there is no mind, then there is no form, time, and space.

If there is no form, time, and space, then there is no universe.

If there is no universe, then there is no waking or dream.

Thus, the ‘I’, the mind, the universe, the waking or dream, are one and the same thing.

Thus, one has to analyze the three states to realize what is it that appears as the waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality).

In other words, ‘what is it that appears as the duality and disappears as nonduality when the Self is neither the waking entity (you) nor the Self is the dream entity, but the Self is the invisible Soul which witnesses the coming and going of the three states.

In the realm of the truth, the three states are one in essence. Thus, the three states are created out of a single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The Spirit, God alone is real, and the universe is merely an illusion created out of the Spirit.+

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the invisible Soul, the Self. The invisible Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there.

The Spirit is the Soul, the Self. The Spirit is present in the form of consciousness. Everything is consciousness. All the moments are within the universe, which is a dualistic illusion.

In reality, the Spirit and the universe are one.” If the Spirit is, then the universe is bound to be the Spirit because the universe is an illusion created out of God's image, which is a formless, timeless, spaceless existence.

The Spirit, God alone is real, and the universe is merely an illusion created out of the Spirit.

There is no God in the dualistic illusion because God is hidden by the dualistic illusion created out of God, which is present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness. Thus, God alone is real.

Spirit is before the universe. The universe implies duality. The universe hides God. When the universe disappears the God appears. Find the Self, the Spirit, and rest in God. The image of God is ever ever-formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

The whole universe is nothing but the Spirit, God. Therefore, there is no second thing that exists other than the Spirit God, which is present in the form of consciousness.

You must see the universe in which you exist as the Spirit, the God, just as the goldsmiths view the ornaments as nothing but the gold.

The Spirit is present in the form of the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Remember:~

Whatever happens, within the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion created out of consciousness. Thus, consciousness alone is real and all else is merely an illusion.

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

The Self is the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, and is immortal because it is an ever-formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

From the standpoint of the invisible Soul, the Self, the world in which you exist is merely an illusion.

The one that is in ignorance is the invisible Soul, the Self; the one that has to wake up from the sleep of ignorance is the invisible Soul, the Self.

The world in which you exist is the product of ignorance. When ignorance vanishes, the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

Without the illusion, the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness alone, will prevail as the ultimate reality or Brahman. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Self-realization is necessary to realize ‘what is the truth?' and ‘what is the untruth?

Consciousness is the only reality in which the universe exists, to which the universe belongs; from which the universe has emerged, which is the cause of the universe, and which itself is uncaused. Thus, the universe is nothing but consciousness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The fear of God instilled by the religion was the root cause of worship, superstitions, and dogmas.+

People all over the world, in the past and present, have accepted the idea of the existence of God.

The fear of God instilled by the religion was the root cause of worship, superstitions, and dogmas.

Without religion, there is only undivided humanity. Ideas injected by religion about the literal heaven where people are immersed in pleasure, in a literal hell where people suffer, are fables.

There is a need to bifurcate religion from spirituality. People think religion is the stepping stone for Self-realization, but it is not so.

The religion is based on ignorance, and it keeps the seeker permanently in ignorance by hiding the truth with its mythical beliefs and dogmas, and superstitions.

According to the Vedas and the Upanishads, all the religiously propagated beliefs are myths.

The religious beliefs were passed on to the populace from one generation to the next.

Religion causes one to become crippled. Self-mortifying and Self-deprecating is not a religion, but the social system of controlling the populace through psychological deformation and retardation.

Religions place God as diverse ideas and beliefs.  Every religious believer has a different idea of God. Every man has a different idea of the real.  There is a need to verify the facts about the religious Gods before accepting anything as God. 

There is in religion the element of imagination and sentiment. The ordinary man is happy because religion gives him satisfaction and pleases his taste.

Every sect and creed concocts a God to suit its own purposes. Belief in such concocted Gods is a great hindrance in the pursuit of truth. 

The man himself suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion. Belief in religion weakens as the man pays more attention to the facts of his practical life within the practical world.

An honest seeker of truth says that he has not seen God. He does not know God's capacities, what God can do, and what God cannot do. Therefore, any statement he might make about God would only be a lie.

The seeker of truth does not wish to tell a lie. Therefore, he does not accept  God nor deny Him; he simply refuses to make any statement about God because he wants to discover what is supposed to be God. Without verification, he does not want to accept anything as truth. 

Every sect and creed concocts a God to suit its own purposes. Belief in such concocted Gods is a great hindrance in the pursuit of truth. 

The man himself suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion. Belief in religion weakens as the man pays more attention to the facts of his practical life within the practical world.

Spirituality is a new religion. Advaita is pure spirituality. Advaita is truth beyond form, time, and space. Advaita is the Spirit.  The Spirit is the universal God and God of the whole of humanity.

Remember:~

Religion is dualistic. All the Guru Parampara is for the religious people. There is no need for a Guru who wants to tread the path of wisdom.

Even Swami Vivekananda was Ramakrishna Paramahansa's disciple. Swami Vivekananda himself 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.”

There are two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.

The Guru and Guru Paramparas are meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, there is no need to follow any parampara and follow any Guru; those who wish to realize the truth which is beyond form, time, and space.

We should not mix religion with spirituality because religion is based on the ego, and spirituality is based on the Soul.

The religion is concerned with its paramparas, not truth, whereas Spirituality is concerned only with the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. The religion is not Spirituality.

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."

So he wore a Guru's robe only for the sake of the ignorant. So he was identified as Guru with parampara by religious people. For the truth seekers, Sage Sankara is a Brahma Gnani.

Sage Sankara himself said: ~ A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

Thus, it proves that the religious Gurus and yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people.

Tripura Rahasya: ~ Second-hand knowledge of the Self gathered from books or Gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization will do that. Realise yourself, turning the mind inward. (18- 89)

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ Truly, the dualism is the root of suffering. There is no other remedy for it than the realization that all that we see is unreal and that the Soul, the Self, is the one stainless reality, consisting of consciousness. 2:16

Ashtavakra Gita: The Self is pure awareness, though through ignorance the ‘Self' has imagined itself to have additional attributes. By continually reflecting like this, the Self’s dwelling place is in the unimagined. 2:17

For the Self, there is neither bondage nor liberation. The illusion has lost its basis and ceased. Truly, all this exists in me, though ultimately it does not even exist in the Self. 2:18

Self-knowledge should be explained again and again until it is firmly rooted in the subconscious.

The one who has adopted the life of a wandering monk will never be able to realize the truth that is hidden in form, time, and space. He keeps wandering from one place to the next, meeting different gurus, worshipping different Gods. He is caught up in the prison of the dualistic illusion.

People who think Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana can be achieved by means of their karma (actions) are hallucinating. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The words may give different meanings at different levels of understanding. +

The Advaitic truth has to be ascertained and realized by the seeker alone. No one can teach anybody.

The path of wisdom is divided into three parts:~

First: hearing the truth--that the consciousness is the only reality and that the universe, along with you, is merely an illusion or Maya.

Second: reasoning upon the words of wisdom of Sage Sankara from all points of view.

Third: giving up all further argumentation and realizing the truth. This realization comes from being certain that consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman, or God in truth.

The Advaitic wisdom is hidden by the illusory world in which you exist. A Gnani can only show the way; that much is the work of a Gnani. A Gnani only guides the seekers to apply their own reason and realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

When the seeker learns to view and judge and reason the three states on the base of the invisible Soul, the truth will start unfolding on its own.

First, the seeker may find it difficult to use Soulcentric reason, but gradually it will become easy.

Perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is needed. A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the star is the seeker's own work.

To realize the Advaitic truth, there is no need to follow any path. There is no need for initiation from a Guru. There is no need to follow anyone. There is no need to become a wandering monk.

There is no need to renounce worldly life. It is just a word used by a religion that believes there is a higher power, which is the cause of the creation.

Different religions used different words for the same thing. The idea depends on the man’s imagination. God is an English word.'

The seeker of truth should not become attached to words as being in perfect conformity with meaning because Truth is not in the letters.

The words may give different meanings at different levels of understanding.

The words and their discrimination bind one to the duality; meaning stands alone and is a guide to non-dual awareness. Meaning is attained by much learning, and much learning is attained by becoming conversant with meaning and not with words; therefore, seekers of truth have to avoid the sticklers for particular words.

The words are there for only communication purposes. The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. In fact, our mental and intellectual conditions will determine the phenomenal world observed and experienced.

The words are needed until one gets a firm conviction of ‘what is what’. People need to read and hear the words to think, reason, and reflect deeply and reach the ultimate end.

The truth seeker seeks only truth. The inner Sage will guide you with love. Your sincerity and seriousness lead you to your inner core. The sincere and serious seekers are not excluded.

The Sages of truth called the ultimate truth as Brahman. For them, the ultimate truth is God. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara’s path of wisdom is the independent search for truth.+

Sage Sankara’s path of wisdom is the independent search for truth. Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom deals with the practical bearing of philosophy to remove the initial prejudice that it is remote from life.

Some scriptures have presented fragments of truth imbedded in the covering of stories, histories, and picturesque touches of mysticism.

The seeker should not mix religion, mysticism, and yoga with the path of wisdom. All the Gurus of the East and West touch on mysticism to make it more attractive to feed the crowd.

It is necessary to reach larger numbers of serious seekers who care for truth alone.

Remember:~

When the world in which you exist is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness, then you, your religion, your belief, your Guru, and your scriptures are also part of that illusion.

Advaita means one without the second.

Consciousness is one without the second. The diversity is merely an illusory division in consciousness.

All your accumulated knowledge will block you from realizing the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Consciousness is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

There is no higher truth other than consciousness.

Consciousness is the ultimate truth. The ultimate truth is the Advaitic truth. In Advaitic reality, there is no scope for the second thing.

Remember:~

The dream world, the dream people appeared together and disappeared together. Similarly, the waking world and waking people appeared together and disappear together.

Thus, the dream is created out of a single stuff, and that stuff is the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. In the same way, the waking experience is also created out of a single stuff. And that single stuff is consciousness.

The invisible Soul, the Self, is present in the form of consciousness, is the cause of the three states, and it itself is uncaused. The many Soul theories are religious and yogic fables based on the false self (ego) and false experience (waking).

The invisible Soul is the Self. The invisible Soul is present in the form of consciousness. The invisible Soul is the cause of the world in which you exist, and it itself is uncaused.

Many Souls theory is a religious theory based on the false self (ego) within the false world. When the world in which we exist is created out of a single clay and that single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, the question of many souls does not arise.

There is one and only Soul, which is the cause of the universe.

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

The Self is the invisible and unborn Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, and is immortal because it is an ever-formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

The one that is in ignorance is the invisible Soul, the Self; the one that has to wake up from the sleep of ignorance is the invisible Soul, the Self.

The world in which you exist is the product of ignorance. When ignorance vanishes, the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

Without the illusion, the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness alone, will prevail as the ultimate reality, or Brahman or God in truth. Thus, the invisible and unborn Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Self-realization is necessary to realize ‘what is truth and ‘what is the untruth: ~ Santthosh Kumaar

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