Buddha gave up his austerities of yoga as impossible and useless.+

Buddha gave up his austerities of yoga as impossible and useless. (Page.70/71 "Buddhism in Translation” by Warren)

Buddha got enlightenment only after he gave up Yoga. Unless one exercises their reason, there is no chance of getting the truth.

When the yogi enters this highest Nirvikalpa (effort-less) Samadhi, he will at once enter deep sleep. This will make plain to him, after he wakes, that the I-Self he sought and found, the Atman, is reached only when all his ideas are refunded into it, when there are all the features of non-duality, one without a second.

However, the yogi must later wake up, emerge from Samadhi, and there is duality again, for the world of objects confronts him.

So now he has to work on the next stage, which is to find consciously in the waking experience the same non-duality that he unconsciously knew in sleep. This is done by learning that the universe is or idea or an object for the formless subject, and then refining the universe, ~idea back into its source, which is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Only at this final stage, he says, "Atman, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the same as the Brahman. The Brahman is the ultimate truth. " Now he is fully aware of it.

All yogic visions, however wonderful, will pass away; they go as they come. They have the value of dreams. They are not the truth, which is unpassing and beyond change.

One can’t shut his eyes to the universe, which confronts him as in the Samadhi of yoga, and see the supreme reality. One can know it only by keeping oneself clear and open.

Sage Sri, Sankara says: - The yogi must add discrimination to his quest.

Nirvikalpa Samadhi and deep sleep are the same from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the absence of the known. The knower was there.

How does Samadhi give Gnana? Only by preparing yourself to see that the world disappears and reappears and that non-duality is here and duality there, to convince oneself that in non-duality one won’t disappear as he doesn't disappear in Samadhi or deep sleep. Another advantage of Samadhi is that one gets the capacity to forget the external world and to treat it as an idea.

Yoga can never give you the fundamental thing, that the world is an illusion. Only Gnana can give it. Nirvikalpa Samadhi is unquestionably the same as deep sleep, and all ideas are refunded back there too. One must learn what ideas are when all the ideas of the universe go back into one’s mind through Yoga. Then one learns this. How has he to learn that the entire universe is consciousness or Brahman if he stops at Nirvikalpa Samadhi? Without perceiving the universe and having a duality before him, it is impossible.

Nirvikalpa has no duality, hence it cannot tell you about the universe. The yogi who emerges from Samadhi and says he found Gnana there, says it to a second person, hence there is duality again. If he were a real Gnani, there would be nobody for him to tell that he had experienced Gnana.

Self-knowledge will interest only a few people; the rest are interested in Religion, yoga, other paths, and pleasure hunting. :~Santthosh Kumaar

You are the waking entity. You are limited to the waking experience. And the dream entity is limited to the dream experience.+

We come to know about the deep sleep experience only in waking experience. The waking experience is a state of ignorance.

What is it that becomes the waking experience? What is it that becomes the dream?

What is that remains without the waking or dream in deep sleep?

It is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness that becomes waking, it is the Soul that becomes the dream and it is the Soul that remains without the waking or dream.

The three states are one in essence. That essence is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, the consciousness alone is real and the three states are an illusion created out of the consciousness. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Remember:~

You are the waking entity. You are limited to the waking experience. And the dream entity is limited to the dream experience.

In deep sleep, the waking or dream experiences are absent; thus, the invisible Soul, the witness, remains in its own nondual awareness. Due to ignorance, the three states are experienced as a reality.

When you realize that the Self is not the ‘you’ but the Self is ‘I-LESS- Soul, then whatever you have seen, known, believed, and experienced as ‘you’ becomes unreal because the waking experience itself is an illusion.

The invisible Soul, the ‘Self. The Soul is the formless witness of the three states.

If the Self is not you but the Self, the invisible Soul, then the three states are merely an illusion from the standpoint of the invisible Soul, the Self.

The invisible Soul is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, consciousness alone is real, and all else is an illusion created out of consciousness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara reveals both the real and the unreal nature of existence.+

Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara reveals both the real and the unreal nature of existence.

The world is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but it is unreal in the sense that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

People's approach is more practical, and they stick with the reality of the world; they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.

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, observe and experience. 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, he 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 that 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.

The world in which we exist is nothing but an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

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

It is not as if something that was not consciousness suddenly becomes consciousness. Rather, "knowing the truth” means the removal of ignorance about one's own existence as consciousness. Thus, to "know the truth” is to "be consciousness."

Consciousness is ever-present. Without consciousness, the world in which you exist ceases to exist.

Consciousness is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny consciousness, because it is the very essence of the one who denies it.

Consciousness is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Consciousness is everything. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. :  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

Until you unlearn whatever you have learned it is impossible to realize God in truth. +

Do not hold any book as an authority. Until you mentally transcend the universe into the Spirit by perfect understanding and assimilation of 'what is what', it is impossible to realize the Spirit or God in truth hidden by ignorance.

Until you unlearn whatever you have learned, it is impossible to realize God in truth.

In Spirituality, the Spirit is God. You must take the ultimate truth as God or Christ. First, the Seeker has to realize what God is supposed to be in truth.

The invisible Soul, the Self, is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. God in truth pervades everything and everywhere in the universe in which we exist.

Thus, everything is God because the whole universe is created out of God or Spirit or consciousness).

If you know the Self as the invisible Soul, then the invisible Soul, the Self, is free from the cage of the dualistic illusion or Maya.

That is why Jesus said: ~ Do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. (Matthew -7:6)

Spirituality has nothing to do with religion. Spirituality is based on the Spirit, the real God, whereas religion is based on the false self within the false experience.

The Bible says: ~God is a Spirit, and they that worship God must worship God in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the 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.:~ :~ Santthosh Kumaar

All the Advaitic teachings of different Gurus are based on the dualistic perspective.+

All the Advaitic teachings of different Gurus are based on the dualistic perspective. Advaitic orthodoxy is dualistic, and it is based on the religious perspective.

Thus, they will not transport the seeker to the ultimate end of understanding. The seeker has to do his own homework to realize the truth beyond form, time, and space.

Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the masses, but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.

The orthodox Advaita addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea of God.

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.

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. Realize yourself, turning your attention inward. – Tripura Rahasya, 18: 89

That is why Sage Sankara says:~ VC:~65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the ‘Self’, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman.

Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (non-duality). Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy, there is a lot of confusion. Sage Sankara’s quotes (selected verified) are quoted in my blogs and postings to show what Sage Sankara meant and ‘what is blocking the seekers from realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

There are so many non-dualistic masters of the East and also from the West who expound Advaitic or non-dualistic knowledge, but none of them are helpful in reaching the ultimate end.

The ultimate truth has to be ascertained without the scriptures by realizing that the Self is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity, but the Self is the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

In the realm of truth, the form, time, and space are created out of a single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness.

Realizing the single stuff as the ultimate truth is Self-realization or truth realization. To realize this truth, there is no need for the scriptures.

The ultimate truth has to be realized first, then only is it possible to know what the scriptures are saying.

Scriptures are being added to from time to time. This process will go on. Is there no final authority among them? One contradicts the other: duality reigns supreme. : : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Due to ignorance, the invisible Soul, the Self, is in the bondage of the illusory experience of form, time and space(I).+

Due to ignorance, the invisible Soul, the Self, is in the bondage of the illusory experience of form, time, and space(I).

When ignorance vanishes through wisdom, the invisible Soul, the Self, becomes free from the bondage of illusory experience of form, time and space.

Thus, it is not you who has to be free, because the world in which you exist is the product of ignorance. The world in which you exist exists only due to ignorance.

When ignorance vanishes, then the unreality of the world in which you exist is exposed. Thus, whatever exists, without the world in which you exist, is a reality.
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From the standpoint of the invisible Soul, the Self, the world in which you exist is merely an illusion. The illusion is created out of the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, consciousness alone is real and all else is an illusion.

Thus, a perfect understanding of ‘what is what leads to Advaitic Self-awareness.  : ~Santthosh Kumaar

Know the ‘Self’ in truth to realize God in truth.+

One who has realized the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth is a Gnani. He is freed from experiencing the dualistic illusion or Maya (universe) as a reality.

To imagine the ultimate truth or Brahman is not enough; one must know the ultimate truth from the core as it is. You and the world in which you exist have nothing to do with the ultimate truth. Know the ‘Self’ in truth to realize God in truth.

The seeker must be desirous of knowing the ultimate truth, consider the ultimate truth as nectar. The Advaita is the most distasteful at first, but once one gets all the dualistic knowledge becomes tasteless.

The one who tasted the nectar of Advaita will realize that all the dualistic knowledge is nothing but mental garbage.

One cannot find satisfaction in any other knowledge other than the Self-knowledge of Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana

The Path of Wisdom is only for those who have an intense urge to know the truth. The ultimate truth is hidden within the experience of the form, time, and space, but it is without the form, time, and space.

It is hidden by the form, time, and space as its formless substance, and it is without the form, time, and space as their formless witness.

In the realm of the ultimate truth, form, time, and space are one in essence. That essence is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, the consciousness alone is real and eternal, and the form, time, and space are unreal and impermanent. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar