Sage Sankara:~ 'Like a servant who carries a lamp in front of you to find your way, and you have found it, so becomes the Veda to that person. What is the Veda? ~ utterances of those who have known the Truth. Here is one who has known the Truth; why should he or she depend upon the Veda further? Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, books become a botheration. The Upanishad itself says that the 'words are only so much of a distraction for such minds' The man who possesses the highest intellect can grasp Advaita, by merely hearing the truth mentioned, will know it
The understanding of Advaita derived from bookish knowledge is vague and becomes confusing because they are based on the dualistic perspective. The bookish knowledge becomes unnecessary when. The seeker gets guidance from the knower of the truth.
The ultimate truth or Brahman can never be expressed in words. However, words have their own importance within certain limits. The effect of reading depends on the kind of subject one reads and the value one attaches to it.
All accumulated knowledge and scriptural mastery are mental garbage. Holding this mental garbage blocks the realization of the ultimate truth or Brahman.
That is why Sankara says:~ VC~56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by word, nor by learning, but by the realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.
58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar but are no good for Liberation.
59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.
60. The Scriptures, consisting of many words, are a dense forest that merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence, men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.
61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?
62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utters the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realization, one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.
Holding some teacher or teaching as a yardstick and trying to prove that he is right and others are wrong, and indulging in the perverse argument, will help to unfold the mystery of the mind.
The Seeker has to learn to view and judge from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self. He will never have any doubts or confusion when he becomes soulcentric.
When he thinks and reasons deeply, then the inner revelation starts and starts burning the dualistic dross (confusion/doubts).
Scriptures are being added to from time to time. This process will go on. Is there a final authority among them? One contradicts the other: duality reigns supreme.
Sages of truth restrained themselves, parting the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to the masses and only to a selected few.
It was hidden from the people who were not qualified and receptive to it. Self- it was given knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana was not written down but was imparted orally to the chosen few.
Thus, religion was given to the masses, and knowledge of the spirit was given only selected a select few. Thus, we find traces of the knowledge of the spirit in the religious books in the form of parables.
Katha Upanishad says: ~ This Atman is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one, Atman reveals its own form. (II -23-P-20)
Sage Sankara said:~ Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many Gods as you please, observe ceremonies and sing devotional hymns, but liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness.
Self-knowledge cannot be attained by the study of the scriptures and intellectual understanding or by bookish knowledge. Therefore, there is no use in studying the scriptures and other scriptures to acquire the non-dual wisdom.
Scripture mastery, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth or Brahman. The ultimate truth is revealed in the clear understanding and realization of ‘what is truth and ‘what is the untruth.
When one realizes the untruth (universe) is created out of a single stuff, the Self-awareness rises in the midst of duality, exposing the unreal nature of the form, time, and space.
The ultimate truth has to be realized first, then only is it possible to know what the scriptures are saying. I do not require any scriptures.
Self-knowledge cannot be attained by the study of the scriptures and intellectual understanding or by bookish knowledge. Therefore, there is no use in studying the scriptures and other scriptures to acquire the non-dual wisdom.
That is why Bhagavan Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sage Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, the concept of God, and scriptures.
Katha Upanishad says ~ Fools dwelling in darkness, but thinking themselves wise and erudite, go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind. (Ch~ II-5 P-14)
That is why 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.”
Sage Sankara says ~ VC-162- There is no liberation for a person of mere book knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense organs, etc., which are unreal.
The invisible Soul, the Self, reveals ‘what is real’ and ‘what is unreal” when the seeker is receptive and ready. : : ~ Santthosh Kumaar
