Universe is mere mirage created out of consciousness and there is conscious awareness of unity in diversity because there is no second thing exist other than consciousness.

Sankara said: - Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation. -63- (VC)”

Universe will not remain as reality when wisdom dawns. Universe is mere mirage created out of consciousness and there is conscious awareness of unity in diversity because there is no second thing exist other than consciousness.

One thinks he is imprisoned within this body; whereas the body and his experience of the world are within the mind. The consciousness is hidden within the three states but it is without the three states.  The one, which has the awareness of the three states, is not the body but the soul, which is in the form of consciousness. Thus consciousness is not limited to waking experience alone because it pervades all the three states. Till one views and judges the world-view on base of ego or waking entity, he is in the grip of individuality or intellectuality.  The self is not an individual because it is universal. And it pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states. Thus individualized judgment will not lead one non-dual destination.  

 That is why Sri,Sankara says:- (V C) :-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, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

66. Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated births and deaths.

Thus one has to know what is real by realizing our body and our experience of the world is mere illusion created out of consciousness, which the inner most self.  The nature of the self is emptiness. And it is identified by different masters with different name, such as Spirit  God or Atman  or  Brahman or Buddha’s nature or Christ consciousness or Self, Ultimate Truth.

If Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness then, it is necessary to realize, the consciousness as self.

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

If Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness then, it is necessary to realize, the consciousness as self. Consciousness(soul)  pervades all the three states to realize the fact that there is no second thing exists other the consciousness. Thus, consciousness (soul or Atman) is ultimate truth  or Brahman. 

 

As indicated in ISH Upanishads: - By worshiping gods and goddesses you will go after death to the world of gods and goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spend there is wasted, because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of gods and goddesses you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

It clearly indicates that:-If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying the conceptual gods and goddesses to go in to 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.

Thus, the goal is to realize Atman (consciousness).  If Atman (soul or consciousness) is nothing but Brahman and by realizing Atman (consciousness) as Brahman  or  ultimate truth is truth realization or Self-Realization , then there is no need to follow religion, study scriptures or glorifying gods and 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.

They alone in this world are endowed with the highest wisdom who are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of Atman. The ordinary man does not understand their way. (Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada)

Therefore, if one is seeking truth he has to know his true self is not physical but is the consciousness, which is in the form of consciousness.  

The nature of the illusion is impermanent and constant flux whereas the nature of the soul or consciousness is permanent and still.

The nature of the mind, which is present in the form of universe, is constant flux.  The universe appears as waking or dream. Without being aware of the existence of the formless witness  of the three states,  people think everything is in flux in the universe.

 The permanent thing is the substance of the mind or universe.  The formless substance is the witness of the mind (I) or universe.  The formless substance and witness are one in essence. That essence is soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  The soul or consciousness is real and permanent.  The universe is mere mirage created out of consciousness.

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

Intellectuals   approach was more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real.

On the standpoint the soul, the innermost self the universe is mere mirage.  The soul is the permanent all else mere illusion.  Man and exist in the unreal universe and by discussing on the standpoint of the ego (waking entity) which is the false self within the false experience will leads to perversity.    

In self-awareness the body is not considered as body, ego is not considered as ego and the world is not considered as world because body, ego and the world too are nothing but consciousness.   In self-awareness there is no flux. There is unity in diversity.  Only in ignorance the illusion is experienced as reality. The nature of the illusion is impermanent and constant flux whereas the nature of the soul or consciousness is permanent and still.

When serious seeker reaches a stage with all his baggage of accumulate knowledge, then uncertainty haunts him

Doubts and Confusions arise when seeker finds the scriptures and yoga are inadequate or useless to quench his spiritual thirst. Disappointments in religion or yoga or even science imply error or ignorance.

When serious seeker reaches a stage with all his baggage of accumulate knowledge, then uncertainty haunts him. Whether he is right?" Where is the certainty that he is proceeding on right lines?" Thus doubts arise and the inquiring spirit comes and impels to search elsewhere for truth where it will not be possible even to have doubt. The test is therefore in experience. And only in non-duality, where there are no two to argue about views or to have difference of opinion can such doubtlessness be possible. Belief depends upon unstable bases whereas certainty depends on proof.

Seeker of truth has to get rid of his doubts through deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning on his own, to realize the fact that, the self is not the form but self is formless. Thus his analysis and reasoning has to be based on the formless not on the form. By simply go on believing and accepting whatever said by the punditry will not lead one towards path of wisdom. All the doubt has to be got rid of "by the sword of Self - Knowledge." The scriptures, yoga are not necessary if one follows the inner (formless) path. Religion and yoga are not the means to path of wisdom.

They alone in this world are endowed with the highest wisdom who are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of Atman. The ordinary man does not understand their way. [Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada]

This passage indicates the fact that everything is soul or consciousness  or spirit. The one who views and judges the worldview on the base of his birth  or body will not realize the fact that, the man including the world is created sustained and finally dissolves as soul or conciousness. Thus Atman alone is, and all else is mirage.

Thus Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana  is the aim of every human being. Since everyone thinks the physical body is the self, their aim is misdirected and they focus their attention on materiality which makes one feel the duality (waking) as reality.

Deep sleep is not the same as non dual wisdom, for the latter exists when one sees the objective world and men; not when he is unaware of it.

Deep sleep is not the same as non dual wisdom, for the latter exists when one sees the objective world and men; not when he is unaware of it.

Three state analyses: one knows that there is a dream state or a deep sleep state only in the waking experience. Only by distinguishing it from waking one knows the meaning of sleep or dream apart from the waking experience. 

 Man who is sleeping or dreaming all the 24 hours, would know that there is a different state in existence, when he awakens. It is only by taking the whole of man's experience; waking cannot be separated from the other two states: one knows waking only by distinguishing it from dream.

The common people not know what is meant by sleep, waking and dream. Waking is that which comprehends through understanding the other two states. To shut out dream and sleep from inquiry is to prevent fullness of knowledge being got. It is wakeful state alone which gives the knowledge of the other states. It is impossible to arrive at truth when one reject so much data as sleep and dream, and confine himself  to waking alone.

 Seeker of truth has to take the waking experience which consists of the universe him to- gather. He has to ask the question to himself: What is the meaning of dream and sleep? Eventually he comes to a certain understanding about the truth of the entire existence, not merely a certain aspect of it.

Seeker of truth should not believe in the stories that in the next world after one dies he shall have his knowledge with him. Waking die every night but where, in deep sleep is all his knowledge, feeling-and personality? Suppose he never wake up from deep sleep. He never regains his separate self, or the world. It is the same in death. The world and him-self disappear then as in sleep.

The mirage has no reality other then its substance from which it is made of

In the realm of truth there are no external objects, but that the waking (mind or universe)  is mere mirage created out of the soul or  consciousness, the innermost self. The mirage has no reality other then its substance from which it is made of.  To understand this, one must know the nature of the  dream.

There is nothing external to Mind. Mind has got everything in itself as in dream. In dream one has external objects, but they are not separate from mind when one examines them after awakening to realize the fact that the dream was mere a mirage.

The word dream is generally used with reference to the physical body, for it means "my dream" which occurs within my body. One’s body reappears in dream, he dreams a journey, but he does not actually perform it, his body seems to do it.

People, who stamped their foot on the ground to refute to show the world is real, ignore that in dream they would do exactly the same--stamp their dream foot on the ground and assert it to be real. 

The three states are known in the waking state, not in dream or sleep. Hence one must detach himself from them whilst awake, if he is to realize Atman. In the waking experience alone one get s the knowledge of Atman. The mind has to be so sharp in order to grasp the formless substance and witness of the three states; he will know the true self is Atman not the ‘I’.

Deep sleep is followed by dream and waking, it is called the seed or causal state: otherwise if it continued unbroken it would be called Atman. It is a state, something which comes and goes; the objects of each state are included with it. The Gnani detaches himself from them, sees them coming and going, and thus remains in the ever-present non-dual Atman(soul or consciousness).

Dream is necessary to distinguish from deep sleep, as one cannot know the presence of an object without knowing its absence.

By analyzing the mind one becomes aware of the fact that whatever seen in dream as mountain and ocean are mind . Hence none of it could have been lost, because of the entire mountain and ocean was the mind and lapses back as   mind, and as matter is only mind, having been proved to be so, the whole waking or dream is mind. But mind is not the ego, my individual mind, which can create this waking or dream. It is the common One Universal Mind, which is the soul/Atman. 

Seeker must know that it is   important and he has to understand the fact that the Waking objects, on account of their being similar to dream objects, are unreal because they are perceived objects.

What is it that perceives?

It is the Formless Witness.

What is it that the Formless Witness has in it when it sees an object?  

An idea which is mere mirage.

Suppose anything existed outside or different from the mind, one becomes aware of it because of the Formless witness, because nothing can exit without the formless witness. Since, everything within the waking/dream is powered by the formless Witness. 

As the dream appears the self is involved in witnessing the dream. When the dream disappears and when there is noting to witness it remains in its formless non dual true state. When the waking appears it is again start witnessing. The individual experiences happening within the waking or dream are mere mirage witnessed by the formless witness or soul. Thus the individual experiences or birth, life and death have no meaning on the standpoint of soul or Atman as self. Hence three states are mental states. They do not exist in reality. 

The relativity of the three states: one could not know man as man if woman did not exist. If only man existed he would never be aware of that fact. Only by existence of another opposite or contrasting thing does one know it. Similarly one would not know waking as waking if life were always waking experience. One knows waking experience exists because of existence of dream by way of contrast and of deep sleep. Therefore the three states are present together and are always present. 

Dream is necessary to distinguish from deep sleep, as one cannot know the presence of an object without knowing its absence. Everyone is given the three states; therefore everyone can realize non dual Truth.

Perfect understanding of 'What is What' will help one to unfold the mystery of the mind or universe.

If the reasoning  base is not rectified it will lead one towards hallucination. When the mind itself is myth then the man and his experience of the world is bound to be myth. Therefore Perfect understanding of 'What is What'  will help one to unfold the mystery of the mind or universe.  It is impossible to unfold the truth on the base of false self within the false experience, because the truth is prior to the appearance of the falsehood.  And falsehood creates ignorance.

Seeker has to burn down the ignorance by rectifying the base of reasoning by realizing the fact that self is not physical but it is the formless consciousness.

THE ‘I’ OR ‘I AM’ IS CAUSE OF THE IGNORANCE. Thus one has to get rid of the ignorance by overcoming the intoxication of ‘I’ or I AM' by realizing  'I' or 'I AM is not the self.  Holding 'I' or 'I AM as self keeps one in physical prison. thus deeper self-search is necessary in order to reach the ultimate end.

That is why Buddha  said:-

 

Believe nothing because a wise man said it,

Believe nothing because it is generally held.

Believe nothing because it is written.

Believe nothing because it is said to be divine.

Believe nothing because someone else said it.

But believe only what you yourself judge to be true.

Thus accepting anything without deeper verification will not lead one to finality.

Seeker of truth read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider and discover the truth by using his own reason.  The greatest and noblest pleasure which seeker can have is to discover new truths; and drop old prejudices and accumulated knowledge.

According to Indian mystic traditions the physical life is regarded as a journey.

According to Indian mystic traditions the physical life is regarded as a journey. A pilgrimage is mere an outward journey based on the imaginary divinity. A pilgrim is one who blindly accepted his physical existence as reality by accepting the inherited dogmas without verifying the validity of his belief.

 People who think the place of pilgrimage is one where a manifestation of divinity appeared for a particular purpose, where a sage performed austerities or meditated for a long period, or where someone got direct experience of God.

A pilgrimage is undertaken with many religious propagated goals. It may be an act of acknowledging to oneself one’s failures and misdeeds. One may aspire for freedom from this burden of misdeeds through confession, an act of atonement and purification. It could be in the form of renouncing a habit, addiction or worldly pleasure after the pilgrimage is complete.

Many think that  if a pilgrim is one who fulfills all the requirements, he may be granted the rare appearance  of a sage or saint  who left the physical  body hundreds  of years ago, but still dwells there as a light being.  Such ideas are based on imagination based on the physical self within the false experience.  Thus it has no value on the base of the true self, which is the spirit.

Pilgrimage is a religious endeavor; it is holiday based on imagination. Rather than attending a lecture on finding the truth, it is better to indulge in pursuit of truth.  Seeker has to go on a mental journey rather than a physical one.

If  deeper self-search done earnestly the true base, one becomes receptive and confident in his capacity to explore the non-dual truth. One then renounce the ignorance he is addicted to and come to realize that he has the spiritual strength to live within the duality, fully aware of the fact that duality mere illusion.

Seeker of truth Begin a inner pilgrimage with an inner resolve, by rejecting mentally the unreality or illusion as a whole.

If taking a dip in a river would grant me liberation then the fish would have been liberated long ago.” Hence the mental journey is far more important than the physical one.

Let a pilgrimage be a point of crossing over, a transition to a ultimate truth.  Seeker of truth has to go with the resolve: “After the mental pilgrimage, he shall be formless soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. And consciousness   his true eternal identity.

After the mental pilgrimage, one is fully aware of the fact that the true self is not physical but it is the spirit. Thus he identifies his-self with the spirit and overcomes the burden and bondage of the physicality or duality.

Until that final realization happens, one will continue to remain a pilgrim. Thereafter, he becomes a guide to other pilgrims who might follow him, seeking to grasp the essence of non-duality or Advaita. 

The nature of things necessarily unpreventable and uncontrollable when one regards world as world of diversity of duality

The nature of things necessarily unpreventable and uncontrollable when one regards world as world of diversity or duality.  Only when one is able to base his-self from ultimate standpoint view the experience of diversity as consciousness only, then one becomes aware of their unreal nature.

One, who has realized that existence and non-existence and change are in the nature of things, easily finds repose, being unperturbed and free from ignorance.  The pain and pleasure exist as reality because of having the idea of two (duality).  To get rid of the reality of the pain and pleasure one has to find the formless substance of the duality [mind] to realize the whole diversity is created out of single substance, which is consciousness. Realizing the consciousness as ultimate truth, one becomes aware of the unreal nature of the mind.

Whatever based on of physical self (waking entity or ego) is falsehood. Whatever one feels as a person is reality within the physical existence. If physical existence is taken as reality then there is no meaning in seeking truth because he has accepted the physical existence as truth.  Once physical existence is accepted as reality the experiences within the physical existence prevail as reality.

For those who desirous to know the truth for them nothing bring contentment other than acquiring the self-knowledge or brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. For one who becomes aware of the fact that, the   self is not physical but consciousness becomes aware of the fact that, the physical existence (illusion) has no base from the ultimate standpoint.   

Our practical life is nothing to do with the formless soul, the innermost self.   The practical life within the practical world is reality within the waking.  The three states are mere illusion on the standpoint of the soul or consciousness, the innermost self. The formless soul or consciousness is the substance and witness of the illusory three states and it is within the illusory three states and it is without the three states. 

We can see the light around a diamond but it is not a light of diamond, nor is a diamond related to it. In the same way the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness has a light attached to it which is called universe.

In Vedas the God (Soul or Atman) 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 soul is in the body and body is in the soul. The creation (universe) is within us and we are within universe. The chicken is in the egg and the egg is in the chicken. The tree is in the seed and the seed is in the tree. The same thing that was told by the Vedas was repeated by the Christian Saint John (10-38)? Father is in me and I am in Father?. This has now become a general experience of many people.

Millions of people are practicing Yoga nowadays all over the world. Irrespective of the region and religion, many people have taken an experience that they are able to see without opening eyes the happenings in the world. They are able to see the same world within them, which they see outside by their eyes. 

The God or Soul or Atman is homogeneously all pervading with the 7 qualities described.

1. Sakshi (Witness)

 2. Chetan (conscious)

3. Nirguna (Without form and properties).

 4. Nitya (eternal)

5. Shuddha (pure)

 6. Buddha (omniscient)

7 Mukta (unattached).

We can see the light around a diamond but it is not a light of diamond, nor is a diamond related to it. In the same way the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness has a light attached to it which is called universe. Human being is able to see this light i.e. universe when his mind goes away from himself (or becomes extrovert), otherwise this universe is absent. Why the mind of the human being goes away from his inner most SELF? Because whenever the evolutes and the instruments meet the mind gets the sense of the universe. Mind starts understanding its separate existence as an individual body when the organs meet the objects. 

Ignorant , dwelling in darkness, but the intellectuals in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.

Ignorant , dwelling in darkness, but the intellectuals  in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.
 

People, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's purpose. Because these performers of karma do not know the Truth is owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery— stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted.
 

Ignorant, regarding religious rituals and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know the ultimate truth. Thinking of their good work, with a motive to get rewarded for it in the next life or next world    they remain ignorant of higher truth. 

Let a seeker, after having examined the mind and its substance that is gained by inquiry, analysis and reasoning to acquire freedom from experiencing the illusion as reality: nothing that is eternal can be produced by what is not eternal. In order that he may understand assimilate and realize that Eternal consciousness.  

 The  seeker who has an intense urge to know the truth , whose has the humility to listen  and whose is receptive, who does not use his accumulated knowledge as a yardstick,  will be able to understand ,assimilate and realize the Self- Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, through which one knows the consciousness, which is formless and non-dual in its nature.  

Consciousness is the self—luminous and formless soul, uncreated and existing both within and without. Consciousness is devoid of life, devoid of mind, pure and higher than the supreme Imperishable.  

From consciousness are born the three states.   From consciousness come mind, which contains the oceans and the mountains, rivers of every kind of plants and flavors.
 

The mind alone is the universe.  And consciousness is the substance and the witness of the mind. The consciousness, hidden within the three states — He who knows this ultimate truth will be able to cross the threshold of duality. 

 

The consciousness dwells in the mind.  The mind is  the form, time and space. Without the mind there is no form, no time and no space. Consciousness is the support of mind; for in consciousness is the center of the mind in which everything that moves, breathes and blinks. One has to know the consciousness that to be as the true Self and beyond the understanding of the egocentrics. 

Formless Soul or consciousness is the foundation of whole physical existence.

 

 

The person, and his experience of the the world and his sense of form,time and space are made of single essence, which is formless consciousness. Until the diversity dominates the ignorance prevails. Until ignorance is there, the form,time and space prevails as reality. until the form,time and space prevails as reality , the experience of birth,life ,death and world experienced as reality. Until the birth,life,death and world is experienced as reality one remains in ignorance of the non-dual reality or Brahman. Thus perfect understanding is needed to realize what is what. thus seeker has to get rid of the mental  cobwebs  which is blocking his realization. All the cobwebs of  mental blockades  are because of the accumulated knowledge. thus careful analysis is required before accepting anything as truth.

The consciousness is the maker and the preserver of the mind, which is in the form of universe. Universe   appears as waking and dream and disappears as deep sleep. Formless Soul or consciousness  is the foundation of whole physical existence or universe.  thus the whole universe(form)  is dependent on the formless (soul) existence. thus the formless is the cause of the universe(form or mind)  and it itself is uncaused.

By knowing the fact that, the consciousness as the true self of which all three states becomes known? 

 

Two kinds of knowledge must be known. They are the spiritual Knowledge and the physical knowledge.   Of these two, the physical knowledge is of the worldly life.    And the spiritual  or Self - Knowledge  or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana  is that by which the ultimate truth is attained. 
 

By means of the Self- Knowledge, the Gnani behold everywhere consciousness, which otherwise cannot be seen or seized, which has no root or attributes, no eyes or ears, no hands or feet; which is eternal and omnipresent, all—pervading and extremely subtle; which is imperishable and the source of the mind, which appears as waking and dream and disappears as deep sleep.

 

As the spider sends forth and draws in its thread, as plants grow on the earth, as hair grows on the head and the body of a living man—so does mind, which is   in the form of  universe arise from the Imperishable consciousness.

The scriptures and theories and teaching based on the ego are not the yardstick

The truth is beyond all philosophy. When we realize all our accumulation of knowledge from outer sources is inadequate and useless in quenching our spiritual thirst, than  we will start our inner (mental) journey on our own.  The journey is full of obstacles because we have to drop all the accumulated dross and all the conditioning (samskaras) to cross the ocean of duality or samsara.

As one indulges in deeper self-search he will know somewhere he is going wrong, and it is for him to   overcome the entire obstacle on his own by knowing what is obstructing his realization.  The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, god, scriptures, and yogic theories and intellectual speculations and logical conclusions. Moreover, attachment to scriptures, personal god and religious code of conduct keeps one permanently in the grip of duality.

The scriptures and theories and teaching based on the ego are not the yardstick. Using them as yardstick to understand and assimilate the truth will lead one towards pursuit of arguments. Seeker of truth has to discover on his own, the truth of his true existence by inquiring “what is mind?” and “what is substance of the mind?” and move forward.  

The wisdom consists in knowing the truth, that everything (mind or physical existence) is consciousness. Freedom (truth) is always there yet one does not know it.  But to those whose reason is turned away from physicality and who have attained the serenity of the soul or consciousness, the innermost self  are quite near to the ultimate truth. 

When the ultimate truth is rightly known and one attains eternal life thereby. Through soul, the innermost self he gains strength and through its knowledge immortality.

  

Not by intellectual   speculation but only by an awakening to the reality of his true existence he gets soul-centric vision. Soul, the innermost self’s nature is like state of deep sleep.

Religion, yoga and intellectualism are not the means to acquire self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  Without getting rid of the ignorance and trying to get self-awareness through religion and yoga is like a sleeping man trying to know what he is about, without waking up. As sleep is to waking, so is ordinary life to the state of realization.