Sage Sankara's Advaitic wisdom leads the seeker from darkness to light, from ignorance to wisdom, from unawareness of the ‘Self’ to Self-awareness.+

Some Gurus say “it is very simple; realize right here and right now, nothing is required.  Only ignorant people with their half-baked knowledge say claim such a thing.

Without knowing what the ‘Self’ is in actuality holding the ‘Self’ as the ‘I’, you are not a wise seeker. You are simply an intellectual with accumulated dualistic knowledge.

 Without realizing what the Self is in actuality and what ‘I’ is in actuality it is impossible to realize the truth hidden by ignorance.

By remembering ‘I AM ‘the ignorance will not vanish because the ‘I AM it itself is ignorance.

Remember: ~

The Self is not you. You are not eternal because you are bound by the experience of birth, life, death, and the world.  The Soul, the Self is eternal. The Soul is birthless and deathless because it is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

 It is foolish to say I AM THIS or I AM THAT’ because the ‘Self ‘is not ‘I’.  The ‘Self is the Soul, which witnesses the ‘I’.

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. 

Even after knowing the ‘Self’ is not ‘I’ people are stuck to ‘I-centric teaching and Gurus. Those who are stuck with ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ will never be able to get rid of ignorance. 

Advaitic truth is very simple, but it is very difficult to realize because you have accumulated mental garbage from different sources in the name of Advaita. Until you discard all the accumulated knowledge you will never be able to realize the Advaitic truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. 

The Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the 'Self' shines in its own awareness when Advaitic wisdom dawns. 

The Advaita is the Soul is the cause and the support of all that exists as the world in which we exist. Advaita is the nature of God, the Self. 

The Advaita is present in the form of consciousness. Advaita is the root element of the universe. From the Advaita, the universe comes into existence. In the Advaita, the universe resides. And into the Advaita, the universe is dissolved. The Advaita is the parent of all that is there.

Remember:~

Sage Sankara's  Advaitic wisdom leads the seeker from darkness to light, from ignorance to wisdom, from unawareness of the ‘Self’ to Self-awareness, and from unreality to reality.

In fact, Sage Sankara states a paradox- the world is and is not. It is neither real nor unreal. It leads us to recognize the existence of Maya (illusion). He thinks that the world is illusory from one perspective and from the second it is nothing but Brahman(God in truth), Itself in manifestation. This apparent world is Maya and has its basis in Brahman, the Eternal. It looks real. It has names and forms and actually, it is not real In the light of true knowledge, it disappears and Self-alone shines as real. However, Sage  Sankara's Mayavada has not been accepted by many preachers and philosophers.

When Sri, Sankara says clearly, the universe is not real. He says that Brahman and Atman are one. The ultimate and Absolute Truth is the Self, which is one, though appearing as many in different individuals.

The individual has no reality. Only the Soul, the Self is Real; the rest, mental and physical are but passing appearances, then it indicates the form (waking or duality or mind) is unreal and the formless soul (consciousness or soul) is real.  Therefore, only Atman is real because there is no second thing that exists other than Atman, which is in the form of consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God in truth) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."

All is consciousness. The whole universe is consciousness. From consciousness, the universe comes. Even when the universe disappears  the consciousness still remains without form, time, and space

The Soul itself is God, the One without a Second. 

The Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. The Soul, God is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, consciousness itself is God in truth.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead to the final Goal. (Commentary on Vedanta Sutra)  

Nothing has to be accepted as truth without deeper verification. 

Sage Sri, Sankara is the only Sage who has final authority on the Advaitic truth (non-duality). The Advaitic truth is rational truth and scientific truth without dogma.

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is not a teaching or philosophy but Advaita is the universal wisdom. Advaitic wisdom is neither a teaching nor a theory but it is merely guidance to those who are seriously seeking the ultimate truth or Brahman. Grasp the ultimate truth anytime, at any age, if the seeker has the spiritual maturity and capacity to grasp it. 

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 not-Self.

It really depends on his inborn natural capacity to understand and assimilate it.  Sage  Sankara’s wisdom is a Self-examiner, to test oneself to discover how near to Gnana he has approached and what progress has already been made on the path, and what still remains to be done.  It sets up a criterion for Self-judgement.   There are millions in search of truth but one in million will be able to grasp it.

Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (nonduality).  Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy there is a lot of confusion.

All the Gurus who propagate Advaita of east and west air their knowledge base Advaita on the dualistic perspective and orthodox perspective. 

I am highlighting all the obstacles, which is blocking one 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 to reach the ultimate end.

The seeker has to know and realizes the Self the Soul and the true identity to find liberation from the illusory bondage of the illusion of birth, life, death, and the world(duality).   

The goal of our life is to find and realize identity with the Soul, which is the cause of the universe in which we exist.

Sage Sankara said:~ Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, does liberation come, but only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way. (1) Vivekachoodamani v 56, pg. 25

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 Hindu Sanskrit literature, we find that the most frequently used term is “Advaita.

Advaita” is not a religious concept.  Advaita is the nature of existence hidden by form, time, and space.   The seeker has to attempt to rule out from the start a false understanding of reality by a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’.

The Advaita is hidden by the dvaita. Advaita is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Dvaita is the universe.

Advaita is basically a denial; it is literally the negation of the dvaita.  That means whatever remains by negating the universe by realizing the universe is created out of single clay and that clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, the hidden truth by dvaita uncovered.  Consciousness is the cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused.

Thus, the path of wisdom is the only means. Then it is no use going a roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and the witness of the universe (mind).   

By tracing the source of the universe one will be able to realize the Brahman or God in truth.

Remember: ~

Sage Sankara: ~  '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.

The universe is the product of ignorance. Ignorance is present in the form of the ‘I’.

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.

Until you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there the universe prevails as reality.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then why you are indulging in other types of meditation.

Perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-awareness. By holding onto theories one remains in the realm of duality. You have to mentally go on dropping what is not the truth through deeper Self-search. Finally when you become aware of the fact that, your ego, your body, and the world are one in essence then there is Self-awareness in the midst of duality. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar