Why to go round and round by various tortuous paths when there is clear cut truth declared by Sage Sankara.+

Why go round and round through various tortuous paths when there is clear-cut truth declared by Sage Sankara.

Swami Vivekananda aptly described Sage Sankara’s Advaita as the fairest flower of philosophy that any country in any age has produced.

The Advaitic truth is a rational or scientific truth declared by  Sage  Sankara centuries back, but unfortunately, the original essence of the rational Advaita is lost mainly, because of orthodox adulteration and add-ons, which are based on the ego (waking entity), which is the false self within the false experience (waking).

The seeker has to first indulge in deeper self-search without scriptures and understand and assimilate the Advaitic truth, which leads to self-awareness. Thus, soulcentric thinking, reasoning, and judgment are very much necessary for the pursuit of truth.

Sage Gaudapada:~ The non-dual Atman is realized when the individual self (jiva) is awakened from its ignorance. Atman is unborn, dreamless, sleepless, and motionless and is beyond duality. It is cognition at its purest. It is Brahman- Ayam Atma Brahma, this Atma is that Brahma; Thus epitomizing the core of Upanishad teachings.

Sage Sankara says: ~ Atman is Brahman (God). Thus, the Soul the  ‘Self’ is God. Therefore, all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false self. Thus, there is adulteration and add-ons in the past, which have to be bifurcated if one wants pure Vedic essence.

When the Vedas and Upanishads declare that the Soul which is present in the form of the consciousness is actually nothing but Brahman, then why go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind. 

One has to realize the fact that, the mind is in the form of the universe. Trace the source of mind and realize that the source is consciousness. The mind arises from consciousness as the waking or the dream and subsides as the deep sleep.

Even Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Even Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

In Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ It has been said that God is Supreme or Supreme Spirit.

Vedas and Upanishads confirm the Soul, the  Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

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

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

When the Upanishad says: that the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana and they indicate the personal Gods, scriptures, worship, and rituals are not the means to Self–knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, then why anyone should indulge in it.

Realize right now right here the Soul, the Spirit is God in truth. There is nothing to realize other than realizing the Self is not you but the ‘Self is the Spirit, which is God in truth.  God in truth is present in the form of consciousness. Knowledge of God in truth  is Advaita because God in truth  is Advaita, the one without the second

In Manduka Upanishad Brahman and Atman are defined as the same:~

सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मायमा- त्मा ब्रह्म सोयमात्मा चतुष्पात् / sarvam hyetad brahmaayamaatmaa brahm soyamaatmaa chatushpaat ~

Manduka Upanishad, verse-2

Translation:~

sarvam(स- र्वम्)- Whole/All/Everything; hi(हि)- Really/Just/Surely/Indeed; etad(एतद्)- This here/This; brahm (ब्रह्म)- Brahm/Brahman; ayam(अयम्)- This/Here; aatmaa(आत्मा)- Atma/Atman; sah(सः)- He; ayam(अयम्)- This/Here; chatus(चतुस्)- Four/Quadruple; paat(पात्)- Step/Foot/Quarter

Fragmented Verse:~

सर्वम् हि एतद् ब्रह्म अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म सः अयम् आत्मा चतुस पात् / sarvam hi etad brahm ayama aatmaa brahm sah ayam aatmaa chatus paat

Simple Meaning: ~

All indeed is this Brahman; This Atman is Brahman; God, this Atman has four steps/quarters.

While Brahman lies behind the sum total of the objective universe, some human minds boggle at any attempt to explain it with only the tools provided by reason. Brahman is beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, beyond imagination. Indeed, the highest idea is that Brahman is beyond both existence and non-existence, transcending and including time, causation, and space, and thus can never be known in the same material sense as one traditionally 'understands' a given concept or object.

Imagine a person who is blind from birth and has not seen anything. Is it possible for us to explain to him the meaning of the color red? Is any amount of thinking or reasoning on his part ever going to make him understand the sensation of the color red? Similarly, the idea of Brahman cannot be explained or understood through material reasoning or any form of human communication. Brahman is like the color red; those who can sense it cannot explain or argue with those who have never sensed it.

Bhad Upanishad: ~ “This Self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else because It is innermost. If one holds the 'Self' dear were to say to a person who speaks of anything other than the Self as dear, that he, the latter, will lose what he holds dear—and the former is certainly competent to do so—it will indeed come true. One should meditate upon the Self alone as dear. He who meditates upon the Self alone as dear—what he holds dear will not perish”. (Bhad Upanishad -8-p- -211)

Taittiriya Upanishad (II.1):~ 'Where Brahman is described in the following manner: Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahman - "Brahman is of the nature of truth, knowledge, and infinity". Thus, Brahman is the origin and end of all things, material or otherwise. Brahman is the root source and Divine Ground of everything that exists and does not exist. It is defined as unknowable and Satchidananda (Truth-Consciousness-Bliss).

The ultimate truth or Brahman is God. God in truth is not the religious God that people believe in and worship. 

Remember 

Sage  Sankara is one of the greatest geniuses of all time. This world owes him a deep debt of gratitude. He not only consolidated the classical values of life but also spiritual wisdom. 

Sage Sankara is the only Sage who has final authority on the Advaitic truth. The Advaitic truth is rational truth and scientific truth without dogmas.

Unfortunately, few philosophers in the world are as misunderstood and misinterpreted as Sage  Sankara. Ironically, most of the harm came from his admirers and followers of Advaitic orthodoxy because they propagated rituals as a means to attain lower knowledge which is meant for those who believed in the physical existence (universe or waking) as a reality.

The Advaitic orthodoxy is dualistic and it is not the means to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Advaitic orthodoxy is meant for the ignorant mass that is unfit to grasp the highest truth. Thus, the Advaitic orthodoxy has nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. Those who have chosen the Atmic path have to discard orthodoxy to get the pure essence of Advaita.

Sage Sankara disagrees with Buddhists who say, there is nothing - a nonentity.

Sage Sankara believes there is some reality, even though things are not what they appear to be. If one knows the truth, he will know what to do to find inspiration for action. The seeker of truth‘s subject is to know what is it that is Real.

Buddhism says ~ “All things are illusory and nothing exists. However, Sage  Sankara avers that it is not so. It says that the universe, of course,  is illusory, but there is Brahman (consciousness), that exists forming the very substratum of all things (illusion or universe)”.

In the context of Advaita Vedanta: ~ Jagat (the world) is not different from Brahman; however, Brahman is different from Jagat

It has not been possible to preach Advaitic Truth entirely free from the settings of dualistic weakness it has not been more operative and useful to mankind at large because only a few will be able to grasp and realize it.

'To realize the Advaitic Truth a freer and fuller scope the seeker has to realize the form, time and space are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. And the Soul, the  Self is present in the form of consciousness.

To realize the Advaitic truth the seeker has to be free from all superstitions and orthodox contaminations. The seeker dedicated himself to acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana alone.: ~Santthosh Kumaar