Most thinkers hold views of Maya (illusion) which are entirely incorrect and untenable because they do not know Sage Sankara'sUpanishad Bashyas, but only the Brahma Sutra Bashya.
Sage Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words. Sage Sankara's brought India into unity as a nation. Sage Sankara told the ignorant populace: Worship what you wish, remain in your particular religion, but remember also you are part of a larger whole.
Few orthodox Pundits have caught the spirit; they are merely fond of his words. For his spirit is that of an appeal to reason, with scripture dragged in as second and lesser support afterward.
Sage Sankara's work has got two aspects: the dualistic perspective and the nondualistic perspective.
Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, and dogmatic instruction to the populace but the Advaitic wisdom 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.
Sage Sankara is regarded as the greatest thinker in the history of the world because (a) he sought to unify the country by placing his institutions and teaching from North to South and East to West, impressing oneness as a nation on all the people. This oneness is not to be restricted by you to religion for it includes its practical application to life such as politics and sociology.
Sage Sankara accepted and encouraged all the prevailing religions but merely purified them of their immoralities. It is false to say he attacked or persecuted Buddhism. This was an interpretation by pundit followers who came afterward and never understood his message.
Sage Sankara has never said that a certain caste or community or that Sanyasa only could attain Brahman; he always taught universality.
UPADESA SAHASRI which is attributed by some to Sankara may not have been written by him as there is no proof either way. It is of doubtful authenticity.
In Brahma Sutras Sage Sankara says that Brahman is the cause of the world, whereas in Manduka Upanishads he denies it. This is because he says that at the lower stage of understanding, the former teaching must be given, for people will get frightened as they cannot understand how the world can be without a cause, but to those in a higher stage, the truth of non-causality can be revealed.
Sage Sri Sankara himself has warned us not to use ambiguous words, and to practice semantic analysis ( "Definition of one's own Self." Page 199, v.24 of "Sankara's Selected Works”)
People never accept the universe is an illusion it is because they are part and parcel of that illusion. The reality of the illusory universe often confuses people. Only when one acquires Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana then he realizes the world in which he exists is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The Soul is the innermost Self.
The universe is a reality on the base of ‘you (ego). You are the false self within the false experience (waking). The universe is an illusion from the standpoint of the Soul, which is the innermost Self. The Soul is in the form of formless consciousness. This is because of some logical reasons. First, you have to analyze the definition of truth, and hence why the universe is not considered reality.
The Advaitic wisdom consists in knowing the truth, that everything (mind or physical existence) is consciousness. Freedom 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, the Self. are quite near to the ultimate truth.
To think once one own body and experience of the world is an illusion is a difficult matter unless one realizes the Self is not physical but it is formless Soul it is difficult to have a glimpse of truth. When one realizes the fact that, the Self is not physical but the formless Soul, naturally the body and the universe become an illusion.
The Mind (universe) is emanating from the Soul (consciousness) means the mind is being affected from consciousness and is not different from it. A deeper analysis shows it. Analysis needs deeper thinking and reasoning.
The mind is the whole universe thus it has a form. There is no form in consciousness (Soul). Consciousness is like an ocean, the consciousness produces the mind(universe).
The moment one knows the mind (universe) is consciousness, and then there is no ignorance. If one knows consciousness as Self then everything is consciousness, consciousness is second to none. The mind is consciousness but due to ignorance one mistakes it for something else. One thinks the Self is within the body, but the Self is without the body and the world.
The mind ceases to exist without the matter. Without the matter, the mind ceases to exist as a mind but it exists as matter- less awareness or consciousness. Without the mind, neither the world nor its perceiver can exist.
Without the matter, there is no duality. Without duality, there is no experience. Without experience, it is the non-dual reality. Therefore, whatever prevails without the mind is the ultimate reality.
The true nature of the Soul (consciousness) is camouflaged by the illusion(universe or duality). To know the truth one has to discover and realize the formless substance of the mind or illusion.
One has to learn to view and judge the three states from the standpoint of the formless Soul as Self. To acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is the prime goal of the truth seeker.
This goal is hidden within the mind as its formless substance and witness. Therefore, it is necessary to inquire, analyze and reason about the nature of the mind( duality or illusion) in order to unfold the mystery of mind or duality or illusion.
The person, who stamped their foot on the ground to refute to show the world, is real, ignores that in a dream he would do exactly the same--stamp his dream foot on the ground and assert it to be real.
Whatever thing remains eternal is true, and whatever is non-eternal is untrue. Since the world is created and destroyed, it is not true. The truth is the thing that is unchanging. Since the world is changing, it is not true.
Whatever is independent of space and time is true, and whatever has space and time in itself is untrue. Just as one sees dreams in sleep, he sees a kind of super-dream when he is waking. The world is compared to this conscious dream. The universe is a mere mirage created out of consciousness. Mirage cannot be true.
The world in which we are born, live, and dies is not absolutely false. It appears false only when compared to the soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. In a state of ignorance, the world is a reality. As long as we are under the influence of ignorance the illusory world prevails as a reality.
Advaita is not philosophy but Advaita is the nature of the Soul. There is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. At that ultimate understanding - there is only self-awareness. Existence consciousness cannot be divided. If one sees divisions they are only apparent and not real. If one takes the apparent as real, then all other factors become real. ~: Santthosh Kumaar
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