If the ‘I’ be true, let
it then be perceived in the state of deep sleep also. As it is not at all
perceived, it must be unreal and false.
Bhagavad Gita: ~ You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you
see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16
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.
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 seeker has to make
sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure the unreal
nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes to realize the truth, which is
beyond the form, time, and space.
That is why Bhagavad
Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient
‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)
The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self.
People think the ‘I’
without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self,
which is eternal.
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.
People are stuck with
the reality of the ‘I’, which they take as real because some Gurus have
propagated the Self is the ‘I’. is no need to convince such a mindset. The seeker
of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.
The one who holds the
‘I’ as the Self never will be able to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or
Atma Gnana. Thus, it is necessary to realize first the ‘I’ is not the Self, but
the Soul the formless witness of the ‘I’ is the Self.
The ‘I’ based teaching
and teachers are not a yardstick in the path of wisdom. ‘I’ based teaching will
not lead the seeker to the ultimate end of his inner journey:
Different Gurus and
teachers are pointing out the understanding of the Advaitic truth from a
different standpoint. All such an understanding of Advaita is on a dualistic
perspective accumulated from here and there.
Advaita is not a theory
or a philosophy. Advaita is the nature of the Soul the innermost Self. There is
no need for any theory or philosophy or scriptures to acquire Self-knowledge.
Only a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is needed.
The citations from
scriptures are not proof. The ultimate truth has to be proved without the
scriptures. The ultimate truth is the universal truth and it does not belong to
any religion. Religion causes diversity in unity, whereas, the ultimate
truth brings unity in diversity.
It is not that one
should pore over the ancient scriptures. There is no need to study first, then
realize. One has to realize first, then only he will know ‘what is the truth’
and ‘what is untruth’.
One has to make his
discovery of the truth through the process of rational thinking.
That is why Sage Sankara says: ~VC 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.
People refuse to accept
anything other than their Gurus words. For them, their Gurus words are the
ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted
truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.
Such a mindset is not fit
to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth
accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar
