The individual experience of birth, life, death and the world is a reality within the dualistic illusion or Maya+.

The Self is not that which born, lives, and dies within the world. The individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world is a reality within the dualistic illusion. Thus, whatever experienced as reality within the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion.

The individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world is nothing to do with the Self because the Self is not an individual. The Self is the Soul which is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

Sage Sankara says that an individual’s experience cannot be disputed because the experience he went through was real to him; though that may not be real from the absolute point of view.

Sage Sankara makes a distinction between the absolute view and the relative view of things.

Sage Sankara says the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by the illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, (Gnani)

When the Self is birthless, then how can one relate the Self to the birth, life, death, and the world, because the Self is ever formless?

It is foolish to say that death is an illusion. Sage Sankara said the world is an illusion 1200 years back. He would have said, the birth is an illusion but he never said that he declared the world in which we exist is an illusion.

Sage Sankara says you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand? If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth.

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.

Sage Sankara: ~ “VC~ All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought

Sage Sankara says ~ V.63- "Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know the Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

Sage Sankara regards personal realization as independent and convincing evidence.

Sage Sankara: ~VC~If the universe is 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 like dreams.

That is why Sage Sri, Sankara: ~ VC- 63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the ‘Self’ how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

Sage Sankara said: ~A.A~ 88. When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman (consciousness), and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman?

Sage Sankara was criticized for his views on Maya (illusion) without understanding him.

Sage Sankara said: ~

(1) Brahman (Atman) is real

(2) The universe is unreal,

(3) Brahman is the universe.

Sage Sankara did not stop at the second because the third explains the other two. It signifies that the universe is real if perceived as the ‘Self’ and unreal if perceived as apart from the Self. Hence, Maya or illusion and reality are one and the same.

The realists criticize the concept of illusion without understanding it. Sage Sankara said:~

(1) Consciousness (Atman) is real

(2) The universe or mind is unreal

(3) Consciousness is the universe because the universe is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

One need not stop at the second because the third explains the other two. It signifies that the universe is real if perceived as the Self (Atman or consciousness) and unreal if perceived as apart from the Self (consciousness). Hence, illusion and reality are one and the same because both are one in essence. Realizing the essence, which is consciousness as the Self, is Self- Realization or Truth- Realization of GOD- Realization. Thus, Sage Sankara‘s declaration is rational truth, scientific truth, and also ultimate truth

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.

Consciousness is the cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused. The universe is nothing but consciousness. Modern science has yet to discover consciousness is the cause of the universe, which was discovered and declared by Sage Sankara 1200 years back.

The Soul the ‘Self’ is nothing to do with your birth, life, death, and the world. When the world is an illusion, then the experience of birth, life, and death, which takes place in the unreal world is bound to be an illusion. Therefore, it is necessary for the seeker to realize how this world in which he exists is an illusion, in order to realize ‘what is the truth’ and ‘what is untruth’. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar