Sage Sankara’s wisdom does not need any support of any scriptures the seeker can arrive at the Advaitic truth by pure reason.+

 

Yoga Vasistha:~ "Teachers, interpretations of sacred texts, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth which is revealed in the clear reflection of the heart, engendered from contact with the good."

Anybody can write a commentary on the Upanishads and other great philosophic texts, all they need to do to pour out words. Some Westerners along with some orthodox pundits translated and published books.

Sage Sankara’s wisdom does not need any support of any scriptures the seeker can arrive at the Advaitic truth by pure reason.

Sage Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Shruti, or revealed scripture. This may be because, Sage Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus, in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore, dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason.

Sage Goudpada: ~ To establish the truth of Non-duality by sheer reasoning alone. He begins by defining "What is real?" "What is unreal?" etc, because that is the right way to discuss or teach. People must first know what they are talking about. (Manduka Karika)

In the past the Gurus and the scriptural interpreters used the word ‘I’ to the ‘Self’ without knowing what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality.

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the ‘Self’ is not the ‘I’ but the ‘Self’ is the witness of the ‘I’, which appears as waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality).

The witness of the ‘I’ is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness is real and eternal.

WHO AM ‘I’ AND ‘I AM THAT’ is only for a lower stage where one gives up externally in order to expose the false nature of the form(ego), which is not the full truth.

To unfold the ‘Self’ hidden by the ‘I’ the seeker has to inquire into the nature of the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ appears as the universe. Inquiring into nature the universe is higher.

With the ‘WHO AM ‘I’? or ‘I AM THAT’- teaching is not the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara wisdom. With the ‘WHO AM ‘I’? or ‘I AM THAT’- the journey is incomplete.

Sage Sankara introduced WHO AM ‘I’? or ‘I AM THAT’ for the lower stages and it becomes inadequate and useless as the seeker advances in his quest for truth.

Some Gurus in the past introduced WHO AM ‘I’? or ‘I AM THAT’ –as their own teaching with their own cocktail of imagination.

Self-knowledge is the knowledge of the whole, not the part. Therefore universe, which confronts one, has to be included in the inquiry to get the truth of the whole. Thus, the ‘WHO AM ’I’ inquiry is helpful in unfolding the half-truth.

WHO AM ‘I’?- inquiry is helpful in the first stage, but the seeker has to go much beyond ‘WHO AM ’I’ ?. The seeker has to do his homework to realize the truth of the whole. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

The ‘I’, the illusion hides the truth of the Soul, the Advaita.+

Advaita means non-duality, Nonduality is the nature of the Soul, the Self. The Soul is one without the second. The Soul is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness. The Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Advaita is the nature of God in truth. The Soul, the Self. Advaita is God in truth. Advaita is the fullness of consciousness.

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

Do not accept any other truth other than consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth. Nothing is real but consciousness. Realize consciousness as the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. Consciousness is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

Remember this: ~

The ‘I’ is not limited to you. ‘I’ is the whole universe in which you exist. Without the ‘I’ the world in which you exist, ceases to exist.

The world in which you exist appears when ‘I’ appears and the world in which you exist disappears when ‘I’ disappears.

The ‘Self is the whole hidden by the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ is present in the form of the mind, therefore; ‘I’ is the mind.

The mind is present in the form of the form, time, and space together; therefore, the form, time, and space together are the mind.

The duality is present only when the form, time, and space are present, therefore, the form, time, and space together is the duality.

The form, time, and space are present in the form of the universe, therefore, the form, time, and space together is the universe.

The universe appears as the waking or dream, therefore, the waking or dream is the universe.

The waking is a parallel dream and the dream is a parallel waking.

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ “The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, which is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

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.

Remember this: ~

Without the ‘I’ there is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Without the mind, there is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Without the form, time, and space, there is only the Soul, the fullness of consciousness.

Without the universe, there is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Without the waking or the dream, there is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Without the individual experience of birth, life, death, there is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Remember this: ~

From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the ‘I’ is an illusion.

From the standpoint of the Soul, the mind is an illusion.

From the standpoint of the Soul, form, time, and space are an illusion.

From the standpoint of the Soul, the universe is an illusion.

From the standpoint of the Soul, waking or dream is an illusion.

From the standpoint of the Soul, the individual experience of birth, life, death is an illusion.

The Soul is the cause of all that exists as an illusion and the Soul itself is uncaused.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16

Realize, ‘what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality and what is hidden by the ‘I’ will be revealed.

If you realize the ‘Self ‘is not the ‘I’ but the Soul then whatever is hidden by the ‘I’ will be revealed.

Realizing the Soul is not the ‘I’ but the Soul is the Self, is Self –realization.

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is ever-present. Without consciousness, the world, in which you exist ceases to exist. Consciousness is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny consciousness because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. Consciousness is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Consciousness is everything. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

The ‘I’, the illusion hides the truth of the Soul, the Advaita.

The Soul becomes an illusion in waking (duality) and waking becomes the Soul in deep sleep (nonduality)

The one that becomes the duality (waking or dream) and one that remains nonduality in deep sleep, is the Soul, the Self.

Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as truth other than consciousness. : ~Santthosh Kumaar

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy, and all the arts can be called lower knowledge. The higher is that which leads to Self-realization.+

Ish Upanishad:~Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide.

Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide, as it were, are doomed to enter those worlds after death.

This is a condemnation of people who do not try to attain Self-knowledge. They are, in a real sense, committing suicide, for what can be worse than being a slave to sense enjoyment, completely oblivious of the real purpose of life, which is to be one's, own master?

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy, and all the arts can be called lower knowledge. The higher is that which leads to Self-realization.

The eye cannot see it; the mind cannot grasp it. The deathless 'Self' has neither caste nor race, neither eyes nor ears nor hands nor feet. Sages say this Self is infinite in the great And in the small, everlasting and changeless, The source of life.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana needs no philosophy! In spite of reading and explanations, words are after all mere words. They do not take one any further than mere intellectual satisfaction.

An intense urge to realize the truth works the miracle because the ultimate truth is beyond form, time, and space. There is no necessity to study and understand the scriptures. There is no necessity to follow anyone. Those who want to realize the ultimate truth need not read any philosophy. Studying philosophy is not necessary to realize the truth beyond form, time, and space.

All these confusions will go on until the man thinks, he is an individual and apart from the world, and the world existed prior to him and he is born in it afterward. Therefore, it is necessary to know the fact the true Self is not the ego, but the true Self is the Soul, and stop viewing and judging the world-view from the standpoint of the physical self (ego), and one has to view and judge on the true Self (Soul) to realize the fact that, the world along with the man is an illusion.

The Soul which is present in the form of consciousness is the cause of the illusion. The Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman. From the standpoint of the Soul, the innermost Self, there is no second thing that exists there is neither experience nor the experiencer in non-dual reality, but only Self-awareness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara pointed out those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less moksha.+

Sage Sankara clearly says:~ Neither studying philosophy nor by mastering scriptures by worship as many gods nor observe ceremonies nor by singing devotional hymns nor by uttering mantra nor by mastering the scriptures liberation comes without realizing the Oneness.

Sage Sankara gave religious, rituals, and dogmatic instruction to the ignorant masses, but 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.

Everything is Atman, which Sage Sankara declared 1200 years back. Everything is Atman. Atman or the Soul is present in the form of the consciousness is the ultimate truth or God in truth.

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

Do not accept any other God other than the Soul. The Soul is God in truth, Nothing is real but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Nothing matters but realize God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone is real and eternal and all else is an illusion.

Brahman is merely a word to indicate the ultimate truth or God in truth. The ultimate truth itself is God in truth.

Remember:~

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is a rigorous, absolute one. According to Sage Sankara, whatever is, is Brahman. Brahman, Itself is absolutely homogeneous. All differences and plurality are illusory.

Sage Sankara gave out what was of most use to the greatest number of people. Therefore, in the commentaries on the Upanishads, such as the Mundaka Upanishad, he gave the highest non-dualistic message of the identity of Atman and Brahman, revitalizing the philosophy and practice of Advaita, while in the commentaries on the Brahma sutra he gave lesser teaching, positing both higher and lower Maya and higher and lower Brahman (Ishvara) to explain the creation for those of lesser intellects until they were ready for the highest truth.

Sage Sankara was very careful with his choice of semantic analysis and use of words - taught at different levels of doctrine at different times as the situation warranted.

The Advaitic formula, to be successively realized, is: “the world is unreal; Brahman is real; the world is Brahman.” This is the vision of non-duality.

Sage Sankara affirmed a progression of points of view depending on the stage of one’s practice.

Remember:~

The rituals mentioned in the karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the jnanakanda which is also part of the same scripture. While the karmakanda enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down rules for the same, the jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules the worshipper of deities as a dim-witted person no better than a beast.

This seems strange, the latter part of the Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals throughout with karma, while the second or concluding part is all about jnana. Owing to this difference, people have gone so far as to divide our scripture into two sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to mean the karmakanda and the Upanishads (Vedanta) to mean the jnanakanda.

Sage Sankara said:~Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many gods as you please, observe ceremonies, and sing devotional hymns, but liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness.

Sage Sage Sankara gave religious, rituals, and dogmatic instruction to the populace but pure philosophy 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 systematized the works of preceding philosophers Sage Sankara's system marks a turn from realism to idealism.   Sage Sage Sankara Advaita's ("non-dualism") interpretation of the shruti postulates the identity of the Self (Atman) and the Whole (Brahman).

According to Sage Sankara, the one unchanging entity (Brahman) alone is real while changing entities do not have absolute existence.

Sage Sankara pokes fun at ascetics and points out that all their austerities do not cause desires to go. (Altar Flowers" Page 205, v.2 P.207 v.4)

Sage Sankara:~ VC Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together (verses-6)

Liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality by means of wealth. (Verses -7)

Religious rites and rigid ceremonies were passed down from one generation to the next as a practice or set customs and tradition and performed automatically with blind faith. Such worship based on the belief of God does not reach God.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual are meant for the ignorant populace.

Belief in God without knowing God in actuality holds the worshiper more firmly in the grip of ignorance.

All worship and the ceremonies rituals performed on the base of non-~Vedic Gods will not yield any fruits. Deeper self-search reveals the fact that worshiped, the worship and worshiper, and the world are merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual formal observance have long since set in.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans or any other forms of ritual are meant for the ignorant populace. In the Atmic path, the seeker has to discard what is not needed to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual formal observance have long since set in.

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross The sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.

Sage Sankara pointed out those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less moksha. He asserted while the rewards of the rituals were not a matter of direct realization, wisdom which is the fruit of Vedanta is based on immediate and personal realization; one need not have to wait for the reward nor one be in doubt whether the reward would or would not come.

This was in sharp contrast to the position taken by Mimamsakas who asserted that rituals alone would lead one to higher levels of attainment. Further, the deities would reward only those entitled to perform the rituals alone. The entitlement involved the caste, creed, and other parameters.

Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices. However, the texts that combined rituals with wisdom (jnana_karma_samucchaya) more in favor of the Mimamsaka position came into vogue, projecting Sage Sankara as the rallying force of the doctrine. His followers might have found Sage Sankara’s mission a hard task and therefore compromised the liberating wisdom with the performance of rituals.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. - Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the Self has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies the ‘Self’ with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. -Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara:~ (11.1) This ignorance (mistaking the body for Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction, and thus a host of miseries(anartha). This anartha is caused by projecting karthvya(“doer” sense) and bhokthavya (object) on the Atman. Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person. -Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara:~ (11.2) In short, the person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sri, Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is Avidya, an error that can be removed by vidya. -Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara: ~ (12) Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman. -Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara: ~ Atman, the Self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body that is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The waking experience is a parallel dream and the dream is a parallel waking experience.+

Our individual life is nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. The individual life is a reality within the waking or dream.

The waking experience is a parallel dream and the dream is a parallel waking experience. From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, The three states are merely an illusion.

All three states are created out of single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Consciousness is the substance and witness of the illusion and it is hidden within the illusion and it is always apart from the illusion.

It is hidden within the illusion as its formless substance and it is apart from the illusion as its formless witness. In reality, the formless substance and witness are one in essence. Everything is consciousness. There is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.

Remember:~

The dream is an illusory experience. The dream body, dream ego, and dream world are merely experiences, which appeared and disappeared.

Likewise, the waking body, ego, and the waking world are also merely experiences, which appear and disappear the same way as the dream.

The dream entity is limited to a dream, and the waking entity is limited to a waking experience.

The one that witnesses, the three states, is formless, apart, and eternal. This has to be mentally grasped. What exists eternally is the Soul, which is in the form of consciousness.

The words are mere communication purposes. When one bases his understanding on the physical base then the word and thoughts continuously convey something.

When one’s understanding is firm with conviction that, the soul is the innermost self, then for him the words, thoughts, and experience are merely an illusion.

When one is fully aware of the fact that, the body and the world are merely an experience, and the author of the experience (body+world) is not physical, but the formless Soul (consciousness), then he is fully aware of the fact that ‘I’/YOU/ME and the world is merely an illusory experience.

The experience implies duality. The duality is falsehood from the ultimate standpoint.

Thus whatever is experienced on the base of ‘I’/YOU/ME is falsehood. One has to realize the fact that, the witness of the three states is not the waking entity but the formless soul.

From the standpoint of the Soul, the three states are merely an illusion. :~Santthosh Kumaar