Sage Sankara says you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand?+

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

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as It is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described because description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is no distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.

No religious God can exist, apart from consciousness. 

People are not aware of the fact that there is no individual God can exist, apart from the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The Soul is the ‘Self’.

If there is no consciousness, then there is no physical body, no ego, no universe, no religion, and no conceptual God.

People think that there must be a creator of this universe. If one thinks physical entity or ego as ‘Self’, then there is a creator, but if one thinks of the Soul (consciousness) as the ‘Self’, then there is nothing that exists other than consciousness.

The religion, concept of individualized God, and scriptures are great obstacles to ‘Self’- realization, because, they are based on ego, which is the false ‘‘Self’’. Therefore, one has to search for the ultimate truth without losing himself’ in the labyrinths of philosophy, he should indulge in deeper, inquiry, analysis, and reasoning and assimilate and realize it.

The orthodox people think that Vedas as a final authority and they strictly follow the Vedas, but they are unaware of the fact that they themselves are indulging in worshipping the non-Vedic Gods, non-Vedic rituals, and activities which Vedas bars such activities.

As one goes deeper into the annals of history, it indicates the fact that somewhere someone has added the Puranas in the name of Veda Vyasa the grand Sage of Vedas. It is impossible to accept and believe that Veda Vyasa authored and introduced the Puranas which has all conceptual Gods because: ~

In Vedas, God has been described as: ~

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

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1:~ clearly mention that God is “One”. God is Atman.

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)

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~  God Supreme or Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. 

Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

The religion of the Veda knows no idols, then why so many Gods and Goddesses with different forms and names are being propagated as Vedic Gods. Why these conceptual Gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is free from form and attributes.

In Yajurveda says: ~

Translation 1.

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc.).

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti is intent." (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajurveda: 40.9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that: ~

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc (Yajurveda 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajurveda 40:9.)

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

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “The masses in India cry to sixty million gods, and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods?

Knowing this, stand up and fight! Not one step back that is the idea. ... Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the sphere! Let the whole world stand against us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards. ... Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune. You have cried to all the gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods? ... The Gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? Die game. ... This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, my Soul. You are infinite, deathless, birthless. Because you are the infinite spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. You are the entire world. Who can help you? ~ Swami Vivekananda (Delivered In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900) -The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Lectures And Discourses/The Gita II

Meher Baba said:~ To love God as he ought to be loved, we must live for God and die for God, knowing that the goal of life is to know God and find God as the ‘Self’’. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

There is no need to search for the truth. Sage Sankara already declared ‘what is truth and what is untruth 1200 years back.+

Mentally discriminate between the real and unreal.

Remember this,

You are born, live, and die in this world in which you exist. Your individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world is the dualistic illusion or Maya because the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of Consciousness.

Mentally hold on to the Soul drop the dualistic illusion or Maya by realizing the dualistic illusion is nothing but Soul, which is present in the form of Consciousness.

When your conviction about the Soul becomes firm you will realize the world in which you exist is nothing but Consciousness.

It is necessary to reflect on the same truth again and again till it becomes reality. One needs to constantly reflect on the subject until he gets a firm conviction of what is what. The words are needed until one gets a firm conviction of ‘what is what’.

People need reading and hearing the words of wisdom to think reason and reflect deeply and reach the ultimate end.

There is no need to search for the truth. Sage Sankara already declared ‘what is truth and what is untruth 1200 years back.

Sage Sankara said ~ “Atman is Brahman ~ “That is the Soul is the ultimate reality.

Sage Sankara said ~ “The world is an illusion ~ that is the world in which you exist is an illusion.

Mentally hold on to the real and discard the unreal by realizing the world in which you exist is nothing but an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of Consciousness. The Soul, which is present in the form of Consciousness is the ultimate reality. Whatever existed as the illusion is nothing but Consciousness.

Remember this, the ‘‘Self’’ not you but the ‘‘Self’’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of Consciousness.

If the ‘‘Self’ is not you then the world in which you exist is nothing to do with the ‘Self’. The world in which you exist is a reality till you hold the ‘‘Self’’ as the ‘I’.

On the standpoint of the Soul, the ‘Self’, the world in which you exist is an illusion.

You have to mentally discard the ‘I’, which is an illusion.

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

To get Advaitic Gnana: ~

The seeker must First: Realize the truth ~ that the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness is the only reality and the world in which he exists is an illusion.

Second: Soulcentric reasoning from all points of view.

Third: giving up all further argumentation based on the ‘I’ and realizing the truth, which is hidden by the ‘I’.

This realization comes from being certain that the Soul alone is real and the ‘I’ is unreal.

Stick to the truth.

If one wants to acquire Atma Gnana or Brahma Gnana or Self’- Knowledge or knowledge of consciousness, one has to drop all ritualistic and orthodox baggage to move forward in their pursuit of truth.

We have to grow from the inside out. None can teach us, none can make us spiritual. There is no other guru but our own Soul.”

Self’-knowledge or Atma Gnana or Brahma Gnana cannot be attained by one who is without strength or earnestness or without the receptiveness and courage to accept the truth and reject the untruth.

If a serious seeker strives sincerely by means of inquiry, analysis, and Soul-centric reasoning, he will be able to realize it.

It is only seekers sincerity and earnestness in his spiritual pursuit, the knowledge started revealing on its own. Anyone who has humility and patience and is sincere and ready to drop their accumulated dross and receptive to accept the truth will enter non-dual ‘‘Self’’-Awareness when his conviction becomes firm. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara proved the existence of God by declaring ~ Atman is the only one ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.+

The proof of God’s existence is not possible without knowing what God is supposed to be in actuality. God is existence itself.

Sage Sankara is the only proved the existence of God on the Vedic perspective and also proved the existence of God rationally.

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 Shruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason.

When Sage Sankara says Brahman or God is impersonal and attributeless then why worship God with form, names, and attributes.

God and Goddess are religious concepts. Whatever seen, known, believed, and experienced as a person within the dualistic illusion (world) is a falsehood.

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman (God) is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman (God) cannot be described because description implies a distinction. Brahman (God) cannot be distinguished from any other than it. In Brahman (God), there is no distinction of substance and attribute. Awareness constitutes the very essence or the true nature of Brahman (God), and not just its attributes. The attributeless Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.

When Sage Sankara says Atman is Brahman or God then why believe and accept anything as God other than the Atman. Vedas say May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?

~ Then, why worship non-Vedic Gods in place of Atman, the real God. Self-realization is truth- realization. Truth- realization is God-realization and God-realization is real worship.

Lord Krishna Says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Self in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God. One must realize the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.

Religious Gods are based on blind faith or belief. Religious God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul, the ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, it means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence.

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 present in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Sage Sankara is the only Sage who proved the existence of God by declaring ~ Atman is the only one ultimate reality or Brahman. Brahman is God in truth.

Atman is Brahman. The Atman is the Self is non-dual because there is no second thing that exists other than the Atman. Atman is present in the form of Consciousness. Consciousness is the only true reality, and everything else, which appears as form, time, and space is merely an illusion.

Advaita means the Soul, the Self, which is second to none. The Soul, which is present in the form of the Spirit or Consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. Advaita is the nature of the God, the Self. Advaita is God. Advaita is the fullness of Consciousness.

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

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 God other than Consciousness.

The Soul, the God which is present in the form of Consciousness, is real and eternal. The world in which we exist is an illusion created out of Consciousness.

God is beyond is hidden by the physical existence. God can never be proved, through intellectual argument but God can be realized by greeting rid of ignorance. Only by acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana getting rid of ignorance is possible. : ~Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices.+

Detachment from the illusory attachment of form, time, and space is impossible without Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the populace, but pure 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.

One of Sage Sankara’s missions was to wean people away from the ritualistic approach advocated by Mimamsakas and to project wisdom (jnana) as the means of liberation in the light of Upanishad teachings. 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.

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.

How can you worship the Absolute? That implies two ~ the worshiper and the worshiped, whereas the Absolute is nondual. One can worship his idea of the Absolute only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as apart.

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 in truth.

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 the 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 rituals formal observance has 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

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

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 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, a person w-Adhyasa Bhashyaho engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage 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.

Arguing with religious believers is fruitless.

Belief in tradition and the scripture as if they were true or factual quite clearly is a delusion, but the payoff for holding such delusions is, for those who hold them, extremely compelling ~ the avoidance of the "wrath of God," the hope of heaven or salvation, or the imagined "end of suffering."

"God" exists because the ‘Self’ exists, not vice versa. When awake to true nature then this is known immediately.

That is why Sage Sankara:~ VC- 61- For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

Ignorance is the cause of experiencing the world in which we exist as a reality. When you realize the ‘Self’ is you but the ‘Self ‘is the Soul then you will realize the world in which you exist is an illusion.

Whatever is not happening is happening within the dualistic illusion. All your happiness and sorrow are a reality within the illusion.

Ignorance is the cause of experiencing the illusion as a reality. Thus, eradicating ignorance is necessary to realize the truth hidden by the illusory world in which you exist. And this is possible only through Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

There is no other road to freedom other than Advaitic Gnana. There is no other entrance other than except Advaitic Gnana. Ignorance will vanish only when the Advaitic Gnana dawns.

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, Advaita 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). ~Santthosh Kumaar

Advaita propagated by Sage Sankara is pure spirituality. Advaita is nothing to do with non-Vedic Advaitic orthodoxy.+

Sage Sankara was the Vedic Sage of universal order projecting him as a non-Vedic Guru is a great error.

Religious people attach the word Dharma to religion. But in the spiritual context, the Dharma is the Atman, the Self.

In Tattireya Upanishad:~ "satyaM vada. dharmaM cara ." Speak the truth, practice dharma. Now if you want to practice dharma, you should first know what it means. (1.11.1)

The word, “dharma “is found in the karikas, which means Atma in Advaita Vedanta.

Advaita is the nature of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Sage Sankara belongs to the whole of humanity his Advaitic wisdom is nothing to with religion and yoga because it is pure spirituality.

The Vedic truth is the pure spiritual truth. The essence of the Vedas is pure spirituality. Advaita propagated by Sage Sankara is pure spirituality. Advaita is nothing to do with non-~Vedic Advaitic orthodoxy, which is meant for the ignorant populace.

Sage Sankara himself declares: Ataman is Brahman (God) then why to accept anything else as God other than Atman.

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

This clearly indicates the nature of the ‘Self’, which is the Soul. Thus, the Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

When the Soul is the ultimate truth or God why indulge in worshiping the belief individualized God, which is not God.

The Hindu belief system which came into existence after the 2nd century is nothing to do with the Vedas and Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

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

Understanding what is God is not so easy. Religious people can only imagine God based on their beliefs.

Vedic God is Atman. The God is the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’. God becomes the universe in waking and the universe becomes God in deep sleep. The universe is nothing but an illusion created out of God in truth.

When you realize the ‘Self’ not but the ‘‘Self’’ is the Soul, God then there is no second thing that exists other than God, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Advaitic truth is very easy but it is most difficult to assimilate because of the inherited beliefs and accumulated knowledge.

Without dropping all the inherited beliefs and accumulated knowledge which is based on the illusory form, time, and space it is difficult to understand and assimilate the knowledge of the formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

If you have the courage of Bhagavan Buddha, who dropped religion, Vedas, and the concept of God then only you are fit to acquire ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

That is why Sage Sankara:~ VC-61- For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

VC- v6~ 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

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be experienced. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by subtle arguments.

Only when you realize God in truth you will realize the universe is nothing but God because the universe is an illusion created out of God the Consciousness.

Advaita is Science of the Soul, which is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Sage Sankara’s wisdom is the universal truth and ultimate truth par excellence.

Advaita does not belong to any particular religion. It is not philosophy but Advaita is the truth of our true existence.

Advaita is the Science of Truth; the Atmic path is the path of spiritual liberation par excellence, wide and deep as the ocean which contains virtually all the water of the world and in which all particular forms ultimately dissolve.

Advaita is the Science of the Soul, which is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Sage Sankara’s wisdom is the universal truth and ultimate truth par excellence.

The Advaita is the Soul ~ the One without A Second. 

Advaita is the nature of the Soul. The Advaita is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness itself. The Advaita is the spiritual heart. The Advaita is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny the Advaita because It is the very essence of the one who denies It. The Advaita is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs.

Advaita is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara:- All names and forms are real when seen with the Brahman (Soul) but are false when seen independent of Brahman.+

 

Yoga Vasistha: ~ “Even as particles of sand floating in water settle down when the water is absolutely steady, the mind of the man who has gained the knowledge of truth settles down in total peace.

Yoga Vasistha: ~ “The sun and the worlds become non-objects of perception, to those who have gone beyond the realm of objective perception and knowledge, even as lamps lose their luminosity while the mid-day sun shines.

From the standpoint of the formless Soul, the ‘Self’, the effect is non-different from the cause. However, in the realm of duality cause is different from the effect. The non-difference of the effect from the cause has to be grasped perfectly to realize from the ultimate standpoint there is neither the cause nor the effect because the cause and effect are one, in essence. That essence is consciousness.

Sage Sankara says:~ If the cause is destroyed, the effect will no longer exist. For example, if from the effect, cotton cloth, the cause, threads, are removed, there will be no cloth, i.e., the cloth is destroyed. Similarly if in the effect, thread, the cause, cotton, is removed, there will be no thread, i.e., the thread is destroyed. (Brahmasūtra Bhashya, commentary on the Brahma-sutra- (9) 2.1.9)

Despite the non-difference of cause and effect, the effect has its ‘Self’ in the cause but not the cause in the effect. The effect is of the nature of the cause and not the cause, the nature of the effect. Therefore the qualities of the effect cannot touch the cause because the cause and effect are present only when the duality is present.

The duality is present only when there is an illusion. The illusion is there only when there is ignorance. When there is no ignorance then there is no illusion. When there is no illusion then there is no duality. When there is no duality then there is no cause and effect. When there is no cause and effect then there is the non-dualistic reality.

Sage Sankara says:~ During the time of its existence, one can easily grasp that the effect is not different from the cause. However that the cause is different from the effect that is not readily understood. As to this, it is not possible to separate cause from effect. But this is possible by imagining so. For example, the reflection of the gold ornament seen in the mirror is only the form of the ornament but is not the ornament itself as it (the reflection) has no gold in it at all. All names and forms are real when seen with the Brahman but are false when seen independent of Brahman (Soul). This way the seeker of truth establishes the non-difference of the effect from the cause.

In the context of Advaita Vedanta: ~ Jagat (the world) is not different from Brahman (Soul); however, Brahman (Soul) 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 innermost ‘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 has to be dedicated to acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana alone.'

A Gnani will easily appreciate the high flights of Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is one of the 'most majestic structures and valuable products of the Genius of man in his search for Truth.

The ‘Self ‘ is not the ‘I’. the 'Self' is not within the body. The ‘Self is hidden by the ‘I’. the ‘I’ is ignorance. the ‘I’ is an illusion.

Remember:~

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

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 in order to realize the truth, which is hidden by the illusory 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, which is Brahman or God in truth.

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.

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