Religious truth is individual truth; it is nothing to do with the Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana

Religious truth is individual truth; it is nothing to do with the Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana. I quoted them because all the religious scriptures also direct to the self alone. There are lots of add-ons to the scriptures by the orthodoxy in the past, and the real spiritual essence is lost. People are not aware of the fact that, there is no God can exist, apart from consciousness, which is innermost self. If there is no consciousness, then there is no body, no world and no belief of god. They simply assume that there must be a creator of this universe. If one thinks body or ego as self, then there is a creator, but if one thinks the soul as the true Self, then there is nothing exists other than the soul, which is in the form of consciousness.

If one objectifies and sees a universe, then he is bound to see many things beside himself and postulate a God, the creator. Body, idea of God and world rise together and set together from, and into, the formless consciousness, which is the innermost Self. If God is apart from the consciousness, then He would be Self-less, that is, outside existence, that is, non-existent.

If one thinks: "I know ‘SELF well" then surely he knows but little of its form; he knows only its form as conditioned by man or by the concept of some philosophy.

If one thinks: "I know ‘SELF well" then surely he knows but little of its form; he knows only its form as conditioned by man or by the concept of some philosophy. Therefore ‘Self’ has to be grasped through deeper self-search because self is prior to form, time and space because it is formless, timeless and space-less existence.

‘SELF’ is not known by those who know it; it is known by those who do not know it. That is when one says he knows ‘SELF; he is saying it as a person. The ‘SELF’ cannot be applied only to the individuality but to the whole experience [three states]. But in reality the person and world created out of consciousness the innermost self, thus nothing exits other than consciousness. Thus if one says he has realized the ‘SELF’ as a person, he is making a wrong statement. One must know consciousness, which the innermost self, as the formless clay of the three states [whole].

Consciousness the inner most self is known when it is realized in every state of mind; for by such Knowledge one attains Immortality. By consciousness one obtains strength; by self- Knowledge, Immortality.

If a man knows the innermost self is consciousness in the midst of duality [waking], he then attains the non dual goal of his mission within the illusion. If he does not know it in the waking experience, than he remains ignorance experiencing the cycle of birth, life and death as reality. Having realized the Self in everything and everywhere in all the three states, the Gnani relinquish the world and becomes mentally immortal before his physical death.

Ramana Maharshi & Parmahansa Yogananda

Ramana Maharshi & Parmahansa Yogananda 

29th November, 1935 

Talk 106. 

Swami Yogananda with four others arrived at 8.45 a.m. He looks big, but gentle and well-groomed. He has dark flowing hair, hanging over his shoulders. The group had lunch in the Asramam.

Mr. C. R. Wright, his secretary, asked: How shall I realise God? 

Maharshi: God is an unknown entity. Moreover He is external. Whereas, the Self is always with you and it is you. Why do you leave out what is intimate and go in for what is external?

D.: What is this Self again? 

Maharshi: The Self is known to everyone but not clearly. You always exist. The Be-ing is the Self. `I am' is the name of God. Of all the definitions of God, none is indeed so well put as the Biblical statement "I AM THAT I AM" in EXODUS (Chap. 3). There are other statements, such as Brahmaivaham, Aham Brahmasmi and Soham [?]. But none is so direct as the name JEHOVAH = I AM. The Absolute Being is what is - It is the Self. It is God. Knowing the Self, God is known. In fact God is none other than the Self.

D.: Why are there good and evil? 

Maharshi: They are relative terms. There must be a subject to know the good and evil. That subject is the ego. Trace the source of the ego. It ends in the Self. The source of the ego is God. This definition of God is probably more concrete and better understood by you.

D.: So it is. How to get Bliss? 

Maharshi: Bliss is not something to be got. On the other hand you are always Bliss. This desire is born of the sense of incompleteness. To whom is this sense of incompleteness? Enquire. In deep sleep you were blissful: Now you are not so. What has interposed between that Bliss and this non-bliss? It is the ego. Seek its source and find you are Bliss. There is nothing new to get. You have, on the other hand, to get rid of your ignorance which makes you think that you are other than Bliss. For whom is this ignorance? It is to the ego. Trace the source of the ego. Then the ego is lost and Bliss remains over. It is eternal. You are That, here and now ... That is the master key for solving all doubts. The doubts arise in the mind. The mind is born of the ego. The ego rises from the Self. Search the source of the ego and the Self is revealed. That alone remains. The universe is only expanded Self. It is not different from the Self.

D.: What is the best way of living? 

Maharshi: It differs according as one is a Jnani [?] or ajnani [?]. A Jnani does not find anything different or separate from the Self. All are in the Self. It is wrong to imagine that there is the world, that there is a body in it and that you dwell in the body. If the Truth is known, the universe and what is beyond it will be found to be only in the Self. The outlook differs according to the sight of the person. The sight is from the eye. The eye must be located somewhere. If you are seeing with the gross eyes you find others gross. If with subtle eyes (i.e., the mind) others appear subtle. If the eye becomes the Self, the Self being infinite, the eye is infinite. There is nothing else to see different from the Self. 

He thanked Maharshi. He was told that the best way of thanking is to remain always as the Self.

Advaitic essence is hidden within the illusion therefore it cannot be got without the inner (mental) journey.

Yoga, Silence, meditation, rituals and devotion are based on the false self and false experience does not yield truth one seeking for, because the truth is beyond false self (ego) and false experience (universe). Mysticism is based on individual experience. The self is not individual because the self, which s in the form of consciousness, pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states. Blind beliefs without verification and argument and interpretation on the base of false self are not verified knowledge therefore it is not truth.

 One has to go beyond Vedas means go beyond religion. Go beyond religion means, go beyond concept of god.  Thus, going beyond Veda, religion and conceptual god means going beyond illusion.   That is end of Vedas (Veda –antha) .

Sage Sri, Sankara declared: - the world is myth and Brahman alone is real then why to worship the Guru and Gods based on the ego, which is false self within the false world.

 All the karmas performed by the orthodoxy are non-Vedic and barred by Vedas. That is why Veda bars such worships and people who indulge in such activities will suffer and sink into darkness.  And Upanishads says self-realization is the human goal. Therefore, one has to strive only for self-realization or truth realization.     

The yogi and mystics they are based on the conceptual religion, conceptual gods and scriptural authority which are based on the ‘I’ which is false self. People too are not aware of the fact, they do not think beyond the experience of the three states. Therefore, it is very much necessary to verify the facts before proceeding in pursuit of truth, to know whether self is a physical body (waking entity)  or  the soul, the innermost self.

What is it that witnesses the dreams without the physical body?  If the dream is witnessed without the physical body (waking entity or ‘ego’) then what is it that is aware which is not the physical body. Therefore, there must be a formless witness of the dream.   This formless witness is the same witness that that witnesses the waking and deep sleep. Therefore the three states are witnessed by one and only formless witness. 

The three states merge into the mental state, in the sense that when it is analyzed, it is found to exist inseparably in and as the mind alone. All "spiritual" planes are mental: people who regard them as reality are deceiving themselves. 

Yogic or religious truth is individual truth, not universal.  The mystics cannot claim that they have experienced the whole.  There is no proof they have seen it, because the whole is not an individual experience. The man and the world are within the whole.

The Yogi or mystic who sees or experiences something in his meditation, which he takes as the highest is mere individual experience, within the false experience (waking) “whatever is based on individuality is not the ultimate truth or Reality.

 If they say, “they know from experience” they merely assume so.” mystic experience is based on ego thus it is part of the illusion. Self realization is not an individual experience.  The yoga and mysticism are individualized truth. Since they consider the ‘I’ as self they cannot know the Universal self  or  Atman . the Atman is the ultimate truth or Brahman  Atman is present in the form of consciousness.

Sri, Sankara says Atman is Brahman and everything is Brahman is scientific declaration not religious or yogic. Sri, Sankara and Goudpada are more scientific than anyone else in the world. Since, the real Advaitic essence is hidden within the illusion therefore  it cannot be got without the inner (mental) journey.