Going to mountains, searching for guru, renouncing the family life, studying the scriptures ,glorifying the personal gods and gurus are the gretest obstical in the path of self-realization.

There is no need to go to  the mountains in search of  the truth. There is no need to meet any gurus. There is no need to renounce family life. There is no need to  study the scriptures. There is no need for glorifying the gurus.  There is need to spend the fortune to please the gurus.  Going to mountains, searching for guru, renouncing the family life, studying the scriptures ,glorifying the personal gods and gurus are the gretest obstical in  the path of   self-realization.

One need not be a monk , a  sanyasi  or swami to acquire Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana. Religious orthodoxy, scripturual mastery are not qulification to acquire Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana. Monkhood and sanyasa is a  gretest obsticale in pursuit of truth. 

Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatara belongs to religious paths. Religious path is path meant for ignorents who blindly accept their experience the birth,life,death and the world as reality, because  the universe is product of ignorance.

When wisdom dawns  then the unreal nature of the universe is exposed. Thus whatever experinces takes place within the universe is bound to be falsehood. Therefore,  the  Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatara nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because they are based on the false self (ego or waking entity) and false experience (waking). Path of wisdom is only for those who are seriously in search ultimate truth or Brahman. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana is mother of all knowledge thus it is not accumulated knowledge.

Katha Upanishad 1:3:6 “Through the knowledge of the Soul, God, one is pure and clean constantly.” Neither by reading the book, nor by taking a bath at holy place has one become pure. Inner purity is possible when one remains in constant touch with the Soul.

If one does not find the reflection of his self when he is standing in front of the mirror but he finds his body and the background world in the mirror.  The one which is conscious of the body and the experience of the world is not the body but the consciousness, which is the innermost self. 

The relationship and love, hate happiness and misery of the practical life within the practical world are not connected to the soul [formless consciousness] which is his true self. The true self is beyond form, time and space and beyond birth, life, death and world. 

Thus rest in consciousness by recognizing it as our inner most self, which is god.  And realize the practical life within the practical world is mere mirage created out of consciousness. Consciousness is ultimate truth and ultimate truth is God. 

Getting rid of the physical shackle is necessary to overcome the burden and bondage of the illusory samsara. Love and relationship seems reality in practical life within the practical world but they are mere illusion from ultimate standpoint.   Thus the game of life is the mere passing show.

Upanishads clearly declare:- 

Katha Upanishad 1:2:23 The Soul cannot be realized through hearing scholarly explanation of the discourses, not even by the intellect.

Katha Upanishad 1:3:6 “Through the knowledge of the Soul, God, one is pure and clean constantly.” Neither by reading the book, nor by taking a bath at holy place has one become pure. Inner purity is possible when one remains in constant touch with the Soul. Constant Soul-Consciousness is the real purity.

Kena Upanishad 2:4 When it is known through every state of cognition, it is rightly known, for (by such knowledge) one attains life eternal. Through one's own self one gains power and through wisdom one gains immortality.

Kena Upanishad 2:5 If here one knows it, then there is truth, and if here one knows it not, there is a great loss. Hence, seeing the Real in all beings, wise men become immortal on departing from this world.

 

Mundaka Upanishad 1:2:8 “Remaining in the fold of ignorance and thinking “we are extremely wise and learned,” the fools with boastful nature ramble about like the blind led by the blind alone.”

 

Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:3 “The weak and timid cannot realize the Self. Self-Realization is not possible through intellect or hearing spiritual discourse. One who welcomes God in every activity, through a thorough controlled and disciplined life, to him also the Soul is revealed." 

Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:3 The Soul cannot be realized by the weak and timid.

 

That is why Sri, Sankara says in Viveka Chudamani:- 

56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realisation of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means. 

58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

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?

62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utter the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realisation one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

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.

64. Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendour of the entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely saying, ‘I am an emperor’.

Until one knows the truth of his true existence, whatever he knows about god is mere belief. Belief   is individual whereas the ultimate truth is universal every belief system has its own idea of god thus there is no universality in the belief system.

It is the soul, which was in ignorance, experiences the duality as reality.

The soul is the innermost self. The soul is present in the form of consciousness.  It is the soul, which was in ignorance, experiences the duality as reality. When it wakes up to its own true nature there is neither the ego, nor body, nor the world remains as reality.  The soul alone remains in its own formless non-dual true nature, in   its  self - awareness.

The dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. Similarly the waking becomes unreal when wisdom dawns.  Limiting the consciousness to waking or dream (duality) is erroneous.  It was present even in deep sleep without the body and without the world (without waking or dream). If consciousness was no there is deep sleep than one will not say he had sound sleep in waking experience. Therefore perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ leads to nondual self-awareness in midst of duality. 

Perfect  understanding of ‘what is what’ leads to non-dual self-awareness in midst of duality.

For that one has to drop all the accumulated knowledge based on the ego (waking entity), which is the false self within the false experience (waking). And learn to view and judge the three states on the base of the formless soul or consciousness, the innermost self, because whatever based on the ego (waking entity) leads to intellectuality. 

Intellectuality is based on individuality. Individuality is falsehood because the self is not an individual because it is formless. The formless soul or consciousness pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states as their formless substance and witness. In the realm of truth the formless substance and witness are one in essence. The essence is consciousness. Thus consciousness alone is real and all else mere illusion because there is no second thing exist other than consciousness.

The universe in which we exist will not remain as reality when wisdom dawns.

By holding on to theories one remains in the realm of duality. One has to mentally go on dropping what is not truth through deeper self-search. Finally when one becomes aware of the fact that, his ego, his body and the world are one in essence  then there is self-awareness in the midst of duality.  In non-dual self-awareness, the ego is not considered as ego, even though the ego is present, the body is not considered as body even though body is present, the world which confronts him is not considered as world even though the world is present , the duality ceases even though  the duality  is present  because of wisdom everything is considered as consciousness. Thus there is conscious oneness.

When the self becomes aware of its formless non-dual nature it becomes empty of ignorance or illusion or duality or waking or dream.  Thus whatever remains empty of duality or ignorance or illusion is non-dual reality. Only through wisdom one becomes aware of the truth in the midst of duality.

 That is why "Sri, Sankara said: - Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation. -63- (VC)”

The universe in which we exist will not remain as reality when wisdom dawns. The universe is a mere mirage created out of consciousness and there is conscious awareness of unity in diversity because there is no second thing exist other than consciousness.

What is the use of WHO AM I? , inquiry when ‘I’ itself is an illusion.+

By limiting the mind or 'I'   to the waking entity is the main hurdle in pursuit of truth.  Therefore it is necessary for the seeker of truth to investigate ‘what is mind?’   in order to realize the mind or 'I' is not limited to ego or waking entity but ‘I’ is mind. The mind is present   in the form of the universe. And universe appears as waking or dream. 

 

When self is neither the waking entity (ego) nor 'I'    than 'WHO AM 'I'? Inquiry will not yield the full truth because it yields only the fallacy of the form, not time and space.

When one realizes the self is not ‘I’ but the self is the formless substance and the witness of the ‘I’, he is freed from the attachment to results and then whatever he does it detached work. Similarly, when he recognizes that consciousness is everywhere and in everything in all the three states than that very recognition leads to a total dissolution of the ignorance and leads to non-dual self-awareness. 

What is the use of  WHO AM I? , inquiry when ‘I’ itself is an illusion.:~Santthosh Kumaar