Ignorance.+

Ignorance:~

Just as a piece of rope is imagined to be a snake in the semi-darkness and an oyster to be a piece of silver so is the Soul determined to be the body by an ignorant person. 

The world in which we exist is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

 The Soul is ‘One’ without parts, whereas the body has many parts, yet people see these two as One! What else can be called ignorance but this? Knowledge destroys ignorance, as light destroys darkness.

When ignorance is destroyed, the Soul, the ' Self’ truly reveals itself, like the Sun when the clouds are removed. The destruction of ignorance is liberation. Darkness cannot remove darkness.

Advaitic wisdom being incompatible with ignorance puts it to flight. The ignorant long for results and engage in action with the idea of doer-ship and enjoyment.

The ignorant are deluded and think, 'I act', 'I cause others to act', 'I enjoy', and so on. The illusion is the power of the Soul, the ‘Self’.    The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.  

The world in which we exist is created out of consciousness. Consciousness alone is real and the world in which we exist is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

The reality of Illusion can be exposed by getting rid of ignorance. Ignorance vanishes when Advairic wisdom dawns. 

Advaitic Wisdom dawns when you realize that consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Consciousness is the One without the second. 

Ignorance is the cause of the bondage of the dualistic illusion. The world in which we exist is by nature consciousness itself. It is due to ignorance the illusion is experienced as a reality. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Consciously becoming aware of the Soul in the midst of diversity (waking) is Self- awareness or Brahmic awareness.+

It is very much necessary for the seekers of truth who are searching for truth to realize the truth they are seeking is not found in the domain of form, time, and space. 

The Self is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. Limiting the Self to the domain of form, time and space is a great error. 

‘I’ represents the mind. 

‘I’ represents form, time, and space.

‘I’ represents the universe.

‘I’ represents waking or dream.

‘I’ represents duality.

‘I’ represents the individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

‘I’ represent illusion.

‘I’ represents ignorance. 

 But remember;~

Without the ‘I’ there is no mind.

Without the ‘I’ there is no form, time, and space.

Without the ‘I’ there is no universe.

Without the ‘I’ there is no waking or dream.

Without the ‘I’ there is no duality.

Without the ‘I’ there is no individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

Without the ‘I’ there is no illusion.

Without the ‘I’ there is no ignorance. 

Remember ~ 

When ‘I’ disappears there is nonduality.

Nonduality is the fullness of the consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space. 

The fullness of consciousness means unity in diversity. 

Unity in diversity in consciousness is Advaita. 

Consciously becoming aware of the Soul in the midst of diversity (waking) is Self-awareness or Brahmic awareness. 

If you desire Self-realization, but you still say "I,” and if you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, you are not a wise seeker. You are simply ignorant. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

You, your thoughts and the world in which you exists is nothing to do with the Soul, the Self. Holding the Self as you is an error.+

You, your thoughts, and the world in which you exist have nothing to do with the Soul, the Self. Holding the Self as you is an error.

Remember: ~

Thinker, thoughts, and the world in which the thinker exists have nothing to do with the Soul, the Self, which is hidden by ignorance.  

Those who think by ensuring to whom the thoughts come will not be able to realize the ‘Self’ because they are thinking the ‘Self is within their body. 

The ‘Self’ is not within the body but it is hidden by the dualistic illusion (world). 

Thoughts and thinker and the world the thinker exists belong to the dualistic illusion. Without form, time, and space the thoughts will not form. 

Thoughts come to the thinker. The thinker is an individual whereas the ‘Self is not an individual. The source of the thoughts is the ego. 

Without the ego, the thoughts will not rise. Thoughts and thinker and the world the thinker exists is nothing to do with the Soul, the ‘Self, which is hidden by the dualistic illusion (I). 

You are the thinker.  The thoughts come to you.  You are bound by form, time, and space whereas the Soul the  Self is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.  

The thoughts will not rise in the domain of the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’ because it is the ever-formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

The thoughts come to the thinker within the dualistic illusion.  Without the illusion, the thinker, thoughts, and the world in which the thinker exists cease to exist.

Therefore, just by finding out to whom the thoughts come? Who is the knower? it is impossible to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. 

A perfect understanding of ‘what is what' is what is very much necessary to cross the threshold of the dualistic illusion.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The world in which we exist (waking) is a merely a superimposition like seeing a snake superimposed on a rope on a dark night.+

The Soul the Self has no attributes. Hence, the person who superimposes attributes on the changeless, eternal Soul, the  Self, and identifies the Self with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. 

The Soul the ‘Self’ is the One without a second. There is not the least shadow of multiplicity in the realm of the Soul which is present in the form of  consciousness."

A person, seeing a rope in dim light, mistakes it for a snake. He is as much frightened as he would have been if there had been a real snake there.  The snake is said to have an ‘illusory reality’.  

The illusory snake is described as a superimposition on the rope. The snake is not real, because, it is found on examination with a light that it never existed there. At the same time, it was experienced as a reality till ignorance prevailed. Similarly, this waking experience is experienced as reality till wisdom dawns.  

On the dawn of Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, it is known to have no existence apart from consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

The waking experience is therefore said to be superimposed on consciousness same way as the dream is superimposed on the consciousness.  The waking experience is a practical reality because it is real until the attainment of Self-realisation.  

Consciousness alone has absolute reality; because it is absolutely changeless because it is a formless timeless and spaceless existence.    

 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 are to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverse arguments

Remember:~
1. 

The waking experience which is referred to as the witnessed and the formless Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness, referred to as the witness of the witnessed are wrongly looked upon by every one of us as equally real, though the waking experience has no reality in the absolute sense.

 The Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness is ultimate reality or Brahman. The waking experience appears to be real in the same manner as when a rope is mistaken for a snake, the illusory snake appears to be real.  

The snake is said to be superimposed on the rope. The body and the world are within the waking experience. The waking experience is an object and the formless Soul or consciousness is the subject.

All three states are an object to the formless Soul or consciousness which is the subject.  One finds the object and the subject are of different natures. Their relationship is of the form of superimposition of each on the other as also of their qualities, as a consequence of the absence of discrimination between the real nature of the witnessed and the witness of the witnessed. 

This is like the association of a rope, nacre, etc., with the superimposed snake, silver, etc, owing to the absence of discrimination between them. The association of the witnessed and the witness of the witnessed in the form of superimposition is described as false knowledge.    

After having known the distinction between, and the nature of, the witnessed and the witness of the witnessed one becomes aware of the fact that the witness and witnessed are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness.  Thus, from the ultimate standpoint, there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness, hence it is non-dual.

He who realizes the witness of the witnessed is one in essence and who has the firm conviction realizes the three states are unreal. Though the three states appear as real at the dawn of non-dualistic knowledge their unreal nature is exposed.  

Remember:~

2

The world in which we exist (waking) is merely a superimposition like seeing a snake superimposed on a rope on a dark night.

The snake has no independent existence, apart from the rope, it exists because of the rope, and it ceases to exist as soon as light is brought. The snake then dissolves into the rope. In the same way, when the Soul remains in its own awareness, the mind (I)   merges into it.  

The mind and Soul are one in essence. To attain this knowledge is the goal of the truth seeker. The three states then cannot taint the Soul, the Self.

Thus, Gnani’s contact with it is merely like that of a piece of sandalwood, which has long been underwater and has thereby come to acquire a bad odor. For a while, the fragrance of the sandalwood has been suppressed and the bad odor prevails. However, if the sandalwood is rubbed a little, the bad odor disappears and the natural fragrance of the sandalwood becomes predominant.

Similarly, the Soul, the  Self’s attachment to the three states is temporary. It cannot be permanent. Think of the Self as the Soul or consciousness. 

When one thinks intensely and constantly in this way, the attachment to the three states will then go.

 One can attain the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana by the practice of renunciation of the three states. 

One has to keep reminding himself that the three states, with all its allurements, are not real, that is, it is not real in the sense that it is transitory. 

Only the formless Soul is real because it is imperishable. One must mentally renounce these three states and concentrate on the Soul, the Self. 

Seeker of truth should never run after ephemeral things. Never become attached to the three ephemeral states.

To one who knows the fact that these three states are transitory, the world is not the world and any form of sense of pleasure is repugnant. 

The seeker of truth must be concerned only with the Soul, the Self, and become steeped in the Soul. The Soul alone is real and the Self is that Soul. The Soul is in the form of consciousness and becomes oblivious to everything else. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

People speak of getting rid of the conditioning or samskara but they themselves are unaware of the fact that, the universe in which they exist is the product of the inborn samskara or the conditioning.+

People speak of getting rid of the conditioning or samskara but they are unaware that the universe in which they exist is the product of the inborn samskara or the conditioning.  Ignorance is the cause of the inborn samskara or the conditioning, which presents as the ‘I’ or ‘I AM’. 

Because of this inborn conditioning or samskara which is present in the form of  ‘I’ is there one thinks he is an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to him he is born in it, afterward.

Until you hold the Self as ‘I AM one remain in the Grip of individuality.   Individuality is the product of ignorance.

The world in which we exist (waking) is a mere superimposition like seeing a snake superimposed on a rope on a dark night.

The snake has no independent existence, apart from the rope, it exists because of the rope, and it ceases to exist as soon as light is brought. The snake then dissolves into the rope. In the same way, when the Soul remains in its own awareness, the mind (I)    merges into it.  

The mind and Soul are one in essence. To attain this knowledge is the goal of the truth seeker. The three states then cannot taint the Soul, the Self.

Thus, Gnani’s contact with it is merely like that of a piece of sandalwood, which has long been underwater and has thereby come to acquire a bad odor. For a while, the fragrance of the sandalwood has been suppressed and the bad odor prevails. However, if the sandalwood is rubbed a little, the bad odor disappears and the natural fragrance of the sandalwood becomes predominant.

Similarly, the Soul, the innermost Self’s attachment to the three states is temporary. It cannot be permanent. Think of the Self as the Soul or consciousness. 

When one thinks intensely and constantly in this way, the attachment to the three states will then go.

One can attain the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana by the practice of renunciation of the three states. One has to keep reminding himself that the three states, with all its allurements, are not real, that is, it is not real in the sense that it is transitory. 

Only the formless Soul is real because it is imperishable. One must mentally renounce these three states and concentrate on the Soul, the  Self. 

A seeker of truth should never run after ephemeral things. Never become attached to the three ephemeral states.

To one who knows the fact that these three states are transitory, the world is not the world and any form of sense of pleasure is repugnant. 

The seeker of truth must be concerned only with the Soul, the Self, becoming steeped in the Soul. 

The Soul alone is real and the Self is that Soul. The Soul is in the form of consciousness and becomes oblivious to everything else. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Renouncing the worldly life and accepting sanyasa or monk-hood means the incapacity to think deeper, impotency to inquire and reason.+

Renouncing the worldly life and accepting sanyasa or monkhood means the incapacity to think deeper, and the impotency to inquire and reason.

The idea of following the Gurus and their teaching belongs to religion or yoga, not spirituality. In the path of wisdom, there is no need for any Guru or any teaching.

The seeker of truth must know the idea of becoming a sanyasi or a monk belongs to religion, not spirituality. Spirituality is based on the Soul, the Spirit, which is hidden by ignorance. The religion is based on ignorance.

Mixing religion with spirituality is like mixing oil in the water. Religion belongs to the dualistic illusion and religion has nothing to do with the spiritual truth hidden by ignorance.

By renouncing the worldly life and accepting sanyasa or monkhood the ignorance will not vanish.

By renouncing worldly life and accepting sanyasa or monkhood, ignorance will be more and more deep-rooted.

Sticking to physical Gurus and their teachings are sticking to ignorance. By sticking to physical Guru and their teaching blocks you from transcending the dualistic illusion to nondualistic reality.

People believe that a Guru or mystic or priest has so many followers and therefore there must be some truth in their teaching, this is a common fallacy accepted by the masses due to their inherited conditioning. It proves only an ignorant can find a number of greater ignorant to follow him.

Gurus, Swamis, Yogis, the Sadhu, belong to religious and yogic paths. Guru, Swami, Yogi, and Sadhu, are nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. Gurus, Swamis, Yogis, and Sadhus are based on the false Self (ego), and false experience (waking).

If you are trying to become a Guru or Monk then you are unfit to acquire Self-knowledge. Someone posing as a Gnani, because he is some Gurus’ direct disciple cannot be a Gnani. 

Those who pose themselves as Gnanis are not Gnanis. A Gnani never poses himself as a Guru, a swami, a Sadhu or a yogi, or some Guru’s disciple.

Different Gurus and teachers are pointing out the understanding of the Advaitic truth from different standpoints. All such understanding of Advaita is on a dualistic perspective accumulated from here and there.

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."

Sage  Sankara: ~ A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man”.

Thus, it proves that the religious gurus and yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people.

A Gnani never claims himself as a Gnani, he guides the seekers, not posing himself as a Guru, and he does not force his wisdom on others.

Advaita is not a theory or a philosophy. Advaita is the nature of the Soul the innermost Self. There is no need for any theory philosophy or scriptures to acquire Self-knowledge. Only a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is needed.

Sage  Sankara:~ 'Like a servant who carries a lamp in front of you to find your way, and you have found it, so becomes the Veda to that person. What is the Veda? ~ utterances of those who have known the Truth. Here is one who has known the Truth; why should he or she depend upon the Veda further? Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, books become a botheration. The Upanishad itself says that the 'words are only so much of distraction for such minds'

Buddha: ~ Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. 

You need not become a Guru or a monk to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. You have not to renounce the world or to leave anything ~ your wife, children, job, responsibilities. You do not have to renounce anything! The only thing you have to realize is the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space by realizing that form, time, and space are the product of ignorance. When the ignorance vanishes, the unreality of the form, time, and space are exposed.

Upanishad says:~ "He who thinks he knows, does not know." This means that to know anything implies a second, an object of knowledge, hence duality, i.e. no Gnana.

Tripura Rahasya: ~ Second-hand knowledge of the Self-gathered from books or Gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied; the only direct realization will do that. Realize yourself, turning the mind inward. (18: 89).

To acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana there is no Guru required. 

The seeker has to grow from the inside out. None can teach him none can make him spiritual. There is no other teacher but his own Soul.

In the path of wisdom, there is no need to follow anyone. The one who calls himself a Guru and the one who calls himself some Guru’s disciple will never be able to cross the threshold of dualistic illusion.

All these experiences as a father, son, Guru, and pupil along with the world in which they all exist were one and the same consciousness appearing differently. All these distinctions disappear when one realizes the ultimate truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sri, Sankara means Advaita and Advaita means Sage Sri, Sankara. *****

Sri Swami Vivekananda: ~ “Advaita encompasses everything. Since Advaita requires heavy-duty intellectualism, it had to be progressively simplified.

  

Swami Vivekananda aptly described Sage Sri, Sankara’s Advaita as the fairest flower of philosophy that any country in any age has produced.

The Advaitic truth is a rational or scientific truth declared by Bhagwan Buddha and Sage Sri,Sankara centuries back, but unfortunately, the original essence of the rational Advaita is lost mainly, because of orthodox adulteration and add-ons, which are based on the ego (waking entity), which is the false self within the false experience (waking).

The seeker has to first indulge in deeper self-search without scriptures and understand assimilate the Advaitic truth, which leads to self-awareness. Thus, soulcentric thinking, reasoning, and judgment are very much necessary in pursuit of truth.

Sage Sri, Gaudapada:~ The non-dual Atman is realized when the individual self (jiva) is awakened from its ignorance. Atman is unborn, dreamless, sleepless, and motionless and is beyond duality. It is cognition at its purest. It is Brahman- Ayam Atma Brahma, this Atma is that Brahma; Thus epitomizing the core of Upanishad teachings.

Sage Sri, Sankara means Advaita and Advaita means Sage Sri, Sankara. Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sri, Sankara is not theology. Theological Advaita is not Sage Sri, Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom. 

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences –

1, “The ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices”.

2, “The   advanced seekers who seek to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.”

Thus, the purva mimam.sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond the form, time and space.

Thus those who are seeking the truth have to discard the Theological Advaita without mercy in order to realize the Advaitic truth, which is beyond the form, time and space.

A Gnani is a person who sees everything from the standpoint of the Soul, the innermost Self. Therefore, he is free from ignorance. He has transcended the dualistic illusion.

The truth of our true existence is not the dualistic truth based on the form, time and space.   We are searching for the truth, which is the cause of the universe in which we exist.

To unfold the truth out individual existence we have to unfold the truth of the whole universe.  

Remember:~ 

Sage Sri, Sankara ’says:~ "Kuruthe Ganga sahar gamanam Vratha paripal mathva dhanam. Gyana Vihine.Sarva Mathene.”

Gnana is common to all religions. There is nothing like One Gnana for a Hindu and another for a Christian.

The entire philosophy of Sage Sri, Sankara can be summed up in the following statement:-

Brahma satyam, jaganmithya, jivobrahmaivanaparah: - Brahman alone is real; the world is non-real and the individual Self is essentially not-different from Brahman.

This is the quintessence of Sage Sri, Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom.

Consciousness is the one single reality or Brahman. The individual self is a reality within the duality. There is no individual in the realm of the nondual reality.

Advaita says:~ One alone exists, and the rest is all superimposition on that One, due to ignorance.

Through a systematic inquiry into the nature of the mind, which is present in the form of the universe, one arrives at the position that the soul, the innermost self, which is present in the form consciousness, is ultimate truth or Brahman.

The Soul, the Self is constant and, therefore, real, while the phenomena constituting the universe is constantly changing and, therefore, unreal. The final conclusion is that the form, time, and space or the universe are one in essence. That essence is consciousness. Thus, no second thing exists other than consciousness.

The seeker of truth has to take into account all three states of our existence, which is waking, dream, and deep sleep ~ in waking or dream one experiences duality, and in deep sleep, there is only non-duality. In order to obtain a complete picture of our existential reality, we need to include evidence from all three states. This is the phenomenology of consciousness.

The consciousness is one only, without a second. One experience the manifold universe ignorance ~ led illusion “covers" the One and "projects" the Many. The illusion is the veil on consciousness. In truth, only One, non-dual Reality is all there is. The consciousness is all-pervasive. It is intrinsically Real, self-effulgent, infinite, undifferentiated Pure.

When the Soul, the Self, wakes up to its own formless nondual true nature, the ignorance ceases and the illusion, which is present in the form duality never again experienced as reality.

The show of the illusory duality, however, continues, as before. Only our identification with a particular actor's role is gone forever because the self is in its own awareness.

Self-awareness is Brahmic Bliss! This state is already ours always in deep sleep in a "general" way. When the Self-Knowledge dawns then one is awake to it in a "special" way in the midst of duality.

Atman=Brahman or the innermost Self, capture the essence of the immanent (Self) and the transcendent (Brahman) Reality. Humanity has not yet conceived a more lofty conception of its position in the universe.

Advaita only means the negation of duality. The soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman. The consciousness is the cause of the origin, maintenance, and withdrawal of the universe is Advaita (i.e. non-dual), it means that the consciousness transcends all conceptions, positive and negative. Nothing positive can ever be imagined or said about it.

The consciousness is existence absolute, awareness absolute. Existence absolute means that consciousness is not unreal or non-existent. And it is not the unconsciousness. Nothing positive can be stated about consciousness.:~Santthosh Kumaar