Sage Gaudapada expands further on these states of consciousness. The Self is AUM.+

Sage 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 Gaudapada expands further on these states of consciousness. The Self is AUM.

AUM  represents the manifest and un-manifest aspects of Brahman. It is the single syllable that symbolizes and embodies Brahman, the Absolute Reality. It is the Pranava that pervades all existence and is our very life-breath.

Vaisvanara in the waking state is A the first part of AUM, One, who realizes this, attains his desires.

Teijasa in the dream state is U the second part of AUM. One, who realizes this, attains knowledge.

Prajna in deep sleep is M the third part of AUM, concluding the sounds of the earlier two parts. One, who realizes this, attains a compressive understanding of all.

The Syllable AUM in its entirety stands for the fourth state, Turiya the one beyond the phenomenal existence, supremely blissful and non-dual.

AUM in its integral whole stands for the fourth state which is transcendental, devoid of phenomenal existence, and is the source of all existence. AUM represents the Ultimate Reality.

AUM is thus verily the Self itself. One who realizes this merges into that Self. Meditate on AUM as the Self.

Remember:~

Sage  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 Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom.

Remember:~

The 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.

Sage Sankara 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 of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

The Soul, the Self is constant and, therefore, real, while the phenomena constituting the universe are 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. To obtain a complete picture of our existential reality, we need to include evidence from all three states. This is the phenomenology of consciousness.

Remember:~

Consciousness is one only, without a second. One experiences 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. 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, ignorance ceases, and the illusion, which is present in the form of 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.

Remember:~

Atman=Brahman or the 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. Consciousness is the cause of the origin, maintenance, and withdrawal of the universe is Advaita (i.e. non-dual), which means that consciousness transcends all conceptions, positive and negative. Nothing positive can ever be imagined or said about it.

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 

Sage Sankara’s wisdom as the fairest flower of Advaitic wisdom that the world in any age has produced.+

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

Sage Sankara’s wisdom as the fairest flower of Advaitic wisdom that the world in any age has produced.

The Advaitic truth is a rational or scientific truth declared by Sage 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 and assimilate the Advaitic truth, which leads to self-awareness. Thus, soulcentric thinking, reasoning, and judgment are very much necessary in pursuit of truth.

Sage 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.

Remember:~

Sage  Goudpada and Sage Sankara are not only reformers but also the greatest Sage scientists. Since their original thesis has been lost in the labyrinths of philosophy and mutilated by pundits and orthodoxy, it becomes very difficult to understand and assimilate the wisdom expounded by the great Sages. In addition, the conservativeness of the orthodox scholars will not allow any research other than playing with the words, which suit the populace, because of their egocentric outlook.

All the adulterated add-ons have to be discarded to understand and assimilate the real fragrance of the wisdom expounded by the great Sages of Advaita, but it is a hurricane task. Thus, it is no use going through all the scriptures when there is a direct path to nondualistic or Advaitic truth. The same time and effort can be used to reach the nondual destination, in lesser time and effort.

Advaitic wisdom does not need the support of any scripture or a revelation like the Veda. Advaitic wisdom is not based, not upon the varying theological fancies, which are as numerous as the sands of the sea, but upon the reason, the common heritage of all mankind, irrespective of color or creed or clime.

The seeker of truth has to know that something is inadequate in orthodox Advaitic teachings to reach the nondualistic destination because of the add-ons and adulteration. Thus, it becomes difficult to reach the destination directed by the Sage  Sankara and Sage   Goudpada. It is for the seeker to go on his own and remove all the obstacles, which is blocking the realization of the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

Remember:~

The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, God, scriptures, and yogic theories. Moreover, attachment to scriptures, personal God, and religious code of conduct keep one permanently in the grip of the dualistic illusion.

Embark on the journey of the truth; it frees the Soul from the illusion of form, time, and space.

When you finally realize the ‘Self ‘ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul then you will realize the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, you, your experience of birth, life, death, and the world are merely an illusion created out of the consciousness, the consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God.

You are not the witness because the ‘Self' is not you. The Self is the Soul, which witnesses the world, in which you exist. The world is merely an illusion thus, you are part of the illusion.

In reality, the Soul and the world in which you exist are one, in essence. Thus, there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Perfect understanding and assimilation of ‘what is what,’ leads to a perfect conviction of ‘What is the truth?” and ‘What is the untruth?. Perfect conviction of the truth leads to Advaitic self-awareness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaa

The Self is neither the form, nor time not space but the Self is the Soul, which is the cause of the form, time and space.+

The Self is neither the form, nor time nor space but the Self is the Soul, which is the cause of the form, time, and space.

The ‘Self’ is not the body.

The ‘Self’ is not within the body.

You are not the ‘Self'.

You are bound by the form, time, and space.

You are bound by the experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

You are never free because the world in which you exist is the product of ignorance. 

The world in which you exist is created out of single clay. That single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The Soul is the  Self. The Soul is not ‘I’. The Soul is the witness of the ‘I’ which appears and disappears. 

The Soul is the only permanent thing and the ‘I’ is merely an illusion. If you do not understand this truth you will never be able to cross the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion. 

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure of the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes. 

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 present in the form of consciousness. 

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 that 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 are 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 Guru's words. For them, their Guru's 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

Without realizing what the 'I' supposed to be in actuality holding the Self as 'I' keeps one in prison of ignorance.+

Without realizing what the 'I' is supposed to be in actuality holding the Self as 'I' keeps one in prison of ignorance. 

People who think the " I " in everyone and everything is realized the Self without realizing 'I '  is not within but you are within the ‘I’, which is present in the form of the universe. Without the 'I' the universe ceases to exist. 

The ‘Self’ is not the body.

The ‘Self’ is not with the body.

You are not the ‘Self.

You are bound by the form, time, and space.

You are bound by the experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

 You are never free because the world in which you exist is the product of ignorance. 

The world in which you exist is created out of single clay. That single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  

The Soul is the Self. The Soul is not ‘I’. The Soul is the witness of the ‘I’ which appears and disappears.

The Soul is the only permanent thing and the ‘I’ is merely an illusion. If you do not understand this truth you will never be able to cross the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion. 

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure of the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes. 

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 the cause of the 'I'.  

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand 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 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 that 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 Guru's words. For them, their Guru's 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 unfit for acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma never worshiped idols.+

Hindus assert their religion is monotheistic, even though they honor a number of Gods, including Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer.  Hindus claim these various Gods are all manifestations of the oneness of the universe.  

Hindu religious practices vary from place to place, but they frequently include yoga, physical and mental discipline to harmonize body and Soul, and ritual bathing. 

Blind belief in multiple Gods, The worship of idols; the worship of images that are not God, the worship of sacred images, ancestor worship, pilgrimage, priestcraft, the belief in avatars or incarnations of God, the hereditary caste system on the grounds that all these lack Vedic sanction. 

Hinduism indulges non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability and child marriages. All these lack Vedic sanction, therefore, Hinduism is not Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma. 

Realizing the universe is created out of single stuff and that single stuff is the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness leads non-dualistic or Advaitic Self-awareness. Self-awareness is freedom or Moksha. Moksha is unity in diversity in the midst of duality. 

Remember:~ 

It is very difficult to talk to people about the ultimate truth or Brahman because everyone thinks he knows the ultimate truth or Brahman. This I know business is dangerous.  And whatever his reached conclusion is second-hand stuff.  Therefore, accepting accumulated knowledge without verification will lead the seekers to hallucinated realization based on the ego.  

One may have some flashes of truth when someone tries to indicate it through fewer words. But it takes nearer to the truth, not realization. 

Advaita is not philosophy. Advaita is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. The nature of God is Advaita. All the teaching propagated by some gurus are adulterated with theories, tradition, religions are not Advaitic wisdom. Advaita Gnana is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (Advaitic wisdom) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but the philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita –Chap- IV-v.2)  

In Advaitic reality, there is neither God nor Goddess, only consciousness.  Consciousness is the real God.  

Remember:~ 

Bhagavad Gita: ~ 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 a God.  

Religious Gods are not God in truth. One must realize  God in truth. 

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.  

The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the innermost ‘Self’. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.  

Vedas and Upanishad confirm the Soul, the  Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness.   

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul or Spirit) 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)  

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 realizing 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.

People are not aware that there is no religious God based on blind faith that exists apart from the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshipped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains. 

There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘Self’ in i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.    

Remember:~  

Yajurveda – chapter- 32: ~ God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Yajurveda says if one worships what is not God sinks deeper in darkness: ~ 

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 are 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."~(Yajur Veda 40:9.) 

So, Yajur Veda indicates that those who worship visible things such as the earth, trees, and bodies (humans and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater ignorance,  they are extremely and suffer terribly. 

When 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. 

Someone in the past has introduced the concept of God with attributes and attributeless Gods are non-Vedic, because, Yajur Veda says: ~ 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. Therefore, all these add-ons prove that the form and attribute-based concepts are introduced by some sages of the past with a new belief system and code of conduct in the name of Vedas.  

It indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false self.   

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:~ "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the Self does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10) 

A great majority of Hindus are not in contact with their religious history therefore, they believe their inherited beliefs as the ultimate truth. 

The Bible says: ~ God is a Spirit and they that worship  God must worship God in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) 

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the Self.  

The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there is.

Even Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God in truth) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself. 

Thus, it refers to formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the  ‘Self’ within the false experience. Thus, it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false self. Thus Atman or Soul, the  ‘Self’ is God in ruth.

There is a clear cut idea of God in the Vedas, Upanishad and Bhagvad Gita. And also there is a clear cut idea of what not to worship as God in place of real God.  Thus, it proves on Vedic perspective the Puranic Gods are not Vedic Gods.

Vedas says never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.

That is why 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.  

The Hindus believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which were introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs caste, and creed.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar