Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom as spiritual food for the whole of humanity.+

A scholar is proud that he has accumulated so much knowledge; Gnani is humble that he knows no more.

Panchadasi says: ~ "If a person cannot undertake the study into the nature of Brahman, either through a dull intellect or through want of accessories for such inquiry, he must be constantly engaged in the meditation on Brahman." The term accessories here means "the person who knows Brahman, i.e. Gnani.

Panchadasi says: ~ "The Yogi who moves unseeing through this world is not better than a lump of clay in human form; it is not imperceptions of the world that is needed but the intellectual realization that its substratum is an idea.

The mind is virtually the universe. The universe appears as a waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality). Efforts should be made to understand the mind. Advaitic is wisdom is ancient truth preserved as a secret by sages of truth.

Every minute the waking experience is changing. The waking experience becomes deep sleep and deep sleep becomes the dream. Thus, their continuous change is going on and on in consciousness.

The one that appears as waking, the one that appears as a dream and one that becomes the deep sleep is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. Thus,, all three states are created out of a single stuff and that stuff is consciousness.

Thus, one which becomes duality (waking or dream) and the one which becomes nonduality (deep sleep) is the same consciousness. Thus, the consciousness alone is real and all the three states are merely an illusion.

Remember:~ 

Sage  Sankara:~ VC-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.

Isa Upanishads indicate that:- By worshipping Gods and Goddesses and going to the world of Gods after death is of no use. The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend the same time moving forward toward Self-knowledge, which is the main goal. One cannot reach the nondual destination by glorifying God and Goddesses and by doing that, one goes deeper and deeper into darkness. It surely indicates the fact that the seeker of truth has to drop worshiping God and Goddess to get Self-knowledge.

Sage Sankara was a rationalist philosopher. The orthodoxy projected him as a theologian.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is not even a philosopher dish cooked to suit exclusively the palate of one particular religion. Advaitic wisdom of Sage  Sankara is like the air and the water, the common food for the whole of humanity.

Advaitic wisdom is the Science of the Spirit. If rightly interpreted Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is spiritual food for the whole of humanity. Advaitic wisdom is the universal wisdom par excellence. Advaitic wisdom is not just a not a philosophy, but not a science, but the Science of Truth.

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

The Upanishads declare:~

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 the spiritual discourse. One who welcomes God in every activity, through a thorough controlled, and disciplined life, to him also the Soul is revealed

Katha Upanishad 1:2:23:~ The Soul cannot be realized through hearing a 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 books nor by taking a bath at the holy place has one become pure. Inner purity is possible when one remains in constant touch with the Soul. Constant Soul Consciousness is 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 the 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.

The scriptures are being added from time to time. This process will go on. There is the final authority among them? One contradicts the other: duality reigns supreme.

The Upanishads are Self-contradictory. Every pundit even gives conflicting interpretations of them. The final authority, therefore, is using one’s own reason. One should apply his reason to them.

The scriptures are for ignorant masses, who wholly accept the material world as it presents itself. Gnana is for those who have begun to realize that things are not what they seem.

The scriptures are of value only when dealing with persons who are incapable of understanding the Advaitic truth. They have no value as authority for those who use reason. I quote only verified citations from the scriptures. 

I need no scriptures but I quote them to help the seekers to realize the scriptures are saying

The Upanishads are the only scriptures in the world that say it is impossible to find and realize the truth via religion and scriptural study.

Katha Upanishad: ~ This Atman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, nor by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals its own form. (Katha Upanishad Ch-II -23-P-20)

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “This Atman cannot be attained through study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Atman—by him alone is Atman attained. It is Atman that reveals to the seeker Its true nature. (3 –page-70 Upanishads by Nikilanada)

When the Upanishad says: ~ “The human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge and they indicate the personal Gods, scriptures, worship, and rituals are not the means to Self –Knowledge, then why anyone should indulge in it. 

Religion, the concept of a personal God, belief in a physical Guru, and scriptures are great obstacles to Self-realization because they are based on a false self. 

The seeker of truth has to search for the ultimate truth without losing himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, through deeper Self-search, and assimilate and realize it.

That is why Sage Sankara, indicated in Bhaja Govindam says:~ (Jnana Viheena Sarva Mathena Bajathi na Muktim janma Shatena) - one without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows.

Then it is no use going a roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and witness of the universe, which is in the form of mind. By tracing the source of the mind or universe one will be able to realize the Brahman.

Thus, Self-knowledge is meant only for those who have intense urge, and courage to accept the truth with humility and reject the untruth. Since people start comparing with their scriptural knowledge, it becomes impossible to assimilate and realize the non-dual truth. Therefore, there is no need to convince anyone other than our own selves to get a firm conviction.

So they clearly indicate rituals and theories are not meant for those who are searching for higher knowledge or wisdom. The path of wisdom is the only means.

The knowledge of both matter and spirit is True knowledge. The true knowledge is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Remember:~  

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says: - In that unitive state there is neither father nor mother, neither worlds nor Gods nor even the Scriptures. In that state,  there is neither thief nor slayer, neither low caste nor high, neither monk nor ascetic. The Self is beyond good and evil, beyond all the suffering of the human heart.

Rig Veda: 1.164.46:~    Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti”  "The Reality (Truth) is One:  The Wise Call It by Various Names."

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.

In India, people think that religion is a stepping stone to a higher truth,  but it is not so because religion is based on the false Self (waking entity or ego) within the false experience (waking or the world). 

The seeker must think beyond form, time, and space. The theistic tradition has been kept alive by the orthodoxy. The orthodoxy is the path of ignorance because it is based on ignorance.  

The orthodoxy has nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. Thus,  it is not the path of ultimate truth or Brahman. 

People who stick to orthodoxy never will be able to cross the prison of duality. Without crossing the prison of duality,  Self-awareness is an impossibility.  Thus Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana is necessary to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Remember:~

Each sect concocts a God to suit its own purposes. Such concocted Gods are merely a belief. The belief is not truth but a myth.

Faith in religion weakens as the man pays more attention to the facts of life and this world. People, who argue that truth is only in their religion, are vain logicians, depending on mere ideas, and imaginations based on inherited samskaras and conditioning.

To know the ultimate truth. There is nothing new to be acquired.  The truth is always there,  but it is hidden by the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion. The seeker has to be sharp enough to grasp and understand, assimilate, and realize it when told about it. But there is a difference between understanding and realization.

Only mental effort is required for this understanding and assimilation of the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. Once the truth is realized then no special effort is needed to remember the realized truth.

To overcome all your doubt and confusion by the sword of Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The pundits say you should give up your doubts and blindly believe in God and the Saint's words.

 You should keep on thinking and reasoning about your doubts until they are solved, and you should not stop until this point is reached.

When all your doubts are cleared,  that is the doubts on every question. But this realization could not have been reached if you had not begun by having doubts asking yourself questions and demanding proof.

Ashtavakra Gita (page 224):~  It is not the absence of Buddhi (Reason)  that can grasp Advaita but the man who possesses the highest intellect. Brains are necessary. Such a man, by merely hearing the truth mentioned will know it.

 The Advaitic truth is the ultimate truth.  Yogis, mystics, and religious teachers do not accept the path of wisdom because it pries into the truth, the source, and the validity of the knowledge they claim. Therefore, it is the most difficult part of the study of nonduality.

Katha Upanisad (1.2.5) says; -"Caught in the grip of ignorance, self-proclaimed experts consider themselves learned authorities. They wander about this world befooled like the blind leading the blind.":~Santthosh Kumaar