Sage Sankara: ~ The universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Athma, the Self.+

Sage Sankara says:~ How can the talk of diversity, dvaita, apply to the Supreme Reality which is one and homogeneous, Advaita? Who has ever observed diversity, dvaita, in the unmixed bliss of the state of profound sleep?

Sage Sankara was an independent thinker. Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom has not been taken seriously by many in India because most of the followers of Sage Sankara are religious orthodox.

Sage Sankara says: - VC-47- All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the not-Self.

Sage Sankara says: - VC-162- There is no liberation for a person of mere book-knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense organs, etc., which are unreal.

It is that philosophy in India was for centuries more an exposition of the ancient classics than the independent thought of individual thinkers as in ancient Greece or modern Europe and America.

All the religious scriptures and holy books are irrelevant -- God's greatest book is just in front of you.

That is why Sage Sankara says you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand? If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth.

You have to study the book of the universe carefully and find and realize God is hidden in it.

All religions claim that their books are not man-made? Hindus claim that the Vedas are Aporsheya: not made by man but revealed by God himself; and Sanskrit is the divine language, not human.

All religions have the same type of claim. Muslims say the Koran has descended from God, and so with Jews and Christians.

Everybody is trying to claim that their book is a sacred book and nobody bothers to look at the real divine book.

This is what the real Veda, the real Koran, the real Bible is. This is the book, and all other books are man-made. Only this universe is the book that is authored by God because God is hidden by the universe.

The universe is the real Veda, the real Koran, the real Bible. The universe is the book, and all other books are man-made.

Only when you open the book of the universe the God hidden in the book will be revealed. When you finish reading the book of the universe then the universe will become an illusion and God alone prevails as the ultimate reality.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.

You are also part of the divine book of the universe! And whatever you have seen, known, believed, and experienced as an individual is part of it.

Remember:~

Sage Sankara: ~ “VC~ All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman ( Soul or consciousness) which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.

The universe is the product of ignorance. Ignorance is present in the form of the ‘I’.

Sage Sankara says: - VC-47 All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the not-Self.

Till you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward, ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is present the universe prevails as reality.

Sage Sankara says ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then why you are indulging in other types of meditation.

Perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-awareness. By holding on to theories, one remains in the realm of duality.

You have to mentally go on dropping what is not the truth through deeper Self-search. Finally when you become aware of the fact that, you, your ego, your body, and the world are one in essence then Self-awareness arises in the midst of duality.

Sage Sankara says ~ V.63 ~ "Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

In Advaitic Self-awareness, the ego is not considered as ego, even though the ego is present, the body is not considered as a body even though the body is present, the world which confronts him is not considered as the 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.

Only in ignorance, the world in which we exist is an illusion created out of the Soul, the Self.

The universe is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense, that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

People's approach is more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. In fact, our mental and intellectual conditions determine the world, observed and experienced. The commoner viewing the world will see differently from a Gnani viewing the same world. Each one interprets the world that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego, therefore, experiences birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas a Gnani sees everything as consciousness and he is fully aware of the fact that, there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul or consciousness.

Thus, all the egocentric (religious) adulteration has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Sage Sankara says you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand? If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth.

The Soul, the Self reveals ‘what is real’ and ‘what is unreal” when the seeker is receptive and ready.

It takes time for the seeker to gain the perfect understanding of ‘what is truth’ and ‘’what is untruth’. It takes time for the Soul, the Self to wake up from the sleep of ignorance, and it takes time for one realizes the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Sage Sankara says ~ VC-162- “There is no liberation for a person of mere book-knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense organs, etc., which are unreal.

First, realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Mentally hold on to the Soul and mentally reduce the world in which you exist as consciousness by realizing the world in which you exist is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.

Swami Vivekananda: ~Jñāna Yoga is divided into three parts. First: hearing the truth--that the Atman is the only reality and that everything else is Maya. Second: reasoning upon this philosophy from all points of view. Third: giving up all further argumentation and realizing the truth. This realization comes from being certain that Brahman is real and everything else is unreal.

Sage Sankara: ~ VC- In the dream state, even though there is no contact with the outside world, the Soul alone projects the entire dream universe of enjoyer, enjoyment, etc. Similarly, the waking state is no different. All this world of pluralistic phenomena is an illusory projection.

Chandogya Upanishad:~ One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantrams and meditation--all come from the Self.

Sage Goudpada: ~ “To establish the truth of Non-duality by sheer reasoning alone. He begins by defining "What is real?" "What is unreal?" etc, because that is the right way to discuss or teach. People must first know what they are talking about. (Manduka Karika)

Consciousness is the only reality in which the universe exists, to which the universe belongs; from which the universe has emerged, which is the cause of the universe and which itself is uncaused. Thus, the universe is nothing but consciousness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar