Science may give the scientific answers, religion the religious answers, and the yogi will give yogic answers but in pursuit of truth the seeker absorbs all views and he rejects them if they are based on the false self and illusion.
Advaita is basically a denial; it is literally the negation of the Dvaita. That means whatever remains by negating the universe by realizing the universe is created out of single clay and that clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, the hidden truth by dvaita uncovered. Consciousness is the cause of the universe and it, itself is uncaused.
Thus, the path of wisdom is the only means. Then it is no use going roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and the witness of the universe (mind). By tracing the source of the mind, or the universe one will be able to realize the Brahman.
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.
Sage Sankara says: ~ “What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead to the final Goal”. (Commentary on Vedanta Sutra)
Nothing has to be accepted as truth without deeper verification.
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.
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.
Self-knowledge or Brahma knowledge is the end of all egocentric knowledge. Egocentric knowledge is dualistic knowledge, whereas Self-knowledge is Soulcentric knowledge.
Advaitic wisdom is nothing to do with orthodox Advaita, which is dualistic. Orthodox Advaita is a sect, which blindly accepts and follows dogmas and superstitions.
Sage Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Shruti, or revealed scripture. This may be because Sage Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus, in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need for this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore, dispense with Shruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason.
Remember:~
Sage Sankara is the only sage who has final authority on the Advaitic truth. The Advaitic truth is rational truth and scientific truth without dogma.
Advaitic wisdom has nothing to do with orthodox Advaita, which is dualistic. Orthodox Advaita is a sect, which blindly accepts and follows dogmas and superstitions.
Modern science is the dualistic wisdom that is capable of unfolding only the mystery of objects contained within the universe but the Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom unfolded the mystery hidden by the universe by declaring the Atman is Brahman and the universe is merely an illusion created out of Brahman. And everything is nothing but Brahman.
It means the Soul, the Spirit, or consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman.
The universe is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, the Spirit, or consciousness.
Thus everything is nothing but the Soul, the Spirit, or consciousness, which is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.
Consciousness in you and consciousness in the whole universe are one and the same. Those who realize this truth find unity in diversity in their understanding and cross the ocean of ignorance.
Consciousness is the cause of the three states and it, itself is uncaused.
From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the three states are merely an illusion created out of the Soul itself.
Science deals only with immediate causes, not the ultimate cause. Such a process is on the physical plane, good for worldly life.
Advaitic wisdom does not begin with ultimate truth just by holding some philosophical declaration as truth, the truth has to be proved, not assumed.
Remember:~
People who take philosophies for granted are mere scholars who have mastered philosophy without verifying the validity and parroting their philosophical knowledge, not the truth.
People think philosophical mastery is wisdom but it is merely played of words. Philosophical knowledge is not a means to nondual wisdom.
The seeker has to mentally grasp the Soul, the ‘Self’ or “consciousness” which is beyond the reach of words and thought, and it is the formless substance and witness of all the three states.
The means to the attainment of Self-knowledge is ~ discrimination between things permanent [real/ non-dual] and impermanent [unreal/duality], and the urge for spiritual freedom.
They alone in this world are endowed with the highest wisdom and are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of the Self/Spirit. The people who are not sharp and receptive do not understand their way
The intricate maze of the philosophy of different schools claims to clarify matters and reveal the Truth, but in fact, they create more confusion where no confusion exists. To understand anything there is a need for perfect understanding and assimilation of ultimate truth or Brahman. Why worry about the physical body, ego, logic creation, creator, saints, and sages, and the world, which are part and parcel of the illusion.
All conceptual divisions were invented by teachers of philosophy by their excessive analysis on the dualistic perspective. All these dualistic concepts lead to more and more doubts and confusion. First, they create confusion and then explain spinning the yarn of their imagination.
Fortunate is the seeker who does not lose himself in the labyrinths of philosophy but investigates the Source from which the universe rises and subsides. [
They think and assume or speculate and come to a logical conclusion from the dualistic perspective. Dualistic knowledge is intellectual knowledge based on the ego. Therefore, intellectuality is egocentric.
Egocentricity is the greatest obstacle in grasping the non-dualistic truth hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya.
Remember:~
There is no need to study the philosophies of Berkeley, Kant, Hume, and other Western and Eastern philosophers; they are not the means to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
They are in fact an obstacle in the pursuit of truth because they are based on the dualistic perspective. There is no necessity to study the philosophy of any great thinkers to ensure firm realization.
Philosophical Authoritarianism merely assumes as true what another says, but what has yet to be proved.
Many Gurus will teach “Who am ‘I’? but none have deeply analyzed it scientifically, and none can prove it.
Rational proof is needed in pursuit of truth so that one can arrive at knowing truth i.e. Wisdom; theirs is mere dogma, parrotism, repetition of what they read in scripture, or accumulated knowledge from different sources.
The philosophical argument leads nowhere. If a philosopher says the ’Self’ is formless “another will reply, "No, Self has a form! If one says "his adopted philosophy has a higher value than all other philosophies” another will say, "No, that is lower and there are many philosophies higher than that
It is impossible to get anywhere with such talk because both sides are merely assuming and imagining.
There is no need for any philosophy to verify the truth of the Self. All that is intellectual wealth, is useful in explaining doubts and difficulties if others raise them if he, himself encounters them in the course of thinking. But to attain realization, all that is not necessary.
The seeker of truth should not hold any philosophy as a yardstick. One needs fresh water to drink, but he does not require all the water of the whole lake to quench his thirst for truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar
