The dualist Sages declare the world is real. According to dualists Sages, the reality is very much that we live in this world.
In context to Sage Sankara calling this materialistic world as a dream, the dualist sage says that we are not yet awakened from the dream to say that this is a dream. Hence what is happening at this moment is to be considered. And the world is real.
People refuse to accept the universe is an illusion it is because they are part and parcel of that illusion. The reality of the illusory universe often confuses people.
Only when one acquires Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana then he realizes the world in which he exists is mere an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The Soul is the Self.
The universe is a reality on the base of ‘you (ego). You are the false Self within the false experience (waking). The universe is an illusion from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self.
The Soul is in the form of formless consciousness. This is because of some logical reasons. First, you have to analyze the definition of truth and hence why the universe is not considered as a reality.
Remember:~
Many people think Sage Sankara's path of wisdom is the path of Advaitic orthodoxy is substantially not true. Some philosophers in the world are as misunderstood and misinterpreted.
Most of the harm came from his orthodox followers. The ideas that Sage Sankara rejected came back to the Advaita fold and, the wisdom –oriented teachings of Sage Sankara became as much a face of Advaita as the rituals, worships, and other practices.
Sage Sankara treated ignorance as an error, the removal of which led to wisdom He left it at that. His followers, however, wrote tomes speculating the causes for ignorance, nature of ignorance, different forms of ignorance etc. had the Guru watched his disciples at work he might have wondered whether they were studying about Brahman or about ignorance.
Brahman— The One Without A Second
The Atman is self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proof. It is not possible to deny the Atman because It is the very essence of the one who denies It. The Atman is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Self is within, Self is without; Self is before, Self is behind; Self is on the right, Self is on the left; Self is above and Self is below. Brahman is not an object, as It is, beyond the reach of the physical eyes. Hence the Upanishads declare: “Neti Neti—not this, not this....” This does not mean that Brahman is a negative concept, or a metaphysical abstraction, or a nonentity, or a void. It is not another. It is all-full, infinite, changeless, self-existent, self-delight, self-knowledge, and self-bliss. It is Svarupa, essence. It is the essence of the witness. It is the Seer (Drashta), Transcendent (Turiya), and Silent Witness (Saakshi).
Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as It is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other besides it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described because description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not the distinction of substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.
From the standpoint of the formless Soul, the Self, the effect is non-different from the cause. However, in the realm of duality cause is different from the effect. The non-difference of the effect from the cause has to be grasped perfectly to realize from the ultimate standpoint there is neither the cause nor the effect because the cause and effect are one in essence. That essence is consciousness.
Sage Sankara says: - If the cause is destroyed, the effect will no longer exist. For example, if from the effect, cotton cloth, the cause, threads, are removed, there will be no cloth, i.e., the cloth is destroyed. Similarly if in the effect, thread, the cause, cotton, is removed, there will be no thread, i.e., the thread is destroyed. (Brahma-sutra Bhashya, commentary on the Brahma-sutra, [9] 2.1.9)
Despite the non-difference between cause and effect, the effect has itself in the cause but not the cause in the effect. The effect is of the nature of the cause and not the cause is the nature of the effect. Therefore the qualities of the effect cannot touch the cause because the cause and effect are present only when the duality is present. The duality is present only when there is an illusion. The illusion is there only when there is ignorance. When there is no ignorance then there is no illusion. When there is no illusion then there is no duality. When there is no duality then there is no cause and effect. When there is no cause and effect then there is the nondual reality.
Sage Sankara says:~ During the time of its existence, one can easily grasp that the effect is not different from the cause. However that the cause is different from the effect is not readily understood. As to this, it is not really possible to separate cause from effect. But this is possible by imagining so. For example, the reflection of the gold ornament seen in the mirror is only the form of the ornament but is not the ornament itself as it (the reflection) has no gold in it at all. (Commentary on the Chandogya Upanishad, 6.3.2)
All names and forms are real when seen with the Sat (Brahman) but are false when seen independently of Brahman.
This way the seeker of truth establishes the non-difference of effect from cause.
In the context of Advaita Vedanta: ~ Jagat (the world) is not different from Brahman; however, Brahman is different from Jagat
It has not been possible to preach Advaitic Truth entirely free from the settings of dualistic weakness it has not been more operative and useful to mankind at large because only few will be able to grasp and realize it.
'To realize the Advaitic Truth a freer and fuller scope the seeker has to realize the form, time and space are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. And the soul, the innermost self is present in the form of consciousness.
To realize the Advaitic truth the seeker has to be free from all superstitions and orthodox contaminations. The seeker has to be dedicated to acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana alone.'
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.
People who strongly believe this world is real must realize: ~
A person, who stamped his foot on the ground to refute to show the world, is real, ignores that in a dream he would do exactly the same--stamp his dream foot on the ground and assert it to be real.
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 mere an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.
Thus, you, your experience birth, life, death and the world are merely an illusion created out of consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.
In Self-awareness: the witness and witnessed are one in essence. That essence is consciousness. There is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.
Thus, whatever seen, known, believed and experienced as a person is a reality within the waking experience (duality) but waking experience (duality) itself is mere illusion created out of consciousness.
Remember: ~
People, who stamped their foot on the ground to refute to show the world, is real, ignore that in the dream he would do exactly the same--stamp his dream foot on the ground and assert it to be real.
The world 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 three states, observed and experienced. The commoner viewing the universe will see differently from a Gnani viewing the same universe. Each one interprets the three states that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego, therefore, experiences the birth, life, death and the world as reality, whereas a Gnani sees everything as consciousness and he is fully aware of the fact that, there is no second thing exists other than consciousness. And the whole universe is nothing but consciousness. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman.
The dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place. Similarly, the waking becomes unreal when wisdom dawns. Wisdom dawns when you (waking entity or ego) realize the fact that, the self is not you, but the self is the formless soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states.
Remember:~
There is only one Self, which is the Soul. There are no separate individual Souls. Nobody has ever seen the Soul of an individual. You can only say that you have seen different bodies. when the whole universe is made of a single clay, which is the Soul then whatever the universe contains is also made of the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.
People who argue that Soul does not exist are not aware of the fact that their own existence is dependent on the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. There is no individual Soul because the Soul is one and which is the cause of the whole universe. The Soul is hidden by the universe.
One should not conclude because some great thinker said so or some philosophy says so. Without consciousness, the mind, which is present in the form of the universe ceases to exist. Man ceases to exist without the universe. The universe ceases to exist without the Soul, the innermost Self. The Soul can exist with or without the universe., which is a dualistic illusion.
The Soul is the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. No division in consciousness is admissible at any time as it is always one and the same. Even the world in which we exist must be known as false, like the delusion of a snake in a rope.
The Soul is the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proof. It is not possible to deny consciousness because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. Consciousness is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Consciousness is the true Self.
Until one thinks his body as body, ego as ego the universe as the universe, he remains in ignorance because he is still in ignorance and he is unaware of the fact that they too are consciousness.
The Soul, the Self is formless and non-dual, one without a second. It has no other besides It. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. The Soul cannot be described because description implies a distinction. The Soul cannot be distinguished from any other than it. In the Soul, there is not distinction between substance and attribute.
Nondual awareness constitutes the very essence of the Soul, and not just its attributes. The Soul is impersonal. It becomes personal only through its association with the three states or illusion.
As through the ignorance of the real nature of the rope, the very rope appears in an instant as a snake, so also does Soul or consciousness appear in the form of the waking or dream without undergoing any change.
There exists no other material cause of this waking or dream except consciousness. Hence, these three states are nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.
All three states are consciousness, because they arise from consciousness, and sustained by consciousness, and finally, dissolve as consciousness. The idea of the pervaded and the pervading is illusory. When this supreme truth is realized, then there is no room for any distinction between the cause and the effect.
Certainly, there is no manifoldness in consciousness. The non-dual cause being an established fact, how could the three states be different from consciousness, when they are created out of consciousness?
Remember this: ~
The Soul is the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.
The Soul is the cause of the world in which you exist and it itself is uncaused.
Many souls’ theory is a religious theory based on a false self (ego) within the false world. When the world in which we exist is created out of a single clay and that single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, the question of many souls does not arise. There is one and only Soul, which is the cause of the universe.
You are not the ‘Self’ because you are mortal. You are mortal because you are bound by the experience of birth, life, death, and the world. The ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness and is immortal because it is ever formless, timeless and spaceless existence.
The one that is in ignorance is the Soul; the one that has to wake up from the sleep of ignorance is the Soul, the Self.
The world in which you exist is the product of ignorance. When ignorance vanishes the world in which you exist is mere an illusion created out of consciousness.
Without the illusion, the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness alone will prevail as the ultimate reality or Brahman or God. Thus, the Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman.
Self-realization is necessary to realize ‘what is truth and ‘what is untruth.
Many souls theory is based on the false self and false experience(world). When the whole universe is created out of a single stuff, which is the Soul than whatever the universe contains is also consciousness. Thus, the Soul is one, and in ignorance, diversity appears as reality.
Sage Sankara asks his opponents "How do you know there are separate individual Souls? Have you seen the Soul of a man? You can only say that you have seen different bodies. To say more is to misuse language. Therefore, I call you liars unless you give proof, which is impossible.
Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe.
So, it proves the Soul is not an individual but it is the support of all that exists in this universe.
The Soul is not limited to an individual. The individuals are many but the Soul is one. The individual exists within the universe. The Soul is the cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused.
The Soul is not within the human body. The universe is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, whatever the universe contains is bound to be the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.
In the dream world, the dream people appeared together and disappeared together. Similarly, the waking world and waking people appeared together and disappeared together. Thus, the dream is created out of a single stuff and that stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. In the same way, the waking experience is also created out of single stuff. And that single stuff is consciousness.
The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is the cause of the three states and it itself is uncaused. The many soul theories are religious and yogic fables based on the false self (ego) and false experience (waking).
Knowledge of the single stuff is the Self-knowledge of Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
Like an ornament made from gold is Gold, that which is born out of consciousness is consciousness. Like gold is the permanent thing, in ornaments made of gold, similarly, the mind, which is in the form of the universe is born out of consciousness, is consciousness in its essence.
Deeper self-search reveals the fact that, you are not the Self, the world in which you exist is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness, but the consciousness is specifically not an entity or identity or a thing within the world in which you exist. But it is the cause of the world in which you exist and it itself is uncaused.
The Soul is hidden by the illusory world in which you exist. The nature of the Soul is the formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.
Thus, it is necessary to realize the world in which you exist is created out of a single stuff, which is consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. God in truth alone is real; the world in which you exist is mere an illusion created out of consciousness.
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 the form, time, and space.: ~Santthosh Kumaar
