Katha Upanishad :~ The Soul cannot be realized through hearing scholarly explanation of the discourses, not even by the intellect.+

Jesus said:~ "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all." (Gospel of Thomas 2)

The Upanishads declare:~  

Katha Upanishad 1:2:23:~  The Soul cannot be realized through hearing the 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. 

Self -inquiry prescribed by Sage Ramana Maharishi is a good tool at the beginning of the pursuit of truth. But the seeker will find it inadequate and useless in later stages. However, it creates lots of doubts and confusion.  

The seeker has to find the answers on his own through deeper reasoning, then all his doubts and confusions will be cleared, and he will be able to move ahead in the path of inquiry, and he will be able to reach his non-dual destination. 

Nothing is to be renounced in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman because the practical life within the practical world itself is falsehood from the ultimate standpoint. 

Self-knowledge is the knowledge of the whole, not the part. Therefore the universe, which confronts one, has to be included in the inquiry to get the truth of the whole.  Thus,  the ‘WHO AM ’I’ inquiry is helpful in unfolding the half-truth. Thus WHO AM ‘I’?- inquiry is helpful in the first stage, but the seeker has to go much beyond ‘WHO AM ’I’ ?.  The seeker has to do his own homework to realize the truth of the whole.  

The ’I’ is not Self and Self is not the 'I '.  The 'I ' is bound by form, time and space. Without the form, time, and space 'I' cease to exist. Holding 'I’ as Self one remains in the clutches of duality. When there is duality,  then there is ignorance. 

Ignorance is the cause of experiencing the duality (illusion) as reality. The one who identifies the Self as 'I', will not be able to cross the threshold of duality. There is no point in saying the 'I ' this or 'I AM THAT' because the 'Self' is that which witnesses the 'I ' and the world together without the physical apparatus.

The earliest ancient sages used the word ‘I’ to the witness of the three states not to the ego as moderns use it and 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. 

Jesus said:~  "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. (THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS- Saying 5)

"The Kingdom of God is inside you and all around you, Not in a mansion of wood and stone.  Split a piece of wood and God is there, Lift a stone and you will find God." (Gospel of Thomas)

Remember:~

People speak of getting rid of conditioning or samskara but they are unaware of the fact that the universe in which they exist is a product of the inborn samskara or conditioning.  The ignorance is the cause of the inborn samskara or conditioning, which is present as ‘I’ or ‘I AM’. 

The real Moksha or freedom is to realize the fact that ‘I’ consciousness is mere physical awareness. Physical awareness is not Self-awareness. The self –awareness is when the formless soul or consciousness remains aware of its own non-dual true nature. 

The very purpose of analyzing the world confronts one is to realize the form, time and space are merely an illusion created out of the soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus to enable one to judge the ‘what is what’ from the highest viewpoint.  

People fail to make this analysis, as with so many religious, yogic, and intellectual seekers fail to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman because their judgment is based on the waking entity (ego), which is the false self within the false experience.

One must be receptive and sharp enough to grasp the existence of formless witness which is ever apart from the three states.

The Soul is the formless substance and the witness of the three states. If the formless witness,  witnesses the waking experience and its attention are fixed on the waking experience then the waking experience is experienced as reality. 

If the formless witness, witnesses the dream and its attention are fixed on the dream then the dream is experienced as reality. 

If the attention of the Soul is on itself then it is called deep sleep in waking experience, which is the state of ignorance. If the soul consciously remains in its formless non-dual true nature in the midst of waking experience through wisdom it is called self-awareness. 

The three states are an object to the formless Soul, which is the subject.  The three states are the state of ignorance. In all the three states the Soul, the Self is in ignorance of its own formless non-dual true nature. 

This forgetfulness is the cause of ignorance. Ignorance is the cause of experiencing the three states as reality. The three states are the cause of experiencing individuality as reality.  

Individuality is the cause of experiencing birth, life, death, and the world as reality.  The three states are one in essence. In the realm of truth, the three states are non-existent.  In Self-awareness, the three states are non-existent because they are one in essence.  

Remember:~

People think that ‘Soul’ or ‘Spirit’ is something different from the mind. They believe that the mind is really two. This is the confusion among religionists and intellectuals. If ‘Soul’ has any meaning, if ‘spirit’ has any meaning, so long as one thinks of them, they are merely ideas. The Soul, the Self is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

If one ignores the world and confronts him, then he will not get wisdom. The whole world confronts him must be known; if he gives up the world, what and how can he understand the truth of it?  Weak minds cannot take a comprehensive view and so decry what they cannot understand.

As the ascetics and yogis, there is no need for getting the aversion to the practical world; on the contrary,  one should go on living in the world, acting, working, etc. that he should accept life as it presents.

There is no need to renounce the practical life to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.  

To realize the Self, which is consciousness is nothing to do with practical life because it is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity, but is the formless substance and the witness of all the three states.  And all the three states are one in essence.  

Limiting the Self to the waking entity and waking experience is the cause of ignorance.  Ignorance makes one feel the waking entity is the real Self and the waking world as reality.

Until one holds the waking entity and the waking world as reality the truth- realization is an impossibility. 

Remember:~

Preliminary inquiry reveals the fact that the Self is not the body,  then how can one get the truth on the base of the false self.  

When the body is not the Self then it is erroneous to view, judge, and conclude the truth on the base of the body or waking entity is erroneous.   The truth has to be based on the Soul, the  Self, which is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. 

Thus,  whatever seen, known, believed and experienced as a person of the world within the waking experience is bound to be falsehood because the waking experience itself is a falsehood.   

Thus, the seeker must become aware of the formless witness of the three states which comes and goes in succession. 

 The witness only witnesses the coming and going of the three states, it is nothing to do with individual experiences happening within the waking or dream.  When the Self is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence, then what is it that sees the waking, dream, and deep sleep state? 

The dream is witnessed as a whole the dream entity is not the experience of the dream entity because the dream entity was within the dream world. Similarly, the waking experience is also witnessed as a whole and the waking entity is within the waking world,  thus it is necessary to realize the existence of the formless witness which is within the three states but it is apart from the three states. 

It is within the three states as their formless substance and it is apart from the three states as their formless witness.   

The formless substance and witness are one in essence. That essence is consciousness. Therefore, the three states are merely an illusion created out of consciousness.   

Thus, the consciousness alone is real and all the diversities within the waking experience are as falsehood as of the dream.  The three states are the product of ignorance. Till the ignorance dominates they prevail as a  reality.  When ignorance vanishes through wisdom their unreal nature is exposed.:~Santthosh Kumaar