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.+

 

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 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.

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 philosophy” 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, useful in explaining doubts and difficulties if others rise them if he encounters them in 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.

All the philosophies are a mental fabrication. There has never been a single doctrine that reveals the ultimate truth.

There is no need to study Advaita Vedanta or Buddhism to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. All accumulated knowledge is of no use to realize the Advaitic truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy and all the arts Can be called lower knowledge. The higher Is that which leads to Self-realization. 

Mastering the philosophy of Vedanta will not help to get rid of ignorance. The realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible and by no other means.

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.

There is no need to study Advaita Vedanta to realize the Advaitic truth, which is hidden by the illusory universe or Maya. 

The essence of Mundaka is: Do not be satisfied with rituals, yoga, etc. which are good in their own way but inquire. Into what? Brahman and Atman are things you can never see. So do not inquire into them. Inquire into the world around you, which you can see. Science tells you it is passing away every second. Everything is dying repeatedly. Where is it going? Thus you follow up your inquiry into what you can lay hands on. How can you inquire into Atma which you cannot see? So first we deal with the known and seen, this inquiry leads up to the unknown in the end. 

Advaita is not a theory or a philosophy. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the innermost self. There is no need for any theory, philosophy, or scriptures to acquire Self-knowledge. Only a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is needed.

Sage Sankara clearly says:~ Neither studying philosophy nor by worship as many gods nor observe ceremonies nor by singing devotional hymns nor by uttering mantra nor by mastering the scriptures liberation comes without realizing the Oneness.

There is no need to buy the books on Sage Sankara to acquire Self-knowledge. A perfect understanding of 'what is what' is needed. Nothing else is needed other than realizing the fact that, the form, time, and space are one in essence and that essence is the soul, which is present in the form of consciousness to get nondualistic Self-awareness.

There is no wisdom whatsoever in any of the philosophies, they are just a collection of words.

Self-knowledge cannot be attained by the study of the scriptures and intellectual understanding or by bookish knowledge. Therefore, there is no use in studying the scriptures and other scriptures to acquire non-dual wisdom. 

That is why Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sage Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, the concept of God, and the scriptures.

The fortunate is the one who does not lose themselves in the studying of philosophies. All conceptual divisions were invented by philosophers by their excessive analysis. 

Fortunate is the seeker who does not lose himself in the labyrinths of philosophy but goes straight to the source from which the universe arises and is dissolved.  

There is only one Reality to be known, the same for all seekers, but the ways to it, are hidden by the religion. Self-discovery is the only way, towards non-dualistic absolute without any religious doctrines, which will help the seekers to unfold the mystery of the illusion in which we all are searching the truth of our true existence.

Sage Sankara said:~Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, does liberation come, but only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way.(1) VivekaChudamani v 56, pg 25

The citations from scriptures are not proof. The ultimate truth has to be proved without the scriptures. The ultimate truth is the universal truth and it does not belong to any religion. Religion causes diversity in unity, whereas, the ultimate truth brings unity in diversity.

That is why Sage Sankara himself says: ~ VC 59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The scriptures, consisting of many words are a dense forest that merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence, men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

It is not that one should pore over the ancient scriptures. There is no need to study first, and then realize. One has to realize first, then only he will know ‘what is truth’ and ‘what is untruth’. One has to make his discoveries through the process of rational thinking.

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~VC-65-As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never come out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

He who has not rectified his reasoning base from the ‘I’(form) base to soul(formless) base and one who does not have the intense urge to know the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth, and who is not tranquil and subdued and whose mind is not receptive, cannot acquire Self-Knowledge or brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar