Bhagavan Buddha also holds that this world which changes from moment to moment is unreal, it is only a reflection and a thing of which it is the reflection alone is real.+

Buddhism and its relationship with Science are like that of water and wine, one cannot say there is no water in wine, but when you drink it, it would not be the water but wine... thus Einstein’s view is water in wine because modern science does not believe in the matter but in this religion, everything is the matter only"

Bhagavan Buddha also holds that this world which changes from moment to moment is no real, it is only a reflection and a thing of which it is the reflection alone is real. Bhagavan Buddha was not an atheist. He never denied reality. There is nothing in his words or teaching to show that he considered truth to be non-existent like the horns of a hare. He could not have held the foolish view that something came out of nothing. It is true; some of his disciples misunderstood and misinterpreted him. his idea was that the truth which cannot be designated by a name or described is words and of which one cannot even say whether it is existent or none extent  is like non-existent.  The idea is quite in agreement with the view of the Upanishads.

An object which cannot even be talked about, is, for all practical purposes, as good as non-extent. But it is not non-existent in the sense that the son of a barren woman is non-existent. This subtle idea, Buddha's contemporaries and even his disciple fail to catch. In one passage, Bhagavan Buddha says clearly: Srmana Gautama was an atheist. It is the annihilation of the non-existent truth that he teaches. So will people attribute to me atheism, which is not mine? So will they ascribe me to the theory of non-existence, which again is not mine? 

From these similar statements of  Bhagavan Buddha, it is clear that he was not an atheist. All philosophers old and new arrive at the same point. Orthodox Advaita (monism) is inevitable; the people of thoughtful temperament cannot find peace, and quietude until they do so. Moksha (liberation) is in the realization of oneness with God. They speak of God Goddesses, devotion, and devotee only in an accurate way only from the standpoint of dvaithi.  After realizing oneness with God, there is no distinction between God and devote, and the word "devotion" has no meaning. 
  

People, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's mission. Because these performers of karma do not know the non-dual Truth owing to their attachment, they will never be able to cross the ocean of duality, or cycle of birth, life, and death.

Dalai Lama said:~   Buddhism need not be the best religion though it is most scientific and the religion and inquisitive. But Buddhism has no answer to certain questions like the existence of Atama [soul] and rebirth.   Dali Lama said that as an individual he believes in rebirth as he had come across a few cases of rebirth.  Modern science, Dalai Lama hoped would unearth the mystery behind the rebirth. (In DH –dec-212009-Gulbarga).

Buddhism is the religion founded by the Bhagavan Buddha, Gautama Siddhartha, in the 6th Century BCE. Like many other offshoots from philosophies spawning from Upanishadic speculation (Gautama himself was a Kshatriya, or noble, and well-versed in Vedic philosophy), it is a religion begun as a reaction to Vedism and the orthodoxy of that time.

Buddhism sees the 'self' as an aggregate of many elements called 'skandhas' which include one's physical form senses, perceptions, deeds, and conceptions. It attempts to free its adherents from the cycle of birth, death, and re-birth by the doctrine of Enlightenment and contends that salvation is only possible after the elimination of suffering, caused chiefly by attachment, striving, and seduction by the senses.

Bhagavan Buddha:~ No one saves us but ourselves.  No one can, and no one may.  We ourselves must walk the path. 

Remember:~

Bhagavan Buddha as a constructive worker committed an error in failing to give the masses a religion, something tangible they could grasp, something materialistic, if symbolic that their limited intellect could take hold of, in addition to his ethics and philosophy. Here  Sage  Sankara was wiser and gave religion; such as Bhakti, worship, etc.--to the ignorant masses, as well as wisdom to those of higher intellect.

Buddhism has not proved the truth of Non-duality.  There is no doubt Buddha pointed out the unreality of the world. He told people they were foolish to cling to it. But he stopped there. He came nearest to Advaita in speech but not to Advaita fully. 

The practices of the path and the destination or goals of both religions can be different. Theravada Buddhism is relatively conservative, and generally closest to early Buddhism. Later on, Mahayana and Vajrayana also developed. It appears that later schools of Buddhism has developed a variety of other ritual and devotional practices that were inspired or influenced by the existing religious cultures of India, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Tibet. Little differences can be found between later schools of Buddhism and Hinduism. There is a huge difference when comparing Hinduism to the teachings of  Bhagavan Buddha as recorded in the Pali Canon of the Theravada school of Buddhism.

Bhagavan Buddha is a Sanskrit word. Bhagavan Buddha means "awakened one." Bhagavan Buddha Buddha is someone who has realized the enlightenment that ends the cycle of birth and death and which brings liberation from suffering.

Among all the Bhagavan Buddha's teachings, those on the nature of the 'Self' are the hardest to understand, yet they are central to the religion. In fact, "fully perceiving the nature of the self" is one way to define enlightenment.

The Five Skandhas

The Buddha taught that an individual is a combination of five aggregates of existence, also called the Five Skandhas. These are:-

1. Form
2. Sensation
3. Perception
4. Mental Formations
5. Consciousness

Various schools of Buddhism interpret the skandhas in somewhat different ways. Generally, the first skandha is our physical form. The second is made up of our feelings, emotional and physical, and our senses -- seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and  smelling.

The third skandha, perception take in most of what we call thinking --conceptualization, cognition, and reasoning. This also includes the recognition that occurs when an organ comes into contact with an object. Perception can be thought of as "that which identifies." The object perceived may be a physical object or a mental one, such as an idea.

The fourth skandha, mental formations, includes habits, prejudices, and predispositions. Our volition, or willfulness, also is part of the fourth skandha, as our attention, faith, conscientiousness, pride, desire, vindictiveness, and many other mental states are both virtuous and not virtuous. The causes and effects of karma are especially important to the fourth skandha.

The fifth skandha, consciousness, is awareness of or sensitivity to an object, but without conceptualization. Once there is awareness, the third skandha might recognize the object and assign the  concept-value to it, and the fourth skandha might react with desire or revulsion or some other mental formation. The fifth skandha is explained in some schools as the base that ties the experience of life together.

What's most important to understand about the skandhas is that they are empty. They are not qualities that an individual possesses because there is no-self possessing them. This doctrine of no-self is called anatman or anatta.

Very basically, the Buddha taught that "you" are not an integral, autonomous entity. The individual self, or what we might call the ego, is more correctly thought of as a by-product of the skandhas.

On the surface, this appears to be nihilistic teaching. But the Buddha taught that if we can see through the delusion of the small, individual self, we experience that which is not subject to birth and death.

Two Views

Beyond this point, Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism differs on how anatman is understood. In fact, more than anything else it is the different understanding of self that defines and separates the two schools.

Very basically, Theravada considers anatman to mean that an individual's ego or personality is a fetter and delusion. Once freed of this delusion, the individual may enjoy the bliss of Nirvana.

Mahayana, on the other hand, considers all physical forms to be void of intrinsic self (teaching called shunyata, which means "emptiness"). The ideal in Mahayana is to enable all beings to be enlightened together, not only out of a sense of compassion but because we are not really separate, autonomous beings.

There's an apparent discrepancy between the Bhagavan Buddha's words in The Dhammapada "By oneself, indeed, is evil done; by oneself is one defiled. By oneself is evil left undone; by oneself, indeed, is one purified. Purity and impurity depend on oneself. No one purifies another." (Dhammapada, chapter 12, verse 165)

Bhagavan Buddha also holds that this world which changes from moment to moment is no real, it is only a reflection and a thing of which it is the reflection alone is real. Buddha was not an atheist. He never denied reality. There is nothing in his words or teaching to show that he considered truth to be non-existent like the horns of a hare. He could not have held the foolish view that something came out of nothing. It is true; some of his disciples misunderstood and misinterpreted him. his idea was that the truth which cannot be designated by a name or described is words and of which one cannot even say whether it is existent, or none extent, is like non-existent.  The idea is quite in agreement with the view of the Upanishads. An object which cannot even be talked about, is, for all practical purposes, as good as non-extent. But it is not non-existent in the sense that the son of a barren woman is non-existent.  This subtle idea, Buddha's contemporaries and even his disciple fail to catch. In one passage Buddha says clearly: Srmana Gautama was an atheist. It is the annihilation of the non-existent truth that he teaches. So will people attribute to me atheism, which is not mine? So will they ascribe me to the theory of non-existence, which again is not mine? 

From these similar statements of the Buddha, it is clear that he was not an atheist. All the philosopher old and new arrivals at the same point. Orthodox Advaita (monism) is inevitable; the people of thoughtful temperament cannot find peace, and quietude until they do so. Moksha(liberation) is in the realization of oneness with God. They speak of God Goddesses, devotion, and devotee only in an inaccurate way only from the standpoint of dvaithi.  After realizing oneness with God, there is no distinction between God and devote, and the word "devotion" has no meaning.   

Buddhists and Jains did not believe in the Vedic positions and did not accept the scriptures. Hence, Sage Sankara had to meet their objections also.  Biographical anecdotes about his persecution of Jains and Buddhists or of his challenges to self-immolation for the loser of a debate are all foolish tales fabricated after his lifetime either by his own followers who took him to be a religious propagator but not as a  philosopher or by the dualistic cult. 

 Bhagavan Buddha, Sage Sankara, and Sage Goudpada have declared non-dual truth centuries back, but one has to reach the destination with a scientific (rational) investigation, not through punditry and intellectuality. One has to mentally reach the final conclusion, then only the conviction becomes firm. Without a firm conviction, the wisdom will not dawn. Therefore, there is a need to know consciousness is real all else is a myth, which Sage Sankara declared as the world  isa  myth and  Brahman alone is real.

Sage Sankara disagrees with Buddhists who say, there is nothing - a nonentity. Sage  Sankara believes there is some reality, even though things are not what they appear to be. If one knows the truth, he will know what to do to find inspiration for action. The seeker of truth‘s subject is to know what is it that is Real.

Buddhism says: all things are illusory and nothing exists.  However, Advaita avers that it is not so.  It says that the universe, of course, is illusory, but there is Brahman, that exists forming the very substratum of all things. 

Sage Sankara says Atman is Brahman and everything is Brahman is a scientific declaration not religious or yogic. Sage Sankara and Sage Goudpada are more scientific than anyone else in the world. Since the real Advaitic essence is hidden it cannot be got without the inner (mental) journey.

Sage  Goudpada says: ~ The merciful Veda teaches that  the karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect while Gnana is taught to those of higher intellect. Gnana here is knowledge uncontradictable truth or scientific truth. Thus, their scientific truth of the whole, not the part is declared by Sage Sankara 1400 years back and thought only to those of higher intellect. Thus karma and Upasana, yoga, and orthodoxy have to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.  

Sage Sankara was criticized for his views on Maya (illusion) without understanding him. He said that (1) Brahman (Atman) is real (2) the universe is unreal, and (3) Brahman is the universe. He did not stop at the second because the third explains the other two. It signifies that the universe is real if perceived as the ‘Self’ and unreal if perceived as apart from the Self. Hence, Maya or illusion and reality are one and the same. 

The dualists criticize the concept of illusion without understanding it. Sage  Sankara said:~

(1) Consciousness (Atman) is real

(2) The universe ( mind) is unreal, and

(3) Consciousness is the universe(mind because the universe or mind is merely an illusion created out of Atman (consciousness).  

 One need not stop at the second because the third explains the other two. It signifies that the universe is real if perceived as the Self and unreal if perceived as apart from the Self (consciousness). Hence, illusion and reality are one and the same because both are one in essence. Realizing the essence, which is consciousness as the innermost Self, is Self-Realization or truth- Realization of God-Realization. Sage  Sankara‘s declaration is a rational truth, scientific truth, and also the ultimate truth. 

The Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is for those who are capable of inquiring into their own existence to know and realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.:~Santthosh Kumaar  

The world in which we exist (waking) is a mere superimposition like seeing a snake superimposed on a rope on a dark night.+

The world in which we exist (waking) is a mere superimposition like seeing a snake superimposed on a rope on a dark night.

The snake has no independent existence, apart from the rope, it exists because of the rope, and it ceases to exist as soon as a light is brought.

The snake then dissolves into the rope. In the same way, when the Soul, the Self remains in its own awareness, the mind (I) merges into it.

The mind and Soul are one in essence. To attain this knowledge is the goal of the truth seeker. The three states then cannot taint the Soul, the Self.

Why does the snake appear to be existing, you cannot say a snake does not exist unless you see it as only a rope.

Similarly, the universe in which you exist appears to be existing you cannot say the universe in which you exist does not exist unless you realize the cause of the universe is the Soul.

The ‘I’ is the snake the Soul, the Self is the rope. Until you become aware of the Soul, the Self. the ‘I’ remains as a snake.

The universe is the snake the Soul, the Self is the rope. Until you become aware of the Soul, the Self, the universe remains as a snake.

The waking is the snake the Soul, the Self is the rope.

Until you become aware of the Soul, the Self, the waking remains as a snake.

The form, time, and space are the snakes, and the Soul, the Self is the rope.

Until you become aware of the Soul, the Self, the form, time, and space remain as a snake.

The duality is the snake the Soul, the Self is the rope. Until you become aware of the Soul, the Self, the duality remains as a snake.

When you become aware of the rope there is no more snake. Similarly, the Soul, the Self, wakes up from its sleep of ignorance there is no ‘I’.

If there is no ‘I’ there is no ignorance.

If there is no ‘I’ there is no mind.

If there is no ‘I’ there is no universe.

If there is no ‘I’ there is no waking.

If there is no ‘I’ there is no form, time, and space.

If there is no ‘I’ there is no duality.

If there is no duality there is only the Advaitic reality.

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.:~Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara declared 1200 years back –everything is Atman- because Atman is in the form of consciousness.+

Scientists now concluded that you are not the brain (body). Consciousness requires the joint operation of the brain, body, and world. "You are not your brain. The brain, rather, is part of what you are."

The Biology of Consciousness

by Alva Noë. Hill and Wang, 2009:~

 Alva Noe, a University of California, Berkeley, philosopher, and cognitive scientist argues that after decades of a concerted effort on the part of neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers "only one proposition about how the brain makes us conscious ... has emerged unchallenged: we don't have a clue." The reason we have been unable to explain the neural basis of consciousness, he says, is that it does not take place in the brain. Consciousness is not something that happens inside us but something we achieve it is more like dancing than it is like the digestive process. To understand consciousness the fact that we think and feel and that a world shows up for us we need to look at a larger system in which the brain is only one element. Consciousness requires the joint operation of the brain, body, and world. "You are not your brain. The brain, rather, is part of what you are."

Thus, science is going in the right direction in its invention, and one day it will declare that everything is consciousness, which Sage Sankar declared 1200 years back –everything is Ataman- because Ataman is in the form of consciousness.

We have to know the fact that Sage Goudpada and Sage Sankara are not only reformers but also the sage greatest scientists. Since their original thesis has been lost in the labyrinths of philosophy and mutilated by pundits and priestcraft, it becomes very difficult to understand and assimilate the wisdom expounded by the great masters. In addition, the conservativeness of the orthodox scholars will not allow any research other than playing with the words, which suits the mass mindset, because of their egocentric outlook.

All the add-ons have to be deleted, in order to understand and assimilate the real fragrance of the wisdom expounded by the great masters of Advaita, but it is a hurricane task.  Thus, it is no use of studying all the scriptures, when there is a direct path to nondualistic or Advaitic truth.  The same time and effort can be used to reach the nondual destination, in lesser time and effort.   

As the seeker goes deeper into the investigation he finds:-

Sage Sankara founded his Advaita Vedanta either on reason independent of Sruti or on Sruti confirmed by reason."   Sage Sankara's commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad, II, 1:  This (the unreality of duality) is borne out by the Srutis ... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the object world even from pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose.

Sage Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, 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 Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. 

Sage Sankara, in debates with Buddhists and others who did not recognize the authority of the Vedas, had been obliged to prove the truth of Advaita by means of reason alone.  Mandukya Upanishad, a scripture that appealed to reason to the exclusion of Revelation. 

Nonduality does not need the support of any scripture or revelation like the Veda. For it is based, not upon the varying theological fancies, which are as numerous as the sands of the sea, but upon reason, the common heritage of all mankind, irrespective of color or creed or clime.

Self-knowledge is meant only for those who have an intense urge, and courage to accept the truth with humility and reject the untruth. Since people start comparing their scriptural knowledge, it becomes impossible to assimilate and realize the non-dual truth.   Therefore, there is no need to convince anyone other than our own-self to get a firm conviction. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

In the end, the philosophy that will appeal to one most depends on his mental makeup.+

In the end, the philosophy that will appeal to one mostly depends on his mental makeup.

The Hindu  religion prescribes  four paths to the journey to Ultimate Reality:~

Karma Yoga - suited for an individual with predominantly activity-oriented mental aptitude

Raja Yoga - suited for an individual with predominantly occult activity-oriented mental aptitude

Bhakti Yoga -suited for individuals with a predominantly emotional aptitude

Gyan Yoga -suited for an individual with a predominantly logic-driven aptitude

Many people follow both Bhakti as well as Jnana.  Advaitic sages in the past composed numerous hymns for various Gods and Goddesses by mixing both dual and nondualistic ideas.

Many sages are used to illustrate, the formless (Nirakar God) ocean water under the cold currents of bhakti freezes to take the shape as ice (Saakar God). The same ice (Saakar God) under the heat of Gyan dissolves and again becomes the formless ocean (Niraakar God).

All the Advaitins believe in god and goddesses (vidya) and performing rituals and other sacrifices(Avidya) both are a hindrance to self-knowledge according to Ish Upanishads,  then why the seeker of truth needs to worship the god and goddesses when the essence of Advaita is Ataman is Brahman.  

When the Self is the nirguna /nirakara Soul then there is no need for pada pooja (feet worship) Advaitin Gurus to get freedom. 

A guru who preaches conduct as the means to freedom believes in birth, life, death, and the world as reality, whereas the Advitic Sage Sankara declares the world as unreal.  Therefore, how actions performed in the unreal world can get Moksha or freedom. Therefore, there is a need to know the fact that the self is not physical in order to understand and assimilate and realize the truth beyond physicality.

Isa Upanishads indicate:~ By worshipping gods and goddesses and going to the world of gods after death is of no use.  The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend the same time moving forward toward Self-knowledge, which is the main goal. One cannot reach the nondual destination by glorifying god and goddesses and by doing that, one goes deeper and deeper into darkness. It surely indicates the fact that the seeker of truth has to drop the worshiping god and goddess in order to get Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

It also indicates that Religious Rituals (Avidya) are Karma (action) and therefore a hindrance. Performing Agnihotra and other sacrifices (Avidya) is a roundabout way of purifying the mind, and it is also groping in the dark.

In addition, it indicates that karma is limited only to religious rituals, not to the whole human life. This karma theory based on human conduct must have been adopted from Buddhism and other theories based on human conduct.  

When it says: Perform the obligatory karmas without any attachment to the fruits, and at the same time worship gods and goddesses, again without any desire to go to heaven - then you can get the benefit of both, liberation and bliss. For those who are not yet ready to renounce, this path is recommended, it means that the religion and its idea of god and goddesses and code of conduct, and its rituals are meant for the mass who are incapable of thinking of the beyond.

In addition, it also speaks of heaven the abode of gods, where one goes after death, and it speaks of rebirth, this contradiction, the seeker has to conclude that religion, rituals religious gods, and its code of conduct is meant for the mass that is not receptive to Self-knowledge.

When the self is not the body (‘I’) whatever one sees, knows, believes, experiences, and feels on the base of the body (‘I’) as the Self is bound to be an illusion.  Thus, the karma performed in illusion is bound to be an illusion. Birth, life, and death are happening within the illusion, therefore it is bound to be an illusion. 

Rebirth and reincarnation theories based on the false self within the false experience are bound to be an illusion on the base of the true self. Only the witness of the illusion is real (Brahman).  Therefore, everything has to be viewed and judged, on the base of the Formless Witness (soul) in order to overcome the illusion/duality.

A seeker of truth has to know somewhere he is going wrong, and it is for the seeker to go on his own and remove the obstacle.  The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, god, scriptures, and yogic theories. Moreover, attachment to scriptures, personal god, and religious code of conduct keep  the Soul, the Self permanently in the grip of dualistic illusion.

The most valuable contribution of Sage Sankara is that he gained general consciousness on the issue that the authoritative explanation of Upanishads, Geeta, and Brahma Sutra was the final say in the matter of religion. Anything that goes contrary to the trio is not authentic. He also made a clear distinction between Vedas and Upanishads in his commentary on Geeta. He stated that the Karma Kand of the Vedas deals with the injunctions relating to the performance of duties and actions. These are for ordinary householders.

 The path of religion, the path of yoga, and the path of wisdom were intended for different classes of people. The wisdom is for the advanced seekers of truth. It deals with the nature of the ultimate Truth and Reality. It is meant for superior aspirants who have an inner urge to know the truth and it is not for those who are immersed in earthly desires.

Sri Sankara’s whole teaching can be summed up into one sentence, ‘There is nothing else but Brahma. He says that Absolute Existence, Absolute Knowledge and Absolute Bliss is Real. The universe is not real. He says that Brahma and Atman are one. The ultimate and the Absolute Truth is the Self, which is one though appearing as many in different individuals. The individual has no reality. Only the Self is real; the rest, mental and physical are but passing appearances.

 In fact, Sage Sankara states a paradox- the world is and is not. It is neither real nor unreal. It leads us to recognize the existence of Maya. He thinks that the world is illusory from one perspective and from the second it is nothing but Brahma, Itself in manifestation. This apparent world is Maya and has its basis in Brahman, the Eternal. It looks as real. It has names and forms and actually, it is not real In the light of true knowledge, it disappears and Self-alone shines as real. However, Sage Sankar’s Mayavad has not been accepted by many preachers and philosophers.

When  Sage Sankara says clearly, the universe is not real. He says that Brahman and Atman are one. The ultimate and the Absolute Truth is the Self, which is one though appearing as many in different individuals. The individual has no reality. Only the Self is Real; the rest, mental and physical are but passing appearances, then it indicates the form (universe) is unreal the formless (Soul) is real.  Therefore, only Atman is real because there is no second thing other than Ataman.

He also clearly mentions that:

The path of religion, the path of yoga, and the path of wisdom were intended for different classes of people. The wisdom is for the advanced seekers of truth. It deals with the nature of the ultimate Truth and Reality. It is meant for superior aspirants who have an inner urge to know the truth and it is not for those who are immersed in earthly desires.

Scientists now concluded that you are not the brain (body). Consciousness requires the joint operation of the brain, body, and world. "You are not your brain. The brain, rather, is part of what you are."

The Biology of Consciousness

by Alva Noë. Hill and Wang, 2009

 Alva Noe, a University of California, Berkeley, philosopher, and cognitive scientist argues that after decades of a concerted effort on the part of neuroscientists, psychologists and philosophers "only one proposition about how the brain makes us conscious ... has emerged unchallenged: we don't have a clue." The reason we have been unable to explain the neural basis of consciousness, he says, is that it does not take place in the brain. Consciousness is not something that happens inside us but something we achieve it is more like dancing than it is like the digestive process. To understand consciousness the fact that we think and feel and that a world shows up for us we need to look at a larger system of which the brain is only one element. Consciousness requires the joint operation of the brain, body, and world. "You are not your brain. The brain, rather, is part of what you are."

Thus, science is going in the right direction in its invention, and one day it will declare that everything is consciousness, which Sage Sankara declared 1200 years back –everything is Ataman- because Ataman is in the form of consciousness.

 Thus we have to know the fact that Bhagavan Buddha, Sage Goudpada and Sage Sankara are not only reformers but also the greatest scientists. Since their original thesis has been lost in the labyrinths of philosophy and mutilated by pundits and priestcraft, it becomes very difficult to understand and assimilate the wisdom expounded by the great masters. In addition, the conservativeness of the orthodox scholars will not allow any research other than playing with the words, which suits the mass mindset, because of their egocentric outlook.

 All the add-ons have to be deleted, in order to understand and assimilate the real fragrance of the wisdom expounded by the great masters of Advaita, but it is a hurricane task.  Thus, it is no use going through all the scriptures, when there is a direct path to nondual truth.  The same time and effort can be used to reach the nondual destination, in lesser time and effort.   

As one goes deeper into investigation he finds:-

Sage Sankara founded his Advaita Vedanta either on reason independent of Sruti or on Sruti confirmed by reason." Sage Sankara's commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad, II, 1:  This (the unreality of duality) is borne out by the Srutis ... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the object world even from pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose.

Sage Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, 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 Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. 

Sage Sankara in debates with Buddhists and others who did not recognize the authority of the Vedas, had been obliged to prove the truth of Advaita by means of reason alone.  Mandukya Upanishad, a scripture that appealed to reason to the exclusion of Revelation. 

Nonduality does not need the support of any Scripture or Revelation like the Veda. For it is based, not upon the varying theological fancies, which are as numerous as the sands of the sea, but upon reason, the common heritage of all mankind, irrespective of color or creed or clime.

Thus, Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is meant only for those who have an intense urge, and courage to accept the truth with humility and reject the untruth. Since people start comparing their scriptural knowledge, it becomes impossible to assimilate and realize the non-dual truth.   Therefore, there is no need to convince anyone other than our own-self to get a firm conviction.

Gnani does not try to prove my views, but it is for the seeker to prove himself to know “What is the truth, “and “What is untruth?” to assimilate the Self -knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Karma, Bhakti, and Raj yoga are not the means to the path of wisdom. And mixing them up and trying to assimilate the ultimate truth is an impossibility.

There is no need to practice devotion, karma, and raja yoga because they are not the means to acquire non-dual wisdom.   There is no practice as such but perfect understanding is needed.   

Deeper inquiry, analysis, and reasoning reveal the fact that the self is not physical but the Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

All the accumulated knowledge, experiences, and understanding based on the physical self (ego or body as Self) are falsehoods based on the false self, within the false experience (waking).   

Thus, whatever is based on the waking entity is bound to be falsehood because the waking experience itself is falsehood.   Since many teachers and teachings are based on the false self (ego or body as Self) and they consider the false experience (three states) as reality, they are incapable of grasping the witness, which is within the three states, but it is without the three states.

 Thus, the formless knower of the three states has to be grasped mentally and realize the fact that, all the three states, which come and go, are mental.  They are impermanent. 

The formless witness or knower of the three states is permanent and eternal.  Therefore, there is a need to understand “What is Mind?” and “What is the substance of the Mind?” in order to understand and assimilate the non-dual truth.

 For this one has to drop all his accumulated knowledge, which he is using as a yardstick, and lands himself in pursuit of an argument without reaching anywhere.  One has to think deeper and analyze and verify everything and accept only un-contradictable truth.  Nothing has to be accepted as truth because some great thinker says it or I am saying it.  

Those who lack the intelligence to discriminate between formless witness (subject) and three states (object) will not be able to grasp what is real and what is unreal. Both subject and object are consciousness, not subject alone.

The truth can never change. The nature of truth is, it can never be changed under any circumstances. It may be misrepresented. It must apply to the whole of existence, to the whole of the universe. It is in the object (three states) alone that one has all changes, as deeper analysis points out.

 The subject (formless witness) remains unchanged. The subject (formless witness), as such remains immortal. It can never die for it never changes. The body and world are an object and goes, but the subject or knower of the body and the universe can never go. 

The seeker has to take this principle as his guiding thread, and non-dual truth becomes easy to grasp. The formless witness can never be subject to the changes of the object; it is unchanged. The mistake usually made is that the subject becomes an object, or that object is the subject.

If one wants to have an absence of contradictions, an absence of duality, there must be one entity, one being. If one has experience which is an object (mind), there is a contradiction between subject and object, for "mind” is an object.

The duality is a reality from the standpoint of the false self (ego).  The duality is merely an illusion on the base of the true Self, which is consciousness. This understanding comes only to the serious seeker, who has a real urge to know the ultimate truth, which is beyond all the teachings and teachers. There is neither teaching, nor teacher, nor a student in the realm of truth.  

Different paths will not converge to the same Ultimate Reality because they are based on the false self. They are not different stages in the same path. 

People fight about the differences and greatness of their chosen paths but only through wisdom one can realize the ultimate reality

One has to have a perfect understanding and march ahead, surely and steadily, towards that ultimate reality, which is consciousness or Brahman or God in truth. One becomes limited to the concepts, names, and forms within the waking/dream. Waking/dream originates from the soul.

 The Soul is the true Self.  The Soul is in the form of consciousness. Realizing the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness as the true Self is, Self-realization or truth realization. 

Consciousness is formless,  limitless, permanent, unchanging, and by its nature nondual and universal. The consciousness is the formless knower of the mirage (universe) which comes and goes.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

You are false entity (waking entity or ego) within the false experience (waking).+

Until you realize you are part and parcel of the illusory universe, the Self, which is hidden by the illusory universe will not be found.

Realize, the Self is not you but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is the cause of the universe it itself is uncaused.

Relax, and introspect mentally that, your body is not Self, your ego is not the Self, you are not the Self’.

You are a false entity (ego) within the false experience (waking). The Soul, the Self ‘is hidden by the universe but the Soul, the Self is without the universe. 

You are part and parcel of that universe, which appears as waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (non-duality).

The Soul, the Self is the formless witness which witnesses you (ego) and the universe together.

The Soul, the Self is just a witness of you and your experience of the world. 

This witness is like a mirror. The body and the world are merely reflections on it. 

The mirror is unaffected by the reflection on it. It is its ultimate nondual nature.

Once the seeker has grasped this truth, once he has walked the path to the innermost core, he will never be the same again. Finally, he has to awaken to his formless nondual true identity.

In the eyes of a Gnani, the whole existence becomes enlightened. A Gnani realizes his body, his ego his experience of the world are one in essence.  The essence is formless consciousness, which is the Self.  The waking and dream reflect in the mirror of consciousness without creating any ripples on the mirror when one becomes aware the mirror and its reflection are one in essence.

When the wisdom dawns the mind starts melting into the soul. Wisdom destroys all distance between the mind and the Soul. Mind becomes non-existence; it becomes nothingness in the midst of diversity. And that nothingness is the nondual nature of the Soul or consciousness, which is the Self.:~Santthosh Kumaar