Adyathmic Discussion ~109 (Swami Vivekaananda).+

In a lecture on Vedanta, delivered at Lahore on the 12th November 1897, Swami, Vivekananda asserted the superiority of Advaita in the following way:~

The same God whom the ignorant man saw outside nature, the same whom the little-knowing man saw as interpenetrating the universe, and the same whom the sage realizes as his own Self, as the whole universe itself-all are One and the same Being, the same entity seen from different standpoints, seen through different glasses of Maya, I perceived by different minds, and all the difference was caused by that. Not only so, but one view must lead to the other... Thus you can see that this~ (Advaita) and this alone, and none else, can be the only scientific religion. . . . let us take the ignorant by the hand, lead them always step by step just as they can go, and know that every step in religious growth in India has been progressive. (The Complete Works, Vol. 3, pp. 423, 424.) ~ Santthosh Kumaar

 

• Kamal Narayan Singh, Mahesh Hegade and Roshan Maraseni like this.

   

   
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  Mahesh Hegade :~ Sri Swami Vivekananda says as below.  Adavaita encompasses everything. Since Advaita requires heavy-duty intellectualism, it had to be progressively simplified as Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita. (From 'The Complete works of Swami Vivekananda)

   
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  In Advaitism, there is no Jivâtmâ; it is only a delusion. In Dvaitism, there is Jiva infinitely distinct from God. Both are true. One went to the fountain, another to the tank. Apparently we are all Dvaitists as far as our consciousness goes. But beyond? Beyond that we are Advaita. 
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• In reality, this is the only truth. According to Advaitism, love every man as your own Self and not as your brother as in Christianity. Brotherhood should be superseded by universal Selfhood. Not universal brotherhood, but universal Selfhood is our motto. Advaitism may include also the "greatest happiness" theory.
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• Soham — I am He. Repeat the idea constantly, voluntarily at first; then it becomes automatic in practice. It percolates to the nerves. So this idea, by rote, by repetition, should be driven even into the nerves. Or, first begin with Dvaitism that is in your consciousness; second stage, Vishishtâdvaitism — "I in you, you in me, and all is God."
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•  This is the teaching of Christ. The highest Advaitism cannot be brought down to practical life. 
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• Advaitism made practical works from the plane of Vishishtadvaitism. Dvaitism — small circle different from the big circle, only connected by Bhakti; Vishishtadvaitism — a small circle within big circle, motion regulated by the big circle; Advaitism — small circle expands and coincides with the big circle. In Advaitism "I" loses itself in God. God is here, God is there, God is "I"
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  Mahesh Hegade:~  Good one Santthosh Kumaar, sir. Just adding additional commentary from  Swami Vivekananda.

  
  
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  Santthosh Kumaar:~  Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (our true Advaita philosophy) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita –Chap- IV-v.2)
  
  In Gita Chap.IV where Lord Krishna says :~ "This yoga has been lost for ages" the word yoga refers to Gnana yoga, not other yogas: the force of the word this is to point this out.
  
  Lord Krishna describes some of the other yogas, but devotes this chapter separately to Gnana Yoga. So one sees even in those ancient days people did not care for Advaita; they wanted religion; hence Gnana got lost. That is why Krishna calls it "the supreme secret." Krishna points out that the yoga must see "Brahman in action."
  
  Gita Chap.IV:~  "He who achieves perfection in Yoga finds the self in time." This means that after his yoga is finished, he begins the inquiry into ultimate truth and in due course this inquiry produces realization of the universal spirit as the result.
  
  Lord Krishna Says Ch.V:~ “Those who know the Self in truth." The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.

   
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  Santthosh Kumaar:~  The Bhagavad Gita says:- Among thousands of men, scarcely one strives for perfection, and of those who strive and succeed, scarcely one knows the self in truth.
  
  Dualist sages say God cannot exist without attributes. Then they are making God as an object whereas God is the subject. Attributes can only be seen in the objective world. Causality appears in the duality, but when one goes deeper into the matter even there the causality disappears.
  
  Who else but the self could have imagined the objective world? Ramanuja and Madva see God as the imaginer, but where is the proof. Nobody has seen God creating. You have seen no other creator, whether God or angel. The only self is left. Therefore, self is the creator because imagining means creating. The Dvaita and Religionists talk nonsense. Has God a meaning to you? Yes. It is an idea. What is an idea? The idea is imagination. So God has no proven existence beyond that of the idea.
  
  Where people cannot and do not think, they follow others. A Gnani will see the world and get to know it is only appearance. He is not blind; he sees three states or objects as it is, but he knows it is only falsehood. Just as you see a mirage, the Gnani sees the mirage of this universe too, but he is not deceived by it. 

  
  Religion is regarded as sacred and real by the common people, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

   

   
• So long as one is ignorant, he will have the idea that God has created this world because the causal notion will be there. Nobody wants to suffer, and while the notion that suffering can be got rid of by appealing to God these wishes will sway the mind to believe in God. For them religion will arise, but for the man who wants the truth, religion offers no consolation.
  
  Anybody can write a commentary on the Upanishads other scriptures and other scriptures, all they need to do to pour out with or mental word words. It is quite easy to do this even by those who have never understood the Upanishads and but think they have. Thus the dualists and their disciple have written commentaries on scriptures: But all these have written to satisfy themselves, not to get the ultimate truth or Brahman.
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  Santthosh Kumaar:~  Dearest Maheshji thank you for your input. Pranams.

   
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  Mahesh Hegade:~ Thank you sir for such wonderful write-ups. Truly enlightening.

   
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  Santthosh Kumaar:~  Swami Vivekananda also said that it is unfortunate that most of the Indians don’t understand the depth of our culture and exhibit non-culture/non-religion in day-to-day life in the name of culture/religion.
  
  Swami Vivekananda aptly described Sage Sankara’s Advaita as the fairest flower of philosophy that any country in any age has produced.
  
  Swami Vivekananda:-"Teach yourself, teach everyone his real nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come when this sleeping soul is roused to Self-conscious activity.

Meditation always means the critical analysis of the Self to get rid of ignorance.+

For the wise who realize everything as the consciousness, what is there to meditate or not to meditate, what to speak or not to speak, what to do or not to do?

Only the Soul or the consciousness is Real and all else is an illusion. Only your constant remembrance will allow you, one day, to realize what truth really is, and, in so doing realize the ‘Self.

Sage Sankara says ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then why you are indulging in other types of meditation.

The meditation, meditator, and the world in which meditation is performed are an illusion created out of single clay. That single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Knowledge of the single stuff is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana leads to Self-awareness.

In Self-awareness the Soul, the 'Self' remains in its own awareness in the midst of the dualistic illusion. Self-awareness is real meditation. Mediation is the nature of the Soul, the Self.

Meditation always means the critical analysis of the Self to get rid of ignorance.

Chandogya Upanishad:~ One who meditates upon and realizes the 'Self' discovers that everything in the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantrams and meditation--all come from the Self.

People dip into meditation, but they do not understand that that is only one half of the truth and that this dipping is also a mental discipline for them to understand the true nature of the external universe, which understanding they must next get if they are to become a Gnani.

Remember:~

Ashtavakra says ~ “This is your bondage, that you practice Samadhi or meditation.”

Exercise discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation.

Advaita means the Soul, the Self, which is second to none. The Soul, which is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Advaita is the nature of the God, the i Self. Advaita is God. Advaita is the fullness of the consciousness.

Meditation is not the means to Advaitic Self-awareness. Realizing that form, time and space are one, in essence,  leads to Self-awareness.    

The meditator, meditation, and the world are created out of single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness (spirit).  The knowledge of the single stuff is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

The witness of the three states is not the waking entity (you), but the formless Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the three states are merely an illusion. 

Whatever is happening within the waking experience is a reality, within the waking experience, but the waking experience itself is an illusion. 

The illusion appears as the waking or the dream (duality)  and disappears as deep sleep (non-duality). The Soul, the  Self, witnesses the coming and going of the three states. The Soul, the innermost Self, which witnesses the states, is unaffected and apart.

To realize this truth takes quite a lot of mental effort. A perfect understanding leads the seeker to Self-awareness. The one who is able to grasp this truth is a Gnani. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Advaitic truth is Spiritul truth based on Spirit. Spiritual truth is universal whereas religious truth is individualized truth.+

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom will one day replace all the religions of the world.

Religious Gods are mythical based on blind belief or faith. Mythical Gods are not God in truth.

Religions are based on blind belief whereas spirituality is based on Spirit, the truth, which is the existence itself.

Advaitic truth is Spiritual truth based on Spirit. Spiritual truth is universal whereas religious truth is individualized truth.

Religion is based on a dualistic perspective whereas spirituality is based on a nondualistic perspective. Whatever is based on the dualistic perspective is egocentric and whatever is based on the nondualistic perspective is Soulcentric.

There is no need for any religion. Religion is based on blind belief. The belief is not the truth.

Religion conditions one to base on blind faith or blind belief. The blind belief is always based on the false Self (ego), within the false experience (waking).

Believing in any religion is a great hurdle in assimilating the truth hidden by ignorance. From the ultimate standpoint, there is no value in any blind belief-based Gods.

Religion can never make you know God because it propagates blind belief in God. Only an intense urge to know what God is supposed to be in truth can make you realize God in truth.

Whereas Spirituality is based on the Spirit, which is the cause of the world in which we exist.

Religion is the cause of wars, violence, and terrorism.

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is pure spirituality with nothing to do with religion, sect, or dualistic-based spirituality.

Until Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is propagated effectively, many generations will suffer from violence, wars, and terrorism, which is going on in the name of religion and God.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom will one day replace all the religions of the world because Advaitic wisdom is the knowledge of God in truth.:~Santthosh Kumaar

Advaitic wisdom makes one realize the whole physical existence (universe ) is an illusion.+

People's observation is based on a dualistic (form, time, and space) perspective, whereas a Gnanis judgment is based on the nondualistic (soul or consciousness) perspective.  What is the use of discussing karma, which takes place within the unreal world? Instead, one has to find how this world is unreal (illusion).  

In the Atmic discussion, form, time, and space (universe) is merely an illusion.   Therefore, there is no need to discuss form, time, and space. 

Both modern science and religion offer hypotheses and theories, but there is one vital difference--science begins with facts which it collects; religion begins with fancies. Science evolves its hypotheses from such facts, religion from fancies. 

Science declares that oxygen combines with hydrogen to give water. And it also declares oxygen is protons or electrons. Non-dualistic or Advaitic wisdom makes one realize the whole physical existence (universe or mind) is an illusion,  whereas science and its inventions, which are based on the physical self (ego)   are limited to physical existence.

The ultimate truth is hidden within the universe, but it is beyond the universe.  Science demands physical proof.  But the physical proof is part of the illusion. Hence, science cannot go beyond physicality, because the truth cannot be traced with laboratory conditions. 

Deeper self-search is required if one wants to push his quest deeply enough because it is a purely mental (inner)  journey. 

Common people and primitive minds fall into faulty thinking through their inherited and inborn conditioning, such faulty thinking and reasoning make them accept the experience of birth, life, and death as a reality,  taking what they see through their senses as real, taking what is apparent,  obvious and superficial as true,  because it is less troublesome. 

Remember:~ 

Many people adopt the attitude that what they know is the truth. And what others say is false. This attitude makes them not verify anything other than what they know.   One needs to be rational, not merely logical. Logic has its value only on the physical plane.

As one advances towards the spiritual plane,  he sees the logic underlying experience and becomes more rational. His reasoning is two-fold--implicit and explicit.

There is a need for facts of physical proof in scientific invention, whereas in the pursuit of truth the proof has to be grasped mentally and realized.  Therefore, the truth is realized only by a few,  who take this mental pursuit.  “Whatever facts revealed, which is uncontradictable,  has to be accepted as truth.

The truth is based on the formless Soul,  the Self is worthwhile; without it, one has something else, not the truth.  Most people refuse to venture into the pursuit of truth; because they do not want to go to the root of things.

Remember:~ 

The seeker of truth has to study, inquire, and reason at the beginning of the pursuit of truth because it is absolutely necessary for the pursuit of truth.

One has to know the true Self is not physical, but the formless Spirit.  The Spirit or Soul or the Self is in the form of consciousness. Consciousness gives awareness of the three states. 

The ignorance of the true Self is the cause of experiencing duality as a reality.  Ignorance vanishes through the realization of the Soul, the Self.  The Soul is present in the form of consciousness or the Spirit.

When one realizes the fact that, the whole universe and its contents, movable and immovable, are known to be consciousness, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, there is then any room to say that the universe is the universe. The universe and its contents are bound to be consciousness. Consciousness alone is real and eternal.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

If you become a sannyasi you become a holy man, not a Gnani.+

There is no need to renounce the practical life and take sannyasa or monkhood in order to acquire Advaitic wisdom or Self -knowledge or Brahma-Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Renouncing the worldly life and accepting sannyasa or monkhood means incapacity to think deeper, impotency to inquire and reason.

All those who wear religious robes are not seeking truth. The sanyasa is a religious fable. The sanyasa is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

Those who are seeking truth should never search for the guru because the guru belongs to the religious and the yogic path. 

  

Sage   Sankara says: ~ “Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."

 

  

Thus, it proves that Sage Sankara meant, taking sanyasa and wearing religious robes to earn bread. Sanyasa is not a qualification to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

 

  

Sage Sankara clearly indicates ~  VC~ (2) that the Knower of the Atman (A Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539). 

 

If you become a sannyasi you become a holy man, not a Gnani.    

A Gnani wears no signs it means he does not identify himself as Guru or teacher or swami. 

Sage  Sankara: ~ On Gnani: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior." (page 482 ) 

When the knower of Brahman (Gnani) wears no signs, it means he does not identify himself as a Guru or a yogi or a teacher or a Swami. 

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 with the idea of God~ and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can therefore dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. 

Sage Sankara gave out what was of most use to the greatest number of people. Therefore, in the commentaries on the Upanishads, such as the famous Manduka Upanishads, he gave the highest non-dual message of the identity of Atman and Brahman, revitalizing the philosophy and the practice of Advaita, while in the commentaries on the Brahmasutra he gave lesser teaching, positing both higher and lower Maya and higher and lower Brahman (Ishvara) to explain creation for those of lesser intellects until they were ready for the highest truth. 

Sage Sankara:~ VC Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together ( 6)

It is clear that liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality by means of wealth. (7)

Actions help to purify the mind, but they do not, by themselves, contribute to the attainment of Reality. The attainment of Reality is brought about only by Self Inquiry and not in the least by even ten million acts. (11)

The fear and sorrow created by the delusory serpent in the rope can be ended only after fully ascertaining the truth of the rope through steady and balanced thinking. (12)

 

Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us knowledge about our own Self. The firm experience of the nature of the Self is seen to proceed from inquiry along the lines of the salutary advice of the wise. (13)

  

Ultimate success in spiritual endeavors depends chiefly upon the qualifications of the seeker. Auxiliary conveniences such as time And place all have a place indeed, but they are essentially secondary. (14)

 

He alone is considered qualified to enquire after the supreme Reality, which has discrimination, detachment, qualities of Calmness, etc., and a burning desire for liberation. The four-fold qualifications (17)

Great sages have spoken of four qualifications for attainment which, when present, succeeds in the realization of Brahman and In the absence of which the goal is not attained. (18)

  

(While enumerating the qualifications), first, we count the ability to discriminate between the Real and the unreal; next comes a spirit of detachment from the enjoyment of the fruits of actions here and hereafter; after that is the groups of six virtues beginning with Calmness, and the last is undoubtedly an intense desire for liberation. (19)

  

A firm conviction that Brahman alone is Real and the phenomenal World is unreal is known as discrimination between the Real and The unreal. (20)

  

They have crossed the dreadful ocean of (embodied) existence through their own efforts and without any (personal) motives; they help others to cross it. (37)

 

  

 

The rituals mentioned in the karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the jnanakanda which is also part of the same scripture. While the karmakanda enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down rules for the same, the jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules the worshipper of deities as a dim-witted person no better than a beast.

 

This seems strange, the latter part of the Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals throughout with karma while the second or concluding part is all about Gnana. Owing to this difference, people have gone so far as to divide our scripture into two sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to mean the karmakanda and the Upanishads (Vedanta) to mean the jnanakanda. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

  

To realize the Advaitic truth the seeker has to be free from all superstitions and orthodox contaminations.+

Many are good at acrobatics with words, but their knowledge is limited to the physical self.  The inner work is in progress, and the realization will happen as the conviction of the witness grows.  

Everyone’s individual experiences are not the same.   Some are so immersed in materiality, religion, and duty-bound towards their family and society, and they do not have an inner urge because they have accepted their present experience of birth, life, death, and the world as reality. Because of this deep-rooted conviction, they are not attracted to the path of non-dualistic or Advaitic wisdom. Some are interested in intellectually knowing the truth.

Many are interested in arguing on the base of accumulated knowledge, but they do not understand the fact that neither by arguing nor by provoking the wisdom will not dawn. The path of wisdom does not need any support from any scriptures, philosophy, or words of great people of the past because the path of wisdom is the path of verification not the path of argument.  

The seeker has to get all his doubts and confusion cleared by discussing.  The seeker should not hold his accumulated knowledge as a yardstick. The ultimate truth or Brahman cannot be compared with any other knowledge because it is not based on form, time, and space 

Remember:~ 

The dream becomes unreal when 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  Soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states.  

Thus, the experience of birth, life, death, and the world is nothing to do with the soul, the innermost self.  Whatever is based on you (ego or the waking entity) is falsehood.

If you say ‘I am God’ within the falsehood you are saying it within the falsehood (illusion). Therefore, experiencing birth, life, death, and the world within the falsehood is bound to be a falsehood.

Advaitic wisdom dawns in the midst of duality (falsehood or waking).  When Advaitic wisdom dawns the universe (waking) will not disappear but its unreal nature is exposed.  And one realizes the unity in diversity in consciousness because consciousness pervades everything and everywhere in the universe. 

Everything is consciousness. There is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.  Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman.  Brahman is God in truth. Thus, God in truth is the whole, not the part. 

To get Self-realization or God-realization the seeker has to drop all the accumulated knowledge and start afresh. 

Perfect understanding and assimilation of ‘what is what’, leads to nondualistic or Advaitic self-awareness. In Self–awareness, the body and word that confronts one, are one in essence.  That essence is consciousness. In Self-awareness, there is unity in diversity in the midst of duality. 

Remember:~

The unreal cannot be discarded without realizing ‘what is the real. Playing with words will not lead to Advaitic -awareness.

Scriptures are not needed in the pursuit of truth. Even the Upanishads and the sage of truth declare that the scriptures are needed to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

Nothing is needed for acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, other than perfect understanding, assimilation, and realization of ‘what is what”.

 Religion and its worship of individualized God is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because religious gods are based on blind belief.   Gods based on blind belief are not God in truth,  The ultimate truth or Brahman is  God in truth.

The Atman, the Self cannot be experienced, because the experience is possible only in the realm of duality. Atman is prior to any experience. In Self-awareness, there is neither experience nor experiencer. 

In Self-awareness, the body, ego, and the world are not considered different from consciousness. 

Thus, the whole universe (form, time, and space) in which we exist is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness. Consciousness alone is real all else is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.   

Sage Sankara:~VC-  Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together. (verses-6)

The ultimate truth has to be ascertained without the scriptures, by realizing the self is neither the waking entity (you) nor the dream entity but the self is the formless soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

In the realm of truth form, time and space are created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Realizing the single stuff as the ultimate truth is self-realization or truth realization. To realize this truth there is no need for the scriptures. This I am highlighting again and again in my blogs. 

By saying I know the truth; I know Brahman is not wisdom. The ultimate Truth is found only in the unity of understanding which is the knowledge of both the matter and spirit. That is the matter and the spirit, are one in essence.  And that essence is spirit, which is present in the form of the soul or consciousness.

In India, people think that religion as a stepping stone to higher truth but it is not so because religion is based on the false self (waking entity or ego) within the false experience (waking or world).

One must go beyond form, time, and space. The theistic tradition has been kept alive by orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is the path of ignorance because it is based on ignorance.  Orthodoxy is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

Thus it is not the path of ultimate truth or Brahman. People who stuck to orthodoxy never will be able to cross the prison of duality. Without crossing the prison of duality self-awareness is an impossibility.  Thus Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana is necessary to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.

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 a 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  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 the  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana   alone.:~Santthosh Kumaar