Brahman (God in truth) ~ The One Without A Second.+

You and your experience of the world are part of the illusion. The Self is not you but the Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  If the 'Self' is not you, then the question of your body, your ego, your memories and your experience of the world, and your karma is nothing to do with the Soul, the Self. 

The 'Self' is the  Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.   The Soul, the 'Self', witnesses you and your experience of the world together. 

It is the Soul that has to get rid of the illusion, by realizing you along with the world and the  'Self' are one in essence. That essence is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

Thus, you and your experience of the world are made of single stuff, which is the Soul, the 'Self'.  Thus, it is necessary to realize the 'Self' is not within our body (you) but it is hidden within the world in which we exist as its formless substance and the witness.  

Thus, our bodies and our experience of the world are made of the same stuff. Realizing this truth will lead one to Advaitic Self-awareness in the midst of duality. 

The Atman is the Soul. The Soul is self-evident   It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny the soul because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. 

The Soul is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. The Soul is the Self. The nature of the Soul is formless and non-dual.  The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.  Consciousness is not an object, as it is invisible, beyond the reach of the physical eyes. Consciousness is the ultimate truth. And the ultimate truth is Brahman. Brahman—The One Without A Second.

Upanishads declare:~ “Neti Neti—not this, not this, not that.” 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 the essence. It is the essence of the knower and the known. 

Sage Sankara said:~The Brahman is impersonal, without Gunas or attributes (Nirguna), formless (Nirakara), (without special characteristics (Nirvisesha), immutable, eternal, and non-agent (Akarta). 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 the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than it. In Brahman, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute.

In Manduka Upanishad  - Brahman and Atman are defined as the same:~ 

सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोयमात्मा चतुष्पात् / sarvam hyetad brahmaayamaatmaa brahm soyamaatmaa chatushpaat ~ 

Manduka Upanishad, verse-2

Translation:~

sarvam(सर्वम्)- Whole/All/Everything; hi(हि)- Really/Just/Surely/Indeed;etad(एतद्)- This here/This; brahm(ब्रह्म)- Brahm/Brahman;ayam(अयम्)- This/Here; aatmaa(आत्मा)- Atma/Atman; sah(सः)- He;ayam(अयम्)- This/Here; chatus(चतुस्)- Four/Quadruple; paat(पात्)- Step/Foot/Quarter

Fragmented Verse:

सर्वम् हि एतद् ब्रह्म अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म सः अयम् आत्मा चतुस पात् / sarvam hi etad brahm ayama aatmaa brahm sah ayam aatmaa chatus paat

Simple Meaning:~

All indeed is this Brahman; This Atman is Brahman; He, this Atman has four steps/quarters.

While Brahman lies behind the sum total of the objective universe, some human minds boggle at any attempt to explain it with only the tools provided by reason. Brahman is beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, beyond imagination. Indeed, the highest idea is that Brahman is beyond both existence and non-existence, transcending and including time, causation, and space, and thus can never be known in the same material sense as one traditionally 'understands' a given concept or object.

Imagine a person who is blind from birth and has not seen anything. Is it possible for us to explain to him the meaning of the color red? Is any amount of thinking or reasoning on his part ever going to make him understand the sensation of the color red? In a similar fashion, the idea of Brahman cannot be explained or understood through material reasoning or any form of human communication. Brahman is like the color red; those who can sense it cannot explain or argue with those who have never sensed it.

The Soul, the ‘Self is the Infinite God.  

The Soul is the innermost Self. God is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. God is the fullness of the consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space.  Therefore, there is nothing apart from it. 

God is Self-evident. God is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God because God is the very essence of the one who denies it. God is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. God is within the universe in which you exist, the God is without the universe in which you exist.

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the Self.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~  God os Supreme or Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. 

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God in truth) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

People, who worship the belief of God, are hallucinating that they become one with such God.

Vedas itself says: May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman? Thus, to know the real God Self-realization is necessary. Self-realization is God-realization. Self-realization itself is real worship.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?." (10:48, 5)

How can you worship God? That implies two ~ the worshiper and the worshiped, whereas God is nondual. One can worship his idea of God only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as apart.

When Upanishads and Vedas declare that, “God is in the form of the Athma, and God is indeed Athma itself” then why accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.

God is the Supreme Being the One eternal homogeneous essence, indivisible consciousness, and intelligence, which is beyond form, time, and space. Which the Sages describe in a variety of ways through diverse words.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ ‘All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many God s. (7- Verse -20)

Only the path of wisdom leads the seeker of truth on his journey to the ultimate realization of the true nature of the Universal Essence, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God in truth) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God in truth) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.

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. 

The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the innermost Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV-13:~ ‘As a mass of salt has neither inside nor outside, but is entirely a mass of taste, thus indeed, has that Self neither inside nor outside but is altogether a mass of Knowledge. Just as a lump of salt has inside as well as outside one and the same saltish taste, not any other taste, so also that Brahman (Consciousness) has inside as well as outside one and the same intelligence. Inside and outside are mental creations only. When the mind melts in silence, ideas of inside and outside vanish. The sages cognize one illimitable, homogeneous mass of consciousness only.

Causality taught in the Upanishads is only to enable us to understand the supreme truth of no-origination. The world is not different from the consciousness and the consciousness is not different from the Soul, the innermost Self, and the Soul is not different from the ultimate truth or Brahman. That the consciousness appears as a diverse world is only an illusion. If it really became diverse then the immortal would become mortal.

The dualists who seek to prove the origination of the unborn, by that very enterprise try to make the immortal, mortal. Ultimate nature can never change - the immortal can never become mortal and vice versa.

Sage Sri, Goudapada quotes from the Upanishads: ~ "There's no plurality here"; "The Soul through its powers appears to be many"; "those who are attached to the creation or production or origination go to utter darkness"; "the unborn is never reborn, for what can produce it?”

In Advaita Vedanta:~ Brahman is without attributes and strictly impersonal. It can be best described as infinite Being, infinite Consciousness, and infinite Bliss. It is pure knowledge itself, similar to a source of infinite radiance. Since the Advaitins regard Brahman to be the Ultimate Truth, so, in comparison to Brahman, every other thing, including the material world, its distinctness, the individuality of the living creatures, and even Ishvara (the Supreme Lord) itself are all untrue. Brahman is the effulgent cause of everything that exists and can possibly exist. Since it is beyond human comprehension, it is without any attributes, for assigning attributes to it would be distorting the true nature of Brahman. Advaitins believe in the existence of both Saguna Brahman and Nirguna Brahman; however, they consider Nirguna Brahman to be the absolute supreme truth. 

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, mantram and meditation--all come from the Self.

So, it clearly says the one who meditates upon the 'Self' (consciousness) discovers that everything in the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation--all come from the Self. Therefore, there is a need to know the fact that, the true self is not physical but the soul in order to realize the fact that:  the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation--all come from the Self, which is in the form of consciousness. 

Atman is Brahman. Brahman the Absolute is alone real; this waking is unreal, and the three states are non-different from Brahman. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

The seeker has to mentally grasp the existence of the formless witness (soul or consciousness) of the three states.+

Discussion:~ 

The seeker has to mentally grasp the existence of the formless witness (soul or consciousness) of the three states, to realize the three states are merely an illusion. Mentally focusing attention on the formless witness constantly one will be able to establish the reasoning base on the base of the formless witness(Soul). And when the reasoning base is established on the base of the Soul,, the Self which is the witness then it becomes easy to understand and assimilate the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

But it takes much time to establish in consciousness because one has to overcome the physical conditioning by realizing the Self is not physical but it is formless. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Michael West, Narendra Joshi, and 2 others like this.

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  Manjit Manhas: Very direct and simple solution. 

  October 11 at 12:18 pm · Unlike · 1

All these accumulated knowledge is not Advaitic wisdom.+

Discussion:~

People consider themselves to be knowledgeable because they have read books and well informed about the subject. But all this accumulated knowledge is not Advaitic wisdom. One can’t get non-dual wisdom from accumulating knowledge.

Whether the knowledge accumulated is of the scriptures or something from more recently published books are mere pointers to the truth but not wisdom. First, whether one is aware of it or not, as he reads, he is imposing his own cultural conditioning, biases, experiences, and prior knowledge onto what he is reading; this is how his thinking faculty works. He “makes sense" of new things by associating them with things he already knows.

Most of the time, this is useful. But if the "new thing" is utterly different from anything one has been exposed to before, he is almost certain to distort it to make it fit into pre-existing conceptual boxes. So much of knowledge is about changing perspective, but that's hard to do when he is twisting the knowledge around to fit the perspectives he is already having.

As one goes on digging mentally and on more things will be revealed to him through inner revelation, which makes him get A firm conviction of what is what. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

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·                     Michael West, Bini P Varikattumalil and 2 others like this.

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Manjit Manhas I totally agree, it is very rare to see people speak from their own experiences. it is always, he said this 1000 years ago and another said this 5000 years ago.it would seem God no longer speaks to people.

Sage Sankara's system of Advaita does not need the support of any scripture or revelation like the Vedas.+

Advaitic view~

Sage Sankara's system of Advaita does not need the support of any Scripture or Revelation like the Vedas. The Srutis may all disappear, yet will his school stand.  Since 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.

Sage Sankara:~ 'Like a servant who carries a lamp in front of you to find your way, and you have found it, so becomes the Veda to that person. What is the Veda? ~ utterances of those who have known the Truth. Here is one who has known the Truth; why should he or she depend upon the Veda further? Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, books become a botheration. The Upanishad itself says that the 'words are only so much distraction for such minds.

Sage Sankara says: ~ ‘What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead to the final Goal. (Commentaries on Vedanta Sutra)  

Without verification, nothing has to be accepted as truth.

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 the truth’ and ‘what is untruth’. One has to make his discoveries through the process of rational thinking.

That is why Sage Sankara says:~ V C65- 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 comes 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.

Sage Sankara says:~ The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. Thus, the rituals are meant for ignorant people.

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

~ This shows he was wearing the religious robe only for the sake of bread." Thus, it means those who are wearing religious robe for the sake of bread.

All the rituals based on the false belief of Gods will not yield any fruits and they are meant for the ignorant populace who are unable to grasp the God beyond the form, time and space.

One of Sage Sankara’s missions was to wean people away from a ritualistic approach advocated by Mimamsakas and to project wisdom (jnana) as the means of liberation in the light of Upanishad teachings.

Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices. However, the Orthodox texts that combined rituals with wisdom (jnana_karma_samucchaya) more in favor of the Mimamsaka position came into vogue, projecting Sage  Sankara as the rallying force of the doctrine.

That is why Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies the Self with the body is a confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.  -Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara:~ (11.1) This ignorance (mistaking the body for Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction, and thus a host of miseries(anartha).This anartha is caused by projecting karthvya(“doer” sense) and bhokthavya (object) on the Atman. Sage Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person. -Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara:~ (11.2) In short, person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower ; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is Avidya, an error that can be removed by Vidya.  -Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara: ~ (12) Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma Vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman. -Adhyasa Bhashya

No conceptual God can exist, apart from the consciousness.  People are not aware of the fact that there is no individual God can exist, apart from Soul, which is in the form of consciousness. Thus the Soul or consciousness is the Self.   If there is no consciousness, then there is no-body, no ego, no universe, no religion, and no conceptual God. 

The tenet of Nirguna Brahman is true for  Sage Sankara, not because it is taught by the Sruti, but because it is based on the realization though it is also supported by the Sruti... The Advaitin knows that a legitimate doubt may have here to arise.  The Rishis may have truly spoken, but they may have been deluded themselves.  How are we certain that what the Rishis cognized is the Reality or Truth?  This can be proved according to the Advaita, only by the realization of truth beyond the form, time and space.

And also:~

Again, in the absence of this realization, Nirguna Brahman as an object of thought is mere sound without sense. To one who has not seen a penguin, for instance, the word has no meaning ... Of what use, then, is such Sruti to him?  Similarly, common sense tells the Advaitin that the meaning of the Sruti and especially where there are conflicting interpretations is made out by means of reasoning based upon the authority of realization, which is final.

Thus, the reason comes into play between Sruti and realization corroborating the data of intuition with those of the revealed texts.

But reason also permits discrimination between the different possible experiences, for, in an a priori astonishing fashion:

Realization  ... can reveal not two, but twenty thousand conflicting experiences.  And the business of the wise is to sift the ultimate truth from out of all these ... The Advaitin rejects nothing.  All human experiences are his data.  He tests all by reason.

The only Advaita can reply: it is the witness, the Seer. The Buddhists are in error in regards to the finite ego as illusory, and as having nothing more behind it: but they would have been perfectly correct in such outlook had they added the notion of the witness. How is it that Skandhas come together and compose the ego? Who sees them come and go? It is the witness, the Atman, and this lack Vedanta supplies in the seer and seen and reason Analysis. When they say that the mind comes and goes they are forgetting that there must be another part of the mind as consciousness which notices it and which tells them of this disappearance and appearance. All their misunderstandings arise from the fact that Buddha refused to discuss the ultimate questions. When Buddhism degenerates into Nihilism Advitin refutes it (See Manduka P.281).

The truth of a single reality within or underlying the illusory ego is all-important and without it Buddhism becomes fallacious.

Vedanta admits the transitoriness and evanescence of thoughts just like Buddhism, but not of the Mind which observes this transitoriness and knows it.

Manduka Upanishad:~  Buddhists borrowed from Upanishads because they were Indians. The Vedantins did not need to borrow from Buddhism therefore (see P.396 v.99)

Bhagavan Buddha taught the illusoriness of ego but did not go further, probably because he thought the world could not understand the higher truth. Hence, followers go with him to that point of his and then deny the Vedantic doctrine of one supreme reality when the Bhagavan Buddha himself neither denied nor advocated it. Anyway, the refutation of his followers is to ask them “What is it that is aware of the ego's illusoriness?" There must be something that tells you that. That something is the  Drik, and if you say this Drik itself may be illusory, coming and going, still there must be something non-transient i.e.permanent, to tell you this.

Bhagavan Buddha's teachings that all life is misery belongs to the relative standpoint only. For you cannot form any idea of misery without contrasting it with its opposite, happiness. The two will always go together.

Bhagavan Buddha taught the goal of cessation of misery, i.e. peace, but took care not to discuss the ultimate standpoint for then he would have had to go above the heads of the people and tell them that misery itself was only an idea, that peace even was an idea (for it contrasted with peacelessness). That the doctrine he gave out was a limited one, is evident because he inculcated compassion. Why should a Buddhist sage practice pity? There is no reason for it.

Remember:~

Advaita is the next step higher than Buddhism because it gives the missing reason, viz. unity, non-difference from others, and because it explains that it used the concept of removing the sufferings of others, of lifting them up to happiness, only as we use one thorn to pick out another, afterward throw both away. Similarly, Advaita discards both concepts of misery and happiness in the ultimate standpoint of non-duality, which is indescribable.

Buddhists say that a thing exists only for a moment, and if that thing has still got some of the substance from which it was produced how then can they deny that its cause is continuing in the effect; hence its existence is more than a moment. Vedanta is concerned with whether it is one and the same thing which has come into being or has it come out of nothing.

Even the Sunyavada ultimate of the "void" is really a breath, and therefore an imagination and not truth.

Bhagavan Buddha was a Gnani, not his followers who follow Buddhism. Bhagavan Buddha's wisdom is lost in the diverse ideology of Buddhism. those who follow Hinduism or Buddhism will never be able to grasp the Advatic treasure hidden by the great Sages of truth. 

 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 the religion, rituals -to the ignorant populace, as well as Advaitic wisdom to the serious seekers of truth.

BhagvanBuddha gave as the central feature of his doctrine the great law of Karma in order to reiterate its ethical meaning. He did more good in this to uplift the people than the ritualists.

Tibetan and Chinese Buddhists who say that there are many Bhagavan Buddhas living in spirit bodies and helping our earth from the spiritual world are still in the sphere of religious illusion, not the ultimate truth. Their statements are wrong. Every sage realizes that the only way to help mankind is to come down amongst them, for which he must necessarily take on flesh-body. When people are suffering how can he relieve their suffering unless he appears amongst them? When people are suffering how can he feed them from an unseen world whether their struggle is for material bread or for spiritual truth? No! He must be here actually in the flesh. It is impossible to help them in any other way and all talk of Shiva living on Mount Kailas in the spiritual body or Bhagavan Buddha in Nirmanakaya, invisible body belongs to the realm of delusion or self-deception.

Dalai Lama said: ~ Buddhism need not be the best religion though it is most scientific and 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)

The Upanishads have the answer to the existence of the Atama.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God in truth) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Advaita is the next step higher than Buddhism because it gives the missing reason, viz. unity, non-difference from others, and because it explains that it used the concept of removing the sufferings of others, of lifting them up to happiness, only as we use one thorn to pick out another, afterward throw both away. Similarly, Advaita discards both concepts of misery and happiness in the ultimate standpoint of non-duality, which is indescribable.

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 (Consciousness), that exists forming the very substratum of all things (illusion or universe). : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Bhagavad Gita says: ~ “Don't unsettle the minds of the ignorant by revealing the esoteric truth.+

Sage Sankara:~ 'like a servant who carries a lamp in front of you to find your way, and you have found it, so becomes the Veda to that person. What is the Veda? -- utterances of those who have known the Truth. Here is one who has known the Truth; why should he or she depend upon the Veda further? Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, books become a botheration. The Upanishad itself says that the 'words are only so much of distraction for such minds'

Someone posing as a Gnani, because he is some gurus’  a direct disciple cannot be a Gnani. Those who pose themselves as Gnanis are not Gnanis.  A Gnani never poses himself as a Guru, a swami,  a sadhu or a  yogi, or some guru’s disciple.  

Bhagavad Gita says: ~ “Don't unsettle the minds of ignorant by revealing the esoteric truth."

Meher Baba: ~ "There is no higher or lower goal.  There is only one goal, Self-Realization."

The Soul is the  Self. The Self is God. The Soul remains in its own awareness which we identify as deep sleep in the waking experience. The waking is the state of ignorance.  When ignorance vanishes, then the Soul remains in its own awareness in the midst of duality (waking).

Man cannot see God (spirit) because, man and the world in which he exists, is the product of ignorance. Man cannot see God because God is prior to anything that exists.

When God is present, then a man and his world are absent. When the man and his world are present then God is absent. 

Remember:~

Gurus and yogis preach and teach egocentric knowledge,  whereas a Gnani shares Gnana, and helps to get rid of the ignorance.

By surrendering to any physical guru or Godmen, is not the means to Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.   The concept of surrendering to the guru is a religious fable. The religious path is not the path of truth or Brahman.  

The Soul, the Self is the true guru. By realizing the fact that, the Self is not physical but the Self is the Spirit. 

By realizing the Self is not physical but the Self is the Spirit he will be able to drop all the physical based accumulated knowledge inherited conditioning in the midst of duality and he will find freedom from experiencing the duality (waking) as reality. 

How can you give all your thoughts and surrender? And surrender to what?  The surrender is the religious and yogic fable.  You are the thinker. The thoughts come to the thinker.  You are the false self within the false experience.

The world in which you exist is the product of ignorance. Until ignorance vanishes the duality will prevail as reality.  From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the world in which you exist is merely an illusion. Self-realization is not possible by surrendering to some idea of Guru or God within the illusion.  

Advaitic wisdom does not come gradually, little by little, day by day. It blazes forth all at once in all its fullness when the practice has matured to perfection,

A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the star is seekers' own work. By searching the source of the thoughts one will not get Advaitic wisdom. You, your thoughts, words and the world are made of single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.  Knowledge of that single stuff is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  

Not by listening to scholars, nor by the study of books, not by good deeds, nor by any other means can one attain the state of nonduality, which is attainable only through association with Gnanis and the clear quest of the Self.

Jesus said: -~ Do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. (Matthew -7:6)

Jesus meant Self-knowledge or brahma Gnana (pearls) should not be given to the ignorant populace (pigs).

Many believe spirituality and religion are considered interconnected, but it is not so. Religion is based on the false self-(ego or body or you) and it is limited to the false experience (universe), while spirituality transcends race, religion, gender, language and nationality and universe.  Spirituality is based on the Soul, the  Self. From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self the universe in which we exist is merely an illusion.

Mundaka Upanishad 1.3:~ Complete knowledge includes knowledge of the phenomenal world, the spirit behind it, and the source of both of them.  When the cause of all causes becomes known, then everything knowable becomes known, and nothing remains unknown.”

The Soul the Self is present in the form of consciousness.  Consciousness pervades everything and everywhere in all three states.  The three states are nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.  Thus, consciousness is all-pervading.

One should understand that the soul is the cause of the form, time and space and it itself is uncaused. The form is consciousness. Time is consciousness and space is also consciousness. Therefore, there is no second thing exists other than consciousness. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

The one who wants to become a  guru and teach and preach will never get self-realization because preaching and teaching are egocentric whereas Gnana is soulcentric.  

I quote Scriptural citation and also the citation of the sages of truth only after verification reality and proved the truth, to point out that the scriptures teach the same thing. If one quotes them before having demonstrated truth, then it is scholasticism.

Agreeing or disagreeing is not wisdom. the truth, which is hidden behind the form, time, and space has to be ascertained by the seeker himself.   

A  hidden truth is not uncovered by studying and discussing. The seeker must indulge in deeper self-search to remove ignorance. Ignorance is the cause of experiencing the duality as reality.

The Advatic truth is buried under the dualistic illusion.  The ultimate realization can be reached by acquiring self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana but never by perverted arguments based on the dualistic perspective.

All accumulated knowledge is false knowledge accumulated from different sources. Whatever knowledge based on the form, time and space is false knowledge. Such knowledge is a great obstacle in realizing the truth, which is beyond the form, time and space.

The Advatic truth is buried under the dualistic illusion.  The ultimate realization can be reached by acquiring self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana but never by perverted arguments based on the dualistic perspective.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient “I” comes and goes. (2.18)

The word ‘One’ is not understood anywhere except in the Advaitic path. ‘One’ always means two when analyzed. Hence, the Upanishads are careful to show they do not mean this monism, but "One without a Second” is the Advaita. No philosophers of the world have seen this point. Monism is really pseudo-monism that is the duality. 

To understand the false nature of the ‘I’, the self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary.

 The 'Self' is not ‘I’, but the 'Self' is the soul, which is the witness of the ‘I’.  Holding the ‘I as the 'Self' leads to a hallucination based on the imagination. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar