The Guru is useless so long as the ultimate truth is unknown, and Guru is equally useless when the ultimate truth has already been known.+

The Guru is useless so long as the ultimate truth is unknown, and Guru is equally useless when the ultimate truth or Brahman has already been known.

A Guru is needed in religious and the yogic path.  There is no need for a Guru to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Unless you realize the Self as the Soul, you are all blinded by the dualistic illusion.

The Guru who pretends to be Self- realized and plays with the emotions and sentiments of the seeker is a fraud, not a Gnani.

All the Guru Parampara is for religious people.  There is no need for a Guru who wants to tread the path of wisdom.

Even Swami Vivekananda was Ramakrishna Paramahansa's disciple.  Swami Vivekananda himself said: ~   “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own Soul.”

There are two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.  The Guru and Guru paramparas are meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, there is no need to follow any parampara and follow any Guru for those who wish to realize the truth which is beyond form, time, and space. We should not mix religion with spirituality because religion is based on the ego and spirituality is based on the Soul.   Religion is concerned with its paramparas, not truth whereas spirituality is concerned only with the truth, which is beyond the form, time. and space. Religion is not spirituality.

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." (Select Works of Sage Sri, Sankara" also his commentary on Brihad)

Thus, the above passage proves that all those who were the sanyasin robes are wearing it for the sake of bread belongs to the religion; they are nothing to do with the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. There is no need to criticize and condemn the Gurus, yogis, and swamis because they are needed for the welfare of ignorant mass in the dualistic world.

Sage Sankara in Viveka Chudamani (2), states that the Knower of the Atman (i.e., a Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

It means the Gurus, Swamis, and Yogis who identify themselves as holy people are not Gnanis.

 Those who are seeking the truth need not follow any Guru or any teaching.

The one who thinks of himself as a Guru and the one who thinks of himself as a chela (disciple) will not be able to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because both of them accepted themselves as the body. And all their understanding, practices, knowledge are based on the false self (ego or you).  Therefore, the Guru –Shisya concept is a great obstacle in the pursuit of truth.  

A Gnani never accepted himself as a Guru or accepted anyone as his disciple.  There was no division in his consciousness, even though he was in the midst of the dualistic illusion or Maya. 

The consciousness is like the ocean. Love is like a wave. When waves love each other then they become one with the ocean.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

When the present experience of birth, life, death and the world itself is an illusion then the rebirth, reincarnation is bound to be an illusion. +

If you are caught up with the idea of reincarnation and rebirth as real then you are not qualified for Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

The birth, life, and death happen within the dualistic illusion. Remember: the world itself is a dualistic illusion.    When the present experience of birth, life, death, and the world itself is an illusion then rebirth, and reincarnation are bound to be an illusion.  

You are limited to the form, time and space. You are not the Self because you are bound by birth, life, death, and the world whereas the Soul, the innermost Self is limitless because it is formless, timeless and spaceless existence.  Till you think ‘I’ as the Self the Soul will remain in the cage of the dualistic illusion. The Soul, the innermost ‘Self ‘is the fullness of the consciousness without the division of the form, time and space.

The Self is birthless therefore it is deathless. The one which is born lives and dies within the world (waking) is not the Self.  The idea of reincarnation is based on the birth entity (waking entity or ego) which lives and dies within the illusory world (waking).   The Self is the one that witnesses the coming and going of the dual (waking or dream) nondual (deep sleep) experiences. When the experience of birth, life, and death takes place in the illusion, then recantation also is part of the same illusion.

The dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place. Similarly, the waking becomes unreal when wisdom dawns. Wisdom dawns when the Soul, the Self, consciously remains awake in its formless nondual nature.  When the substance and the witness of the three states are one in essence and that essence is consciousness. Then what value is there for the universe in, which the experience of birth, life death and reincarnation happens. 

Even you take reincarnation as reality, but the reincarnation happens within the world, which is an illusion, from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self.  

H. H. Dalai Lama said: ~  Buddhism need not be the best religion though it is the 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)

People who are caught up with the idea of reincarnation and rebirth theories are not qualified for Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because they accepted the duality as reality

People who believe in reincarnation and rebirth theories are unaware of the fact that their belief is based on the waking entity, which is the false self within the false experience. The waking entity itself is a false self within the false experience, it means the present experience of birth, life, death, and the world is a falsehood.  

Thus, whatever is seen, known, believed and experienced as a waking entity is bound to be falsehood because the Soul or consciousness the innermost Self is birthless because it is formless. Therefore,  the rebirth and reincarnation theory based on the false Self is bound to be a falsehood. 

Accepting in rebirth and reincarnation theory as reality is accepting the false self (waking entity or ego) as the real Self and false experience (waking) as reality. Self-realization is impossible  if one accepts the present waking entity as the real Self because the Self is neither the waking entity nor the Self is dream entity,  but the Self is formless Soul witnesses  the coming and going  of the  three states without the physical apparatus

The three states are impermanent, but the Soul or consciousness, which is the witness of the three states, is permanent and eternal.  In reality, the three states are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. Therefore,  there is no second thing, that exists other than consciousness.  Thus, the consciousness (Soul) is second to none.

Deeper Self-search reveals the fact that the waking experience itself is an illusion. It means the present experience of birth, life, death, and the world is an illusion. Thus, the reincarnation theory based on the false self within the false experience is bound to be a  falsehood. When the waking entity is not the Self than whatever theories are based on the waking entity imagined theory. 

 This imagined theory based on the waking entity or ego is for those lower mindset who are incapable of grasping the ultimate truth or Brahman.

People who are caught up with the idea of reincarnation and rebirth theories are not qualified for Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because they accepted the duality as reality. Birth implies duality.  And the duality is falsehood from the ultimate standpoint.

--

From The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharishi

Edited by David Godman

Question:~ :- is reincarnation true?

Sage Sri, Ramana Maharishi:~  - Reincarnation exists only so long as there is ignorance. There is really no reincarnation at all, either now or before. Nor will there be any hereafter. This is the truth.

[Note: Comments by David Godman: Most religions have constructed elaborate theories that purport to explain what happens to the individual Soul after the death of the body. Some claim that the Soul goes to heaven or hell while others claim that it is reincarnated in a new body.

Sri Ramana Maharishi taught that all such theories are based on the false assumption that the individual Self or Soul is real; once this illusion is seen through, the whole superstructure of afterlife theories collapses. From the standpoint of the Self, there is no birth or death, no heaven or hell, and no reincarnation.

As a concession to those who were unable to assimilate the implications of this truth, Sri Ramana would sometimes admit that reincarnation existed. In replying to such people he would say that if one imagined that the individual 'Self 'was real, then that imaginary Self would persist after death and that eventually, it would identify with a new body and a new life. The whole process, he said, is sustained by the tendency of the mind to identify itself with a body. Once the limiting illusion of mind is transcended, identification with the body ceases, and all theories about death and reincarnation are found to be inapplicable.]:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Puranic Gods are not Vedic Gods because the Vedic God is free from form and attributes.+

]

As one peeps into the annals of the Indian religious history he finds that some Saints in the past introduced the Puranic Gods. Puranic Gods lack Vedic sanction. There is a clear-cut idea in Vedas and Upanishads that is supposed to be God in actuality.

The mythological Gods and Goddesses with different form and name are being propagated as Vedic Gods by different founders of the Hinduism, 

The religion of the Veda knows no idols. The idols which are worshipped today in the temples are non-Vedic Gods.  All the idols are of the Puranic Gods. Puranic Gods are mythological stories. Mythological stories are a myth. Puranic Gods are not Vedic God. 

Puranic Gods were introduced to form a new belief system from the 2^nd century onwards. It is impossible to accept Puranic Gods as Vedic Gods because the Vedic God is free from form and attributes.

Sage Sankara says: ~ Ataman is Brahman proves that Sage Sankara advocated Vedic idea of God.

Sage Sankara says:~ God is Atman. Nature of Atman or God is Advaita. 

 Thus, the Soul the innermost Self is God. Therefore,    all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false Self.  Thus, there is adulteration and add-ons in the past, which have to be bifurcated if one wants pure Vedic essence.  

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1:~ clearly mention that God is “One”.

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)

Yajur Veda also says: ~ God has no image and His name is Holy.  (32.3)”

Vedas clearly says those who worship visible things, born of the Prakriti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like), in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness.

Yajur Veda says: -   Those who worship visible things, born of the Prakriti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like), in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness.

The Puranic Gods were introduced by some Sages of the past with a new belief system and code of conduct in the name of Vedas. 

Sruti is made the final or exclusive authority in apara Vidya and for supporting the tenet of the causal relation or creatorship of Brahman, Nirguna Brahman = the "Absolute beyond qualities," which can be defined only in a negative way. For the Sankarian school = the Ultimate Reality, higher than the Lord. i.e. of Saguna or apara Brahman ... The support of Scriptural Revelation is, therefore, absolutely necessary for this hypothesis of cosmology, this Saguna or apara (= inferior) Brahman, but not for the absolute truth of Nirguna Brahman. 

The Sruti itself says:- "This Atma is NOT to be attained by a study of the Vedas.  (Katha Upanishad I, 2, 23.)   

        

Therefore, all the adulterated add-ons and attribute-based knowledge, which are inferior, have to be bifurcated and excluded to know the ultimate truth.  The seeker of truth has to drop all the inferior knowledge based on the attributes and go beyond the Vedas to understand assimilate and realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

One has to go beyond Vedas means- go beyond the religion. Going beyond religion means, going beyond the concept of God.  Going beyond Vedas, Religion, and conceptual God is going beyond the illusion.   That is the end of the Vedas (Veda –antha).:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Sage Sankara says: - If the cause is destroyed, the effect will no longer exist.+

Yoga Vasistha: ~  Even as particles of sand floating in water settle down when the water is absolutely steady, the mind of the man who has gained the knowledge of truth settles down in total peace.

Yoga Vasistha: ~ The sun and the worlds become non-objects of perception, to those who have gone beyond the realm of objective perception and knowledge, even as lamps lose their luminosity while the midday sun shines.

From the standpoint of the Soul the Self, the effect is non-different from the cause. However, in the realm of duality cause is different from the effect. The non-difference of the effect from the cause has to be grasped perfectly to realize from the ultimate standpoint there is neither the cause nor the effect because the cause and effect are one,  in essence. That essence is consciousness.

Sage Sankara says: - If the cause is destroyed, the effect will no longer exist. For example, if from the effect, cotton cloth, the cause, threads, are removed, there will be no cloth, i.e., the cloth is destroyed. Similarly, if in the effect, thread, the cause, cotton, is removed, there will be no thread, i.e., the thread is destroyed. (Brahmasutra Bhashya, commentary on the Brahma-sutra, ⁽⁹⁾ 2.1.9)

Despite the non-difference between cause and effect, the effect has itself in the cause but not the cause in the effect. The effect is of the nature of the cause and not the cause of the nature of the effect. Therefore, the qualities of the effect cannot touch the cause because the cause and effect are present only when the duality is present. The duality is present only when there is an illusion. The illusion is there only when there is ignorance. When there is no ignorance then there is no illusion. When there is no illusion then there is no duality. When there is no duality then there is no cause and effect. When there is no cause and effect then there is the nondualistic reality.   

Sage Sankara says: - During the time of its existence, one can easily grasp that the effect is not different from the cause. However that the cause is different from the effect is not readily understood. As to this, it is not really possible to separate cause from effect. But this is possible by imagining so. For example, the reflection of the gold ornament seen in the mirror is only the form of the ornament but is not the ornament itself as it (the reflection) has no gold in it at all. (Chāṃdogya Upaniṣad Bhāṣya, commentary on the Chandogya Upanishad, 6.3.2)

All names and forms are real when seen with the Brahman but are false when seen independent of Brahman (Soul). This way the seeker of truth establishes the non-difference of the effect from the cause.

In the context of Advaita Vedanta: ~ Jagat (the world) is not different from Brahman (Soul); however, Brahman (Soul) 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 innermost 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 Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana   alone.'

A  Gnani will easily appreciate the high flights of Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is one of the 'most majestic structures and valuable products of the Genius of man in his search for Truth.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.+

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says: ~  In that unitive state there is neither father nor mother, neither worlds nor gods nor even the Scriptures. In that state, there is neither thief nor slayer, neither low caste nor high, neither monk nor ascetic. The Self is beyond good and evil, beyond all the suffering of the Human Heart

Sage Sankara says:~ Atman is Brahman.   The Atman alone is real. He has declared this Advaitic truth, which is the ultimate truth to the whole world, many centuries back.

Thus, the Atman which is present in the form of the consciousness is real and eternal, the world in which we exist is merely an illusion. 

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) 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. 

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

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 worshipper and the worshipped, 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 or worship other than the Atman. 

That God created the world is an absolute lie; nevertheless, you will find Sage  Sankara (in his commentary on Vedanta Sutras) clearly says this! He has to adapt his teachings to his audience, reserving the highest for philosophical minds.

The Brahma Sutras are based on religion and dogmatism, but in the commentary, Sage  Sankara geniusly introduced some philosophy.

 If it is objected that a number of Upanishads are equally dogmatic because they also begin by assuming Brahman, but a few Upanishads do not but prove Brahman at the end of a train of proof.

The causality and creation, but these are for religious people only.  Religion is only for those who are unable to understand truth beyond form, time, and space. Religion is not final. It only gives satisfaction to the populace. The Self - knowledge is for the whole of humanity to free them from experiencing birth, life, death, and the world as reality.

People of small intelligence follow religion and believe that the world was created by God. But how do they know that He did so? When a pot is created, one can see both pot and its maker, but not in the case of the world.

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 Advaitic truth.   Therefore, there is no need to convince anyone other than our own selves to get a firm conviction.

Mundaka Upanishad condemns rituals.  The Para or Higher knowledge is the knowledge of the Supreme Being while the Apara or Lower Knowledge is that of following sacrificial rites and ceremonies. (1/2/ 1 – 6)

The identity of Atman and Brahman is a matter of absolute truth, not just a temporary ritual identification.

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is nothing to do with the orthodox belief systems. Some philosophers in the past dissented from this interpretation of Vedanta philosophy, holding that the incarnated Souls were separate from the Divine Essence and only finally merged with it after the cycles of birth. 

All Gurus and paramparas belong to the orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is nothing to do with  Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom.

Identifying the Atman as Self is the most important in the Atmic path.  Consciousness is the substratum on which the dualistic illusion is experienced. Consciousness is hidden by the dualistic illusion.   The consciousness that dwells in everything and everywhere in the universe, is the dualistic illusion.

The innermost Atman, the real Self. Atman is present in the form of consciousness. The whole dualistic illusion is nothing but consciousness,  consciousness alone is real and eternal. All these are meant for the ignorant populace.

Genuine philosophy must be independent of religion, that in Sage Sankara himself the Saguna Brahman or a personal God is only a part of the phenomenal (if not illusory) world, and the Nirguna Brahman (God in truth) is the only reality and has nothing to do with religion.  

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God in truth) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent).

Brahman is above all needs and desires.

Brahman is always the Witnessing Subject.

Brahman can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses.

Brahman is non-dual, one without a second.

Brahman has no other besides it.

Brahman 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. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just Its attributes.

The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal. Sage Sankara: ~"That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman  (Godin truth) ~ that thou art."

Sage Sankara, 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.

Sage Sankara says: ~ Atman is Brahman. The Atman alone is real and eternal and it is not religious truth.  Sage Sankara declared this Advaitic truth, which is the ultimate truth to the whole world, many centuries back is the rational truth, the scientific truth, and the ultimate truth.

Thus, the Atman which is present in the form of consciousness is real and eternal, the world in which we exist is merely an illusion.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Advaitic wisdom is the soulcentric knowledge.+

Advaitic wisdom is soulcentric knowledge. It is difficult for people to understand soulcentric knowledge from a dualistic perspective. Our intelligence is based on the dualistic perspective thus; one has to learn to view and judge the worldview from the non-dualistic perspective. As one goes on reading my blogs and posting gradually he will become soulcentric and will be able to view the worldview from the non-dualistic perspective and he will be able to grasp the Advaitic truth.

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

All the add-ons have to be discarded in order to understand and assimilate the real fragrance of the wisdom expounded by the great Sages 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 nondualistic or Advaitic truth. The same time and effort can be used to reach the nondual destination, in lesser time and effort.

Advaitic wisdom does not need the support of any scripture or revelation like the Veda. Advaitic wisdom is not 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.

Seeker of truth has to know that something is inadequate in Buddhist or Orthodox Advaitic teachings to reach the nondualistic destination because of the add-ons and adulteration. Thus, it becomes difficult to reach the destination directed by  Bhagavan Buddha, Sage Sankara, and Sage Goudpada. It is for the seeker to go on his own and remove all the obstacles, which is blocking the realization of the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space

The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, God, scriptures, and yogic theories. Moreover, attachment to scriptures, personal God, and religious code of conduct keep one permanently in the grip of the dualistic illusion.

Embark on the journey of the truth; it frees the Soul from the illusion of form, time, and space.

When you finally realize the ‘Self ‘ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul then you will realize the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, you, your experience of birth, life, death, and the world mere an illusion created out of consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

You are not the witness because the ‘Self' is not you. The Self is the Soul, which witnesses the world, in which you exist. The world is merely an illusion thus, you are part of the illusion.

In reality, the Soul and the world in which you exist are one, in essence. Thus, there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Perfect understanding and assimilation of ‘what is what,’ leads to a perfect conviction of ‘What is the truth?” and ‘What is the untruth?. Perfect conviction of the truth leads to Advaitic self-awareness. :~Santthosh Kumaar