Knowledge of both object and subject is ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.+

Without knowing ‘what mind is in actuality how you can know the consciousness? Playing with words is not spirituality. Consciousness is the cause of the mind and it, itself is uncaused. 

Preaching teaching is not wisdom. only through perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what' leads to the realization of the truth, which is hidden within the form, time, and space and it is without the form, time, and space. 

Consciousness is not an object but it’s the subject. Knowledge of both object and subject is  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

The Soul is the ‘Self’. ‘I’ is not the Soul. Holding 'I' as the Self is holding the falsehood as a reality.  There is a need to know what is ‘I’ before indulging in the pursuit of truth. 

Dualist Sages including many sages and thinkers could not distinguish between ‘I’ and  Self’.  They hold 'I' as the Self. Their highest was the Jiva.  They are so much attached to the 'I' that they do not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again they are unable to detach the ‘I’ from the Real  Self’.

The dualist object: - If everything else is false then the statement I am   Brahman is itself false, but when one says non-duality is false, there must be the awareness, consciousness, behind the very statement. You will also go, die. One has to rely upon that which is permanent.  The formless witness of the ‘I’ alone is permanent. Anything that one says is a witnessed (waking), but there is the formless witness (consciousness) there before any statement could be made.

They mean the body by 'I', but it is the formless witness which is the real  Self’. Theists dualists did not, or could not analyze further than ‘I’   on this point because they thought the ‘I’ without the body as ‘Self’.

WHAT IS ‘I’?

The ‘I’ disappears as deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is impermanent and illusory.

There is really no ‘I’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of mind. And the mind is in the form of the universe. The universe appears as the waking or dream. The ‘I’ or mind or universe or waking or dream dies disappears as deep sleep. 

One that appears as ‘I’ or the mind or universe or waking or dream is nothing but consciousness and it disappears as deep sleep is also consciousness.  In deep sleep, it is in its formless nondual true nature.  The one, which witnesses the coming and going, of the three states, is also the consciousness.   Thus, the witness and the witnessed are one, in essence.   

Thus, the universe is a reality on the base of the ego. You are the ego. The ego is the false ‘Self’ within the false experience (waking).  

The universe is unreal on the base of the Soul, the  Self’. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. The seeker gradually will grasp and realize the unreal nature of the universe (‘I’ or mind).

Individuality is illusory because the ‘Self’ is not an individual because ‘Self’ is formless and it pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states.

Remember:~

Dualist’ Gurus have written big volumes about the soul. Yet they are quite ignorant of the fact that the ‘I’ about which they write itself’ comes and goes and has no permanent existence, is only an idea after all.

What is it that appears as the ‘I’ and disappears as the ‘I-less? It is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Do not make the mistake of holding the ‘I’ as the Self because it is not permanent. ‘I’ disappears and becomes ‘I’-less.

 ‘I’ is an illusion and the ‘I-LESS’ is real and eternal. The ‘I-LESS ‘appears as ‘I’ and ‘I ’‘disappears as I-LESS.

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

The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole.

 Gurus and Yogis think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal. 

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," if you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, you are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation.+

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.

When one puts aside the imagination and has the thinker-- what does he get with thinking—he can get only thoughts. Meditation is only an effort; it is imagination, an idea; the Soul (consciousness), the Self, remaining the same with or without ideas.

Meditation will not help to get rid of ignorance. Without Advaitic wisdom, ignorance will not vanish.  Thus, Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana alone leads to Self-awareness. 

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

Meditation is an individual act.  The Soul the innermost Self, is not an individual because it is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. And Meditation is possible within the domain of form, time, and space. The form, time, and space are the product of ignorance.  When the ignorance vanishes, then only the reality appears.

A Gnani does not spend his life sitting in meditation as a sanyasi or giving sermons,  but he shares Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to the seeking world.  A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the star is the seeker's own work. 

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, mantrams 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, mantrams 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. 

The body, the ego, the world are one,  in essence.  The essence is consciousness. Therefore the body, the ego, and the world are created out of single stuff.  That single stuff is the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness.  The “Soul is the fullness of consciousness. Therefore, there is nothing apart from it. 

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad- The “Self’ is indeed Brahman (Consciousness), but through ignorance, people identify it with intellect, mind, senses, passions, and the elements of earth, water, air, space, and fire. This is why the 'Self’ is said to consist of this and that and appears to be everything. 

Consciousness is within, consciousness is without; consciousness is before,  consciousness is behind;  consciousness is on the right, consciousness is on the left;   consciousness is above and consciousness is below.  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 or God in truth.

The world in which we exist is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.  Therefore, hold on to consciousness which is real and eternal, and mentally negate the world in which we exist by realizing the world in which we exist is nothing but consciousness.  

Until a man is ripe to receive Self-knowledge, it is fatal to ask him to give up meditation.

The novice seekers must understand that yoga is all right in its places and that it is good at the beginning of the pursuit of truth, but when yoga is made ends in itself and not means to acquire the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Yoga and meditation are not useless, they are useful to bring the restless ego under control.  Yoga and meditation are not final. Indulging in yoga and meditation will lead not lead to the ultimate end of understanding. Yoga cannot remove ignorance. It is only a step. It removes obstructions.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self: ~ Where is the ‘I’? +

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is the cause of the world in which you exist and it itself is uncaused.

 The ‘I’ implies duality.   The ‘I’  is present in the form of the mind.  The mind is present in the form of the universe. The universe appears as the waking or dream(duality)  and diapers as deep sleep nonduality.  The one that becomes duality and the one that becomes nonduality is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. the ‘I’ is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

The one which is aware of the coming and going,  of the ‘I’,   is the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.

 When the Soul wakes up from its sleep of ignorance in the midst of duality it is called “Self–awareness". It is foolish to limit consciousness only to the physical body because consciousness pervades everything and everywhere in all the world in which you exist.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad- The “Self’ is indeed Brahman (Consciousness), but through ignorance, people identify it with intellect, mind, senses, passions, and the elements of earth, water, air, space, and fire. This is why the 'Self’'  is said to consist of this and that and appears to be everything. 

If the Self is not ‘I’ but the Self is the Soul then from the standpoint of the Soul, the  Self:~

Where is the ‘I’? 

Where is the ego? 

Where is the body? 

Where is the mind?

Where is the world in which you exist?

Where are the form, time, and space? 

Where is the waking experience?

Where is the duality? 

Where is void?

They are or have become one with the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

The ‘I’ is present only when the mind is present. The mind is present only when the world is present. The world is present only when there is the waking experience. 

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the waking experience is not considered different from the world. The world is not considered different from the mind. The mind is not considered different from the’ I’. This truth has to be assimilated. 

The ‘I’ is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. ‘I’ is not the subject. The ‘I’ is an object to the Soul, which is the formless, timeless, and spaceless subject. 

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then three states, are bound to be an illusion. 

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the form, time, and space are bound to be an illusion. 

If I’ is an illusion then the individual experience of birth, life, death is bound to be an illusion. 

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the words and thoughts are bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the duality is bound to be an illusion. 

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes. 

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self. 

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal. 

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," if you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, you are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

It is impossible the seeker to discard the ‘I’ because they are stuck up with the idea that ‘I’ itself is the Self.+

Only your intense urge to know the truth will take you to the ultimate end,  but your accumulated knowledge will block you from realizing the truth, which is hidden by the illusory form, time, and space.

It is impossible for the seeker to discard the ‘I’ because they are stuck up with the idea that ‘I’ itself is the Self.  In the past,  some famous Gurus and their teachings glorified the ‘I’, and people take it as a final and accepted it as the ultimate truth. Such acceptance without verifying the fact about the ‘I’, their journey is incomplete.  Blind acceptance and reverence to the physical Guru will not help the seeker to get rid of ignorance.

Firstly, doubt about this ‘I’, how it came into existence.   There are no other means to the final goal is the realization of the source of the ‘I’.  There is a need to understand, assimilate, and realize the nature of this ‘I’, which appears and disappears. 

It is erroneous to use the word ‘I’ for the Self, because ‘I’ represents the form, time, and space whereas the Soul, the  Self is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. 

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

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’ Self’  ‘I' leads to hallucination based on the imagination.

Those who are stuck with the ‘I’ based teaching never be able to cross the domain of the form, time and space.   

All the Gurus glorified the ‘I’. Thus, it becomes very difficult to discard the ‘I’. Those who have accepted the ‘I’ based teaching refuse to accept anything other than their accepted truth. Till you hold the ‘Self’ as the ‘I’, your knowledge remains skin deep.

The world in which you exist came into existence because of the ‘I’. The world, in which you exist ceases to exist without the ‘I’.

Sage Sankara: ~ “VC~ All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman which is absolutely free from all the limitations of Maya”.

The ‘I’ is what the seeker begins his investigation. A perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ will help the seeker to reach the Soul, which is the Self.

Sage Sankara: ~VC- If the universe is true, let it then be perceived in the state of deep sleep also. As it is not at all perceived, it must be unreal and false like dreams. 

This universe is nothing but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  From the Soul, the universe appears and when the universe disappears from the consciousness, the consciousness still remains without any division of the form, time and space. 

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ The universe rises from the Soul, the innermost Self like bubbles from the sea. Thus know the Self to be One and in this way enter into the state of dissolution." 

To enable the seeker to steer clear of any possible doubt, the seeker should take the Atmic path.  The ‘I’ is the clue and study the nature of the ‘I’ and discover its source.:~ Santthosh Kumaar  

Indian sages of truth have been exploring for long the question of the truth of the man and his experience of the universe.+

Even in Christianity Self-knowledge or truth was hidden.  And it is imparted only to a few. 

While speaking to the multitude in a veiled manner, ‘privately to his own disciples he explained everything (Mark, 4:34), and advised them not to ‘throw your pearls before swine (Matthew, 7:6).

Long before Socrates’ injunction: - “Know Thyself”, Indian sages of truth have been exploring for long the question of the truth of the man and his experience of the universe. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is fundamental since all other knowledge is dependent upon this knowledge. It is important for one to know “what is the truth” to realize “what is the untruth.

Without first knowing the true Self, one can never understand truly where he stands in the cosmic scheme of things. Ignorance of the innermost Self is seen as the root cause of experiencing birth, life, death, and the world as a reality.

An ignorant is always egocentric. He thinks what he knows is the truth. He always indulges in an argument. The Ignorant is sentimentalized to his belief system. An ignorant person just to prove that he is correct and others are wrong because the ignorant presumes he already knows and wants to see whether others know or not.

The ignorant person provokes others to snub them. Ignorant accumulates knowledge and tries to show his intellectual wealth. Such intellectual sharing of knowledge is mere garbage. It is of no use in pursuit of truth. Because they are egocentric based on ignorance thus they will not yield any truth.

Thus, the belief, actions, conducts, love, virtue, scriptural mastery, religion, rituals, prayers which are mere theories based on the 'False Self' are great hindrances in realizing the non-dual truth, which is the ultimate truth.

All religious theories are meant for those who believe in the practical life within the practical world as a reality because they are unable to verify the truth of their true existence.

Religion is based on the birth entity (you).  The birth entity is the false self within the false experience (waking). Thus, religion is based on falsehood, because religion accepts the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality.  It is very much necessary to realize the self is the Soul, which is birthless and deathless because it is ever formless. The Soul, the innermost Self has no religion.  All religious theories are based on the birth entity is bound to be a  falsehood. 

The seeker has to verify the fact about his true existence through deeper Self-search to realize, the Self is not the form, but the Self is formless Soul (consciousness).

When he realizes the Self is the Soul, then he becomes aware of the fact that the practical life within the practical world is merely an illusion created out of the Soul or the consciousness.

The practical life within the practical world is nothing to do with the formless Soul, the innermost Self. The practical knowledge within the practical world is not wisdom, but it is knowledge based on ignorance. The real wisdom is non-dual wisdom, which arises only when ignorance vanishes.

All are seeing the world that confronts them due to ignorance.  When ignorance vanishes there is neither the seer nor the seen because they have become one in essence. That essence is consciousness (Soul). 

That is why Jesus said: ~ “Know what is in front of your face and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you.

It means one has to know the world which confronts him confronts to realize his body and world are made of the same essence and that essence is Spirit or consciousness (father). 

Sage Sankara says: ~ one must first know what is before him. If he cannot know that, what else can he know or understand? If he gives up the external world in his inquiry, he cannot get the whole truth.

VC~ 63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

In Self-awareness,  the Soul will as objectless –awareness in the midst of the duality and then the duality will cease to exist as reality.

The mind is nothing but an objective existence.   The seeker has to eliminate all the objective knowledge through wisdom and then objectless knowledge will alone remain. This is the nature of the Soul, the  Self.

As for the well-known example of the hallucination of a snake in a coil of rope, the rope is real and the snake is unreal. There is neither the snake nor the rope in Self-awareness.  Even after the truth of the snake is realized and the hallucination of a snake dismissed, there is still the reality of the rope persists.  

Until the rope is recognized to be the Self, the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is an impossibility. The universe is like the snake, because, it is merely an illusion.  

Deeper Self-search reveals the fact that the universe is neither the snake nor the rope but is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The true nature of the Soul is objectless awareness.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

The reality is beyond the ‘I’. The seeker of truth should not cling to the ‘I’ if he wants to realize the truth, which is beyond the ‘I’.+

Bhagavan Buddha:~ There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way... and not starting.

If one has a perfect understanding, assimilation, and realization he becomes a Gnani that brings benefit to others by sharing the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana who are seeking the truth.

Through perfect understanding and assimilation,  Advaitic wisdom will naturally dawn and thus, the seeker will have a yardstick unmistakably know what to accept as truth and what to discard as untruth.

By cultivating the soulcentric view of the worldview, the egocentric view of the worldview diminishes and there is self-awareness in the midst of the dualistic illusion (universe). 

In Self-awareness, the universe becomes one with its essence. That essence is the Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

When one realizes the nature of the universe then he is no longer affected in any way by the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Self- Awareness is the nature of the Soul, the  Self. The Soul is unaffected by the dualistic illusion because the dualistic illusion is created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  

Realizing the Soul does not die nor is it born. The universe and Mukti or nirvana are of the dualistic illusion. The dualistic illusion arises momentarily, it is impermanent, because the dualistic illusion appears and disappears. 

Reality is beyond form, time, and space. The form, time, and space are essential materials for the dualistic illusion. Without form, time, and space the dualistic illusion ceases to exist. The dualistic illusion is present in the form of the ‘I’.

The reality is beyond the ‘I’.   The seeker of truth should not cling to the ‘I’   if he wants to realize the truth, which is beyond the ‘I’.  

 Sticking to ‘I’ is sticking to ignorance.

 Sticking to ‘I’ is sticking to the dualistic illusion.

 Sticking to ‘I’ is sticking to the body or the ego and the mind.

 Sticking to ‘I’ is sticking to the universe.

 Sticking to ‘I’ is sticking to the form, time, and space.

 Sticking to ‘I’ is sticking to the three states.

Remember:~

 Without the ‘I’, there is no ignorance.

 Without the ‘I’, there is no dualistic illusion.

 Without the ‘I’, there is no physical body or ego and the mind.

 Without the ‘I’, there is no universe.

 Without the ‘I’, there is no form, time, and space.

 Without the ‘I’  three states cease to exist.

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal. 

That is whyAshtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers. 

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take as real because some Gurus have propagated the Self is the ‘I’. is no need to convince such mindsets. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth. 

That is why Sage Sankara says: - VC-65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never 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. 

People refuse to accept anything other than their Gurus words. For them, their Gurus words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset. 

Such mindsets are not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth. :~Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Patanjali warns against sleep as a hindrance to yoga.+

The yogi, who follows Patanjali-yoga, wants to sit in a place and think "I’ am shutting my eyes, ‘I’ am sitting in this cave, and ‘I’ am meditating." This egocentric yoga has nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman

The yogi mystic is always thinking in terms of me and ‘I’ for he thinks of what he is to get from his practice; whereas in the path of wisdom one first verifies and get rid of this ‘I’ by a deeper inquiry for he wants the truth, not something for the ‘Self’.

The Yogi says he wants to gain Samadhi. The Gnani wants to gain nothing for he knows, 'I’ is the whole universe."

Yoga is meant for the mass mindset, which is incapable of investigating and verifying their inherited beliefs.  The Atmic path is for realizing the pure essence of nonduality or Advaita.

Avadhuta Gita: ~ “The Atman cannot be purified through the practice of the six limbs of the yoga, or through the annihilation of the mind, or through the instruction of a teacher. The Atman is the Reality itself’ and It is Purity itself. "

From the standpoint of the Soul, the ‘Self’, the visions, and Samadhi are of the illusion because they are based on the false ‘Self’ (ego) within the false experience (waking).

It is not possible to stop the thoughts for more than a half-second whilst in the waking state. If one succeeds in controlling thought and then banishes it, one passes into Nirvikalpa Samadhi, which is identical to deep sleep. The only difference between ordinary deep sleep and Samadhi, therefore, is that the ordinary man falls asleep involuntarily whereas the yogi has the satisfaction of knowing that he has passed into sleep by his own effort of will in banishing thoughts.

Sage Patanjali warns against sleep as a hindrance to yoga, he means when it occurs in the early stages of the practice before one has obtained the power of control and consequently to banish the thoughts. The fact, that Samadhi is deep sleep is kept secret because people would not be tempted to take up yoga.

Yoga sharpens the ego, to enable it to keep away all extraneous thoughts when one gets out to reason in the practice of the next higher stage, i.e. Gnana.

Yoga is thus simply a sharpening stone for the ego to enable it to take up Gnana. But you say that Maharishi lives without thoughts, Impossible. How can he walk from one spot to another without thought? He does not know the Gnanic truth if he says thoughtlessness is the perfect stage of ‘Self’.

In Sutra Bashya and Mundaka: ~ Samadhi and sleep are identical. Brihad Upanishad does not advocate Samadhi. 

Bhagavan Buddha gave up his austerities of yoga as impossible and useless. (Page.70/71 "Buddhism in Translation” by Warren)

Bhagavan Buddha got enlightenment only after he gave up Yoga. Unless one exercises his reason--there is no chance of getting the truth.

When the yogi enters this highest Nirvikalpa (effort-less) Samadhi, he will at once enter deep sleep. This will make plain to him after he wakes, that the inner self he sought and found, the Atman, is reached only when all his ideas are refunded into it, when there is then all the features of non-duality, one without a second. However,  the yogi must later wake up, emerge from Samadhi and there is duality again, for the world of objects confronts him. So now he has to work on the next stage which is to find consciously in the waking experience the same non-duality that he unconsciously knew in sleep. This is done by learning that the universe is or idea or an object for the formless subject, and then refunding the universe,  ~idea back into its source, which is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. Only at this final stage,  he says "Atman, which is present in the form of the consciousness is the same as the Brahman. Brahman is the ultimate truth.  " Now he is fully aware of it.

All yogic visions, however, wonderful will pass away; they go as they come. They have the value of dreams. They are not the truth which is un-passing and beyond changes.

One can’t shut his eye to the universe, which confronts him as in Samadhi of yoga and see supreme reality. One can know it only by keeping himself clear and open.  Sage Sankara says:~   The yogi must add discrimination to his quest.

Nirvikalpa Samadhi and deep sleep are the same from the point of view of nonduality in the absence of the known. The knower was there. How does Samadhi give Gnana? Only by preparing the mind to see that the world disappears and re-appears and, that non-duality is here and duality there, to convince the man that in non-duality one won't disappear as he does not disappear in Samadhi or deep sleep. Another advantage of Samadhi is one gets the capacity to forget the external world and to treat it as an idea.

Yoga can never give you the fundamental thing, that the world is an illusion. Only Gnana can give it. Nirvikalpa Samadhi is unquestionably the same as deep sleep, and all ideas are refunded back there too. One must learn what ideas are when all the ideas of the universe's existence go back into one’s mind through Yoga. Then one learns this. How has he to learn that the entire universe is consciousness or Brahman if he stops at Nirvikalpa Samadhi? Without perceiving the universe, and having a duality before him, it is impossible.

Nirvikalpa has no duality, hence it cannot tell you about the universe. The yogi who emerges from Samadhi and says he found Gnana there, says it to a second person, hence there is duality again. If he were a real Gnani, there would be nobody for him to tell that he had experienced Gnana.

Self-knowledge will interest only a few people,  the rest are interested in Religion, yoga other paths, and pleasure hunting.:~Santthosh Kumaar