Sex belongs to the domain of duality. What is the use of discussing celibacy and sexuality in the Atmic path when the Atma is genderless.+

Celibacy and living in a monastery were always strange to the Vedic religion. In fact, almost all the great sages of Puranas and Vedas were householders.

Observing celibacy and the monastery system in Vedic religion is the influence of Buddhism and Jainism. Hinduism is a mixture of Vedic, Jain and Buddhist, and many other ideologies. The pure essence of Santana Dharma is lost by adopting ideologies of many other ideologies.

There is no need to renounce anything, other than ignorance. Renouncing worldly life and becoming a sanyasi is not needed for Self-realization. Sanyasa is not the means to Self-Realization. Sanyasa is nothing to do with the ultimate truth. Whatever is renounced on the base of physical Self cannot be the qualification to acquire Self-knowledge.

A Gnani is aware of the fact that the Soul is the true Self, and the three states are unreal. There is no use in giving up worldly life and becoming a monk or sanyasi, in order to get Self-realization because all the physical activity is part of the illusion. The Illusion is caused by the ignorance of the true Self. When Self is not physical, then what is the use of renunciation which is based on the physical Self?

Renunciation is a religious idea and it is the greatest obstacle in pursuit of truth. The sanyasi thinks he is an individual separate from the world, therefore; he will not be able to renounce the ignorance. Therefore, he is not qualified for Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana.

Remember:~

Sex belongs to the domain of duality. What is the use of discussing celibacy and sexuality in the Atmic path when the Atma is genderless because it is formless, timeless and spaceless existence?  

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 those who wish to realize the truth which is beyond the 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.   The religion is concerned with its paramparas, not truth whereas the spirituality is concerned only with the truth, which is beyond the form, time and space. Religion is not spirituality.

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~ "The man of knowledge (Gnani), though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.

Upanishads: ~ Fools dwelling in darkness, but thinking they wise and erudite, go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind. (Upanishads Nikilanada - Ch II-5 P-14)

No one can teach anybody. Wisdom is hidden within the world in which you exist.  A Gnani can only show the way that much is the work of a Gnani. 

A Gnani only guides the seekers to apply their own reason and realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. When the seeker learns to view and judge and reason the three states on the base of the Soul, the truth will start unfolding on its own.     First, the seeker may find it difficult to use soulcentric reason but gradually it will become easy. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

A Gnani who has realized the world in which he exists as the consciousness.+

A  Gnani who has realized the world in which he exists as the consciousness. What is there to meditate or not to meditate, what to speak or not to speak, what to do or not to do? Those who give up the highest and purest Brahmic consciousness live in vain and though human, are like beasts. Having turned the visible into the invisible, one should realize everything to be consciousness itself. 

A  Gnani always dwells in nondual awareness in the midst of duality. The ever-existent Soul or the consciousness shining within the three states can be realized only through Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  The Self indeed is this Soul which is present in the form of consciousness, not the phenomenal universe which is present in the form of the mind.

A  Gnani who has realized everything as consciousness. A  Gnani always dwells in nondual awareness in the midst of dualistic illusion or Maya.

Where people cannot and do not think, they follow others. A Gnani will see the world and get to know it is the only appearance. He is not blind; he sees three states or objects as it is, but he knows it is a falsehood. Just as you see a mirage, the Gnani sees the mirage of this universe too; but he is not deceived by it. So long as one is ignorant, he will have the idea that God has created this world because the causal notion will be there. Nobody wants to suffer while the notion that suffering can be got rid of by appealing to God these wishes will sway the mind to believe in God. For them, religion will arise, but for the man who wants the truth, religion offers no consolation. 

Gnani and Illusion:~

A King who was greatly incensed at the wisdom taught by Gnani that everything here below is an illusion. He wanted to teach the exponent of this doctrine a lesson. So he invited the then Gnani to his palace. That Gnani went there and stoutly maintained that everything in this world is an illusion.

The king had arranged to let loose a hungry lion against Gnani. The beast rushed at Gnani who took to a precipitate flight to save himself.

'Oh, Venerable Sir,' shouted the king, 'why do you run so fast seeing that the lion is only an illusion?'

'Oh, king,' said Gnani in the course of his flight, 'my running too is an illusion. Everything in this world is an illusion.’

Similarly, whatever takes place in this world, in which you exist, is an illusion. The Avatar is a religious fable.  God is not an individual. Avatar belongs to the domain of form, time, and space whereas God is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.   

The world in which you exist is created out of God and God is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, everything is created out of God, thus all animate and inanimate things of the world are nothing but God in truth.  It is foolish to say only some human being as an Avatar the whole illusory creation is Avatar of God.

Righteousness, peace, and love to divinity are necessary within the dualistic illusion. Righteousness, peace, and love for divinity are created out of consciousness. Without consciousness, there is no Righteousness, no peace, and no love. Realizing the consciousness as the ultimate truth is truth realization.

Righteousness, peace, and love to divinity are necessary in practical life within the practical world, but they are not a qualification for truth realization.

A Gnani vision of the world, in which he exists, is, beyond time and space, embracing the Soul, ultimate reality. The universe in which you exist is within the Soul.

The world in which you exist is not separate from the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness because the world in which you exist is created out of consciousness.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Mundaka Upanishad:~Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.+

Mundaka Upanishad:~ The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross the sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.

The Orthodox 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.  And he is required to perform rituals all through his life. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. 

The Soul, the ‘Self’ has no attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Soul, the ‘Self’ and identifies ‘‘Self’’ with the ‘I’ is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person.

A person who engages in rituals with the notion “I” as the ‘Self’ is ignorant; the ‘I’ itself’ is an ignorance.   The ignorance can be removed by ‘Self’-knowledge.

The seeker of truth must have his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the dualistic illusion.

A Gnani drives home the point that Self-knowledge deals not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’.  Sage  Sankara gives us an insight into the essential nature of the ‘‘Self’’ which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman.

Sage Sankara: ~ Atman, the innermost ‘Self’ is verily Brahman (God in truth), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body that is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise. 

Realizing the universe is created out of single stuff and that single stuff is the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness leads to non-dualistic or Advaitic ‘Self’-awareness. ‘Self’-awareness is freedom or Moksha. Moksha is unity in diversity in the midst of the dualistic illusion.

Remember:~

If the inquiry does not include the universe then it is incomplete.  The universe itself is what God is all about. The totality of the universe is what God is all about. You just study the nature of the universe with all the seriousness and sincerity to unfold the mystery of the universe. That is all you have to do. The universe is the seeker's school.

Sage Sankara: ~ VC~.63-"Without knowing and examining the universe, one can’t know the Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

All the religious scriptures and holy books are irrelevant -- God's greatest book is just in front of you.

That is why Sage Sankara says you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand? If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth.

You have to study the book of the universe carefully and find and realize God hidden in it.  

All religions claim that their books are not man-made? Hindus claim that the Vedas are Aporsheya: not made by man but revealed by God himself; and Sanskrit is the divine language, not human.

All religions have the same type of claim. Muslims say the Koran has descended from God, and so with Jews and Christians. Everybody is trying to claim that their book is the sacred book and nobody bothers to look at the real divine book.

This is what the real Veda, the real Koran, the real Bible is. This is the book, and all other books are man-made. Only this universe is the book that is authored by God because God is hidden by the universe. 

The universe is real Veda, the real Koran, the real Bible is.  The universe is the book, and all other books are man-made.

Only when you open the book of the universe the God hidden in the book will be revealed.  When you finish reading the book of the universe then the universe will become an illusion and God alone prevails as the ultimate reality.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress. 

You are also part of the divine book of the universe! And whatever you have seen, known, believed, and experienced as an individual is part of it. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

The Vedas and the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita speaks of the truth with a weak voice and they do not have the majesty found in the Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom.+

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

The Vedas and the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita speaks of the truth with a weak voice and they do not have the majesty found in the Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom ~ it is simply unparalleled. The influence of Sage Sankara’s wisdom is nothing to do with Advaitic orthodox belief systems.

The Advaitic wisdom has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it, Advaitic wisdom is not yoga but it is the truth, which is hidden within the form, time, and space, but nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and religious Gurus and yogis do not want to inquire into the hidden truth and have no time for it.

Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, has does freedom from experiencing the dualistic illusion come, but only through the Advaitic wisdom.

The most important thing is that neither society nor politics nor any other institution of human life has had any influence on Sage  Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom.

Let erudite scholars quote all the Scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated~ yet, without the Advaitic wisdom there shall be no freedom for the Soul, which is caught up in the dualistic illusion.

The ultimate Truth which has no basis is usually religion or a mere catalog of ignorant opinions; people prefer it because it can be got more easily. All religious doctrines are based on the ego.  Whatever is based on the ego is worthless because the truth is based on the Soul, the  ‘Self.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is such a pure expression ~ transcending the form, time, and space ~ there is nothing comparable.

Religion has been very influential. The first reason is that religion is a synthesis. Religion is more concerned with synthesis than with truth. The desire for synthesis is so strong that if necessary religion doesn't mind sacrificing the truth to propagate the belief.

Religion is a hodgepodge containing everything; hence it suits everyone because there is something in it for everyone.

The truth does not belong to any religion. Religious truth is individual truth based on the false ‘‘Self’’.

The ignorant populace takes solace from their inherited religion.  For the religious people, Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom will prove very difficult.

 The seeker has to know God in truth.  The truth is ignored by religion.  The difference between the religious concept of God, which is based on blind belief, and the truth about God is based on the core of existence.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is not for synthesis ~ it is the truth that is hidden within the form, time, and space,  but the truth is beyond the form, time, and space.

The truth is just as it is, without any artifice or coloring and ornamental words. Sage  Sankara is not concerned about the populace, he does not care whether his followers will understand or not. Such a pure expression of truth has never happened anywhere before, nor has it ever happened again.

It is necessary to realize there is no wisdom whatsoever in the scriptures. The scriptures contain mere words ~  just a collection of words found in scriptures.

The Advaitic  Wisdom is hidden within the world in which we exist.  The truth is found in the books but  Truth is hidden by the illusory world in which we exist.

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is absolutely unique. They come from the source from which the universe comes. If Sage Sankara’s words penetrate you, they will start awakening the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’ from its sleep of ignorance. Sage Sankara’s wisdom will thrill every seeker and bring the Soul back into its own awareness in the midst of the dualistic illusion. Sage Sankara’s wisdom is an inner Revolution.

Sage Sankara regards personal realization as independent and convincing evidence.  Sage Sankara says that individual experience cannot be disputed because the experience he went through was real to him; though that may not be real from the absolute point of view.

Sage Sankara makes a distinction between the absolute view and the relative view of things.

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is nothing to do with religion and yoga. 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 truth beyond the form, time, and space. Religion and yoga are meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

It takes time for the seeker to gain a perfect understanding of the Advaitic truth. It takes time for the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’ to wake up from the sleep of ignorance, and it takes time for you to realize the Advaitic truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

Sage Sankara is the only sage who has final authority on the Advaitic truth. The Advaitic truth is rational truth and scientific truth and ultimate truth without dogmas.

The seeker to go on his own and remove the entire obstacle.  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.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Ashtavakra Samhita: - "The man of knowledge, though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.+

In this hi-fi world,  many self-declared Spiritual Gurus are born like mushrooms amidst us and they are looked upon as great solace by the mass of gullible people, who are more ‘peace and wisdom-hungry.  Most seekers are looking for something beyond their inherited belief system. Most of these dollar-hungry Gurus hankering after titles and honors and enjoying it like these modern-day self-styled Gurus and they are connected to one or other controversies and scandals.

People get stuck with these modern self-proclaimed Gurus who claimed to be enlightened. Many of these Gurus have taken many new “avatars” like Corporate Gurus, Universal Gurus, online Gurus, Global Gurus, one name it, he will find them. The honest Gurus and swamis never come to the limelight and they remain to mind their own inherited divine business remains aloof from the publicity.  

There are so many   Gurus who have overnight become Global Gurus. They only play with the feelings of people. Most of them are propagating ancient yogic practices as if it is their own great new invention and branding them or getting them patented,   this is the height of the mockery of spirituality. As long as innocent and ignorant people are there, these kinds of Gurus can flourish their business to peak height. They cannot only fool the mass of people but also the people at political power.

Religion needs a Guru to propagate its belief system, whereas in the Atmic path there is no need for a Guru. The ultimate truth has to be ascertained by him alone.  Yoga needs a Guru to guide its students to practice Samadhi. 

Swami Vivekananda 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.”

The one who says he is enlightened is not a Gnani.  The ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. How can you and the world in which you exist remain when the ‘Self’ gets enlightenment?   Only the Soul the innermost ‘Self ‘remains in its own awareness in the midst of the dualistic illusion.

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

Mandukya Upanishads: ~    Even the Gods cannot find out who is a Gnani because he bears no external mark. Neither nudity nor the religious robe has anything to do with him.

Thus, those who identify themselves as a Swami,   a Guru, or a Yogi are not Gnani. A Gnani never identifies himself as a swami, Guru, pundit, or yogi.  The Swami, Guru, pundit, or the yogi belongs to the religious or the yogic path not to the path of wisdom.

That is why Sage Sankara's commentary: ~   "The knower of Brahman (Gnani) wears no signs.  (Page 489)

Page 500 asks in effect "Tell us what you know, show it, and let us examine it under the mental microscope." It means we must bring notions and beliefs out of vagueness into clearness. It also criticizes the mystics who claim superior knowledge but who cannot communicate it for purposes of verification.

On page 482:~ On Gnani: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior."  When the knower of Brahman wears no signs ~ it means he does not identify himself as a Guru. 

Ashtavakra Samhita: - "The man of knowledge, though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.

Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. Know the ‘Self’ not ‘you’, and what is hidden beyond the form, time and space will be disclosed to you.

The feat of a Guru, touching people and thus putting them into mystic states is purely a physical or at best a psychological one; based on the power of suggestions it has nothing to do with epistemology, with the question of truth. The truth is not physical because the ultimate truth is the Soul or the Spirit.

The ultimate truth or Brahman is nothing to with religion.   Religion is based on the illusory ‘I’ as a reality whereas the ultimate truth or Brahman is beyond form, time,  and space. If you are seeking truth make sure you are chosen the wrong path.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

Mixing the Advaitic orthodoxy with Advaitic wisdom is like mixing oil and water.+

There are so many obstacles if one tries to reach the Advaitic realization because of orthodox adulteration.  Advaitic wisdom and orthodox or theistic Advaita are not the same.

Mixing the Advaitic orthodoxy with Advaitic wisdom is like mixing oil and water.     Most of the scholars are sentimentally and emotionally involved with orthodoxy because both Advaitic orthodoxy and Advaitic wisdom are propagated by the same founder (Sage  Sankara).  They mix up two viewpoints together, therefore, it becomes difficult to get the Advaitic truth expounded by Sage Sankara.

It is very difficult to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth or Brahman without bifurcating the religion, scriptures, philosophy, and idea of individualized God.  Ultimate truth or Brahman directly realized without Advaitic philosophy and Buddhism by Soulcentric reasoning.  

That is why Sage Sankara says:~ VC-58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar but are no good for Liberation.

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?

62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utters the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realization one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

There is nothing more rational, more intelligible, and more un-dogmatic insights of Sage  Sankara is to drop all the theistic nonduality or Advaita which is meant for those who are incapable and not receptive to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.

If one merely theorizes, tries to understand through his intellect, and there contended he cannot become a Gnani, but he becomes a scholar or pundit.   Seeker of truth must make what he has understood and assimilated has to be realized, to get a firm conviction of the non-dualistic truth or ultimate truth or Brahman, then only it is possible for him to transcend all the limitations of the experience of form, time and space.   

The existence beyond limitations of form, time, and space is known as Moksha or Nirvana. Spiritual freedom or Self-realization is the goal of every seeker of truth. :~Santthosh Kumaar  

Sage Sankara says If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth.+

Sage Sankara indicated in Bhaja Govindam  One without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows. 

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 human thought.

Sage Sankara says you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand? If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth.

Sage Sankara VC~.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?

VC-  v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not  even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be experienced. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it,  your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation

Sage Sankara has enjoined upon the seekers of truth to see and realize the unity in diversity, but one gets confused when he comes across the multifarious objects seemingly quite separate from him. Even while one threads his path he should constantly think what he sees around him has emanated from the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. The world in which he exists is created out of single stuff and that single stuff is the consciousness. Till he becomes fully aware of this single stuff firmly establishes in the consciousness he should keep remembering this fact often and often.

Self-Knowledge is the aim of every human being. Since everyone thinks the physical body is the Self their aim is misdirected and they focus their attention on materiality which makes one feel the duality (waking) as a reality.

Millions are in search of the ultimate truth, and only one in million will be able to grasp and realize it. By focusing more attention on the Soul, the innermost Self, by reading, writing, reflecting only of the Soul the inner conviction about the Soul grows and becomes firmer, and then the reality of the dualistic illusion fades away.

Ashtavakra Gita 3:9-10: ~ But he who is truly wise Always sees the absolute Self. Celebrated, he is not delighted. Spurned, he is not angry. Pure of heart, He watches his own actions As if they were another's. How can praise or blame disturb him?

An intense desire for truth -realization is itself the way to it. The Lord is The Self in Advaita. Therefore, one need not accept anything other than the Self, which is consciousness. Thus consciousness alone is the ultimate truth or Brahman that is free from falsehood.

Advaita (non-duality) and dvaita (duality) are the states of the Soul, the innermost Self. It is not some intellectual theory. Religious-based Advaitins believe the Atman (Soul) is Brahman and the world is an illusion. Religious dvaitins believe in the body as Self, and they believe the world is a reality, and they believe in the creator and creation theory. In India Advaita and Dvaita is a merely religious traditions, which they inherited from their ancestors. No one questions their validity because it is considered blasphemy to question any guru and God-men or pundits.

People who are attached to their religious code of conduct and trying to preach Advaita, that is mixing the individual life, and the concept of God, and all mixed up hotchpotch religious doctrine and feed the seeking minds, are themselves not aware of the fact that the individuality and the worldly life is part of the illusion.:~Santthosh Kumaar