The truth seekers main Goal is Self-realization. The Self-realization is truth realization. Truth realization is God realization.+

The truth-seekers main Goal is Self-realization.  Self-realization is truth realization. Truth realization is God-realization.

The seeker must realize the truth of his true existence. Thus, Self-realization is very much necessary to unfold the mystery of the ‘I’.

As one goes deeper self-search he becomes aware of the fact that the ‘Self’ is not the ‘I’ but the ‘Self’ is I-less’ ~ Soul or Atman. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. 

Even The Bhagavad Gita says: ~ 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. 

The Soul is the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.  The Soul is the cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused.  The Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Brahman is God.

The universe hides the God in waking (duality) and God hides the universe in deep sleep (nonduality).

God in truth is the Soul or Atman.

Advaita means the Soul, the Self, which is the best. The Soul, which is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness, is the ultimate truth or  Brahman or God in truth. Advaita is the nature of God, the  Self. Advaita is God. Advaita is the fullness of consciousness.

Vedas and Upanishads confirm Atma is God. 

In Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~   It has been said that God Supreme or Supreme Spirit.

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

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

The Upanishads say in effect that ~ If you believe that the Soul is one and God (Brahman) is another you cannot understand Truth.

Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God there is no truth."

Ish Upanishads: ~

MANTRA 10

Vidya and Avidya both are hindrances to Self-knowledge, but Vidya is even worse than Avidya. The word Vidya is used here in a special sense; here it means worshipping Gods and Goddesses. By worshipping Gods and Goddesses you will go after death to the world of Gods and Goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spent there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of Gods and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus, you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

Avidya is Karma and, therefore, a hindrance. You perform Avidya - i.e., you perform Agnihotra and other sacrifices. This is a roundabout way of purifying the mind, and it is also groping in the dark. But it may not have as heavy a toll on your time and energy as the other.

Ishopanishad:~  "They are steeped in ignorance and sunk into the greatest depth of misery who worships the matter, instead of the All-Pervading God and those who worship things born of matter like trees, animals, man, etc. are sunk deeper in misery."

When Upanishads itself says they are steeped in ignorance and sunk into the greatest depth of misery who worships the matter, instead of the All-Pervading God(Atman)  and those who worship things born of matter (illusion)  are sunk deeper in misery then why worship God in place of the real God., which is Atman.

The dualistic worship of personal “Gods” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the 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 innermost 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 the 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.

Why worship and glorify the Gurus and Yogis (human form)   in place of God when Veda bars such activities and it also warns people who indulge in such activities are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time

Vedas bars human worship: ~

Translation:~ 

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time."- (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

Sage Sankara says: 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. 

The seeker of truth has to accept the truth as God and reject the untruth to realize other Atman the real God and all else is an illusion created out of the Atman the only God.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Bhagavad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory.+

Bhagavad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16

The beyond is hidden by the ‘I’.  The beyond is hidden within the ‘I’, but it is without the ‘I’. You cannot transcend the ‘I’ without knowing ‘what ‘I’ is in actuality.   The ‘I’ is ignorance.  To get rid of the ignorance, you must realize the Self is not ‘I’ but the ‘self is the Soul, the witness of the ‘I’.

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

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self. 

‘I AM’ is not a reality. Whenever the ‘I AM’ is there the dualistic illusion is present. Whenever dualistic illusion is present the world in which you exist is present. The world in which you exist appears and disappears. 

Thus, the ‘I AM’ appears and disappears. The ‘I AM’ is not permanent. The Soul, the innermost Self is the witness of the coming and going, of the ‘I Am. It is erroneous to identify the Soul, the innermost Self as the ‘I AM'. The ‘I am’ represents ignorance. How can you watch the ‘I AM’ the truth which is hidden by the ‘I AM? by you keeping quiet and keeping silent the truth will not emerge.

The ‘I’ hides the Soul. Therefore, the seeker has to realize ‘what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality.

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. The 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 a 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 the 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 to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space

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.

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

Whether one is young or old death is only thing which is certain within the dualistic illusion.+

Whether one is young or old death is the only thing that is certain within the dualistic illusion. When the Self is not the body then why do you worry about what happens when the body becomes old.

When the ‘Self’ is not you but the Self is the Soul then whether the body remains young or old within the world is meaningless because the world in which you exist itself is the dualistic illusion created out of single clay. That single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The Soul is the Self.  The Soul is the ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence whereas birth, life, and death take place within the domain of form, time, and space. 

From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self the form, time, and space are merely an illusion.

The one, which is born lives and dies in the illusory world, is bound to be illusory. Therefore, our experience of birth, life, death within the illusory world is bound to be an illusion.  Until you hold the ‘Self’ as ‘I’, the dualistic illusion prevails as a reality.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16

The ‘I’ hides the Soul. Therefore, the seeker has to realize ‘what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality.

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. The consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

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 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 the 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 to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space

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.

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 a mindset. 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 a mindset is 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 

The Buddhist scriptures were completely distorted by the time of Sage Sankara.+

Buddhists and Jains did not believe in the Vedic positions, did not accept the scriptures. Hence, Sage Sankara had to meet their objections also.  Biographical anecdotes about his persecution of Jains and Buddhists or of his challenges to self-immolation for the loser of a debate are all foolish tales fabricated after his lifetime either by his own followers who took him to be a religious propagator but not as a  philosopher or by the dualistic cult. 

The religious pundits of the Adavitic sect relate boastfully pseudo-historical stories of how Sage Sankara's school put down, persecuted end exterminated the Buddhists, as though this was something to be proud of. However, these stories are either exaggerations or false stories fabricated by pundits or priestcraft. The religious pundits are mere followers of the religion, never having understood the depth of Advaitic philosophy. Sage  Sankara gave religion and scholasticism and yoga no less than philosophy, to the world. 

His commentary on Manduka Upanishad is pure philosophy, but many of his other books are presented from a religious standpoint to help those who cannot rise up to philosophy.  North India is the home of mysticism and deification and South India of keen rational truth.

Sage Sankara had only four fully trained disciples, although he advised some kings. His doctrines spread after his lifetime. His books were dictated to assistants as he traveled. So, only a few were capable of understanding his philosophy. 

Sage Sankara always traveled and he never lived in a monastery. He simply instructed his disciples to build one here and there " and then left because he was busy spreading his doctrines. 

Religious people who followed  Sage Sankara are mere followers of the orthodoxy, never having understood the Advaitic Gnana are religious scholars, not Gnanis, and they are unable to grasp the Advaitic wisdom. 

Sage Sankara says the seeker 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. 

Some thinkers hold views of Maya which are entirely incorrect and untenable. They do not know Sankara's Upanishad Bashyas, but only the Brahma Sutra Bashya.  The followers of Sri Sankara have constituted a religious sect. Thus, all movements ultimately degenerate. 

In the commentary to "Brahma Sutras Sage Sankara says ~ ." "The highest beatitude is not to be attained by Yoga." (Sacred Books of East Series page 298 Vol.1) 

  And he also says Samadhi is the same as sleep (p.312).

~ This clearly indicates that yoga is not the means to self-realization.  And yogis Samadhi is not nondualistic wisdom.

Sage Sankara's commentary to Brahma Sutras (Chap.3.4.50) shows that the Gnani "should pass through life", not run away from life, and should take a middle course between seeking worldly honor and worldly abasement. 

Sage Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time, he showed just one step forward towards the truth.  Sage Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words. 

Sage Sankara did more than write books or initiate Sanyasins: He brought India into unity as a nation. He advised the mass: Worship what they wish, remain in their particular religion but remember they are also part of a larger whole. 

Few Pundits have caught the spirit; they are merely fond of his words.  Sage  Sankara’s spirit is that of an appeal to reason, with scripture dragged in as second and lesser support afterward. 

Sage Sankara gave religious, rituals, and dogmatic instruction to the mass but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd. 

Centuries have passed since  Sage Sankara appeared, yet it is very hard to find his wisdom understood anywhere in the world today. It is because so few could rise to his level. Hence, dualistic cults and devotional sects came into existence prospered. 

It may not have been possible for him to have written so many books during such a short term of existence of 32 years. The truth is that he wrote very few books. Those actually written by him were Commentaries on Brahma Sutras and the Upanishads and on the Gita. All other books ascribed to him were not written down by his own hand. They are merely collections of notes recorded by his disciples from his sayings, talk, and discussions. 

Sage Sankara wrote his commentaries on Manduka Upanishad first, and then as this revealed that he thoroughly understood the subject, his gurus requested him to write the commentary on Badarayana's Brahma Sutras, which was a popular theological work universally studied by Advaitins. That is why his commentary is written from a lower dualistic point, for those who cannot rise higher, save that here and there Sage  Sankara occasionally has strewn a few truly Advaitic sentences. 

Since, Hinduism is the mixer of many ideologies one gets confused which is true philosophy because the dual, non-dual and qualified non-dual philosophies all claim that they are based on Vedas.  And many believe the inherited beliefs of their forefathers are pure and sacred without verifying the facts. All rituals and individualized gods are added from time to time.  Only when one tries to go deeper into the annals of history one will be able to find that all the present days’ beliefs and rituals are not part of the Santana Dharma or Vedic religion. 

 It is necessary for the seeker to do his homework, and verify the validity of all the claims, rather than blindly believe, what others expound as knowledge, till, the uncontradicted truth is obtained.

The seeker must have the courage of Buddha to accept the truth and reject the untruth. Since Buddha rejected religion, the idea of god, and scriptures, therefore, it is evident that he has gone through every aspect and verified and found them to be inadequate and useless for the pursuit of truth.

Even Buddhism is mixed up with regional culture and traditions of the local religion, wherever it existed. Thus to get the full essence of Buddhism is very difficult.

The Buddhist scriptures were completely distorted by the time of Sage  Sankara. Sage  Sankara had to criticize the Buddhist literature prevailing then as the Buddhists themselves were confused as to what Shunyata is. Vasubandhu and his disciple Dignaga (the latter lived about a couple of centuries before Sage Sankara) could not retain the original teachings of the Bhagvan  Buddha.

At first, Vasubandhu did not agree with his half-brother Asanga and wrote one book on Abhidharma and, later on, he went to the side of Asanga and wrote a second book, where? he opposed his own earlier views on Abhidharma. Sage Sri, Sankara? had to criticize Buddhist knowledge? and literature of his time as he wanted to bring to us back the Pure Vedantic knowledge through his work on the Prasthanatraya. That is why there is a reference to the writing of Dharmakirti in Sutrabashya.

There is another aspect that in -  Vishnu Purana also says that Lord Buddha created confusion. In Sarnath, he first taught about the basic Moral code. He talked about Anatma. Then? two decades later he taught the concept of Shunyata and? the tenets of Mahayana Buddhism.? Despite Nagarjuna's telling that Shunyata is not Nihilism and that Parajanaparamita also mentioning about the Shunyata after one leaves? The five? skandhas, there are and there will always be people who will go on calling Buddha's philosophy as Nihilism. About the origin of Tantric Buddhism also? there are controversies.

Hindus hold Bhagvan Buddha being an Avatara of Lord Vishnu. It seems that in many Buddha viharas, probably more in Sri Lanka, there are statues of Lord Vishnu, which are looked at reverentially. by the Buddhists. Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa also says that there is no doubt about Bhagavan  Buddha being an Avatara of Lord Vishnu. Swami Vivekananda tells us about him very superlatively. Dr. Radhakrishnan says that he was a reformer of Hinduism. Personally, I worship him as the Avatara of Lord Vishnu.

Religion, yoga, and scriptures are for the ignorant masses, who wholly accept the material world as it presents itself. Wisdom is for those who have begun to realize that things are not what they seem.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Remember:~

Once Buddha died, great philosophical schools arose. It had never happened in the whole world as it happened in India after Buddha. The man who for his whole life was against philosophy and philosophizing became the source of the greatest philosophical endeavor ever. Thirty-six schools of philosophy were born when Buddha died. And the people that he had always condemned all gathered together to philosophize about him.

And see the beauty, the irony of it all! They started philosophizing about why Buddha kept silent.

Why he did not say anything about the beyond: that became their philosophy! They started talking about why he kept silent about the beyond. And there were as many answers as possible.

Somebody said, "Because there is no beyond." Now one philosophy has taken roots. Another said, "The beyond is, but it is inexpressible. That's why he kept silent." Now another school, and so on and so forth.

Even the silence of Buddha became a problem, and people started discussing the silence. Nobody tried to become silent; people started talking ABOUT the silence.

Beware of this trap, the mind is very cunning. If I say something about meditation, I am saying it so that you can meditate. But you start thinking about meditation, what meditation is. "How many kinds of meditation are there in existence? What is the difference between them? Why are they antagonistic to each other?

And then you can go on ad infinitum, and there will not be any time when you will ever meditate.

You will become more and more confused. You will become so confused finally that you will not know how to start meditation. because there are so many directions opening. Where to go? What to choose? You will simply be paralyzed.

The mind always does that. And only a few people who are really alert are capable of getting out of these traps of the mind. The mind is a great philosopher. And life is not a philosophy, life is a reality.

Philosophy is an escape from reality; philosophy means thinking. Life is - there is no question of thought. You can simply jump into it.

OSHO

Unio Mystica Volume 1,

chapter 3: Crying For The Light