The Advaitic wisdom leads the seeker from darkness to light, from ignorance to wisdom, from unawareness of the ‘Self’ to Self-awareness, from unreality to reality.
Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."
All is consciousness. The whole universe is consciousness. From consciousness, the universe comes. When the universe disappears, consciousness still remains without the illusory form, time, and space.
The Soul itself is God, the One without a Second.
The Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. The Soul which is God in truth is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, consciousness itself is God in truth.
Even Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God in truth) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).
Consciousness, the God in truth is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God because God is the very essence of the one who denies God. God is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs.
Even Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul) 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?"
Even in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself’.
All those whose intelligence has been stolen by ignorance believe in non-Vedic Gods. The Vedas talk about Brahman (God) which refers to the ultimate truth or ultimate reality or Advaita. The consciousness is the Advaita or the ultimate truth, therefore, the consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Brahman is Advaita God.
Remember:
The world in which we exist is lifeless without the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Ignorance of the truth of our true existence makes us like a stagnant pond of water. Advaitic wisdom is like the flow of the water.
The garbage of the religious beliefs dogmas superstition is confounded with the human imagination. The great reality of the glory of the religious Gods is hyped and obscured by so much tinsel and commercialism.
Spirituality is not theology. Advaita is not a philosophy, but Advaita is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Advaita is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana or knowledge of the Spirit or God in truth.
The word “Advaita” is one without the second. Advaita essentially refers to the Atman and the whole existence. Advaita is the fullness of consciousness without the division of form, time, and space.
Theology is nothing to do with spirituality. Advaita is pure spirituality. The theological Advaita is nothing to do with the Advaitic wisdom, which is based on the Spirit the Atman.
Theological Advaita is conceptual having its own doctrine is nothing to do with the Gnanic Advaita because Gnanic Advaita is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.
Both approaches are not workable together because the theological Advaita is based on the birth entity (ego) Gnanic Advaita is based on the Atman (Soul). Thus, the theological Advaita has to be discarded without mercy to get Advaitic Gnana.
“Advaita” is a term used variously to express the unity of reality. Advaita is unity in diversity.
“Advaita” is a term used variously to express the unity of reality. Advaita is unity in diversity.
The seeker has to begin by defining "What is real?" "What is unreal? to establish in Advaitic reality by sheer reasoning alone. The reasoning is the right way to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. People must first know what is the truth? and what is untruth’.
Sage Sankara’s wisdom is not teaching or philosophy but Advaita is the universal wisdom. Advaitic wisdom is neither a teaching nor a theory, but it is mere guidance to those who are seriously seeking the ultimate truth or Brahman. Grasp the ultimate truth anytime, any age, if the seeker has the spiritual maturity and capacity to grasp it.
Sage Sankara says: ~ VC-47 All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the not-Self.
It really depends on his inborn natural capacity to understand and assimilate it. Sage Sri, Sankara’s wisdom is a Self-examiner, to test oneself to discover how near to Gnana he has approached and what progress has already been made on the path, and what still remains to be done. It sets up a criterion for Self-judgement. There are millions in search of truth, but one in million will be able to grasp it.
Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (nonduality). Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy there is a lot of confusion. I am highlighting all the obstacles, which are blocking one from realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman. There are so many non-dualistic masters of the east and also from the west who expound Advaitic or non-dualistic knowledge, but none of them are helpful to reach the ultimate end.
One has to know and realize his innermost Self is Soul and identify it as his true identity to find liberation from the bondage of the illusion of birth, life, death, and the world(duality). The goal of our life is to find and realize our identity with the Soul, which is the Self.
Sage Sankara said:~ Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, does liberation come, but only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way. (1) Vivekachoodamani v 56, pg. 25
To come to a more precise understanding of what non-duality is or might mean, we must return to the original linguistic and philosophic backgrounds from which the word has been translated into English.
If we limit a probe of the meaning of non-duality to Hindu Sanskrit literature, we find that the most frequently used term is “Advaita.
Advaita” is not a religious concept. Advaita is the nature of the existence hidden by form, time, and space. The seeker has to attempt to rule out from the start a false understanding of reality by perfect understanding of ‘what is what’.
The Advaita is hidden by the dvaita. Advaita is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Dvaita is the universe.
Advaita is basically a denial; it is literally the negation of the dvaita. That means whatever remains by negating the universe by realizing the universe is created out of single clay and that clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, the hidden truth by dvaita uncovered. Consciousness is the cause of the universe and it, itself is uncaused. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar