Need to attain liberation

Only Self Knowledge can destroy ignorance and free us from samsara, the world of change and becoming and its constant sense entanglement. In the case of a un- awakened person, the mind, through the sense organs illumines the external world and its objects. But the Jivanmukta (liberated soul) withdraws the sense organs from the outside world and turns the mind inward. His mind then perceives the light of the Spirit. The knowledge of the Self shines within him.

As has been discussed under the sutras, we need to purify the mind, perform our necessary duties without attachment to the results, practice self control and compassion and love toward our fellow human beings.

 Cultivating a peaceful mind is aided by a peaceful heart that is unperturbed by pleasure or pain; that discriminates between what is real and unreal and does not lust after sense pleasure.

The goal ought to be Liberation from suffering of various kinds that are the result of selfish desires and actions

The Self, soul is deathless, birth-less, eternal and of real substance in every individual. It is the unchanging reality behind the changing body, sense organs, mind and ego. It is Spirit which is Pure Consciousness and is unaffected by time, space and causality

As the unchanging Reality in the individual is the Self (in Sanskrit Atman), he unchanging Reality in the universe is called Brahman. Brahman is also beyond time, space and causality and is the all-pervading Spirit. Vedanta declares, the Atman and Brahman are the same. The knowledge of this identity is called Self-Knowledge which upon realization delivers the aspirant from the bondage of the world and brings liberation.

Atman as the embodied soul derives its experience in the relative world through three stages of consciousness. In the waking state it experiences the gross objects of the outside world; in the dream state it experiences subtle impressions, purely mental and created by the experiences of the waking state; in deep sleep it enjoys peace and remains as the witness of the absence of activities of mind and senses. In this state, it is close to its real nature and the subject, object relationship is absent. All these three stages still belong to the realm of relativity and ignorance. The fourth state, which in reality is not a state, is called Turiya. Here the Self is realized as pure consciousness without subject and object – pure Being. Turiya pervades all three states and forms their substratum. In other words, Turiya is the source from which the other stages are happening.

Emptiness is an idea derived from the insight that all things contain the essence of everything.

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Nothing exists independent in and of itself.

I am both connected to all that preceded me and to all that will follow me, being all things, I therefore cannot be one thing.

Without singular characteristics I cannot be defined solely as this or that.

I am empty because I am everything.

All various forms exist in the mind of the perceiver. Their substratum is Spirit. Names and forms associated with different objects of the phenomenal world are changeable and therefore unreal. Only that which does not change is eternal and real.

All things in the phenomenal world are endowed with 5 characteristics: existence, perceptibility, attraction, forms and names. Of these the first three correspond to Sat, Chit, Ananda or Existence, Knowledge and Bliss belong to Brahman or the Self which is the basis of everything and the other 2 to the relative world

The aim of Non-Duality is to prove that there is no distinction between living beings and Brahman or God and between the different living beings themselves. The one Lord is concealed in all beings.

There are 3 aspects associated with the Self. They are the gross body, the subtle body and the causal body. One should distinguish them through discrimination from the Self. The gross body, is the medium through which the Self, Soul experiences pleasure and pain. The subtle body consists of 5 pranas (prana or in-breath, apana the downward moving principle expels unassimilated food and liquid vyana the circulating force, udana the ascending life force, which helps the soul to pass out of the body, samana fostering digestion.

The all-pervading Atman or Self does not shine in everything. It is manifest in the buddhi (that which determines the true nature of things, intellect) like a reflection in clear water or in a stainless mirror. Atman, Self is the Witness of all functions.

The Soul or Self interpenetrates the body and the sense organs yet it is totally different from them. It is the eternal subject and unchangeable consciousness. One may reason that the Atman or Self is not just the witness but also the participant. The answer to this is: just as the moon seems to be moving when in actuality the clouds move, so also the Self appears active when in reality the senses are active.

On Attachment – attachment, pleasure and pain etc. exist as long as the buddhi or mind functions. They are not perceived in sleep, when the mind ceases to exist.

An individualized soul (when identified with ego) is conscious of the existence of other beings and their Creator, God. It regards itself as limited by time and space and the law of causation. It thinks, it is samsara, or relative being subject to birth and death, thus becoming pray to fear. If a person sees the slightest difference between himself and others, he feels uncomfortable. He who thinks God is separate from himself has a tendency to be overcome by the fear of God. But the Self in reality is not the individualized living being; therefore the fear is groundless and due to ignorance.

The mind, the sense organs are illumined by the Self alone. They are insentient by themselves. That which cannot be seen by the eyes, but by which the eyes see other objects – That alone is Brahman; realize that and not what people worship (through ignorance).

Their own Self – The Self, or all pervading consciousness, and that alone, is the substratum or real essence of the mind, ego, and sense organs.