Sufism from the non-dualistic or Advaitic perspective.+

         

                                 Sufism from the non-dualistic or Advaitic perspective:~  

Al Hillaj Mansoor was a great Sufi. He was killed by religious fanatics because he said, Anal Hak- I AM GOD. Sai Baba of Shirdi also used to say, Anal Hak.

When Al Hillaj Mansoor asserted, ‘I am God,’ religious fanatics killed him. Sufism is always killed by fanatic religious believers – because religious fanatics cannot tolerate a man asserting that he is God! They feel offended because how can a man be a God?

Hafiz refers to orthodox believers and fanatics, wherein Hafiz says: "O God, forgive the orthodox and fanatics, for they do not see the Truth."

Meher Baba: ~ We find the people quarreling in the name of religion over their holy books. Is it not like dogs fighting for the bare bones which have no marrow in them?"

How can you believe the belief of God as a separate entity? That implies two ~ the believer and the belief, whereas God in truth is nondual or Advaita. One can worship his idea of God only or realize his unity with God when he can’t worship God as a part.

God is in the form of the Spirit, and God is indeed Spirit itself then why accept another God in place of the Spirit or believe other than the Spirit.

God is the Supreme Being the One eternal homogeneous essence, indivisible consciousness, and intelligence, which is hidden by the illusory form, time, and space. To which the Sages of Truth are described in a variety of ways through diverse words.

When Al Hillaj Mansoor says, Anal Hak - ‘I AM GOD. Anal Hak or I AM GOD is the state of God in Sufism.    Only a person who has realized what God is supposed to be in actuality reaches the State of Anal Hak or the State of God. 

Third Mundaka Upanishad - Chapter 2 (9) - He who realized the Supreme Brahman (God) verily becomes Brahman (God).

God cannot be attained by one who is without strength or earnestness but if one strives with sincerity and seriousness then the dualistic illusion (universe) transcends into the nondualistic reality, which is God

A Sufi is the one who has realized God in truth. God shines brightly and in which the universe rests. The Sufi is free from ignorance. The Sufi transcends the illusory form, time, and space and is established in a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.   The nature of God is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. 

It is very difficult to recognize who is a real Sufi because he bears no external mark. Neither nudity nor the religious symbol has anything to do with him. Anyone who follows Sufism does not become a Sufi unless he has realized God in truth.  

A Sufi, on attaining realization, will not give up his vocation in life but will continue it as before. If he was a billniore then he continues so, if a peasant, he will remain one. He still does his duty, but he is fully aware of the fact that his practical life within the practical world is merely an illusion.

Remember: ~

A Self-realized person is a God-realized person because the Soul, the ‘Self’ itself is God in truth. In reality, the ‘Self’ is free from experiencing the illusory form, time, and space as a reality. Man and his experience of the world cease to exist without illusory form, time, and space.  Real existence is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. The nature of God in truth is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.  The real existence is God.

If God is the formless Spirit, then how does man know God created the world? There is no proof. If man had seen God creating the world, he could admit it, but how could he have seen God before he came into existence? (i.e. were created).

God, the Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. 

From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there. 

This universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms is nothing else but God (Spirit) which is absolutely free from all the limitations of the illusory form, time, and space.

So the fanatics believers in dogmas – they said that God created man, so man can only be a creature, not a creator; and this is profanity, the very apex of profanity to assert that ‘I AM GOD’ – they killed him. And what was Al Hillaj Mansoor saying when they killed him? He said loudly to the sky, ‘You cannot deceive me! Even in these murderers, I see you, – you cannot deceive me. You are here in these murderers! And in whatsoever form you come, my God, I will know you, because I have known you.’

Remember:~

Religion is regarded as sacred and real by the common people, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. 

Religious fanatics never understood the Spiritualistic interpretation of Anal Hak- they thought he is referring to himself as God but it is not so he was referring to the infinite existence hidden by the finite ‘I’, which is present in the form of the universe.

The Soul is the  Self. The innermost Self is God.  It is not “I AM GOD, but it’s correct to say ‘the SELF IS GOD. 

Before saying ‘I AM GOD’ one must realize what ‘God’ is supposed to be in actuality.   Only the ignorant say ‘I AM GOD’ without knowing what it means. 

People say I AM GOD but when God is, how can "I" remain? Only God prevails not I. The ‘I’ exists only in the domain of the illusory form, time, and space whereas the Soul, the Self is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.  The Soul, the ‘Self is God in truth.

There is no God in the domain of the ‘I’ because the ‘I’ is merely an illusory expression of God.

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

Some people say:  "I AM GOD." This presupposes that they have the same miraculous and creative powers of God. They do not, however, display possession of such power. Such is the fallacy of their logic.

People who say “I AM GOD’ are merely repeating like a parrot word, which they have read in their holy books or heard from a wandering monk or fakir. It does not prove that they have realized the ultimate truth or God in truth. With bookish or hearsay knowledge it is unable to prove that everything is God, which is present in the form of the Spirit. One has to do lots of homework to realize God, the Self. 

The Quranic version of Advaita. 

La illah illa Allah  -- No God  but Allah.

The meaning of La illaha illallah is simple, it means (La) No (illaha) God (illallah) but Allah.

The meaning of the word Allah is unique unlike English, it is purely singular in the Arabic language and cannot be made female or male despite it being a name that means Allah is free from being HE   or SHE. But why scripture uses “he” is another topic up for debate. But La Illaha Illallah means (There is) No god but Allah.

This means there is no God worthy of worship in the universe but the God which is hidden by the universe and is the cause of the universe. Allah is  God, second to none. Allah is Advaita. 

Remember:~

Sufism is nothing but mystic-orientated spirituality. Sufism has nothing to do with religion. Sufism is concerned with God in truth. God in truth is Spirit. There is no God in untruth because God is the truth hidden by the unreal universe.

Mysticism has its pragmatic value but mystics fail to stop and ask "What is the ultimate meaning of this bliss which they feel in the mystic experience?"  Therefore, an inquiry is needed to realize ‘What is the truth?’  ‘What is untruth?’    

The mystic object to introducing inquiry into the quest adopts an attitude as though it were like introducing something that is not sacred.  Mysticism blocks the mystic from realizing the truth hidden by the untruth because he has accepted the untruth as the ultimate truth.  He is unaware of the ultimate truth, which is Brahman or God in truth. 

The ultimate truth or God can be realized only when he realizes the ‘Self’ hidden by the ‘I’.  The ‘Self the Spirit’ is God, not the ‘I’. Only those who realize the Spirit as the ‘Self’ is a real Sufis.  

Meher Baba: ~ “When the reality appears this ignorance which one thinks as reality becomes unreal. 

Like an ornament made from gold is Gold, that which is born out of the Spirit (God in truth) is Spirit. Like gold is a permanent thing, in ornaments made of gold, similarly, the universe is born out of the Spirit, which is Spirit in its essence.

When Sufiism is bifurcated from mysticism then it is possible to realize the God hidden by the veil of ignorance. Mysticism takes God for granted without realizing what God is in actuality.   Realization of what God is necessary to become a real Sufi.

Bifurcating Sufism from mysticism is like beating around the bush without realizing that God is supposed to be in actuality.  One has to penetrate deep in Self-search and realize the God hidden by the ‘I’, which is the state of ignorance. The Sufi is the one who has reached the ‘Self is God' state.

People may not ever have heard of Sufism and you may be a Sufi. A Gnani has realized God in truth.  A Gnani is a real Sufi.   A Sufi is in awareness of God in the midst of the dualistic illusion. A  Sufi is a person who has established awareness of formless, timeless, and spaceless existence, which is the real nature of the Spirit, which is God in truth.

Lord Krishna is a Sufi, Jesus Christ is a Sufi, Sage Sankara is Sufi and Bhagavan Buddha too is a Sufi they never heard of and they never knew that anything like Sufism. Meher Baba was Sufi. Meher Baba was on the 7^th plane, which is the Self is God's state.  In that state, God alone exists all else (the universe) is an illusion.

Meher Baba:~Unless and until ignorance is removed and Knowledge is gained. . . . the Knowledge whereby the Divine Life is experienced and lived . . . everything pertaining to the spiritual seems paradoxical . . . God, whom we do not see, we say is real; and the world, which we do see, we say is false. In experience, what exists for us does not really exist; and what does not exist for us, really exists.

Meher Baba said: ~ "There is no higher or lower goal. There is only one goal, Self-Realization." 

Meher Baba said: ~ God is your innermost Self. Do not search for God outside of you. Let these words be inscribed in your heart. Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God. God is everywhere and does everything. God is beyond us and is everything. God alone is and all else is an illusion. 

A Sufi bears no outward mark of a holy man. Sometimes he appears to be dull-witted, sometimes wise. Sometimes he seems splendid as a king, sometimes feeble-minded. Sometimes he is calm and silent. Sometimes he draws men to him. Sometimes people honor him greatly, and sometimes they insult him. Sometimes they ignore him.

Second-hand knowledge of God gathered from books or fakirs can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization will do that. 

Realize yourself by realizing the Self is not you but the Soul, which is present in the form of the Spirit. The Spirit is God in truth.

Jesus said: ~ Seek and ye shall find. Knock the doors shall open to you. 

Why did Jesus say different things? Owing to the time and the persons, according to their readiness to listen and understand. What Jesus meant was to leave all and follow the ‘Self’; that means to know the ‘Self’ and realize the ‘Self’, which is the Spirit or God in truth.

The teachings that are being followed by Christians are not the real teachings that Christ gave. The priests have altered his words, added to his teachings, and spoiled them.

Jesus said: ~ Seek and ye shall find. Knock the doors shall open to you.
***
Gospel Thomas Logian 22:~ Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, “These infants being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom.”

They said to him, “Shall we then, as children, enter the kingdom?”

Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same so that the male not be male nor the female is female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom.”

Santthosh Kumaar: ~ “This above passage is Jesus’s version of Nonduality or Advaita. When one realizes mind (matter) and the Soul (Spirit), the Self are one, in essence, there is no place for duality. Without duality, the universe ceases to exist. Without the universe, your existence within the universe is merely an illusion because there is scope for two because everything is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness or Spirit, which is God in truth. 

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God in truth) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). God is above all needs and desires. God is always the Witnessing Subject. God can never become an object as God is beyond the reach of the senses. God is non-dual, one without a second. God has no other besides it. God is destitute of difference, either external or internal. God cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. God cannot be distinguished from any other than God. In God, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constituted the very essence or Svarupa of God, and not just God's attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.

Constant remembrance of the nature of God leads to Self-awareness, which itself is God-awareness.

Until one thinks he is an individual separate from this world he remains in the realm of duality. Duality is the product of ignorance. When the Advaitic wisdom dawns, then the ignorance vanishes. When ignorance vanishes, then duality never remains a reality.  Without duality, God alone exists as the ultimate reality.

No mystic has as yet asked himself the question, "How do I know that my experience is Truth?"

A Sufi is without form, time, and space even though he exists in the domain of form, time, and space.  A Sufi is immersed in and aware of the formless, timeless, and spaceless God in the midst of the domain of the illusory form, time, and space.

Until the followers of Sufism speak of God without realizing what God is supposed to be in truth, it is impossible to unfold the mystery of God.  When they realize what God is supposed to be in truth then the truth will start revealing itself.  

When the followers of Sufism can observe their worldview from the non-dualistic perspective then they will realize the truth hidden by the ‘I’.

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. In fact, our mental and intellectual conditions determine the world, observed and experienced. The commoner viewing the world will see differently from a Sufi viewing the same world. Each one interprets the world that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego and, therefore, experiences birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas a Sufi sees everything as consciousness and he is fully aware of the fact that, there is no second thing exists other than the Soul or consciousness. 

Thus, all egocentric knowledge has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is hidden by the ‘I’.

Meher Baba said~ ‘When we talk of the Infinite and the finite, we are referring to them as two, and the Infinite has already become the second part of the duality. But the Infinite belongs to the non-dual order of being. 

If the Infinite is looked upon as the counterpart of the finite, it is strictly speaking, no longer infinite, but a species of the finite, for it stands outside the finite as its opposite and is thus limited. 

Since the Infinite cannot be the second part of the finite, the apparent existence of the finite is false. The Infinite alone exists. 

God cannot be brought down to the domain of duality. There is only one being in reality and it is the Universal Soul. The existence of the finite or limited is only apparent or imaginary.

God cannot be brought down to the domain of dualistic illusion or Maya.  In reality, there is only the Spirit, which is  God in truth. 

The Spirit, God pervades everything and everywhere in the universe. When one realizes the universe is nothing but a dualistic illusion created out of the Spirit, God,  then he realizes there is no second thing that exists other than the Spirit, which is God in truth. Thus, everything is God.  There is no second thing that exists other than God. Hence God is nondual or Advaita.

God appears as the universe in waking or dream (duality) and the universe disappears as God in deep sleep (non-duality). 

God is not a Christian; God is not a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, or a Buddhist because God in truth is universal.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is required to unfold the mystery of God.  No religion defines God. Spirituality alone points to God in Truth.  God in truth is Advaita.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara pokes fun at ascetics and points out that all their austerities do not cause desires to go.+

It is time for the reform to build a strong society free from dogmas and superstitions. All the orthodox ideas were rejected by Sage Sankara. There is no need to indulge in rituals, to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. There is no need to study philosophy, to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman so why indulge in studying philosophy.

Sage Sankara pokes fun at ascetics and points out that all their austerities do not cause desires to go (Altar Flowers" Page 205, v.2 P.207 v.4)

Sage Sankara pointed out that those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less moksha.

Sage Sankara says the rewards of the rituals are not a matter of direct realization. Advaitic wisdom is based on personal realization.

The orthodox Advaitin believes that rituals alone would lead one to higher levels of attainment. Further, the deities would reward only those entitled to perform the rituals alone. The entitlement involved caste, creed, and other parameters.

The scriptural authority and value of rituals are part of the Advaitic orthodoxy, which is meant for ignorant people.

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara has nothing to do with religion, caste, rituals, worship, yoga, and other practices. Therefore an obvious disparity between Sage  Sankara‘s path of Gnana and the path of Karma. The path of Gnana is meant for the advanced seeker of truth and the path of Karma is meant for the ignorant populace.

Even Sage Sankara appears and tells the orthodox people the path of orthodoxy is the path of ignorance they will not be able to drop their inherited samskara or conditioning, which they think is the only way to reach heaven and reap a happy life in the next life.

As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, that the 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. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the Self has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies the ‘Self’ with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.- (11- Adhyasa Bhashya)

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10) - Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they still remain in ignorance of the Atman the real God.

As a person, one performs rituals throughout his life. The person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view the world in which he exists as a reality. However, the Soul, the Self unborn eternal hidden by the world in which he exists. From the standpoint of the Soul, the world in which he exists is merely an illusion.

The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.

Orthodox people impose their outdated religious ideas on their children and force them into Self-imposed prison.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10) - Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.

It is high time for the orthodox people to realize the fact that their inherited belief system is meant for ignorant people. If they think they are on the right path, but the Vedas declare they are on the wrong path because they indulge in non-Vedic activities. Orthodox people think that they are on the right path to Moksha, but such moksha is merely an imagination within the dualistic illusion.

It is high time to realize the truth of their own inherited religion is full of adulteration and they are simply indulging in worships and activities barred by the Vedas. Vedas warns not to indulge in non-Vedic activities.

According to Advaita Vedanta: the Vedas addresses itself to 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 Brahman. 

Thus, the Purva mimam. sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

Orthodox people are ordinary people. Thus the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices. The karma kanda of the Vedas is meant for the ordinary audience, to help lead its followers along the way.

Most of the orthodox families, today live in the prison of dogmas. The orthodox people expect their clan to follow a certain outdated religious code of conduct (Shastras) and live dogmatically following the traditional lifestyle.

Their chosen path of orthodoxy is meant for the ignorant who have a sheepish mentality and blindly accept the inherited dogmas and superstition. From the ultimate standpoint, the concept of God itself is a superstition. Thus, all religious ideas of heaven, hell, sin, and karma are merely imaginary theories meant for the ignorant people of ancient times.

It is high time to stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world and instead spend the same time acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to realize the world (Samsara) is unreal the Brahman alone is real. ~ Santthosh Kumaar

What is God in actuality? Where is God?+

What is God in actuality?

“Where is God?”

People say that God is everywhere, but they do not know because they hold their religious propagated belief of God. The religious propagated God is limited to a particular religion, community sect, and creed cannot be universal. The believers of other religions, community sects, and creeds will not accept any other God as their own other than their inherited accepted idea of God.

The world in which you exist is not separate from God because the world in which you exist is created out of God. God is not imagination whatever you think of God is imagination based on the false self within the false experience.

Upanishad itself says: ~ Sarvam khalvidam brahma ~ all this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the non-dual reality (Chandogya Upanishad).

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God in truth) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other besides it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.

Sage Sankara: ~"That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman (God)."

Bhagavad Gita: ~ ‘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).

When Bhagavad Gita says, that 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.

Lord Krishna Says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Self in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.

The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the innermost Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ God is Supreme Spirit.

If God is Spirit, then how does the man know God created the world? There is no proof. If man had seen God creating the world, he could admit it, but how could he have seen God before he came into existence? (i.e. were created).

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the Self.

Rig Veda:~ Prajnanam Brahma: - Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

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 Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of the real God.

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

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

People who are saying ‘I AM GOD’ are hallucinating that they become God. First, you must know what is God.

Thus, truth realization is self-realization. Self-realization is God-realization. God-realization itself is real worship. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

It takes time for the seeker to gain the perfect understanding of ‘what is the truth’ and ‘what is untruth’.+

The seeker of truth has to do his duty in practical life within the practical world. The seeker should not remain idlers like yogis who are no better than a wooden log.

Amid difficulties and the busy life of practical life within the practical world, the seeker has to live and yet get on with the inner quest.

There is no alleviation of ignorance except the realization of the ultimate Truth or Brahman. Yoga may alleviate one's mental and physical stress.

The seeker of truth has to live in the world and he must know the Self is not of this world because the ‘‘Self’’ is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

The advaitic wisdom will not dawn by renouncing the worldly life and shutting yourself in a cave or Ashram or monastery. Too much yoga leads to insanity and fixed ideas or delusions.

The main purpose of analyzing the world that confronts is to discover that it is to realize it is nothing but the illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

People fail to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman because they have stuck with the reality of the world.

Too much religion and false belief drugs the power of reason. To effect this discrimination, we need intelligence much sharper than the average. Weak minds cannot take a comprehensive view and so decry what they cannot understand.

When you realize you and your experience of the world are made of a single stuff and that single stuff is the consciousness with full and firm conviction then there is unity in diversity in your understanding. There is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.

It is the ignorance that creates illusion and it is the ‘Soul, the ‘Self’’ that gets free of it. Words may aggravate ignorance; words may also help dispel it. There is a need to repeat the same truth again and again until it becomes a reality.

The seeker has to reflect on the nature of the Soul constantly day after day until the conviction of the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space, becomes firm and he gets the firm conviction.

The seeker needs to hear the words of wisdom until he realizes that form, time and space are one in essence.

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

The Soul has to wake up from the sleep of ignorance, and then only it is possible to realize that form, time and space are one in essence. That essence is the Soul or consciousness.

If form, time, and space are one in essence, then there is no division in consciousness.

If there is no division in consciousness, then there is no duality, if there is no duality when there is unity in diversity.

Ignorance is the cause of experiencing duality as reality. Realizing the Soul as the ‘Self’’, leads to Advaitic Self-awareness. The Soul, the ’Self’ is Absolute Knowledge, which cannot be negated. The nature of the Soul is Advaitic awareness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Buddha’s whole life was against philosophy and philosophizing became the source of the greatest philosophical endeavor.+

Once Bhagavan Buddha died, great philosophical schools arose. It had never happened in the whole world as it happened in India after Bhagavan Buddha.

Bhagavan Buddha’s whole life was against philosophy and philosophizing became the source of the greatest philosophical endeavour ever.

Thirty-six schools of philosophy were born when Bhagavan Buddha died. And the people that he had always condemned all gathered together to philosophize about him.

Bhagavan Buddha was a Gnani, not his followers. Bhagavan Buddha’s wisdom was lost, it is because it is mixed up and messed up with other religions in Asia wherever it existed.

Buddhism has no answer to certain questions like the existence of Atama (Soul) and rebirth. Buddhists do not believe in Athma because they believe in emptiness but they are unaware of the fact that emptiness is the nature of the Atama, the Self. Without the Atama there is no nonduality. Nonduality is the nature of the Atama.

Bhagavan Buddha did not found Buddhism because Bhagavan Buddha rejected religion, scriptures, and the concept of God. When Bhagavan Buddha died all the Buddhist philosophical schools arose. It had never happened in the whole world as it happened in India after Bhagavan 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 Bhagavan Buddha died. And the people that he had always condemned all gathered together to philosophize about him.

Buddhism did not graduate its teaching to suit people of varying grades; hence it failure to affect society in Asia.

Bhagavan Buddha's teachings that all life is misery belong to the relative standpoint only. For you cannot form any idea of misery without contrasting it with its opposite, happiness. The two will always go together. Bhagavan Buddha taught the goal of cessation of misery, i.e. peace, but took care not to discuss the ultimate standpoint for then he would have had to go above the heads of the people and tell them that misery itself was only an idea, that peace even was an idea (for it contrasted with peacelessness). That the doctrine he gave out was a limited one, is evident because he inculcated compassion. Why should a Buddhist sage practice pity? There is no reason for it.

Advaita is the next step higher than Buddhism because it gives the missing reason, viz. unity, non-difference from others, and because it explains that it used the concept of removing the sufferings of others, of lifting them up to happiness, only as we use one thorn to pick out another, afterward throw both away. Similarly, Advaita discards both concepts of misery and happiness from the ultimate standpoint of non-duality, which is indescribable.

Buddhists say that a thing exists only for a moment, and if that thing has still got some of the substance from which it was produced how then can they deny that its cause is continuing in the effect; hence its existence is more than a moment. Vedanta is concerned with whether it is one and the same thing which has come into being or has it come out of nothing.

Even the Sunyavada ultimate of the "void" is really a breath, and therefore an imagination and not truth.

Remember:~

Bhagavan Buddha as a constructive worker committed an error in failing to give the masses a religion, something tangible they could grasp something materialistic, if symbolic that their limited intellect could take hold of, in addition to his ethics and philosophy.

Bhagavan Buddha gave as the central feature of his doctrine the great law of Karma to reiterate its ethical meaning. He did more good in this to uplift the people than the ritualists.

Fortunate is the seeker who does not lose himself in the labyrinths of Buddhist philosophy but realizes that form, time and space are one in essence. And that essence is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

That is why Buddha said: ~ “Believe nothing because a wise man said it, Believe nothing because it is generally held. Believe nothing because it is written. Believe nothing because it is said to be divine. Believe nothing because someone else said it. But believe only what you, yourself judge to be true.

Bhagavan Buddha: ~ "It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell."

No one has anyone seen emptiness. All the Buddhist theories are conceptual divisions invented by the Buddhist philosophers by their excessive analysis. Where do all these conceptual theories based on the dualistic perspective end? Why should confusion be created and then explained away?

Bhagavan Buddha’s wisdom is lost because of Buddhism because they believed that emptiness means the non-existence of the Atama. There is a need to bifurcate Bhagavan Buddha from Buddhism to rediscover the lost wisdom of Bhagavan Buddha.

Dalai Lama said:- Buddhism need not be the best religion though it is most scientific and religion and inquisitive. But Buddhism has no answer to certain questions like the existence of Atama [Soul] and rebirth. Dali Lama said that as an individual he believes in rebirth as he had come across a few cases of rebirth. Modern science, Dalai Lama hoped would unearth the mystery behind the rebirth. (In DH –dec-212009-Gulburga)

All the Buddhist theories of reincarnation are based on the birth entity, which is the false self within the illusory world. Buddhists who are caught up with the idea of reincarnation and rebirth theories are not qualified to acquire Advaitic or nondualistic wisdom. When Buddhists do not believe in the Soul but believe in reincarnation then what is it that reincarnates without the Soul?

Buddhist who believes in reincarnation and rebirth theories are unaware of the fact that all their theories and philosophy are egocentric therefore Buddhism has no answer to certain questions like the existence of Atama [Soul] and rebirth

From the standpoint of the Soul, the innermost Self the birth, life, death, rebirth, and reincarnation theory is part of the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Your body cannot reincarnate because it is insentient.

Even in Buddhism: ~ Buddhist teaching has itself become a kind of interactive and Self-evolving process, much like its idea of pratityasamutpada. However, the end goal is still Nirvana, which is an experience ultimately beyond all concepts and language, even beyond the Buddhist teachings. In the end, even the attachment to the Dharma, the Buddhist teaching, must be dropped like all other attachments. The tradition compares the teaching to a raft upon which one crosses a swift river to get to the other side; once one is on the far shore; there is no longer any need to carry the raft. The far shore is Nirvana, and it is also said that when one arrives, one can see quite clearly that there was never any river at all.

Buddhism and its relationship with Science are like that of water and wine, one cannot say there is no water in wine, but when you drink it, it would not be the water but wine... thus Einstein’s view is water in the wine because modern science does not believe in the matter but in this religion, everything is the matter only"

Emptiness is the nature of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Emptiness is the fullness of consciousness without the division of form, time, and space.

Bhagavan Buddha was a Gnani, but his interpreters were not. Bhagavan Buddha did not enter into the scriptural interpretation.

Sage Sankara however although he agreed in nearly all points with Bhagavan Buddha was a tactician and wanted to teach these truths within the Vedic Society. Hence he did in Rome as Rome does! He made himself outwardly appear as a Vedic orthodox and thus secured his aim.

Buddhism has failed through misunderstanding Gautama and believing that nothing is left to exist after Nirvana. What is it that sees the illusory nature of the finite ego? This is what the Buddhists need to answer and cannot on their theories.

The only Advaita has the answer: it is the Soul, the witness, the Seer. The Buddhists are in error in regarding the finite ego as illusory, and as having nothing more behind it: but they would have been perfectly correct in such an outlook had they added the notion of the witness.

How is it that Skandhas come together and compose the ego?

What sees them come and go?

It is the Atman, the witness, and this lack is fulfilled by Advaitic wisdom.

When Buddhists say that the mind comes and goes they are forgetting that there must be another part of the mind as the Soul, the ‘Self, which is present in the form of the consciousness that notices it and which tells them of this disappearance and appearance.

All Buddhist misunderstandings arise from the fact that Bhagavan Buddha refused to discuss ultimate questions.

When Buddhism degenerates into Nihilism Sage Sankara refutes it (Manduka Upanishad P.281). The truth of a single reality within or underlying the illusory ego is all-important and without it Buddhism becomes fallacious.

Sages of Advaita admit the transitoriness and evanescence of thoughts just like Buddhism, but not of the Mind which observes this transitoriness and knows it.

Buddhists borrowed from the Upanishads because they were Indians. The Vedantins did not need to borrow from Buddhism therefore (P.396 v.99 of Manduka Upanishad)

Bhagavan Buddha taught the illusoriness of ego but did not go farther probably because he thought the world could not understand the higher truth. Hence followers go with him to that point of his and then deny the Vedantic doctrine of one supreme reality when Bhagavan Buddha himself neither denied nor advocated it. Anyway, the refutation of his followers is to ask them “What is it that is aware of the ego's illusoriness?" There must be something that tells you that. That something is the Atman, the witness, and if you say this witness itself may be illusory, coming and going, still there must be something non-transient i.e. permanent, to tell you this.

Sages of Advaita disagree with Buddhists (Vijnanavadin) only on the Ultimate question, but they agree with their idealism fully.

Even when you say "I am not" you are thinking. Hence every thought means positing some existence. To exist is to be thought of hence the Advaitic criticism of Sunyavada which says there is nothing. In saying "There is nothing" they are unconsciously positing something. The thought of nothing is existence itself. Hence only by refraining from thought can they state their case. The thought itself is an object. The negation of existence is a thought. The presence of an object means duality. Hence this proves that the Sunyavadins never understood the non-duality that is Brahman.

Buddhism agrees in thinking that the ego sees itself; they do not admit there is anything that sees the ego: they say there is no proof that any witness exists. When thoughts are there, thoughts become conscious of themselves. Advaitic criticism is that these Skandhas which appear and disappear are witnessed only.

Sages of Advaita say the witness is hidden by the witnessed. The witnessed is merely an illusion created out of the witness. In reality, there is neither witness nor witnessed only oneness that is Advaita or nonduality.

ZEN may get a flash of peace but that is not the same as Advaitin who realizes that the whole world is the Atman, the Self. Zen is mysticism.

The critics say Sage Sankara and Sag Gaudapada borrowed their ideas from Buddhism. But in Manduka Upanishad (page 281) these two declare they are not Buddhists, only a number of their ideas agree with those of Buddhism, whilst they point out their difference of view from Sunyavada Buddhists and Vijnanavadins. Thus Sage Sankara, and Sage Sri, Gaudapada both agree and disagree with Buddhists.

Tibetan and Chinese Buddhists who say that there are many Buddhas living in spirit bodies and helping our earth from the spiritual world are still in the sphere of religious illusion, not the ultimate truth. Their statements are wrong. Every sage realizes that the only way to help mankind is to come down amongst them, for which he must necessarily take on flesh-body. When people are suffering how can he relieve their suffering unless he appears amongst them? When people are suffering how can he feed them from an unseen world whether their struggle is for material bread or for spiritual truth? No! He must be here actually in the flesh. It is impossible to help them in any other way and all talk of Shiva living on Mount Kailas in the spiritual body or Buddha in Nirmanakaya, invisible body belongs to the realm of delusion or Self-deception.

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

Sunyavadins say there is nothing, neither matter nor mind: they are nihilists. How do they know the mind ceases to exist? Where is the proof? When you know everything is mind, both the changing forms and the underlying substances how can you posit its real change into nothingness? Mind, Brahman always remains really itself because of its nature. We see change every minute but by inquiry into the nature of change and cause, we see that it is only when we imagine that th