Tag Archives: self-knowledge

Brahman—Neither reaching nor non-reaching

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Varuna instructs Bhrigu:
“Seek to know well that from which all beings are born, that by which they live after being born, and that towards which they move and into which they merge. That is Brahman.” (Tai. 3.1)
 A well-established principle is that, upon dissolution, an effect resolves into its cause.

In his commentary (Tai. 2.6), Shankaracharya raises the following questions:
“Does an ignorant person, after departing from this world, reach the other world, or does he not? Similarly, does a person of knowledge, after departing from this world, reach the other world, or does he not?”
He explains the difficulty as follows:
“Brahman, being the cause of space and everything else, is equally the source of both the ignorant person and the person of knowledge. Therefore, one might suspect that the ignorant person, too, reaches Brahman.”
Conversely, “if the ignorant person does not reach Brahman, even though Brahman is the common source of all, one might also doubt whether the enlightened person reaches Brahman.”

This appears to present a catch-22 situation.

Resolution                                                                                                                        The difficulty arises because the questions themselves are incorrectly framed. The concepts of reaching and not reaching are meaningful when there is a distance to be traversed or there is a difference between the seeker and the goal. Neither applies to Brahman which is the true nature of the individual.

From the standpoint of Advaita Vedanta, both the ignorant person and the enlightened person are, in their true nature, Brahman. Therefore, Brahman is not something that either of them must reach in the sense of attaining a previously absent reality.                There can be no satisfactory answer to a question based on a mistaken assumption.

The distinction between the ignorant person and the enlightened person lies not in their true nature, but in their knowledge of it. The ignorant person does not know that his or her true nature is Brahman, whereas the enlightened person knows this to be the case.

Self-knowledge does not bring about a transformation into Brahman; it removes the ignorance that conceals the ever-present truth that one has always been Brahman.

Note: Translation by Swami Gambhirananda, Eight Upanishads, Advaita Ashram

Upadesa Sahasri (Part 26)

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Part 25

17.51-55                                                                                                                            A man desirous of knowing the truth should cultivate dispassion and refrain from loving the worldly objects for such a love is risky. It is mixed with pain because any worldly object is impermanent and its absence causes pain. The love causes bondage as desires are plenty and impossible to fully satisfy. He should approach a skilled teacher who has Self-knowledge, who is tranquil and established in Brahman- meaning he is anchored in Self while transacting in the world. In this sense, he is free from bondage of action. Such a teacher interprets the scriptures and impart knowledge (Ch Up 6.14.2 and BG 4.34). When a qualified student approaches a skilled teacher with humility in the prescribed manner, the teacher should accept him into his fold and impart knowledge of Brahman thereby enabling him cross Samsara which is like ocean of darkness.

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Pramāṇa

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The Gateway to Valid Knowledge in Advaita Vedānta

In the spiritual journey of Advaita Vedānta, the ultimate goal is the permanent eradication of Self-ignorance (avidyā), which is replaced by the liberating realization of our true nature. However, this realization is not a mystical occurrence or a random event; it is the specific result of Self-knowledge. For the seeker, a fundamental question arises: how do we acquire this knowledge? To answer this, we must understand the technical concept of pramāṇa, the vital intellectual framework that distinguishes between what we think we know and what is actually true.

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Upadesa Sahasri (Part24)

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Part 23

Part 25

17.17 and 17.18                                                                                                         During dream, one mind is divided into subject (knower), object (known) and instrument of knowledge. The divisions are unreal. Likewise, in the waking state, one consciousness appears differently when desires in the intellect causes action. The desires arise because the jiva thinks that it is incomplete though it is essentially complete. The desires and actions are revealed by consciousness. The waking state is a superimposition on consciousness, the substratum. The divisions in the waking state are as unreal as the divisions in the dream. The ideas of interior and exterior in the waking state are unreal like reading and writing which are interdependent. Reading depends on a written page without which nothing can be read and writing also depends on reading as we first read and then write. So, both of them are unreal as the sounds represented by written letters are all-pervasive and have no forms. Hence, they can neither be really written nor read.

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Q. 561 – Dangers of unsupervised teaching

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Q: I recently had what I would call an experience of ‘dissociation’, accompanied by a profound sense of anxiety.  This has not happened before and maybe it was ‘psychotic’ rather than anything else. But research suggested that such an experience may follow prolonged periods of unsupervised self-enquiry. Can you tell me how to avoid a recurrence?  

(I have been following the teachings of Nisargadatta for the last 3 years of a 10-year period of self-enquiry meditation. I see in the Q&A postings that having no access to a teacher is a common theme and makes progress monitoring and understanding of book-based teachings difficult). 

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Books on Advaita Vedānta by Dennis Waite (Complete List)

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This page provides a complete list of books on Advaita Vedānta by Dennis Waite, including introductions for beginners; comprehensive coverage for intermediate and advanced seekers; translations, and planned books.

Where to Start?

  • Finding out what Advaita is about → Advaita Made Easy
  • Committed beginners to intermediate → Book of One
  • Explanations – traditional and modern → Back to the Truth
  • Traditional v Neo-Advaita → Enlightenment: the Path through the Jungle
  • Advanced seekers wanting clarity → Confusions in Advaita Vedanta
  • Finding a good teacher or book → Self Seeking
  • Readable SF novel with a little Advaita → Time for the Wind


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Enlightenment and Liberation – AI View

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I interacted with ChatGPT eliciting greater clarity on the two terms, Enlightenment and Liberation in Advaita Vedanta. I copy below the responses I got from Chat GPT.

Prompt (P):  Is there a difference between the two phrases “Knowledge of the Self” and “Knowledge about the Self” in Advaita Vedanta? What are the nearest Sanskrit words for the two phrases?

Do “Enlightenment” and “Liberation” mean the same in Advaita Vedanta?

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Self-study of The Upanishads

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It is heartening to see a growing number of analytically-minded individuals, trained in the modular rigor of Western education, turning to the Upanishads today. Unfortunately, when approached through isolated self-study, the profound Non-dual “Wisdom” these ancient texts impart often remains elusive, as they were traditionally designed for guided inquiry rather than as graded textbooks developed within a rigid framework of a pre-determined curriculum.

Consequently, there is a distinct danger that an overconfident reader, studying in isolation, may come away with spurious inferences—the very concepts the Upanishads seek to dismantle. Therefore, the scriptures consistently advise an earnest spiritual aspirant to seek out a competent teacher (Guru) with utmost humility ( see: 1.2.12, muNDaka; 4.34, BG; 1.1.5, US (Prose); etc.) to truly attain Non-dual Wisdom.

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Upadesa Sahasri (Part 9)

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Part 8

Part 10

Chapter 11 Nature of Witness

11.1 and 11.2                                                                                                                          The mind and body system (MBS) is made of five elements and is by nature inert. As it is conscious, it means that the source of consciousness is outside. The outside source is Brahman which is of the nature of pure consciousness (Consciousness) due to which MBS appears conscious. Whereas sentient MBS is changing, Consciousness is unchanging. According to scriptures, the true nature, i.e., real ‘I’ (Self) of a human being is Consciousness. In other words, a human being is essentially Consciousness which is different from the sentient MBS and utterly unaffected by latter’s experiences comprising dualities.

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Brihadarankya Upanishad (Part 16)

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Part 15

Part 17

Chapter 4
Section 4 Sariraka Brahaman
4.4.1 to 4.4.6                                                                                                                     YJV talks about transmigration. At the time of death, the physical body becomes weak (the weakness is figuratively attributed to Self) and the sense organs withdraw from their physical locations. The presiding deities of the sense organs leave and go to their respective abodes. The sense organs do not function and the perceptions of colour, sound etc cease. They are as good as dead in the current body and Self is figuratively said to senseless.

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