The Objective Universe Vanishes with Moksha

Adi Shankara’s Vivekachudamani Verse 63:

 

“Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? -- It would result merely in an effort of speech.”

 

This verse from Adi Shankara helps differentiate between those who only speak about Brahman vs. those who are true knowers of Brahman. The two need to be differentiated within Maya to validate the path to Moksha which leads a seeker to freedom. 

 

There is a common misconception amongst many “non-dualists” that there is nothing to achieve and that we are all already liberated because there is only Brahman. Unfortunately, this line of thinking will only keep you entangled within Maya and perpetuate samsara since the mind continues to be externalized as one repeats words that have only been expounded by Rishis and Sages who have actualized this truth. Uttering the word Brahman does nothing to produce liberation because the fruit of moksha requires persistent spiritual effort of turning inward through a sattvic mind. 

 

Though there is only Brahman, this truth must manifest within and remain firm to completely remove suffering. Suffering can only exist if you experience being a separate individual amongst others in this “objective universe”. Suffering ALSO exists for those who deny their separate self as they continue to be attached to this same self experiencing the world of many names and forms. 

 

Merely speaking of Brahman and saying there is nothing to do, will not remove suffering.  This is why many people have quit Neo-Advaita and transitioned over to a more holistic and authentic path conducive to spiritual growth. The entirety of one’s spiritual path through innumerable lifetimes is simply a transition from tamas (inertia) to rajas (activity) and finally to sattva (purity). These steps cannot be skipped. One who is tamastic/rajastic, or completely controlled by thoughts and desires who craves after worldly experiences (even after the obsessive learning of non-dualism) cannot expose the unbroken knowledge of Atma that resides within. These disruptions need to be resolved first since a pure mind is a necessity. Why? Because a pure mind is none other than Brahman! It is sattva (purity) that is necessary for one to consciously realize Brahman, and not by merely uttering the word continuously while rejecting individuality that one is still helplessly attached to. 

 

There are many who believe there is nothing to do and that one just simply needs to “be”. But “being” while still inside a dream is still samsara and no different from one who is intellectually unaware of this higher truth who desperately tries to seek help for their endless problems. This is not freedom. To be free, not only does the dream of the universe need to collapse onto the singular screen of awareness, but it needs to completely disappear to inwardly know that there was never even a world to begin with! The objective universe is first negated when it turns from external to internal. In other words, the observed and the observer become one (a singular form). This is the literal experience one has when resting as the atma. The universe turns from being something you perceived as out there and real, into an appearance that is non-separate from your awareness of it. It is here, you can no longer claim that things appear outside of you, since what appeared to be everything else, gets fully withdrawn and sucked back into your own screen of awareness (where it was sourced from). It is intuitively known (beyond any normal sense of grasping), that all that was seen as dual and separate was actually just a singular form the entire time, though you were unconscious of this fact while being inside the dream perceiving plurality. 

 

This dimensionless center that is non-separate from the appearance is referred to as atma or turiya. It is non-dual and cannot be said to be something ‘out there’. ‘Out there’ is only an illusion and never holds a separate existence from atma. When you become one with atma, you don’t become one with the universe AS IF you are now one with everything 'out there'.  Instead, the universe becomes one with YOU as it gets fully withdrawn back to its source from which it emanated from. This is similar to withdrawing attention from the character moving inside the TV (who perceives a universe out there from its own POV), to becoming one with the screen (where what appeared to be “everything” is now known to be actually nothing but the screen. It is this atma that needs to be held for one to truly just “be”. Because to truly “be”, one has to be free from thoughts and free from perceiving objects outside of oneself. Furthermore, they need to be actionless AS the self, since there is no longer any trace of volition or the sense of being someone who is doing something. This is the very nature of being. To perceive a thought is to become a thinker.  And to be a thinker, one must operate inside an illusion, where there is linearity due to the succession of thoughts. This is what Vedanta refers to as false knowledge. Conversely, “to be” is to simply observe as an observer, where the appearance of duality is non-separate from your observation of it; where you only rest as one form. Resting as your true self is the most profoundly freeing experience one can have, but is unconsciously known due to the upadhis of the externalized mind (i.e. rajas and tamas) that prevents one from knowing their own inner light. This is why spiritual practice that aim in increasing concentration (one-pointedness), dispassion, and non-attachment, needs to be mastered so that attention can be reversed and remain glued to its own point of origin (the screen), rather than attending outward due to desire and thus projecting attention inside an illusion (the character). 

 

When one rests as the atma and is no longer perceiving themselves to be an individual inside a dream (where objects are seen as separate from yourself), it is here we can truly say that there is no longer an objective universe. What appeared to be ‘out there’ was really just a figment of your imagination (from atma’s pov) that was driven by thoughts that arose in your own awareness. And since you latched on to those thoughts out of sheer will/desire, you now find yourself inside a dream that runs via its own beginning-less laws that you had no part of (even though it arose from your very self). If you transcend these thoughts, even the root thought of being a separate self/ego, you now revert back to your own source. 

 

The atma can only remain in unbroken and perpetual motion if all vasanas or the inherent desires that causes one’s attention to diverge outward onto an automatic appearance, is permanently removed. This is what dissolves the upadhis so one does not identify with the superimpositions of the mind which is the root of all suffering. The mind is only termed the mind when attention attends outward. Attention will always attend outward so long as there is the slightest desire to experience Maya (which is driven by vasanas itself). 

 

Adi Shankara further states in verse 357 and 360…

 

“Through the diversity of the supervening conditions (Upadhis), a man is apt to think of himself as also full of diversity; but with the removal of these he is again his own Self, the immutable. Therefore the wise man should ever devote himself to the practice of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, for the dissolution of the Upadhis.”

 

“The truth of the Paramatman is extremely subtle, and cannot be reached by the gross outgoing tendency of the mind. It is only accessible to noble souls with perfectly pure minds, by means of Samadhi brought on by an extraordinary fineness of the mental state.”

 

As you can see, a pure sattvic mind is absolutely necessary for realization. This means we should all work to remove tamas and rajas to reveal more sattva in our lives so that samadhi or the unbroken experience of the self begins to take over and dissolves the upadhis so there is no longer the potential to revert back to a thinking mind. If one reverts back to a thinking mind, the ego is reinforced and samsara continues.  This is why the highest spiritual practice is self-enquiry. This practice aims to fix your mind on the self by keeping attention firm without it diverting elsewhere and without depending on anything else to rest there. This can only be done when concentration levels are steady and one has complete control over enough desires and thoughts that would otherwise pull them in a different direction. This allows one to produce liberation in this very realm itself while using the physical body. There is no need to physically die to achieve Brahman through the higher and much subtler realms (via Kramamukti method). This is why it is called a direct path. A direct path doesn’t imply that everyone can be liberated right here and now by practicing self-enquiry. It means when one’s mind is sattvic and highly purified enough, will one be able liberate themselves from the dream in this very realm itself without having to go anywhere as if Brahman is located somewhere else. 

 

When the atma shines forth on its own accord without effort (once the ego has been completely given up), eventually the appearance of this world will fade away and will be known to have never existed at all. This is because awareness turns upon itself (away from the appearance) and loses itself in its own self-knowledge. This is Advaitam. It is also referred to as Nirguna Brahman, Turiyatita or simply unknowable consciousness. There is no longer the objective universe because your knowledge of there being a universe has vanished. How can there be a universe, if you’ve given up the “I Am” that is the required principle to know any objective knowledge, even that of a universe? When the universe vanishes, you are free. This is because true freedom is to be free from any knowledge, even knowledge of your own true self. 

 

As Sage Vasistha once said: “This world-illusion has arisen because of the movement of thought in the mind; when that ceases, the illusion will cease, too, and the mind becomes no-mind.”

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