Intellectualization is helpful, but it is not the search

Note: The following article was written with sarcasm and humor for those who follow Nihilistic or Neo-Advaitic teachings. 

 

There is only Brahman, YES. We all know that! But do we? Does the serial killer know there is only Brahman? Do the money hungry driven banksters of Wall Street know there is only Brahman?  DOES MY MOTHER KNOW THERE IS ONLY BRAHMAN?!

 

YEAH-YEAH, these are all concepts. Truly, there is only Brahman, so why should we even care who knows it? They are all just hypnotized by a dream. A dream that appears to be happening but doesn’t change the fact that there is only Brahman and that we are all already free. The cool thing is, no one can ever deny this fact. To deny it, is to deny your very own existence! WELL, except for those who don’t KNOW and believe in the oblivion of nothingness after the death of the body, and who are currently deeply mesmerized by the dream of samsara.   

 

But what is KNOWING? And how is it that you KNOW this truth? Who told you there was only Brahman? Did you magically know this truth yourself? Or did some teacher impart this knowledge to you?  Furthermore, how did they find out the knowledge of this truth? Was it from their teacher? Or did you just read this all from a book? Are you just repeating words from people you blindly believe?

 

We all know Brahman is indescribable. Why? Because it is beyond words. Why? Because it is beyond a thinking mind that uses words! Yet, there is only Brahman, even when the mind *apparently* thinks. And here we are, using words to explain something that is completely incomprehensible.

 

This begs the question, is it possible for one to resort back to BEING this INDESCRIBABLE BRAHMAN? And how can we resort back to something that’s already here and who we already are?! AHH!! What is the point of the search then? What is the point of even knowing this truth? 

 

Furthermore, who even presented this truth? For someone to present this, it must have been realized as an already existing but hidden fact. So shouldn’t there be a way to *realize* what is already there? …beyond the thinking mind?

 

Ladies and Gents: Welcome to the wonderful world of Advaita Vedanta. 

 

Not only does Advaita Vedanta tell us this truth, it ALSO provides approaches on how to reveal this very truth; so that not only does this truth become an intellectual understanding, BUT gradually becomes a *realization* or in other words, a DIRECT experience/revelation.  And NOT just something revealed once or twice, BUT REMAINS PERMANENTLY ESTABLISHED TO PRODUCE MUKTI (LIBERATION). 

 

I’m sure many of you have received glimpses of this truth. This is why you are here. You're trying to learn something to help reduce the normal day-to-day stress, anxiety, pain and suffering experienced in this life. You can’t deny that suffering does not exist (well, except for the enlightened - but we’ll get there in a moment). 

 

So why does suffering even exist? Answer: Because you perceive duality. It is because of duality, we experience something, since that ‘something’ has an opposite effect. For example, I cannot experience love without hate. I cannot experience pleasure without pain. I cannot experience joy without grief. We therefore, believe ourselves to be a limited being experiencing the world ‘out there’ and now find ourselves on a specific point on our endless journey asking some of the most fundamental and burning existential questions that only a very few even question. AND HERE WE ARE…

 

SO, is there a way to remove suffering, where one no longer experiences pain? Where one no longer experiences sadness? Where one no longer experiences trauma? Where one no longer experiences thoughts!?

 

The answer is a resounding Yes; BUT, to remove pain, you must also remove pleasure. To remove sadness, you must also remove happiness. You cannot have one without the other, because for one to exist, the other must exist as well. So to not experience one, means to not experience the other. 

 

My dear friends, this is what we refer to as Moksha (liberation). WHILE WE CAN SAY THAT MOKSHA IS ALREADY HERE, THE DILEMMA IS, WE ARE NOT FULLY CONSCIOUS OF THIS FREEDOM DUE TO THE OBSTRUCTION OF THOUGHTS. To become conscious of this freedom IS to BE THIS FREEDOM. And to BE THIS FREEDOM, you must remove identification with the limited body/mind that experiences thoughts and perceives suffering. 

 

So how do we do this? In Advaita Vedanta, Self-Enquiry (Nididhyasana) is the HIGHEST spiritual practice.  Self-Enquiry is done by turning inward (while the body continues its activities) until the self is revealed (void of attention being submerged in the body-mind apparatus where thoughts are perceived). This can only be done through a pure mind by channeling awareness inward instead of placing it outward (as if objects are something outside of you). It is because you place attention outwardly and believe that objects are outside you, that you hold on to the illusion of there being a body and mind. This ability to turn within (while being fully engaged in the world) is called *Viveka*. When viveka is used to turn inward, you become conscious of the inner mind. You also become more conscious of the deeper layers as viveka penetrates more.  When you start turning awareness away from the outer layers, this very process is called neti-neti. This process is NOT an intellectual negation of telling yourself you’re not this or that. It is an EXPERIENTIAL and MEDITATIVE NEGATION that is done when you channel awareness inwardly to reveal the most deepest parts of the yourself. The final step of negation, is to give up the sense of “I am” (ego). This is when one finally rests as the self **THUS FULLY REMOVING IDENTIFICATION FROM THE BODY-MIND**.  AND THUS FULLY REMOVING ANY CAPACITY FOR VOLITION, SINCE YOU HAVE GIVEN UP BEING A THINKER WHO DOES THIS AND THAT.

 

So what is the point of this exercise? Well, right now, your awareness is stuck in an illusion. Why? Because your attention is turned outward. It is being placed on things you perceive to be separate from yourself. If you perceive objects outside of you, then you are having the *samsara experience*. This is bondage. Therefore, you identify as a Jiva (a limited individual) that perceives thoughts. This means you consider yourself to be an observer observing the observed. The two appear to be separate which is the only way for perception of separation to occur. Awareness will feel as if it is coming from the body and is being aware of something outside of itself. This function is what we refer to as the mind (ignorance). SELF-INQUIRY RESOLVES THIS ILLUSION. It works by pulling away this attention (by going inward) and revealing the self, where “things” are no longer separate from your awareness of it. YES, RE-READ THAT LAST LINE I JUST SAID OVER AND OVER UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE EXPERIENCE CAN BE LIKE.  When you fully understand it, it is time to experience it. 

 

*When the self is revealed, the observer and observed become ONE FORM*. In Vedanta, this is referred to as *swarupa*. In this case, identification has been removed from the Jiva (what originally appeared to be an entity inside the dream) and has been placed back onto the self (its source) which is non-separate from what was being aware’d of. This self is known as witness consciousness or Turiya. It is sometimes called the “fourth state” although it is not a specific state. It is THAT which observes all other illusory states (i.e. waking, dreaming, deep sleep) which are all superimposed onto this singular observer principle, much like that of different TV shows being shown on the same screen.

 

Right now, the observer and observed appear to be separate. Why? Because your attention is outward and you’re now holding onto the erroneous belief that objects are outside of you. But if you take this very attention and bring it inward, the observed and observer will eventually become ONE (if it is done in continuous motion without being broken). The two combine into one form and will no longer appear to be separate. THIS IS THE ACTUAL EXPERIENCE/REVELATION. It cannot be known while your attention is turned outward onto objects while you repeat words from those who have realized this truth. While you can grasp it good intellectually, this truth is beyond a thinking mind and so cannot be adequately described. To know it, you must rest IN IT, AS IT. 

 

Now, most people don’t believe this can be done, so instead they believe in an intellectual truth (received by those who experienced it), and now repeat words WHILE they perceive the observer and observed to be two separate things. Furthermore, many people believe that Brahman cannot be described so it’s impossible to know. So how is it that this revelation can even be known? 

 

The revelation occurs when you become one with *witness consciousness*. In other words, attention is channeled back to Turiya which is hidden due to thoughts obstructing its self-luminosity. When you hold Turiya, you now are able to witness the non-separate appearance that you no longer have control over since the ego is not used. It is here, you fully negate free will and give up the thinking mind. This means, you will no longer perceive thoughts, nor perceive objects outside of you. You solely witness without judgement, thinking, or being involved in any type of *linear* process that has the capacity to distinguish between this and that. IT WILL FEEL AS INTENSIFIED PRESENCE ACCOMPANIED WITH THE COMPLETE LOSS OF BODY-CONSCIOUSNESS. 

 

So how can this be considered Brahman if Brahman is unknowable? 

 

The truth is, Turiya IS Brahman. But we ONLY name it Turiya when it witnesses the underlying appearance as detached awareness. It is here you know you rest as Brahman (singularity) BUT AT THE SAME TIME, witness the appearance which gives you steady knowledge of oneself without the breakage from thoughts.  The comparison itself (although non-separate) is how we know reality is non-dual.  It is intuitively known without words. If this Turiya is held long enough without reverting back to body and mind identification (due to vasanas), the non-separate appearance will eventually disappear. When the appearance disappears, there is no longer any witnessing or “knowing”. WE CAN NOW TERM THIS BRAHMAN (Nirguna/Undifferentiated consciousness). So in order to BE BRAHMAN, you must first go through Turiya (when Brahman witnesses). This is what we refer to as knowledge (Jnana). 

 

In Vedanta, it is this knowledge that liberates since it is the gateway from the Jiva (thinking mind) to Nirguna. But this knowledge is not intellectual (through a thinking mind). In other words, it is NOT an object of knowledge where you split observer and observed. It is NOT knowledge grasped by a thinking mind. Instead, this knowledge IS Turiya. They are synonymous terms. It is also termed *Atma Jnanam*. Again, this is what liberates, because it is the gateway from Jiva (i.e. duality = observer + observed) to Brahman (i.e. non-duality = unknowable). In other words, both [observer and observed] (Jiva) need to collapse as ONE (Turiya) until it’s held permanently, where the appearance will eventually drop and become unknowable (Brahman/Advaita). This means EFFORT IS NEEDED AS A JIVA TO REVEAL TURIYA. If you reject effort because of this idea that “there is only Brahman”, then you will succumb to the premature philosophy of Neo-Advaita. Good luck getting rid of suffering with this philosophy! Eventually, you will transcend this belief and realize it was just a lesson for you to experience so you come to the eventual understanding that practice is necessary to remove suffering. 

 

Now, does this mean you are not conscious of this truth because this truth is not there? NO! This truth is all there is! But because you don’t view it in its true light, practice is necessary. In other words, because you see the snake, you don’t know it’s a rope (even when people tell you that it is). Though there is only the rope right now, you must correct your perception by removing the objective knowledge of there being a snake. After all, this is why you are here. Otherwise, go have a ball and wreak havoc on this world :P

 

So, now that we understand that Brahman isn’t just something known right away but needs to gradually become realized (i.e. Jiva ->Turiya ->Brahman). You can see why one needs to reveal the gateway (Turiya) which leads to Brahman (the final mode of consciousness or nirvikalpa). Furthermore, what seems like an eternal journey in samsara is just the lead-up to this knowledge of Turiya which leads to Liberation (Moksha). You are all gravitating towards this truth through action; since destiny cannot unfold without action. This means eventually (whether you like it or not), you will all transition from identifying as a Jiva to identifying as Turiya. And as destiny unfolds, you will perform the necessary actions that will lead you to this knowledge. This will come after many illusory lifetimes or in this very life itself if you redeem it as a Sage. 

 

Now, does this mean there is both non-duality and duality? NOOO!! The illusion doesn’t mean there is duality AND nonduality, nor does it mean duality turns into nonduality. It means THERE IS ONLY NONDUALITY. It’s just that when you correct your perception, it feels like duality TURNED INTO non-duality. But in truth, there IS and only EVER will be non-duality. You will know this truth intuitively (beyond thought) when you rest in Turiya. It is only because you view reality in its wrong light, that you believe in duality.

 

This is why the Sages and Avatars such as Ramana and Adi Shankara have all said: “There is neither liberation nor bondage.” This is the highest truth. Any lower truth is considered illusion or the belief that something is separate from you. So we should all work on correcting this perception so that we KNOW this highest truth. Or else you will continue to hold on to the error of Maya and travel through an endless world because of attention being immersed in the mind through the forces of vasanas. Turiya must be held and remain in continuous motion until it remains firm and natural without any effort needed to take it there through enquiry. Otherwise, one will resort back to body/mind due to vasanas (inherent desires). This is why concentration should be a preliminary requirement before practicing self-inquiry. How else can you seek the source of what is, if attention is always being pulled in different directions through thoughts, objects and desire? Furthermore, how is one even going to perform enquiry in the midst of daily activity?! Mind disturbances will only reinforce the jiva (the thinking mind). This is why there needs to be a high level of self-mastery before you begin practice. The mind must transition back from thinking to non-thinking, at which point you do not hold an ego anymore since you have given up being the thinker. You will be free from any experience the thinking mind has ownership of (including that of suffering). 

 

​