Sage Sankara pointed out; even those who were outside the Upanishad fold were as eligible to moksha as those within the fold were. He declared that all beings are Brahman, and therefore the question of discrimination did not arise. All that one was required to do was to get rid of ignorance (Avidya or duality).
Religious or yogic-based moksha is not real freedom.
Bhad Upanishad:~ This Self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else because It is innermost. If one holding the Self dear were to say to a person who speaks of anything other than the Self as dear, that he, the latter, will lose what he holds dear—and the former is certainly competent to do so—it will indeed come true. One should meditate upon the Self alone as dear. He who meditates upon the Self alone as dear—what he holds dear will not perish. [Bhad Upanishad -8-p- -211-]
Westerners come to India to learn Vedas and Upanishads from the pundits. They accept them as gurus and sentimentally get involved with them. By studying Vedas they will become only pundits but not be able to go deeper in their pursuit of truth and get nondual wisdom.
The Advaitic truth is the ultimate truth but it will not be unfolded with orthodox-based Advaita. In Brahma-Sutras Sankara says: Brahman is the cause of the world, whereas in Mandukya he denies it.
This may be because that at the lower stage of understanding, the former teaching must be given, for people will get frightened as they cannot understand how the world can be without a cause, but to those in a higher stage, the truth of non-causality can be revealed. Whatever is based on Brahma Sutra is meant for the religionists who are stuck with their inherited belief system.
Sage Sankara says:~ One must first know what is before him. If he cannot know that, what else can he know or understand? If he gives up the external world in his inquiry, he cannot get the whole truth.
When Upanishad declares:-
Katha Upanishad:~ This Ataman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, or by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals Its own form. (Ch-II -23-P-20)
Mundaka Upanishad:- This Ataman cannot be attained through study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Ataman—by him alone is Atman attained. It is Ataman that reveals to the seeker Its true nature. (3 –page-70-Mundaka Upanishad Upanishads by Nikilanada)
It is clearly directed that one has to seeker has to do his own homework without scriptures using his own reason.
When Upanishads declare that: - It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals its own form. Then what is the use of indulging through our intelligence or our accumulated knowledge, when one is not chosen by the self, which is the Soul, which is in the form of consciousness?
There is no need for any philosophy in pursuit of truth because they take the seeker nearer to truth but they create more doubts and confusions.
The scriptures and theories and teaching based on the ego are not yardsticks. Using them as a yardstick to understand and assimilate the truth will lead one towards the pursuit of arguments.
The seeker of truth has to discover on his own, the truth of his true existence by inquiring “what is mind?” and “what is the substance of the mind?” and move forward.
The ultimate truth is one without the second, the one is not in the sense half or two, but the one that remains forever One, without the second. Consciousness is all-pervading. There is no place where consciousness is not because the whole diversity is created out of consciousness. Consciousness alone is real and all else is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.
Consciousness is in everyone, consciousness is in everything, consciousness is one behind many. Consciousness alone is. It means the universe and its contents are the visible forms of consciousness. And consciousness in turn is an invisible form of the universe, which appears as the mind.
Since people, all are not aware of the fact that they are an experience within another experience [waking/dream]. The mind is an experience, which contains everyone and everything and the universe. Since one limits the mind to the physical entity, he forgets the fact that his body and the universe is an experience, within waking or dream experience.
It is impossible to unfold the mystery of his true existence without realizing the fact that, the self is not physical but the self is consciousness. If the self is not physical then it is erroneous to judge and conclude the truth on the base of the physical self or ego. Thus the truth has to be judged on the base of the Soul, the true Self, which is present in the form of consciousness, Consciousness is not an individual but it pervades all the three states as their formless substance and witness.
Religious or yogic-based moksha is not real freedom. Self-knowledge which is the sole source of eradicating ignorance can be attained only by right-thinking not merely by meditation or Samadhi.
Some do mistake them for Gnana. They are under impression that the practice of meditation is the be-all and –all of existence and one who practices meditation regularly few hours every day needs not to do anything the realization will happen on its own. They are under laboring the mistake that, one who reaches the yogic Samadhi for a few moments, has attained his goal and he has already reached salvation even while alive.
Meditation and Samadhi may be regarded as cooperative factors in preparatory stages in pursuit of truth but they are neither Gnana nor the cause of Gnana. The Advaitic Gnana is attained where he is fully aware of the fact that his body, ego, and his experience of the universe are as consciousness and consciousness as the Real Self.
The seeker has to cultivate viewing and judging the worldview on the base of the Soul, the Self, by deeper thinking. Neither Hata Samadhi nor Jada Samadhi takes one to the non-dual destination.
That is why Sage Sankara says in VivekaChudamani:- 56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.
58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar but are no good for Liberation.
59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.
60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest that merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.
61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?
62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utters the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realization one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.
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.
64. Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendor of the entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely saying, ‘I am an emperor’.
65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.
66. Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated births and deaths.
Remember:~
The real Moksha or freedom is to realize the fact that the ‘I’ consciousness is a mere physical awareness. Physical awareness is not Self-awareness.
Self–awareness is when the Soul, the 'Self' remains aware of its own nondual true nature.
The real Moksha is freedom from experiencing the duality as reality by realizing the fact that, the ‘I’ awareness, which is present in the form of the universe (Mind) is a mere physical awareness.
From the Nondualistic perspective, physical awareness is merely an illusion. Ignorance is the cause of physical awareness. When ignorance vanishes through wisdom, then the unreal nature of the physical awareness is exposed then there is freedom (Moksha) from experiencing the dualistic illusion as a reality. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar
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