Who Am ‘I’ –inquiry is not Self-inquiry. Self-inquiry is to find and realize the ‘Self’, which is hidden by the ‘I’.+

Who Am ‘I’ –inquiry is not Self-inquiry. Self-inquiry is to find and realize the ‘Self’, which is hidden by the ‘I’. By inquiring, ‘Who Am ‘I’? - the Advaitic wisdom will not dawn.

WHO AM ‘I’? - inquiry is only for a lower stage where one gives up externally in order of exposing the false nature of the ego, which is not the full truth.

To get ultimate truth, one has to inquire into the nature of the mind, which is in the form of the universe. Inquiring into the nature of the mind or the universe is higher.

Thus, ‘WHO AM ‘I’, inquiry will not reveal the truth of the whole, thus the journey is incomplete. ‘Who am “I? -inquiry was introduced by Sage Sankara for the beginners, but some gurus in the past projected ‘Who am ‘I’- inquiry as their own teaching, without knowing what self-inquiry means.

Sage Sankara says you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand? If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth.

That is why Sage Sankara said: ~ VC-63- “Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the ‘Self’ how is one to achieve Liberation. -

The universe in which we exist will not remain as reality when wisdom dawns. The universe is a mere mirage created out of consciousness, and there is conscious awareness of unity in diversity because there is no second thing to exist other than consciousness.

To say the universe is an illusion without first examining it and inquiring into its nature thoroughly is to delude oneself. This world is common to every one of us; therefore, the seeker of truth must begin his inquiry with it.

It is only after he has inquired into the nature of the objective world, he realizes the universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.

‘WHO AM ‘I’, - inquiry serves only at the starting point. What one has learned from the teaching of the Sages of truth be understood through the exercise of reason as far as the reason might go? and what one has assimilated must be realized. There are stages in the seeker's goal.

Many seekers in this path of inquiry are still struggling even after long years and waiting for something to happen. Even after reading and inquiring deeply enough, still, they are unable to progress further. Even they are unable to get any benefit in their spiritual pursuit through ‘Who Am ‘I’? - Inquiry they are unable to give up the self-inquiry due to the attraction to some sage of the past.

Self -inquiry is a good tool in the beginning of the pursuit of truth. But the seeker will find it inadequate to in latter stages. However, it creates lots of doubts and confusion.

The seeker has to find the answers on his own through deeper reasoning, then all his doubts and confusions will be cleared, and he will be able to move ahead in the path of inquiry, and he will be able to reach his non-dual destination.

The one who holds the ‘I’ as self never will be able to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Thus, it is necessary to realize first the ‘I’ is not the self, but the soul, the formless witness of the ‘I’ is the Self.

The ‘I – centric’ Gurus and their teaching are not the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara. The seeker of truth should not hold ‘I -centric gurus and their teaching as a yardstick. ‘I’-centric knowledge is not the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara. ‘I-centric teaching will not lead the seeker to the ultimate end of his inner journey.

Not by listening to Guru's sermons, nor by the study neither by study of the scriptures, nor by meritorious deeds nor by any other means the Advaitic wisdom dawns, which is attainable only through association with the Gnani and the clear quest of the Self.

Advaitic Gnana is given neither from outside nor from another person.

Sage Sankara says: ~ ‘What is accepted without proper inquiry will not lead to the final Goal. (Commentary on Vedanta Sutra)

Nothing has to be accepted as truth without verification.

Sage Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture. This may be because, Sage Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and, thus, in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore, dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason.

Sage Sankara Chandogya Upanishad: ~ One who meditates upon and realizes the 'Self' discovers that everything in the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantrams and meditation--all come from the Self.

All your egocentric accumulated cocktail knowledge is not Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana Soulcentric knowledge is not available in the spiritual supermarket.

All accumulated knowledge is mental garbage, is no use in the quest for truth. The seeker has to discard all the accumulated knowledge and start afresh.

Reading and reflecting on my blogs and postings gradually, the seekers will start assimilating and realizing ‘what is the truth’ and what the untruth is. Repeated reading my blogs and postings make the seeker Soulcentric and the inner dialogue will start and clear all the doubts and confusion.

Perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ through deeper thinking and reasoning helps to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

In Atmic path, discussion of the unimportant subject is a great hindrance. The path of truth is the path of verification. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar