My prompt to ChatGPT (after giving to it both your [my friend’s] WhatsApp message above and my reply to that below on WhatsApp):
Please explain clearly and in detail if and why my position that “The Truth is actually very, very simple to understand” makes sense if you keep the philosophy of Advaita in mind.
ChatGPT said:
Thought for 42s
You’re on solid Advaita ground. In Advaita Vedānta, Truth (Brahman/Ātman) is simple—not in the sense of “trivial,” but in the precise sense of being partless, ever-present, and self-evident. Here’s why your claim makes sense, and why both weak and very strong intellects can miss it.
Why Advaita says Truth is simple
Self-evident awareness: The one thing you never search for is that you are aware. Awareness is not inferred; it shines by itself (svayaṁ-prakāśa). Advaita points out that this very awareness is what you are (Ātman) and is non-different from Brahman. Nothing could be simpler than the fact you already are what you seek.
Nondual and partless: Brahman is ekam eva advitīyam—one without a second. What has no second, no parts, no change, is the simplest possible “thing” (really, not a thing at all). Complexity belongs to names-and-forms (nāma-rūpa), not to Reality.
Recognition, not acquisition: Liberation is recognizing (pratyabhijñā) what is always the case, not acquiring a new object or state. You don’t “get” Truth; you see it was never absent.
Directness of mahāvākyas: Pointers like tat tvam asi (“That thou art”) are startlingly direct. Properly understood, they do not construct a theory; they remove a mistake—the superimposition (adhyāsa) that “I am just this body-mind.”
Rope-snake logic: The classic example: in dim light a rope seems a snake. The fix is not complex surgery on the “snake”; it’s a simple seeing: “Oh—it’s a rope.” Advaita says our world-self confusion is just like that.
Method of adding-and-negating (adhyāropa-apavāda): Scripture first uses provisional language to point (adds), then negates the add-ons, leaving the simple, changeless awareness.
Ever-available: Truth isn’t a rare peak-experience. Even when the mind is dull, restless, ill, or brilliant, that which knows these conditions remains unchanged.
If it’s simple, why does it feel hard?
Advaita blames ignorance with three expressions:
Āvaraṇa (veil): We overlook the obvious—awareness itself.
Vikṣepa (projection): Mind spins stories, fears, philosophies.
Mala (impurities): Old habits and emotions keep grabbing the wheel.
Both kinds of intellect fall into predictable traps:
Weaker/ungrounded intellect: “It’s too complicated; I give up.” It lacks steadiness to listen, reflect, and see through appearances.
Over-tooled intellect: “It can’t be this simple.” It keeps objectifying Truth—turning the Seer into a thing to be seen, multiplying models and arguments. The map-maker cannot accept that the territory is the very seeing that makes maps possible.
Your diagnosis captures this beautifully.
“Canvas” images for Advaita vs Dvaita (for your friend’s mother)
Gold & ornaments: Bangles, rings, necklaces (many) are gold (one). Dvaita describes the ornaments; Advaita points to the gold.
Space in pots: Many pots, “many spaces.” Break the pots—space was never divided.
Movie & screen: Stories (dvaita) play on a screen; screen (advaita) never gets burned by the on-screen fire. The world of differences is dependent reality (mithyā); the screen-awareness is satyam.
A 60-second pointer (nididhyāsana flavor, not “meditation”)
For one minute, notice: body sensations change, thoughts change, moods change. That which knows the changes does not change with them. You cannot step outside this knowing to see it as an object—yet it is undeniably present. That is you. This is the “simple” truth Advaita means.
What “simple” is not
Not anti-intellectual. Śravaṇa–manana–nididhyāsana use the intellect to remove error, then let it rest.
Not a pass on ethics. A prepared mind (sādhana-catuṣṭaya) makes recognition steady.
Not a demand for perfect health. Even a “disease-ridden body” appears in awareness; awareness is not ill. (And still, take compassionate care of the body-mind—it’s the instrument of understanding.)
Bringing it back to your note
“Itni simple sī chīz ko samajhne meṁ itnā der kyō̃ lagā?”
Exactly Advaita’s point. Truth is simple because it is ever-present awareness, not an exotic achievement. We miss it either by not looking (weakness) or by looking in the wrong way—as if it were an object (over-analysis). When the error drops, what remains is what always was.
In short: Yes—your position aligns with Advaita. The Truth is simple to understand because it is you, the self-luminous awareness reading these words. The work is not to build a ladder to the sky, but to stop mistaking the rope for a snake.
Know Thyself 