The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad asks, “By what can one know the Knower?” Modern neuroscience and philosophy of mind echo the same puzzle in the “hard problem of consciousness.” Instruments and theories can track brain states and behavior, but never Awareness itself—the very light by which all knowing occurs. Advaita Vedānta makes the radical move: the Knower is not an object of study but the Self, svayam-prakāśa, self-luminous. To seek it as an object is like the eye trying to see itself. Liberation lies in abiding as That, not in endless inquiry.
Category: Upanishads
What Has Shakespeare/Socrates to Do With Shankaracharya?
What has Shakespeare or Socrates to do with Shankaracharya? Nothing. Shakespeare glorifies the theater of Maya, making us weep and laugh at dream-characters. Socrates spins webs of thought, trapping us in endless dialogue. Both literature and philosophy grant solidity to illusion, deepening our bondage to samsara. Shankaracharya is not another voice in their marketplace; he is the firebrand who torches the whole bazaar. Brahma Satyam, Jagat Mithya—the world is false, Brahman alone is real. Advaita is not here to polish the dream but to shatter it. Wake up. The play is over.
Para Vidya (Higher Learning) Vs. Apara Vidya (Lower Learning)
The Mundaka Upanishad divides knowledge into two streams. Apara Vidya embraces all sciences and arts—the brilliance of mathematics, the sweep of history, the beauty of literature and philosophy. These disciplines teach us about the world of names and forms, yet remain within the realm of duality. Para Vidya, by contrast, points only to the essence—Brahman, Consciousness, the clay beneath all pots. The first refines the intellect, the second liberates the self. To honor both is wisdom: to study the many with care, and to seek the One with devotion.
Sam Upanishad
They know notBig Bang, they sayAn unproven theoryWho knows how it beganAnd what was there or notBefore it began. Forms … More
The Simple Truth of Advaita
Advaita Vedānta insists that Truth is not complex but startlingly simple. It is not an achievement to be won, but the ever-present awareness in which body, mind, and world appear. Yet we miss it: the weak intellect assumes it is too difficult and looks away; the strong intellect insists it cannot be so simple and keeps objectifying it. Like mistaking a rope for a snake, our confusion persists until the obvious shines forth—I am that awareness itself. The simplicity is disarming only because it was never hidden.
A Journey from Worldly Noise to the Quiet of Consciousness
I no longer seek guidance from heart or mind, for both belong to the restless play of duality. Instead, I turn inward, where Advaita Vedanta reveals the true relief of emptiness: the Self as pure awareness, untouched by sorrow or delight. Solitude is not misanthropy but clarity—a freedom from humoring the world’s illusions. To abide in stillness is to realize that the knower of light and darkness is itself eternal.
“Responsibility” Towards This World: Is the “awakened one” accountable to the world, or is it all God’s play?
When awakening strikes, the question often arises: does greater consciousness demand greater responsibility? A friend suggested that finding God is not freedom but a burden—an obligation to guide others. My response, echoing Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj, is that the world itself is God’s doing, and the roles of both Jnani and Ajnani are part of that play. No “integration” is needed between ego and the Absolute—they were never separate. What remains is simple: God alone acts, through every form.
I WISH TO ABANDON WORDS FOR THE MOST PART
Ramana Maharshi reminds us that silence alone can reveal the whole truth. Words, bound to duality, divide what is indivisible; silence unites and liberates. Even seekers well-versed in scriptures often remain entangled in the world of appearances, missing the essence. True teaching, as Ramana showed, does not lie in dialogue but in presence—in the quiet where the Self shines unobstructed. Silence is not emptiness but fullness, the eternal ground of being. To rest in it is to discover that truth is not attained but simply lived.
Beyond Words: Silence as the Highest Expression of Truth
Ramana Maharshi declared, “The only language able to express the whole truth is silence.” In Advaita Vedanta, the Self is beyond knowledge and ignorance, beyond light and darkness. Words divide, but silence holds unity. Ramana’s presence itself was a teaching—those who sat with him often felt peace beyond explanation. Silence is not absence but fullness: the stillness in which the Self shines without obstruction. To abide in this silence is to realize that truth is not something to be reached but what we already are—pure being, ever free. Explore Ramana Maharshi’s teaching that silence is the highest expression of truth in Advaita Vedanta, where words fail but being alone remains.
Love, Masks, and the Cosmic Drama: Why Pretending Is Inevitable
When I said, “All of us are pretending,” I wasn’t talking about fake smiles or empty promises. I meant it in the Advaitic sense: the entire drama of “I” and “you” is a cosmic role-play, Brahman’s theatre of masks. Even love — when I say “I love you” — is both a pretence and the deepest truth. Pretence, because the separate “me” and “you” don’t exist. Truth, because love is the very essence of that One Reality. In this play, pretending is how the Real shines through.
Know Thyself 