The greatest philosophy of Life!

There is a very interesting fact in philosophy. The non-dual philosophy advocates oneness and they never consider second entity apart from the One. In a way, they never recognize the world as such but acknowledge that the world is but “Brahman” hidden in the veil of mind! Once Sathya Saibaba has said, “There is no two, if you perceive two, then Maya or illusion is in action”. We can understand the non-dual philosophy on a clarified conscious. A small example; ‘when water in a lake or river is impure, we cannot see the bottom surface even if it is only few feet deep. Whereas we can view the bottom of lakes undisturbed by any movement, even if they are several feet deep! The reason is clarity. Our mind is naturally soiled due to desires and attachments and hence it is not pure. Hence we cannot perceive the Self which is deep beyond the mind. We have to focus our mind inward in order to perceive the inner self. It is intuitively beheld since it has no specific form but it is the base for the entire creation and cosmos. Since non-dual philosophy is difficult to comprehend, several other philosophies flourished in ancient days to guide the common man.

The other philosophy is dual one. It recognizes the existence of god and world as two separate entities and at no time both can merge! This is most suitable for beginners or common man. Every individual perceive the world as separate from themselves. They feel that God is separate from man! Till they move forward to the next higher rung, they will have to follow worship, rituals, prayers and other means to woe god and get their ambitions or wishes satisfied.

There is an intermediate version! It is ‘qualified monism’. This philosophy accepts that individuals can evolve and one day they can merge one with God. Creation is valid, as long as we are leading a worldly life with attachments and desires. Till such time, we have to take births after birth to work out our karma. This is the reason that emancipation from mortal life is possible only to one in millions. Human evolution is a very slow process. Each individual has to perforce undergo many births as human beings till they evolve. For a fully realized soul, the world is null and void since they will be immersed only in Atma consciousness. For them, no spiritual endeavors are needed since they have passed the highest tests.

It is only for the ordinary people, all spiritual practices are prescribed. In a way, life is a game played by God by hide and seeks. He is hidden within creation and he remains so until the individual make effort to find out the real cause of creation. As we live our life amid the various struggles, undergoing pain and pleasure in alternating cycles, we start pondering about the temporary existence we lead. If we are serious enough to find out a cause, god sends some guide in the form of a preceptor who will guide us step by step towards God. But many layers of ignorance have to be removed from our conscious. We have to cut asunder the fundamental ignorance stemming up from body consciousness. We have become slaves to the senses inexorably by pursuing the pleasures offered through the senses. A man with persistent effort can subdue his desires to certain extent but the sense of taste is very difficult to conquer. There are two fundamental flaws in the character of man. It is his sense of taste and a desire to enjoy carnal pleasures. Hence the entire mankind is unable to extricate them from this mundane life.

Hence the non-dual philosophers point out that the formless power pervades the cosmos and transcends it. What we observe through our sensory organs are like a cinema show projected on the screen. The screen alone is real and the pictures are temporary. Even before the show, the screen remains, during the show, the pictures hide the screen and after the show, we visualize the screen only.. The screen is the permanent base on which the temporary pictures are projected which are never real. Similar is the SELF on which the creation is projected through the mind. Bereft of the Self and mind there is no creation at all. Hence all the sages and saints point out that what we perceive through the senses are mere illusions like the passing clouds and mirage in the deserts.

Each individual in the creation validate the existence of the world. For instance, if there are no beings, who will vouch the existence of the world apart from them. We have many sensory inputs and organs. Nothing is valid without a ‘seer’. Hence the ‘seen’ is coterminous with the seer. This is the reality. Hence the Seer alone is real and all else is illusion or false sceneries! Even Albert Einstein has stated that his invention E=MC squared is valid only when there is an observer. The observer is the ‘Seer” without whom, nothing in the world is valid!