Inner Journey

Advaita is a kind of philosophical approach to experience "REALITY" or "Truth"[Sat].It is a part of Hindu philosophy but can be considered a Universal method.
Advaita means 'not two' which means that there is only ONE,call it Brahman or Self.Everything is pervaded by this Self.The forms, names and objects seen, heard ,felt are all illusory---in that they are not Real,they come and go;are born and die; Only Reality exists and IS.
It is hard for us to understand that all of our physical things,including our bodies, minds,mountains and rivers are illusory.A little reflection will convince that these things change;are born and die at sometime...A mountain may erode ,or blow up as a volcano and so on.Millions of bodies are created and die after sometime....
An easy way to understand this is the analogy: we see movie films projected on the screen, a play of light and shadow.We get moved by the drama....But what is the real one? ---Only the blank white screen....Likewise Brahman alone is real;the story is all illusory....
Consider another approach.When I say: "I Love Roses", I is the subject, I perceive the roses;roses are the objects.Now there is no subject-object difference at all, for there is no real Object at all.In Pure advaita, the subject,object and the process [of seeing] become one;for there is no object outside the subject.The knower, the Known and Knowing merge into one.The seer, the seen and the process of seeing merge into one...There is only the seer.!
To elucidate further, we focus on objects,outside ourselves---why? because our mind goes outward, seeking objects....If only we turn the mind internally, at ourselves, the real Self will be revealed.
In the Ramana teaching and the Advaita philosophy, we say that the mind should be annihilated [mano-nasam] or the mind should sink into the Heart or 'Hridayam' so that the mind does not go outward towards objects or sense-perceptions.[Here the heart means the seat of consciousness, not the physical pump.]When that happens, the mind is quietened, thoughts cease and the Real Self shines forth [to us]...that is realization as understood in Advaita.To still the thoughts or still the mind is the method to be adopted.
The Self is always shining,It is self-effulgent,but obscured by the thoughts/mind.The mind acts like a cloud obscuring the Sun which is always shining.
In simple terms, when you see the world [external objects/thoughts], you cannot see the Self.When you see the Self or feel the Self, you will not see the world as such.The world will be as manifestation of the ONE Brahman..
Great seers or Rishis that we know, experienced this state and therefore were in Samadhi or trance like for hours together or days together...Bhagavan Ramana whose life is carefully documented ,stayed in samadhi for days together neglecting the body, sitting glued to the rock seat in caves.For most others, such experience can be only short or temporary [say a few seconds  to a few minutes], but such experience gives certitude of this Advaitic approach.

What do we gain by this experience? A kind of happiness..It is difficult to describe this happiness.Brahman is often described by three words [for matter of convenience]: Sat [truth,existence] Chit [knowledge,consciousness]Ananda [bliss,etenal joy]--Sat-Chit-Ananda; sat is realized by the Jnani,chit by Raja yogi,Ananda by Bhakta or devotee...this is a broad simplified picture.A jnani can experience all the three forms and so on.
A Jnani,following Advaita, should experience Sat or Reality.[Ramana wrote a poem of 40 verses on Reality or sat, written "Ulladu Narpadu" in Tamil meaning 'Ulladu" or existence or reality and 'Narpadu' means 'forty'].
Ramana gave a 'simple' means for modern people---the method of self-enquiry --with the fundamental or existential question "Who Am I' [this is not a meditational method or japa but  enquiry]When the "I" thought is followed to its "Source', the Self is revealed.More about this later.
   Advaita has great attraction for modern people of 20th and 21st centuries----they need not spend time in rituals;but meditation they must do...Often advaitic path is advocated  as a simple,direct method....It is not that  simple ;it can be direct for some ,not for all..This is admittedly a difficult path...Some 'gurus' may call it easy ---to awaken and realize the Self"; may even state that it is like turning on a switch in your mind.....These are common platitudes to attract followers or members of satsang groups....Considerable preparation is required, often for several years....above all , a genuine  guru is essential...Ramana gained without much effort, due to past karmas in earlier lives...all are not Ramanas...If you are moulded like Ramana, you will not be reading websites such as this!
We all need warm-up and setting up exercises and muscle conditioning before we can run!One needs purification of the mind.[Chitta suddhi].
Some aver that you are already 'realized' and no effort is required.One has to believe such statements with a pinch of salt: One wishes that it was that easy.Effort is required as long as we breathe.![It is like saying that ,potentially, any citizen can become the president in a democratic country.]
Many modern youngsters want a quick solution for their existence problems.If some one promises nirvana in three weeks for a small fee,why not try it!---This is fast food/junk food approach.

Advaitins often interpret Bhakti or devotion as 'devotion to an Ideal ' or 'devotion to Self or atman' rather than devotion to a personal God such as Rama,Krishna, Jesus Christ,Devi and so on. They labour hard and give tortuous arguments to decry obeisance to a personal God or Ishwara.For them Self or Brahman is formless, attributeless....For them, the best approximation to Brahman is the sky or vast sea or infinity....
This approach of strict adherence to Advaita ,which I call 'distilled ,pure Advaita' makes the spiritual path dry and unemotional...All are emotional people...Even Ramana exhibited emotional moments in certain cases;once while reading about the life of a Saivaite saint, he shed tears and his voice was choked with emotion...Again hearing the personal grief of a devotee,he is said to have shed tears.....Therefore i contend that pure advaita ,with negation of human [mental] feelings is an ideal that will never be realized as along as we possess sense organs and the mind.
Therefore certain tinge of Bhakti is always helpful even for one aspiring to be 100% advaitin .Saints like Madhusudan Saraswati and Sridhara Swami and others [15th -16th centuires] infused elements of Bhakti into Advaita.They were affected by the all-round Bhakti movements in medieval India.Infact medieval times were soaked in Bhakti or devotion in Europe and Middle East too.From then on. pure advaita is a theoretical [doctrinal] abstraction only.
It becomes purely intellectual exercise to define Advaita devoid of human emotions which is ,of course, a product of human mind.For one with the physical body,as we all arel, there is much overlap of Jnana and Bhakti and 100% advaita does not obtain in practice.

Adi Sankara wrote that there are three rare previleges:
to have human birth, to yearn for Truth/God and to have a proper Guru.
Humans are blessed with mind and intellect ; they should be used to seek the Divine Being or Existence, not to waste in earning money,having good food and shelter and a good time.....Life is fleeting.No one knows when the end would come...One should overcome several fears----fear of death,fear of disease, fear of loneliness....Therefore one should undertake the Inner Journey however feeble the steps may be....Every journey starts with single step...
The easy way is to chant the Lord's name and meditate for sometime as given in other pages.
It is essential that one keeps good company---of spiritually minded people....what we call 'Sat-Sangh"...this is not merely to discuss spiritual matter, but to be in each other's observation.

The Sun represents the Self-effulgent Source of Light or the Soul...The Moon represents the human consciousness or Jiva which is like the moon---reflected consciousness....In fact , the Jagat or the phenomenal world or Universe is reflected consciousness of theBrahman....We do not see the self-effulgent Sun or soul.....Th e mind acts like a mirror, reflecting the Sun...then the mind should be made into a calm lake--without ripples --to reflect the Brahman...that is , you attain a calm mind ---free of Chitta vrittis or modifications---this is the language of the Raja Yogi or Patanjalis sutras.
The mind as a mirror must be clean,pure, free of dust or blemishes---this is Chitta Suddhi or Pure Mind ---as for a Bhakta or in Buddhist doctrines...You attain this by karma yoga or selfless service or by devotion, by chanting for instance;or by Right Thinking....This is the way of Karma Yogi or Bhakti yogi.....
 You can dispense with the mind altogether---look directly at the Sun if you can---this is mano-nasam or killing th e mind---quelling the thought waves---the method of Pure Advaita and Atma Vichara of Bhagavan Ramana.It is difficult to look at the Self-effulgent Sun--hence the difficulty of the path--in a relative sense.
Thus in Vedanta, the mind has the same relation as that of the moon---a reflected consciousness with blemishes,like the craters on the moon.

             I have lived on the lip of insanity
          Wanting to know the reasons,
           Knocking on a door;It opens,
           I've been knocking from the inside!
                                ----Jalaluddin Rumi