What is truth

The sayings of Vedanta can appear to be mystical to be illogical and opposed to common sense.

They appear as such is because there is a fundamental difference in the core between what Vedanta teaches and what science and common sense says is true.

The common sense and scientific view is that reality is the sum total of things in space (i.e. physical objects).

What does Vedanta have to say about this? It says that reality is the sum total of experiences and nothing more.

In the scientific view perception emotions etc do not appear at all.

In the vedantic  view they are first class citizens of reality.

In the scientific view dreams are just illusory and unreal.

In vedantic view they are as real as anything else since they are valid experiences.

Now we come to the very core of Vedanta i.e.: I am Brahm.

If you take experience to be the fundamental nature of reality, then what lies at the root of each experience.

At the root of each experience is the experiencer of the experience.

The experiencer having no attributes is indistinguishable from one experience to another.

It is the enveloper of all experiences, just as space is the enveloper of all physical objects.

Moksha: The flow state

Moksha is the aim of all spiritual pursuits including Vedanta. As with other things there is much confusion about it.

In uncomplicated language it is simply a state of flow. Even people who does not know anything about Vedanta experience it from time to time. Vedanta is simply making use of knowledge and intellect to make it more stable and more lasting.

What is the flow state, it is a state of effortless movement i.e. flow of consciousness. When you (i.e. consciousness) flow in this state you just be and do not have a care in the world. Things come things go and you simply be and take them as they are.

Think of the state that you would have in a free all paid vacation.

How is flow state impeded? It is through various thoughts to which consciousness attaches.

Once there is a thought/feeling to which consciousness attaches then the flow stops, consciousness then starts to whirl around it.

How does Vedanta come into the picture? If intellect is steeped into the knowledge of Vedanta with each perception/thought a sister thought is always produced that is the knowledge of the ever-present consciousness and the recognition of the mechanism of attachment, this then removes the tendency of consciousness to whirl around the attaching thoughts and perceptions. With constant practice the tendency of attachment becomes weaker than the tendency to retain flow. 

In a normal person thoughts and feelings create strong attraction points which causes them to stop flowing and start whirling.

Since consciousness is changeless attachment or flow does not improve it or damage it. What is described here is simply the nature of how things are.

Truth Untruth and In-Between

In Vedanta everything is divided into three buckets

Truth(Sat): Truth is something that exists changeless forever and all places.
A good example is empty space it is the same everywhere irregardless of time or place whether India or America or morning or evening. (Of course according to Vedanta there is only one such thing and it is not space which is itself changeable)

Untruth(Asat): Untruth is something that never existed or will never exist anywhere. For example 1=0 or that the table is red and the table is blue. It essentially refers to a logical contradiction.

In-Between(Mithya): Things that have temporary existence are true in one place and not another. For example this table is red is true today and tomorrow after painting it over this table is blue is true.

The theory of Karma

Karma has become a popular term even in the west. However, it is misunderstood as an accounting system wherein good deeds are punished and bad deeds are rewarded through a cosmic system.

Karma is more simple than that. To understand karma we first need to simplify our world picture.

In the Vedantic world picture there are only two agents. Atman and Ishwara

Atman is the self known as I am by everybody. Rest everything is Ishwara, i.e. everything other than I am.

Thus my, thoughts, feelings, emotions and even the body are actually part of Ishwara and not mine at all.

You can think of ishwara as the world plus psychic objects such as thoughts emotions and even your body. Usually when people think of the world they remove the latter two from it.

Among the things that appear to the Atman there are certain organs that can act on Ishwara, these are karmindiryas e.g. hand feet voice etc. (Similarly Jyanendriyas are the means of knowing Ishwara for the Atman.)

Karma then simply is an action of the Atman upon Ishwara through the karmindriyas, i.e. means of action.

Since Ishwara is a connected whole the effect of an action cannot be know by the Intellect. The intellect being the source of knowledge for Atman, I Atman cannot know the results of my actions with full certainty.

In fact the impetus for actions, the thoughts only come from Ishwara itself. Atman only has the choice to act or not act. Even the set of actions available are not in its control.

This in a nutshell is theory of Karma. Atman which is whole and complete in itself is given a choice whether to act or not. Generally action is performed to seek fulfillment, but Atman needs no fulfillment. However being unaware of itself and believing the intellect Atman imagines itself to be so and so and thus performing actions to gain something.

Some actions have a predictable effect on Ishwara, for example if hunger arises, If the action of eating is carried on then hunger will go away. Most actions are not so predictable, their result relies on multiple connections in Ishwara and cannot be calculated by the human intellect.

In a nutshell while the power to act or not act is with Atman. The choice of actions and their results rests solely with Ishwara.

What is the ego

The ego is said to be a negative thing; something that keeps us in thrall; which must die for us to be awakened.

This is a blatant piece of misinformation, since the ego is the one that can actually not die, as long as you are alive and is the only gate thorough which the Brahman is attained.

How is that, well what is the ego, the most consistent definition of this is the feeling of I am.

In every experience that you have there is a ever present feeling of I am.

If you recognize this feeling in all experiences then you can see that this is at its core unchanging.

(At first you may not believe it, but by slow observation of this you will become ever sure of this fact)

All that happens happens outside of it (thoughts/feelings/physical stuff) does not affect the unchanging feeling of I am.

What this is is none other than the reflection of awareness in mind, and thus just like the awareness is ever constant like space and so is its child the ego the same.

By holding onto the ego you realize its source and see it everywhere, in every experience God as awareness is with you. In fact it is not with you but as you.

Enlightened and nonenlightened

Enlightenment is an unfortunate turn of phrase to describe an uncomplicated state of affairs.

Most people live in a state of near constant attachment from one phenomenon to another.

One thought to another, one worry to another, one feeling to another, one object to another.

An uncomplicated state of affairs is in which you stay as you are despite the churning of objects.

You know yourself as you are amidst this changing phenomenon, stable and peaceful.

You only see yourself as awareness of the changing phenomenon, awareness always stays as it is.

It is not changed by the every varying phenomenon.

To create gurus and reverential figures out of those that see this simple fact is highly unfortunate, but perhaps unavoidable due to deep conditioning in us of high vs low, better vs worse.

This deep conditioning operating day in day out causes mind to look in terms of good vs bad, heros vs common folk, rich and poor, enlightened and non-enlightened.

Buddha on his high pedestal vs us mere humans who can never be so great.

Belief vs Empirical in Vedanta

Vedanta has a strong empirical component, but it also has a substantial component that is taken on faith.
Here are the two components

Empirical component: The observation of I am or consciousness, identifying that consciousness is separate from the objects that appear in it even body or mind.

Faith based component: That consciousness is unified, that even matter and energy are a manifestation of consciousness, I am God.

In many cases these components are taught together, but it is good if the seeker knows what and what can be experienced.