Someone once asked Ramana Maharshi, "When will I experience God?" He answered flatly: "You will never experience God." The person was baffled. "Why not?" Ramana said, "Because you are God. Experience belongs to something separate observing something else. What is already one — how does it experience itself?"
It sounds like a strange, almost unhelpful answer. But it contains the entire argument of Vedanta in a single exchange.
The oneness of the individual self and the ultimate reality isn't something you acquire. It's something you already are, and simply haven't noticed. So what does practice even mean, if there's nothing to attain? That's the actual question this article is trying to answer.
What the Texts Actually Say
1. Shrimad Bhagwat Puran — "I Was Before Creation. I Am Creation Too."
Before creation, I alone existed. Nothing gross or subtle existed apart from Me, nor the ignorance that causes both. Where this creation is not, there too I alone am. Whatever appears as this creation is also Me. And whatever remains afterward is Me as well.
Shrimad Bhagwat Puran, Second Canto, the Catuhsloki Bhagavata — Krishna's teaching to Brahma
This is the first and deepest teaching Krishna gives Brahma. Before, after, and during — all of it is the same one thing. There isn't actually a gap between the individual self and the ultimate reality. The apparent gap is entirely a matter of perspective.
So what's the practice here? Hearing this teaching, sitting with it, and gradually letting the understanding settle in. That's the first tool the Bhagwat Puran offers — simply hearing it, deeply.
2. Shrimad Bhagwat Puran — Understanding Maya as the Doorway
That which, though not truly existing, appears as something inexplicable within Me — the way two moons appear to a confused eye — should be understood as My maya.
Shrimad Bhagwat Puran, Second Canto, Catuhsloki Bhagavata
"Two moons" is a lovely image. Press a finger against your eye and the single moon in the sky doubles. The real moon never split — your perception did. In the same way, the individual self and the ultimate reality appear as two, but were never actually two.
Understanding this mechanism — that separateness is a trick of perception, not a fact of existence — is itself an important tool for experiencing the oneness. Once you see that the "separateness" is maya's doing, the wall between the two starts to feel thinner.
3. Shrimad Bhagwat Puran — Sustained Focus as the Path to the Desired Result
Chant this hymn to the Supreme Person that I have taught you, with a single-pointed mind, and undertake great austerity. When that austerity matures, you will attain the result you seek.
Shrimad Bhagwat Puran, Fourth Canto, Lord Rudra's teaching
Two practices are named together here — single-pointed chanting and sustained austerity. Single-pointed chanting means not letting the mind scatter, holding it to one point. Austerity means continuity in practice — without fatigue, without stopping.
And notice: the text makes a promise. Whoever practices with genuine sincerity and focus will get there. This isn't abstract philosophy — it's presented as a direct, workable path.
4. Yogavasishtha — A Painting on a Wall
Just as a painted world exists only as the wall it's painted on, so too this apparent world exists only as the sky of consciousness appearing within itself.
Yogavasishtha, Nirvana Prakarana Uttarardha, Sarga 168
Imagine a mural — mountains, rivers, people, all painted across a wall. Every image is, underneath, simply wall. In the same way, this entire world — people, relationships, events — is nothing but consciousness appearing as itself.
This recognition — that everything is consciousness — is the most direct experience of oneness there is. When the same awareness shows up in everything you look at, where exactly would "I am separate" come from?
5. Yogavasishtha — Knowledge Is the True Nature of the Supreme
Knowledge itself is the real nature of the Supreme, and the absence of the world is likewise a form of knowledge. The illusory sense of "I," distinct from liberation, exists only for the sake of suffering.
Yogavasishtha, Nirvana Prakarana Uttarardha, Sarga 43
"Knowledge itself is the nature of the Supreme" sounds abstract until you sit with it. The ultimate reality isn't a thing located somewhere. It's the awareness that knows. And knowing — simply that — is what knowledge is.
And the illusory "I" exists only for suffering. Meaning: the ego's sense of "I" is the actual root of suffering. When that "I" quiets down, knowledge and the Supreme turn out to be one and the same.
6. Yogavasishtha — "That Is Brahman, That Is Everything That Ever Was or Will Be"
That is Brahman, that is Hari, that is Indra, that is the imperishable Supreme Sovereign. That same one is Vishnu, is breath, is time, is fire, is the moon. That same one is everything that has been and everything that will be. Knowing it, one crosses beyond death — there is no other path to liberation.
Yogavasishtha, Nirvana Prakarana Uttarardha, Sarga 83
Reading this verse produces a strange, expansive feeling. Brahman is that same one. Hari is that same one. Time is that same one. Fire is that same one. The moon is that same one. Whatever exists is simply a form of the same single thing.
And the practice? "Knowing it." That's the whole instruction. Recognize this oneness, and the fear of death dissolves — liberation follows on its own.
7. Bhagavad Gita — The Lotus Leaf: Act, But Don't Cling
One who acts, offering all actions to the Supreme and abandoning attachment, is untouched by wrongdoing — like a lotus leaf untouched by water.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Karma Sannyasa Yoga
A lotus leaf sits in water, lives because of water — but water never soaks into it. That's karma yoga in a single image. Be in the world, do the work — but don't let it stick to you.
And how does that happen? "Offering all actions to the Supreme." When every action is dedicated rather than owned, the sense of "mine" starts to shrink. And as "mine" shrinks, eventually "I" dissolves into the Supreme as well.
8. Bhagavad Gita — Beyond the Three Qualities, Resting in Pure Awareness
Arjuna, the Vedas primarily describe the pleasures born of the three qualities of nature. Rise above them, unattached to these pleasures.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Sankhya Yoga
Krishna makes a significant claim here — even scripture describes the workings of nature's three qualities. But he adds: go beyond that too. Study the texts, but don't get stuck there. Let go of the craving for what they describe.
When attachment to the qualities of nature releases, what's left is pure awareness. That's the individual self. That's the Supreme. There's no gap between them at all.
Putting It Together
Together, these sources offer a complete list of tools for experiencing this oneness. Listening — to scripture and teacher. Reflection — sitting with what's been heard. Deep contemplation — letting it settle inward. Offering action — giving every deed to the Divine. Austerity — steadiness in practice. Recognizing maya — understanding the mechanism of apparent separateness. And dispassion — non-attachment to nature's pleasures.
These aren't separate paths. They're stages of a single journey. And where does the journey end? Exactly where Ramana Maharshi pointed — "you are already that." Which means it ends exactly where it began.