Before we begin the Journey of Evolution thru Self-Inquiry, there are two very important words that need to be understood thoroughly.  The two key words are 'KNOW' and 

TRUTH'.

The vehicle of transportation to the next level of existence happens when the Mind is able to discern and distinguish and seperate all its experiences into "Truth" and "Falsehood". 

The Mind believes all the experiences that it is subject to as TRUE. This is because the mind has had first hand experience.  The experience becomes its Knowledge, becuase it has no doubt whatsoever, that the events that it experienced actually occurred.  To be indoubt is to remain in a state of ignorance which means that the mind is unable to KNOW if a particular event occurred or not. 

This doubt usually takes root in the mind only in relation to events that were not experienced by ones 'own' self.  So if we hear about a happening from another person about his 'own' experiences we do not accept it until we have 'proof' of ocuurance.

The magnitude or consequence of the event plays a big role in the extent of this doubt. If someone says they had Dosa for breakfast yesterday,  we may accept it without further questioning because the event is a very common occurance.  However if someone says they had a vision of God, then the Mind has a hard time accepting the occurance. More importantly, even if the occurance of the vision is accepted, the listener would doubt the significance of the event. The inclination would be to dismiss it as a mental delusion or dream that has no significance. When the mind determines that an event has no significance, it does not care to determine if it actually occured or not. 

SO THE MIND NEEDS TO KNOW WITHOUT ANY DOUBT THAT AN EVENT ACTUALLY OCCURED BEFORE IT BEGINS TO ACCEPT IT AS THE TRUTH.

The only events that the mind knows that occured are those that it acually experienced by itself. Take for example a dramatic event like the Appollo landings on the Moon. It has been watched by millions on the media and written about in the newspapers. But many still have doubts if the whole thing happened or was it all engineered/doctored from nothing?  

More importantly, even among those of us that accept a third party occurance like the Moon landing to be real, how does it imapct us directly? What personal relationship do we have with the event? Do we really care? Does it change our daily lives for the better? 

It is like watching TV, a game of Cricket, a Movie. It will excite us for just a little while and then fade away.  After a while it does not linger any longer in our minds. We think that we KNOW that the Moon landing happened, but it does not really matter, since we were not directly involved in the project, nor do we have any knowledge of the technical detail. We accept it as being to the credit of the scientists and engineers that worked on the project and dismiss it from our lives. 

Take the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha.  Both occurred in ancient times, when there were no recording devices or news media.  The occurance was scripted by Veda Vyasa and was taught to desciples to be passed down thru the generations verbally. Because it was meant to be transmitted verbally, the pasages were drafted as slokams with rhyming stanzas that facilitated memorization. 

That brings us to the role of the memory in sustaining belief and promoting recognition of the Truth. Even if an event happened to us, the rememberance does not remain for ever. Infact, how much of our own past occurances can we recollect?  Very very little. Even this small percentage of rememberance fades over time into hazy recollections. So we begin to develop doubts as to the nitty gritty detail of the past occurance.  Soon doubts creep into a recollection and slowly start to dissolve the memory.  One other point to be noted about memory  is that usually, if we dwell, or recollect an event frequently, that is remembered longer than the ones that we do not recall at all. So repetition ingrains the memory in our minds. 

Do we know everything that happened yesterday? Or everything that happened in the last one hour? Can we recollect all the thoughts that went through our minds in the last five minutes? The answer is we recollect very little. 

The point is - IF WE ARE NOT ABLE TO RECOLLECT FROM MEMORY, THEN WE CONSIDER OURSELVES AS NOT KNOWING. So we equate Knowledge with recollection of an event in the past or the sequence in which events occured in the past. Memory becomes knowledge.  

Take a book that we read. We may not accept the book as reality because it may be only a fictional narrative with no relation to actual events/occurances.  But we "like" the story since we are able to relate our own feelings to that of the characters and we are able to put ourselves in the place of the characters, and like to think that we would have acted in the same way.  In other words we develop a complete identity with the fictional characters and events and have no problem in ingraining the book or movie into our minds and memories and making it a part of our lives. 

As long as the memory lingers, our mind is in a state of conflict and is filled with doubt and anxiety, likes and dislikes, accetance and rejection. Did something happen? Did something not happen? I like to recall this but do not like to recall that?   When the memory is no longer there, the mind becomes oblivious to the happening and the occurance completely disappears from our lives and does not impact or influence our daily life in any way. So recollections throw our minds into a state of conflict, confusion and doubt.  

Likewise when we hear or read the narratives of Bhagavatham, Ramayana, and Mahabharath, all set out as occurances in the past, our minds are thrown into a state of confusion, doubt, disbelief, wonderment, and an inability to decide whether to accept the scriptures as real, or dismiss them as imaginary. 

What we are seeking to know is - what REALLY happened, what is the TRUTH, can some of what we KNOW or THINK we KNOW, not be TRUE?

WE THINK OF TRUTH AS REALITY. WE THINK OF FALSEHOOD AS IMAGINARY, OR SOMETHING THAT ONLY EXISTS IN THE MIND AND NOT IN THE REAL (EXTERNAL OR PERCEIVED) WORLD. 

SO IF THE SCRIPTURES CAME OUT OF VEDA VYASA's MIND, THEN WE DONT THINK OF IT AS THE TRUTH BECAUSE WE THINK OF IT AS NOT HAVING HAPPENED IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD WHICH WE THINK IS THE ONLY REALITY.

So we look for physical evidence.  If there is a structure that is described in the narrative that we can now see, then that constitues some proof (although we may still question it). If there is a photo or video, the strength of the proof increases.  If there are a large number of live witneses or if a diverse number of people have written about having witnessed the event, then the belief is strengthened. 

During the days of the Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Bhagavatham, none of these luxuries were existent.  The events happend and the only way we think we can be sure of these are the remenants of the structures from the past.  These are the Ramar Palam between Dhanushkodi and Sri Lanka and the submerged city of Dwaraka off Gujarath. 

Here's another factor - Even if we KNOW that something really did happen or occured, can we accept these events and occurances as the TRUTH? For example if there is a robbery or physical violence that occured to us, can we accept this as the TRUTH about life? The answer is we cannot.  We would like to get rid of these events from the society. We would like to eliminate violence. we would like to eliminate robbery.  SO WE DO NOT ACCEPT THESE AS DESIRABLE ALTHOUGH WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THESE HAPPEN.  

So we believe that there is a better environment that needs to be built by eliminating the undesirable. WE DO NOT ACCEPT THE UNDESIRABLE AS THE TRUE STATE OF EXISTENCE. WE DO NOT ACCEPT CRIME AND VIOLENCE AS REPRESENTING THE TRUTH ABOUT OURSELVES.  

SO WE ACCEPT ONLY WHAT WE DESIRE AS THE TRUTH.  UNDESIRABLES (such as bad behaviour), ALTHOUGH THEY EXIST ARE CONSIDERED AS THINGS TO BE ELIMINATED (BECAUSE THEY ARE IN CONFLICT WITH OUR EXISTENCE).

So Truth is not something that just happens. Truth has to be REAL and it should be ACCEPTABLE (which means it is something that is the RIGHT or CORRECT). 

RIGHT or CORRECT are terms that have the element of PERMENANCE.  One cannot apply or take the CORRECT Path selectively or apply it for some time and then change course. It has to be applied always and under all circumstances. 

So TRUTH should be UNCHANGING and Non-Negotiable.  

The world of perception is ever changing as are the instruments of perception and the mind itself.  With change being an embedded element of perception, there is no use in knowing something that is going to change all the time.  It is not possible to know something that is continually changing unless all the forces causing the change are known and understood.  

The "knowing of an ever changing object implies that we develop the capacity to visualize the changes that the object underwent in the past and also be able to predict the changes that will occur in the future. This means that the cause of the changes in the object must be identified and understood.  THIS IS TYPICALLY THE KNOWLEDGE THAT IS SOUGHT BY THE WESTERN CIVILIZATION. If we cannot identify all the multitudes causes of the change, we will not be able to understand or know the object of observation. That means we have understood the "TRUTH" behind an action or event. So the words "Knowing" and "Truth" are inextricably linked. 

The Paramathma on the other hand says not to waste anytime or energy on the perceived world. He clearly says that all the observed phenomena flow from inside the mind/consciousness complex which is nothing but one's own inner self. SO THE ASSERTION IS IF YOU KNOW AND UNDERSTAND YOUR INNERSELF, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CONTROL IT. IF YOU CONTROL THE INTERNAL WORLD, YOU WILL NOT NEED TO BOTHER ABOUT THE EXTERNAL WORLD. IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY FALL INTO PLACE. 

Essentially this implies that the TRUTH lies within us and there is nothing external that we need to care about, except to use it a a learning tool.  

So the  word 'KNOW' is applied only to knowledge of the inner self.  To KNOW MEANS TO KNOW WHO OR WHAT THE KNOWER IS. The word KNOW is never applied to an external event, person or thing. 

Likewise the word TRUTH is always applied to the INNER SELF. How did the INNER SELF react to an observation? Pleasant experiences produce happiness and contentment. Unpleasant experiences produce distress.  But neither is accepted as representing the TRUTH, because the spiritual meaning of TRUTH, excludes anything that changes.  So TRUTH, according to the Paramathma and the scriptures is that which NEVER CHANGES.

Since the perception of the external world is based on continous change, it is not considered to represent the TRUTH.  The INNER SELF within us is supposed to be completely independant because it is devoid of change.  This state is within us but unless we take the effort to identify and locate it, it will remain hidden and will not emerge.

IF WE KNOW THE INNER SELF, THEN WE CAN CONTROL IT AND BRING ALL INNER DISTURBANCES TO A COMPLETE STANDSTILL.  INDEPENDANCE IS ATTAINED REULTING IN MOKSHAM. 

Put differently the Journey inward to Know the Truth about the Self is the journey to be undertaken. The means and guidance are provided by the Teachings of the Paramathma. We have to take the effort to attain this knowledge.  

Once attained, we will transcend this contious cycle of births and deaths and attain a state of permenance and eternal peace and complete independance from any other being or thing.  

Lets go back briefly to the assertion that the Truth has to be supported by evidence for the mind to accept an occurance as REAL AND TRUE.  Ramar Palam conforms to the description of the passageway in the Ithihasa.  Does the mind still have doubts?  Of course!!!!!! HOW DO WE KNOW SRI RAMA BUILT IT (as opposed to a creation of Nature)!!!!!!  HOW DO WE KNOW SRI KRISHNA LIVED IN DWARAKA?!!! The questions are endless and there are no answers,  

Now turn the whole thing inwards. Read the scriptures with the understanding that SRI RAMA, SRI KRISHNA and all the other characters are the different aspects of our inner selves and the Ramayana and Mahabharatha did not just occur sometime in the past but the world today is nothing but the continous enactment and manifestation of the epics. Consider that the external world is a reflection of the inner self.  

WHEN READ FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE ALL DOUBTS DISAPPEAR AND OUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE SCRIPTURES IS COMPLETE. 

When this stage is reached, we have taken the first step towards Self Realization and Evolution towards attaining the feet of the Easwara and Paramathma.