The "Churning of Knowledge" is elaborately described in the Kaivalya upanishad. In the ancient days, for the purpose of the rituals, fire was produced by churning a wooden rod on two wooden pieces hollowed out (sockets) for the ends of the rod to rest. When the rod is churned in these sockets (Aranis), pressed down firmly, the fire is created due to friction and heat. Adi Sankara uses this beautiful metaphor in his Aatma Bodha. The lower ego and the higher Self are pressed to the Mahaamantra "Aham Brahmaasmi" (I am the Supreme Self) . When through reflection it is churned properly, the "fire of  knowledge" is generated. Meditation fans it into a conflagration. Finally all our 'ignorance" and misconceptions are burnt down in that fire of knowledge. You become a realised person.

The 'Mahaa Vaakyas' are no mere aphorisms. They are the golden keys which open the gateways to a richer experience, which is beyond words and equally beyond the comprehension by our intellect. By a process of negation of the false and the assertion of the positive Truth, one reaches the holy land of the full and pregnant spiritual experience: 'I am Brahman' (Aham Brahmaasmi).

Kaivalya Upanishad is the explanation of the 'Kaivalya' – the result of liberation. We have all heard of liberation, but what is the result of liberation? All Upanishads teach us that through jnana we gain liberation. This Upanishad teaches us what comes after liberation. That is why this Upanishad should be read after learning some major Upanishads. Kaivalya is a very orderly and nicely presented Upanishad.

The word ‘kaivalya’ comes from kevala. After liberation there is only one status for us. Before liberation we were tied up with so many things in order to have liberation. After liberation there is only ‘kevala’. That kevala status is known as Kaivalya – the result of the entire struggle, the fruits of liberation.
 
Our ignorance projects our ego-centric existence and its world of diversity. In this confused state, we spin and weave in us for ourselves a cobweb of our own creation. Thereafter we get ourselves identified with our body, mind and intellect. We are caught thus entirely in a net of our own creation, hatched from our own ignorance.

A liberated person (Jeevan-mukta) is one who has realised the infinitude of his existence, as the Self-realisation has become completely free from ignorance (Avidya). He continues to live in his body as long as its experiences (Praaraabdha) last. He is one of the fortunate few who has died the "mystic death" - the death of his personal limited individuality. This is possible only when the devilish forces of likes and dislikes are destroyed and eliminated within the individual seeker's bosom.

Having crossed over the ocean of delusion and having destroyed all the monsters (Raakshasas) of negative tendencies, the meditator enters the realm of the Self, to rediscover for himself the voiceless peace which he has but temporarily lost. Self is of the nature of Peace-Auspiciousness-Beauty (Shaantam-Shivam-Sundaram). And this experience of the Self, the Eternal, is permanent. He, thereafter, ever lives in himself, in unbroken experience of endless peace and bliss. He is the one who revels in the Aatman (Aatma-raama).

Just as a blind man cannot see the Sun, so also an unprepared person is not sharp enough to grasp the Truth or experience the Presence of the Eternal self. The unprepared man is the one :

Who has not developed in himself the eye of wisdom (Jnaana Chakshush),
Who is not discriminative enough to reject the unreal from the real,
Whose mind is not Pure,
Who has not the serene light of knowledge within him,
Who cannot make right judgement of things,
Who has not done sufficient penance to acquire single-pointed devotion,
Who still superimposes the finite qualities of the outer world of objects on the Infinite Self.

It is not that the Aatman is not Supreme; but it is the limiting factors in the seekers after Truth that veil and distort the beauty of the Absolute Reality. It is the blindness of the person that makes the sun dark to him, even though the sun shines ever bright and brilliant. Contemplative power alone can apprehend the Reality. The Aatman, the Sun of knowledge that rises in the sky of the heart (Hridaya), destroys the darkness of the ignorance, pervades and sustains all and shines and makes everything to shine.

Become a Seeker (Saadhaka)

Childhood is wasted in ignorance; youth is wasted in lusting after pleasures; and the rest of one's life is spent in family worries. What does a stupid person achieve in this life. Even if one performs great religious rites, one may go to heaven; nothing more.

When a person starts feeling: " I have enjoyed and suffered all kinds of experiences. Now I shall rest. I shall not grieve any more. I have been awakened. I shall slay this thief (the mind) who has stolen my wisdom. I have been well instructed by the sages now and I shall seek Self-knowledge." - then he is ready to become a seeker. 

How to make a person prepared ? (Upaasana)

First there must be an intention to walk in the spiritual path. This intention is in the form of a thought; it is a decision, which has to be made by the physical mind. An intention to go into spiritualism is an emotion. We do not know whether it is a right emotion or a wrong emotion. When a person understands the meaning of the word ‘spiritualism’ and then has an intention, he understands and makes it right. When he convinces himself that it is right to walk on this path, his intention becomes firm. After this he starts praying. During the prayer he intensifies his intention and confirms and contemplates that it is right. Meanwhile disturbances try to distract him from further progress in spiritualism. He prays constantly so that disturbance should not disturb him. There should not be any break in the prayer because then the other intentions can easily influence the prayer.

 Everything starts from you. You must have an intention; you must take a decision; you must be firm, you have to pray and then alone you can devote that you want nothing else but this. To have devotion you have to release the ego of attraction towards other matters through your emotion. You have to forcefully remove the attachments of the materialistic world. When you decide to go into devotion it is not necessary that you are extremely good. Devotion only indicates that you are ready to dedicate your self. So far you have only devoted your time, your money and your energy. In whichever form you feel comfortable, you devote. When the devotion becomes very intense and you feel that devotion is perfect (anything is perfect only after total surrender), then you come to the stage of dedication. Because of devotion you are able to dedicate.

 After you have surrendered to certain limits there is absolute belief, which is followed by renunciation. From the stage of intention to the stage of dedication, you release a number of egos. When you reach dedication you are still left with one ego – I AM DEDICATING MYSELF FOR GOD. This ego also has to be renounced. When you renounce this ego, the self is renounced. Total merging takes place; jnana comes. The jnana then intensifies into bhakthi. These are the stages in which to proceed for 'Upaasana'.

How to Meditate ?

In a secluded place, sitting in an easy posture, pure, with a neck, head, and body erect, living in the last of the orders of religious life, having controlled all the sense, saluting his own preceptor with reverence, meditating within the lotus of the heart (on Brahman), untainted, pure, clear and griefless. (Verses 4 & 5 of Kaivalya Upanishad).

Let this world-appearance be real or unreal, let it arise or set; but do not let its merits and demerits disturb your equanimity. Dont have a real relationship with this world-appearance. The mind is false; this world-appearance also is false. There is a mysterious relationship between the two.

When the mind ceases to entertain the notions "I do this', 'I enjoy this' etc. in regard to the actions performed, action becomes 'non-action'. You then reach the state of equanimity. It is in such equanimity that you will experience Peace, Bliss and the Truth. Weigh in the balance of your wisdom, the sense pleasures on one side and the bliss of peace on the other, before starting any experience.

Realise the Self in the inner light. Be like Janaka.