Lord Krishna Says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the ‘Self’ in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.
The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the 'Self’. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.
It is for every seeker who is seeking truth must first know what God supposed to be in actuality according to Vedas and Upanishads and reject all non-Vedic Gods to realize the Atman is God in truth.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter:~ “All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many gods. (7- Verse -20)
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is present in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself’.
Thus, it refers to formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the ‘Self’ within the false experience. Thus, it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false ‘Self’. Thus Atman or Soul, the innermost ‘Self’ is God.
The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of the Vedic religion never worshiped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jainism. There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘Self’ in i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.
It indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false ‘Self’.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says: "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from him does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)
All the Gods with form, name, and attributes are not God in truth. Religious Gods are merely a belief not God in truth.
People worship God in various ways, not knowing the Truth. At different levels, at different epochs, in different lands, people have different conceptions of God. They have quarreled because they did not know the truth about God.
The conflict of opinions among mystics and religionists proves that all are imagining God as they like, not knowing God.
Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul or Spirit) is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)
Rig-Veda 1.164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.
Rig Veda says God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of real God.
Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God there is no truth."
When Upanishad itself declares: ~ Sarvam khalvidam brahma ~ all this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the non-dual reality (Chandogya Upanishad).
Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses.
Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.
Sage Sankara: ~"That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman or God in truth.
Thus, Truth-realization is Self-realization. Self-realization is God-realization. God-realization itself is real worship.
People are not aware of the fact that there is no individual God can exist, apart from the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.
Without consciousness, the attributed Gods with name and form ceases to exist.
Religious Gods are based on blind faith or belief. Belief is not God. Religious God cannot be considered as the center because, the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence. God in truth is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.
No conceptual Gods can exist, apart from consciousness.
Even Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).
When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.
People think that there must be a creator of this universe. If one thinks of the physical entity or ego as the Self, then there is a creator, but if one thinks, the Soul (consciousness) as the Self, then there is nothing that exists other than consciousness, which is the Soul, the Self.
If one objectifies and sees a universe, then he is bound to see many things besides himself and postulate a God, the creator. Body, God, and world rise and set together from, and into, the Soul, the innermost Self (consciousness).
If God is apart from the Self (Soul or consciousness), then God would be Self-less, that is, outside existence, that is, non-existent.:~ Santthosh Kumaar
