The word 'Hinduism' has become a common word in
the modern world. The real fact is that words like Hinduism, Hindu, etc. never
appear in any of the ancient scriptures! So to know our religion, the first
step is to know what dharma means.
The ancient peoples of India belong to the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma, therefore they have nothing to do with present-day Hinduism.
The ancient peoples of the Indus Valley of undivided India were not identified themselves as Hindu.
Hindu idol or deity or temple is nothing to do with the Vedic religion. Vedic people ate beef. The Hindu practices of idol worship and temple worship ban on beef-eating introduced many centuries later.
As one peeps into the annals of religious history he finds that the Hinduism which exists today is not a continuation of the Vedic religion, and it has no real historical foundation. Hinduism is of a much later origin.
As per the researchers, the two faiths the Hindu belief system has drifted miles away from the Vedic faith so that the two seem to be two distinct faiths. It is not difficult to discover that there is no noticeable continuity of Hinduism from the religion of the Vedas.
The distinctive characteristics of the Hindu belief system cannot be traced in the Vedic literature. Besides, although the Vedas are revered as sacred texts, there are many people in India who do not know what ‘belief in the Vedas’ means. In most cases, the acquaintance of the Hindus with the Vedas is limited to the few hymns that are recited in temples and household liturgies.
Max Müller says: ~ "The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal gods."
Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas in Vedas the God has been described as:-
Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ God is the Supreme Spirit.
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 Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)
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 innermost 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 Self is God in truth.
Remember:~
The Vedic truth is a pure spiritual truth. The essence of the Vedas is pure spirituality. Advaita propagated by Sage Sankara is pure spirituality or Adyatma.
Advaita is nothing to do with Advaitic orthodoxy, which is meant for the ignorant populace. There is a need to bifurcate religion and yoga from spirituality or Adyathma.
Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the ignorant populace, but pure wisdom only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.
Sage Goudpada: - “The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.
Certain principles are common to all orthodox Advaitic thoughts that are taken for granted. Orthodox assume that the doctrine of karma is valid because they accept the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as reality.
If they accept the birth, life, death, and the world as a reality then whatever Sage Sankara declaration: ~ Brahman is the truth The World is Unreal everything is Truly Brahman and nothing else has any value. Thus, the Advaitic orthodoxy is nothing to do with the Advaitic truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.
Advaita is “Science of the Soul, which is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. Sage Sankara’s wisdom is the universal truth and ultimate truth par excellence.
Advaita does not belong to any particular religion. It is not philosophy but Advaita is the truth of our true existence.
Advaita is the Science of Truth; the Atmic path is the path of spiritual liberation par excellence, wide and deep as the ocean which contains virtually all the water of the world and in which all particular forms ultimately dissolve.
Sage Sri, Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the mass but Advaitic wisdom only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.
The Advaita is the Soul ~ the One without A Second
Advaita is the nature of the Soul. The Advaita is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness itself. The Advaita is the spiritual heart. The Advaita is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny the Advaita because It is the very essence of the one who denies It. Advaita l is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs.
Advaita is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Consciousness is the only real
eternal.
Everything is impermanent non-eternal,
Those who are stuck up with orthodoxy believing it will get them Advaitic moksha will never be able to realize the Sage Sankara’s Advaita will rot in the prison of ignorance. The path meant for ignorance will keep them permanently in the domain of ignorance.
Those who want the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara have to discard the orthodox Advaita which propagates falsehood as truth without mercy. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar
