Religion is nothing to do with the ultimate truth of Brahman or God in truth.+

Religion is regarded as sacred and real by the common people, by the wise as false, and by the politicians as useful.

The seeker of truth must realize the religion is not Spirituality or Adyatma. religion is based on blind belief or faith whereas Spirituality is based on the Spirit, the God in truth.

Sage Sri, Sankara says: ~ Atman is Brahman. The Atman alone is real is not religious truth. Sage Sri, Sankara declared this Advaitic truth, which the ultimate truth to the whole world, many centuries back is rational, scientific truth, and ultimate truth.

Thus, the Atman which is present in the form of consciousness is real and eternal, the world in which we exist is merely an illusion.

People do not want to work persevering for the truth beyond the form, time, and space. They expect enlightenment instantly. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana cannot be acquired so easily. Most people lack the patience and perseverance in investigating the truth, beyond the form, time, and space.

Religion is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. If one is seeking the truth, then he has to be free from all the religious beliefs and dogmas. Religion is based on the ego (you), whereas, the ultimate truth is based on the Soul, the innermost Self. Whatever is based on the ego is an illusion and whatever is based on the Soul is the ultimate reality or Brahman. Thus, religion has to be bifurcated from spirituality to realize the truth beyond the form, time, and space.

There is no use in condemning religion. But one has to highlight how they cause hindrance and becomes an obstacle in the pursuit of truth.

There is no need to rebel against religion but to realize the religion is based on the false self within the false experience whereas spirituality is based on the Soul, the Self.

Religion makes humanity remain in ignorance of the reality of their true existence with its beliefs, superstitions, and dogmas, the ideas of heaven, hell, sin, karma, and rebirth.

Heaven the abode of physicalized Gods, where one goes after death, rebirth, and karma theories based on the birth entity, which is the false self within the illusory world.

When Vedas and Upanishads give clear-cut ideas of what God is supposed to be then all these Gods and Goddesses which people worship have no value from the ultimate standpoint.

For those ignorant who believe their experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, think that the effect of the action was done in previous births, as the Prarabdha in this birth, but for the realized one the present birth, life, death and the world itself is an illusion because they have realized the fact that, waking experience itself is an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness.

Isa Upanishads indicates that: ~ By worshipping Gods and Goddesses and going to the world of Gods after death is of no use. The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend the same time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is the main goal. One cannot reach the non-dual destination by glorifying god and goddesses and by doing that, one goes deeper and deeper into darkness. It surely indicates the fact that the seeker of truth has to drop the worshiping god and goddess in order to get self-knowledge.

Sage Sri, Sankara says ~ “The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.

Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage  Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. Also, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies Self with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. (Adhyasa Bhashya)

Sage Sankara:~ (11.1) This ignorance (mistaking the body for Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction, and thus a host of miseries(anartha). This anartha is caused by projecting karthvya(“doer” sense) and bhokthavya (object) on the Atman. Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person. (Adhyasa Bhashya)

Sage Sankara:~ (11.2) In short, a person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sri, Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is Avidya, an error that can be removed by Vidya. (Adhyasa Bhashya)

Sage Sankara: ~ (12) Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma Vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman. (Adhyasa Bhashya)

Sage Sankara: ~ Atman, the innermost Self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body which is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise.

Isa Upanishads: ~ Religious Rituals (Avidya) is Karma (action) and, therefore, a hindrance. By performing Agnihotra and other sacrifices (Avidya) is a roundabout way of purifying the mind, and it is also groping in the dark.

The Vedic karma is limited only to the religious rituals, not on the whole human life. This karma theory based on human conduct must have been adopted from Buddhism and other theories based on human conduct.

When it says: Perform the obligatory karmas without any attachment to the fruits and at the same time worship Gods and Goddesses, again without any desire to go to heaven - then you can get the benefit of both, liberation and bliss. For those who are not yet ready to renounce, this path is recommended, it means that the religion and its idea of God and Goddesses and code of conducts, and its rituals are meant for the mass who are incapable of thinking of the beyond.

If the ‘Self’ is not the body, then the karma theory has no meaning. On the standpoint of the Soul, the Self no second thing exists other than the Soul, which present in the form of consciousness because the world in which we exist is an illusion created out of consciousness. Thus, whatever karma performed by you within the world in which you exist has no value because the world in which you exist is an illusion.

Mundaka Upanishad says ~ “The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross The sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.

Heaven the abode of physicalized Gods, where one goes after death, rebirth, and karma theories based on the birth entity, which is the false self within the illusory world.

When Vedas and Upanishads give clear-cut ideas of what God is supposed to be then all these Gods and Goddesses which people worship have no value from the ultimate standpoint.

Religious Gods are mere beliefs. 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.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~  God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman 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)

Even Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is present in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Religious Gods are based on blind faith or belief. Religious God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul the  ‘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.

Even the 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, 

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:~ "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the Self does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

No mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, the world in which he exists as a reality. For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the mantas will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

That is why Sage Sankara:~ VC~.61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

VC- v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together. : ~Santthosh Kumaar

In reality, there is neither father nor son only the Spirit, the God, which is present in the form of consciousness exists.+

The Soul, the Spirit is God. The Soul, has no father, no mother because it is ever nondual.

Soul has no birth and no death because it is unborn eternal.

The one which is born lives and dies within the world is not the Soul, the Self.

the world in which one is born lives and dies is the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Remember:~

All these father and son belong to religion, not spirituality.

All these experiences as a father, son, Guru, and pupil the world in which they all exist were one and the same consciousness appearing differently. All these distinctions disappear when one realizes ‘Self’ is not ‘I’ but the Soul.

The Soul is the cause of this world in which we exist and it itself is uncaused.

A perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-awareness. By holding on to theories one remains in the realm of duality. One has to mentally go on dropping what is not the truth through deeper Self-search. Finally when one becomes aware of the fact that, his ego, his body, and the world are one in essence then there is Self-awareness in the midst of dualistic illusion (universe).

Remember:~

In reality, there is neither father nor son by only the Spirit, the God, which is present in the form of the consciousness exists.

Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit, and they that worship God must worship God in Spirit and in Truth. (John 4:24)”

The Spirit is present in the form of consciousness. Everything is consciousness. All the moments are within the dualistic illusion. Whatever happens within the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion created out of the consciousness. Thus, the consciousness alone is real and all else is merely an illusion.

“Spirit is my father and I and my father are one.”

If the Spirit is the father the son is bound to be the Spirit. The Spirit, the beloved alone is real and all else is merely an illusion.

There is no God in the dualistic illusion because the dualistic illusion is created out of God, which is present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness. Thus, God alone is real.

Spirit is prior to Love. Love implies duality. The love hides God. When love disappears the God appears. Find the Self and Love the Self and rest in God, which is the Spirit.

If the father (God) is Spirit the son is bound to be the Spirit.

If God is Spirit, then how does the man know God created the world? There is no proof. If man had seen God creating the world, he could admit it, but how could he have seen God before he came into existence? (i.e. were created).

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there is.

That is why Jesus said: ~ Do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. (Matthew -7:6)

~Jesus meant Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana (pearls) should not be given to the ignorant populace (pigs).

Jesus really say? To the multitude, he said, “God is in heaven; try to go there,” and to reach that end he said to overcome certain temptations and sufferings.

To his followers, he said, “God is everywhere; try to see Him.” and gave explanations to that effect.

To the close circle of apostles, he said, “God is in me and in you too,” and actually revealed this to them.

Why did Jesus say different things? Owing to the time and the persons, according to their readiness to listen and understand. What Jesus meant was to leave all and follow him; that means to know him, see him, and experience him.

The teachings that are being followed by Christians are not the real teachings that Christ gave. The priests have altered his words, added to his teachings and spoiled them.

Jesus said: ~ Seek and ye shall find. Knock the doors shall open to you.

Why did Jesus say different things? Owing to the time and the persons, according to their readiness to listen and understand. What Jesus meant was to leave all and follow him; that means to know him, see him, and experience him.

The teachings that are being followed by Christians are not the real teachings that Christ gave. The priests have altered his words, added to his teachings, and spoiled them.

Jesus said: ~ Seek and ye shall find. Knock the doors shall open to you.

Remember:~

Gospel Thomas logian 22:~ Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, “These infants being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom.”

They said to him, “Shall we then, as children, enter the kingdom?”

Jesus said to them: “When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female is female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom.”

Santthosh Kumaar: ~ This above passage is Jesus’s version of Nonduality or Advaita. When one realizes the mind (matter) and the Soul (Spirit), the innermost Self, are one, in essence, there is no place for the duality. Without the duality, the universe ceases to exist. Without the universe, your existence within the universe is merely an illusion. There is scope for two because everything is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is the consciousness or Spirit.

Until one thinks he is an individual separate from this world he remains in the realm of duality. Duality is the product of ignorance. When the Advaitic wisdom dawns, then the ignorance vanishes. When the ignorance vanishes, then the duality never remains as a reality.

God is not physical. God is present in the form of the Spirit. The Spirit is the cause of the Universe and the Spirit itself is uncaused.

On the standpoint of the Spirit, the form, time, space, and name are merely an illusion. The Spirit alone is real and all else is an illusion. In reality, the spirit (God) matter (the world in which we exist) are one. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

By repeating 'I AM BRAHMAN' as a mantra, the ignorance will not vanish.+

Some Gurus say repeat ‘I AM BRAHMAN’ as a mantra and the ‘Self’ will reveal on its own but by repeating the 'I AM BRAHMAN' as a mantra, ignorance will not vanish. Without getting rid of ignorance the ‘Self’ will not reveal.

It is foolish to say ‘I AM GOD’ when the Self is not you, but the Self is the Soul. Therefore, the Soul, the Self, is God.

People say Aham Brahmasmi ~ I AM GOD, I AM BRAHMAN. But when Brahman is, how can "I" remain? Only Brahman remains, not the ‘I’.

The mantra-yoga consisting of repeating the name of God, or even the AUM; thousands of times yield nothing. It can appeal only to the ignorant, to those who cannot think deeper. It is merely a religious fable. The real exercise is to think of the meaning of the name or the AUM and then only do you get something.

Mantras can do nothing. If they really had any power why did not Krishna use one to stop the Mahabharata war? All the magical power of mantras are religious fable because religion is based on the false self(waking or ego), and false experience(waking or world) Visions and Samadhi are illusions from the standpoint of the soul, the innermost self.

That is why Sage Sankara:- VC- 63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?

When Sage Sankara says: ~ “Vedas and mantras will not help you to get rid of the ignorance then why you are indulging in what is not required to acquire the ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Athma Gnana.

Sage Sankara: ~ VC 62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utters the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realization one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

64. Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendor of the entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely saying, ‘I am an emperor’.

65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

66. Therefore, the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated births and deaths.

That is why Sage Sankara says:~ VC-65- As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

Karma, Mantra Yoga, and Yajna, Puja Japa blind devotion to deity or guru is not the tool for liberation

People refuse to accept anything other than their Gurus words. For them, their Gurus words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.

Such a mindset is not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Athma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth.:~Santthosh Kumaar

It is impossible to worship God in truth because God in truth is ever nondual, God in truth has to be realized not worshiped.+

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman or God in truth is impersonal. Yajurveda  God in truth is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone.  Personal God does not find any support from the Vedas.

The Vedas talk about Brahman which refers to the ultimate truth or ultimate reality. Consciousness is the ultimate truth, therefore, the consciousness is Brahman and Brahman is God in truth.

Vedas do not permit idol worship. All the idols are of the Puranic Gods Priests are referring to the Puranic Brahma as God they are ignorant of the God in Vedas even though they speak of Vedas.

Priests do not understand the meaning of the Brahman (God), which is present in the form of consciousness.

The dualistic worship of personal Gods is only for the ignorant populace. God in truth is only Atman, the Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman, which is God in truth alone exists.

It is impossible to worship God in truth because God in truth is ever nondual, God in truth has to be realized not worshipped.

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman or God in truth 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 constituted the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.

Know what God suppose to be in truth. 

God in truth is the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness pervades in everything and everywhere in the universe because the universe is nothing but a dualistic illusion or Maya created out of consciousness.

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma': - Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman 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)

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~  God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. 

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

The universe is the product of ignorance. It is the Soul that is in ignorance. The Soul has to be awakened from its sleep of ignorance. In order to awaken the Soul, the Self you should realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self is the Soul by constant remembering of the Soul.

When the Soul the ‘Self wakes up in the midst of the dualistic illusion or Maya the ignorance vanishes the Soul sees itself as it is without the form, time and space even in the midst of the illusory form, time and space.

The Soul, the God is impersonal. The only way to approach God in truth is by acquiring the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara.

Constant remembrance of the nature of God in truth leads to Self-awareness, which itself is God-awareness. 

Remember:~

God in truth is not He/She because God is the Spirit. God in truth is the Spirit has no material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.

God in truth is Athma the Spirit, which is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. Vedas say May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman

By worshipping Gods and Goddesses, you will remain in the domain of the dualistic illusion. Worshipping Gods and Goddesses will not help you to realize the real God. The real God is the Soul, the Self.

Sage Sankara said: ~ Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many gods as you please, observe ceremonies and sing devotional hymns, but the liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness.

No religious God can exist apart from the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman. Thus, the Purva mimam.sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

All the religious Gods with form and attributes cease to exist without the dualistic illusion.

Remember:

It is impossible to worship God in truth because God in truth is ever nondual  Worshipping implies two ~ the worshipper and the worshipped, whereas God in truth is nondual. One can worship his idea of God only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as apart.

When Upanishads and Vedas declare that, “God in truth is present in the form of the Athma, and God is indeed Athma itself” then why to accept another God in place of the Atman or worship other than the Atman.

God has to be realized not worshipped.

Remember:~

God in truth is Self-evident. God in truth is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God in truth because God in truth is the very essence of the one who denies it. God in truth is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe in which you exist, God in truth is without the illusory universe in which you exist.

God is the Supreme Being the One eternal homogeneous essence, indivisible consciousness and intelligence, which is beyond the form, time, and space. To which the Sages describe in a variety of ways through diverse words.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ ‘All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many Gods. (7- Verse -20)

Brihadaranyaka Upanishads: "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the Self does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

The time you spend Worshipping Gods and Goddesses is wasted because you could have spent that time to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is your goal. By worshiping Gods and Goddesses, you cannot you will remain in ignorance of the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Upanishads clearly indicate that the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Mundaka Upanishad condemns rituals:~ The Para or Higher knowledge is the knowledge of the Supreme Being while the Apara or Lower Knowledge is that of following sacrificial rites and ceremonies. (1/2/ 1 – 6)

First, you must know what God is supposed to be. There is a clear-cut idea in the scriptures, what is supposed to be God. And what not to worship in place of God then why worship the belief of God, which not God.

That is why 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.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ 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)

People, who worship the belief of God, are hallucinating that they become one with such God.

Vedas itself says:~ May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman? Thus, to know the real God Self-realization is necessary. Self-realization is God-realization. Self-realization itself is real worship.

Remember this:~

Yajurveda says if you worship what is not God: ~

Yajurveda: ~

Translation 1.

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2.

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent." (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3.

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that: ~

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc (Yajurved 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

If the religious Gods and goddesses are not real Gods then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying the conceptual Gods, Goddesses, and Gurus to go into deeper darkness. Instead, spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal.

That is why Sage Sankara: ~ VC ~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together (verses-6). :

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."

The worship of personal God” is only for the ignorant populace.  God in truth is only Atman, the  Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists. ~Santthosh Kumaar

You will not find the 'I' if you inquire into 'I' because 'I' is present in the form of the universe.+

You will not find the 'I' if you inquire into 'I' because 'I' is present in the form of the universe. The universe appears as the waking or dream. 

Without the universe, the 'I' cease to exist because 'I' itself is the universe. 

Till you hold the ‘Self ‘as the ‘I’ you will never be able to get Self-realization. ‘I’ hides the Soul, which is the Self. ‘

'I’ is ignorance.

‘I’ is the duality.

‘I’ is form, time, and space.

‘I’ is the universe.

‘I’ is the waking.

‘I’ is the dream.

‘I’ is the illusion.

‘I’ is the experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

Remember:~

Without the ‘I’ there is no ignorance.

Without the ‘I’ there is no duality.

Without the ‘I’ there is no form, time, and space

Without the ‘I’ there is no universe.

Without the ‘I’ there is no waking.

Without the ‘I’ there is no dream.

Without the ‘I’ there is no illusion.

Without the ‘I’ there is no experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

The ‘I’ hides the truth. The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self.

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say ‘I,’, If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, you are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

It is time to discard the ‘I’. Never use the word the ‘I’ or I AM for the Self. 

Remember:~

Bhagavad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16

WHAT IS THIS ‘I’?

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self. which is present in the form of consciousness.

The earliest ancient sages used the word ‘I’ to the witness of the three states not to the ego as moderns use it and think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that, the ‘I’ is not the ‘Self’, but the Self is the witness of the ‘I’, which comes and goes.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," if you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, you are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

The ‘I’ disappears as deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is impermanent and illusory.

There is no ‘I’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of the mind. And the mind is in the form of the universe. And the universe appears as the waking or the dream. The ‘I’ (duality) disappears as deep sleep (nonduality). 

Thus, one that appears as ‘I’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness and it disappears as deep sleep is also consciousness. In deep sleep, the Soul remains in its own awareness. 

The Soul witnesses the coming and going, of the ‘I’. On the standpoint of the Soul, the witness and witnessed are one, in essence.

The universe is a reality on the base of individuality and the universe is unreal on the base of the Soul, the Self. 

The seeker gradually will grasp and realize the unreal nature of the universe. Individuality is illusory because the ‘Self’ is not an individual because the ‘Self’, is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. The Soul, which is present in the form of  consciousness pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar