Mundaka Upanishad: ~Rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of samsara, of birth and death.+

Sage Sankara pointed out those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less Moksha.

You are being conditioned by the religious myth which has made you a non-thinker. Come out of the religious myth by realizing God in truth.

If people have believed religious propagated myth thing over thousands of years, the length of time does not prove it true.

Sage Sankara’s  Brahman or God in truth is impersonal. Worshipping personal Gods is meant for the orthodox people who are ignorant and refuse to accept the truth. 

Sage Sankara clearly says:~ Neither by worshipping as many gods nor observe ceremonies nor by singing devotional hymns nor by uttering mantra nor by mastering the scriptures liberation comes without Self-realzation. 

Remember:~

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

Sage Sankara pokes fun at ascetics and points out that all their austerities do not cause desires to go. (Altar Flowers" Page 205, v.2 P.207 v.4)

The rituals mentioned in the karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the jnanakanda which is also part of the same scripture. While the karmakanda enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down rules for the same, the jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules the worshipper of deities as a dim-witted person no better than a beast.

This seems strange, the latter part of the Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals throughout with karma while the second or concluding part is all about jnana. Owing to this difference, people have gone so far as to divide our scripture into two sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to mean the karmakanda and the Upanishads (Vedanta) to mean the jnanakanda.

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)

It is clear that liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality by means of wealth. (Verses -7)

Religious rites and rigid ceremonies were passed down from one generation to the next as a practice or set customs and tradition and performed automatically with blind faith. Such worship based on the belief of God does not reach God.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual are meant for the ignorant populace.

Belief in mystical Gods without knowing God in actuality holds the worshiper more firmly in the grip of ignorance.

All worship and the ceremonies rituals performed on the base of non-~Vedic Gods will not yield any fruits. Deeper self-search reveals the fact that worshiped, the worship, and the worshiper and the world are merely an illusion created out of the consciousness.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of rituals formal observance have long since set in.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual are meant for the ignorant populace. In the Atmic path, the seeker has to discard what is not needed to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of rituals formal observance have long since set in.

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “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.

Sage Sankara pointed out that rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less moksha. He asserted while the rewards of the rituals were not mattered of direct realization, wisdom which is the fruit of Vedanta is based on immediate and personal realization; one need not have to wait for the reward nor one be in doubt whether the reward would or would not come.

This was in sharp contrast to the position taken by Mimamsakas who asserted that rituals alone would lead one to higher levels of attainment. Further, the deities would reward only those entitled to perform the rituals alone. The entitlement involved the caste, creed, and other parameters.

Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices. However, the texts that combined rituals with wisdom (jnana_karma_samucchaya) more in favor of the Mimamsaka position came onto vogue, projecting Sage Sankara as the rallying force of the doctrine. His followers might have found Sage Sankara’s mission a hard task and, therefore, compromised the liberating wisdom with the performance of rituals.

Sage 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. In addition, 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 the ‘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, the 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 Self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body that is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

God based on faith or belief is not God in truth. Religion is a prison of ignorance. People who follow religion locked up in ignorance.+

God based on faith or belief is not God in truth. Religion is a prison of ignorance. People who follow religion locked up in ignorance. God in truth is not what people believe and worship.

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

Religious Gods are not God in truth because they are based on blind faith or belief. One must know God in truth.

Realze God in truth.

Religious Gods are based on blind faith beliefs Religious God cannot be considered as God in truth.

Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, it 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.

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.

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 blind belief. 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, it means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence.

Even 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)

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:~ "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)

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

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman (God).” Brahman must be realized.

Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by subtle arguments.

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman 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 besides it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described, because 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.

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 the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the innermost 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.

There is no God but God. There is no God because the world in which we exist is merely an illusion created out of God, the Spirit. Call it with any name God is universal. God belongs to the whole of humanity. Religion creates separation God is unity in diversity. God is one which the cause of the whole world in which humanity exists. there is no God but God means the world in which we exist is an illusion the GOD is the cause of the world is real and eternal. God alone is real and all else is an illusion. There is no second thing that exists other than the Spirit, the God thus, God is Advaita.

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.

God with form, name, and attributes does not find any support from the Vedas

Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the Self. Advaita is the Soul itself. Advaita is the Soul, the God. Advaita is another word for God, which is second to none. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The final state is that God in truth is everything there is nothing exists but God in truth.+

The seeker of truth should not believe all the stories about the magical power of mantrams, visions, and samadhis, and astral travel because they are a reality within the dualistic illusion. Wherever there is duality there is no truth.

When you know that everything is Brahman, there is no need for the yogic control of the mind. Control presupposes second, a duality.

Hence, yoga is in the sphere of duality and is unnecessary to one who knows non-duality.

If anyone talks of liberation he is forming an idea. The idea belongs to duality. Those philosophers, who are so confused as to be unable to separate the subject from the object, talk of gaining liberation. But all such ideas are only the dualist illusion (object) that come and go, the Subject needs no liberation because the object is created out of the subject. Knowledge of the subject frees the subject from the illusory object.

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth. The ultimate truth is Brahman or God in truth.

The final state is that God in truth is everything there is nothing that exists but God, whereas to say "God is in me" is mysticism.

The world in which you exist is consciousness. Unless the world in which you exist is there in your realization, the Advaitic wisdom will not dawn.

Ignorance cannot go through merely knowing the Soul, for it is known in sleep and Samadhi. It can go only by the realization of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth because there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.

Sage Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti or revealed scripture. This may be because Sage Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus with the idea of God~ and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need for this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore, dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason.

Sage Sankara gave out what was of most use to the greatest number of people. Therefore, in the commentaries on the Upanishads, such as the famous Manduka Upanishads, he gave the highest non-dual message of the identity of Atman and Brahman, revitalizing the philosophy and the practice of Advaita, while in the commentaries on the Brahmasutra he gave lesser teaching, positing both higher and lower Maya and higher and lower Brahman (Ishvara) to explain creation for those of lesser intellects until they were ready for the highest truth.

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 (6)

It is clear that liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality by means of wealth. (7)

Actions help to purify the mind, but they do not, by themselves, contribute to the attainment of Reality. The attainment of the Reality brought about only by Self-Inquiry and not in the least by even ten million acts. (11)

The fear and sorrow created by the delusory serpent in the rope can be ended only after fully ascertaining the truth of the rope through steady and balanced thinking. (12)

Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us the knowledge about our own Self. The firm experience of the nature of the Self is seen to proceed from inquiry along the lines of the salutary advice of the wise. (13)

Ultimate success in spiritual endeavors depends chiefly upon the qualifications of the seeker. Auxiliary conveniences such as time and place all have a place indeed, but they are essentially secondary. (14)

He alone is considered qualified to enquire after the supreme Reality, who has discrimination, detachment, qualities of Calmness, etc., and a burning desire for liberation. The four-fold qualifications (17)

Great sages have spoken of four qualifications for attainment which, when present, succeeds in the realization of Brahman and In the absence of which the goal is not attained. (18)

(While enumerating the qualifications), first, we count the ability to discriminate between the Real and the unreal; next comes a spirit of detachment from the enjoyment of the fruits of actions here and hereafter; after that is the groups of six virtues beginning with Calmness, and the last is undoubtedly an intense desire for liberation. (19)

A firm conviction that Brahman alone is Real and the phenomenal world is unreal is known as discrimination between the real and the unreal. (20)

They have crossed the dreadful ocean of (embodied) existence through their own efforts and without any (personal) motives; they help others to cross it. (37)

It takes time for the seeker to gain the perfect understanding of what is the truth?’ and ‘’what is untruth?’.

Those who are weak and those who are not sharp enough to grasp the truth beyond the form, time, and space advice others to be non-observant and to withdraw. The soulcentric reasoning will help, not hinder your pursuit of truth. There is no need to run away from worldly life in ascetic fear or shyness of them. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara's Advaitic wisdom is pure Vedic spirituality or Adyathma. Vedic God is Athma. Realizing Vedic God is Vedic spirituality or Adyathma.+

Adyatma is nothing to do with religious sect or creed and religious belief. Adyatma is pure spirituality. Knowledge of Atma is Adyatma. Advaita is Adyatma.

Adyatma is the knowledge of the truth beyond the form, time, and space. Bifurcate religion, yoga, and theoretical philosophy and based the truth on the Athma it is Adyathma.

Adyatma is based on the ultimate truth which is based on the Atman or Spirit, which is the Self.

Sage Sankara's Advaitic wisdom is pure Vedic spirituality or Adyathma.  

Vedic God is Athma. Realizing Vedic God is Vedic spirituality or Adyathma.  

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

Do not accept any other God other than the Soul. The Soul is God in truth,  Nothing is real but the Soul, which present in the form of consciousness. Nothing Matters but realize  God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone is real and eternal and all else is an illusion.:

Brahman is merely a word to indicate the ultimate truth or God in truth.  The ultimate truth itself is God in truth. 

Remember:~

Sage Sankara's Advaitic wisdom is nothing to do with Advaitic orthodoxy, which is meant for ignorant people. 

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

Thus, the Atman which is present in the form of the 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 to 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 of Brahman or God in truth. If one is seeking the truth, then he has to be free from all the religious beliefs and dogmas. The 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, the time and space.

There is no use of 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 the spirituality is based on the Soul, the innermost 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 what God 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 action 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 nondual 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 Sankara says ~ “The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.

Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sri, 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. In addition, 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. Sage 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, person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage 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 innermost 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.

The 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 what God supposed to be then all these Gods and Goddesses which people worship have no value from the ultimate standpoint.

Religious Gods are mere 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, it 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:~ It has been said that God Supreme or 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 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, it 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

The ‘I’ is the main ingredient to investigate the truth you are seeking.+

Sage Sankara says: ~ “What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead to the final Goal”. (Commentary on Vedanta Sutra)

Nothing has to be accepted as truth without verification.

‘WHO AM ‘I’? and ‘I AM THAT are only stages. They are helpful at the beginning of the pursuit of truth. As the seeker advances in his quest for truth, he finds them inadequate and useless.

The inner journey will not end with ‘WHO AM ‘I’? and ‘I AM THAT the journey is incomplete. It is WHO AM ‘I’? and ‘I AM THAT teaching are final because they are only based on the form and they omit the time and space.

The journey will be completed only when we discover the truth of the whole that is the form, time, and space together. Thus, sticking to WHO AM ‘I’? and ‘I AM THAT teaching as final and stopping the journey is a foolish venture. If you are a serious seeker of truth and you want to realize the truth of your true existence then you must ready to drop what is not needed in pursuit of truth. Nothing has to be accepted without deeper verification.

If the ‘I’ be true, let it then be perceived in the state of deep sleep also. As it is not at all perceived, it must be unreal and false like dreams.

All the teachings are useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

The seeker has to dive deeper and deeper in order to unfold the mystery of his true existence.

The basic purpose of seeking the truth is to discover the truth of our true existence. The truth of our true existence will be revealed only by discovering the source of physical existence. Physical existence means the universe.

First, analyze the universe. How this universe came into existence. And what this universe supposed to be in truth.

As you go deeper and deeper analyzing you will discover that the universe is dependent on the ‘I’. Without the ‘I’ the universe ceases to exist.

The ‘I’ is the main ingredient to investigate the truth you are seeking.

As you go deeper you will find: ~

The ‘I’ appears along with the universe.

The ‘I’ disappears along with the universe.

As you go still deeper you will find.

The ‘I’ is there only when the mind is there.

The ‘I’ appears along with the mind.

The ‘I’ disappears along with the mind.

As you go deeper you will find: ~

The mind appears along with the universe.

The mind disappears along with the universe.

As you go deeper you will find: ~

The universe appears along with waking experience

The universe disappears along with waking experience.

As you go deeper you will find: ~

The dream universe appears along with the dream.

The dream universe disappears along with the dream.

The dream is a parallel waking experience

The waking experience is a parallel dream.

As you go deeper you will find: ~

‘I’ disappears in deep sleep.

Along with the ‘I', the mind disappears.

Along with ‘I', the universe disappears.

Along with ‘I', the waking disappears.

Along with the ‘I’ dream disappears.

So,

‘I’ is one behind the mind.

The ‘I’ is the one behind the universe.

The ‘I’ is the one behind the waking.

The ‘I’ is the one behind the dream.

So,

Where this ‘I’ disappeared in deep sleep.

As you go deeper you will find: ~

The duality is present only when ‘I’ is present.

The duality is present only when the mind is present.

The duality is present only when the universe is present.

The duality is present only when the waking is present.

The duality is present only when the dream is present.

Remember this:~

The duality is absent in deep sleep.

The ‘I’ is absent in deep sleep.

The mind is absent in deep sleep.

The universe is absent in deep sleep.

The waking is absent in deep sleep.

The dream is absent in deep sleep.

So,

In deep sleep, there is only non-duality.

So, you have to find out: What is it that appears as duality, and what is it that disappears nonduality?

~ It is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is the cause of the ‘I’ and it itself is uncaused. : ~Santthosh Kumaar