All is consciousness. The whole universe is consciousness.+

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

All is consciousness. The whole universe is consciousness. From consciousness, the universe comes. When the universe disappears, consciousness still remains without the universe.

The Soul itself is God in truth, the One without a Second:~

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

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God in truth) 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 other than consciousness a God.

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

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.

Thus, by sticking up to the Gods, which are not God in truth, you are sticking up to the illusion. Sticking up to illusion means sticking up to ignorance. sticking up to ignorance means you are not qualified to acquire self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

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.

The beliefs of God, religion, and yoga are based on the false self and is nothing to do with the mental (inner) journey. The religious, rituals, worship, prayers God and guru glorification may be useful in worldly life, for those who believe in birth, life, death, and the world as reality, but they are not useful tools in realizing the ultimate truth.

From the base of consciousness (Soul) as the ‘Self’, everything other than consciousness is merely an illusion. Thus, man and his experience of the world and his belief in religious God and religion are part and parcel of the dualistic illusion created out of consciousness.

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy and all the arts can be called lower knowledge. The higher is that which leads to Self-realization. The eye cannot see it; the mind cannot grasp it. The deathless 'Self' has neither caste nor race, neither eyes nor ears nor hands nor feet. Sages say this Self is infinite in the great and in the small, everlasting and changeless, the source of life.

Arguing with believers is fruitless. Belief in tradition and scripture as if they were true or factual quite clearly is delusion, but the payoff for holding such delusions is, for those who hold them, extremely compelling--the avoidance of the "wrath of God," the hope of heaven or salvation, or the imagined "end of suffering."

Sage Goudpada says: ~ “The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect”.

Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, and dogmatic instruction to the mass but pure philosophy 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.

This clearly indicates that religion, which is based on individual conduct, prescribes karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, therefore religion is for the lower intellect. And wisdom is for those who are capable of inquiring into their own existence to know and realize the ultimate truth, which is Brahman.

Sage Sankara: ~ “The illusion must be transcended by getting rid of the ignorance in order to realize the truth of the Soul which is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

If Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness then, it is necessary to realize, the consciousness as the Self, which pervades all the three states, to realize the fact that there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness. Thus, consciousness (Ataman) is the ultimate truth (Brahman).

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the ‘Self’.

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

God in truth is the Atman, the Self. Atman is present in the form of consciousness.

Do not accept any other God other than Atman not worship other than Atman.

Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything.

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

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)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of real God?

 Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~  God is Supreme Spirit.

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

There is a clear-cut idea of God in the Vedas, Upanishad, and Bhagavad Gita. And also there is a clear-cut idea of what not to worship as God in place of real God.

That is why ISH Upanishads say: ~ “By worshipping Gods and Goddesses you will go after death to the world of Gods and Goddesses”. But will that help you? The time you spent there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of Gods and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

It clearly indicates that:-If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana then why does one have to indulge in rituals and glorify 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.

All the religious and yogic-based knowledge, which are inferior, have to be discarded to know the ultimate truth or Brahman or God, which is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar