Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says: ~It is only one amongst thousands of people who strive for spiritual salvation. Even amongst such seekers, it is only the rare person who gets to know “Self” correctly.’+

Bhagavad Gita says: ~ “Don't unsettle the minds of the ignorant by revealing the esoteric truth."

Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says: ~It is only one amongst thousands of people who strive for spiritual salvation. Even amongst such seekers, it is only the rare person who gets to know “Self” correctly.’ (7.3)

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."

Come ye slow, or come ye fast; it is but the Soul, the Advaita that reveals itself at last.

If you are seeking the truth nothing but then keep away from this Guru ~ disciple business.

The Soul is the Sadguru. A Guru is needed for the religious and the yogic path. There is no need for a Guru in to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

If you are seeking truth then you have to do a deeper self-search in order to realize the truth which is hidden by the world in which you exist. It is only Soul, the inner Guru will walk with you to the goal, for the Soul is the goal.

The seeker must know the difference between the Guru and a Gnani. A Gnani never identifies himself as a Guru or a Yogi or someone disciple. The one who accepts himself as a Guru or someone’s disciple is not a Gnani.

A Gnani wears no signs which means he does not identify himself as Guru or teacher or swami.

Sage Sankara: ~ On Gnani: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior."

When the knower of Brahman (Gnani) wears no signs it means he does not identify himself as a Guru or a yogi or a teacher or a Swami.

Identifying as a Guru or some Guru’s disciple keeps one in the cage of ignorance. A person who identifies himself as a guru or disciple will never be able to get Advaitic Gnana.

Guru, disciple concept is meant for the religious and yogic path. In the Atmic path, the Guru and disciple concept have no value.

A person who realized the ultimate truth or Brahman will throw off his religious robe and all religious identity and live like a commoner. He never identifies himself as Gnani nor does he identify himself as superior to others. He only shares his knowledge with his fellow seekers.

A Gnani never identifies himself as a Guru or a Yogi or someone disciple. The one who accepts himself as a Guru or someone’s disciple is not a Gnani.

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~ "The man of knowledge (Gnani), though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.

A Gnani never claims himself as a Gnani, he guides the seekers, not posing himself as a Guru, and he does not force his wisdom on others.

A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the star is the seeker's own work. The one who he realizes Brahman becomes a Gnani. A Gnani would be there to show the way to freedom from experiencing the duality as reality. A Gnani does not identify himself as Guru or swami or yogi or sadhu.

The truth seeker seeks only truth. The inner Sage will guide you with love. Your sincerity and seriousness lead you to your inner core. The sincere and serious seekers are not excluded.

Sage Sankara says the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by the illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, (Gnani)

~ Then why you are sticking a Guru who is not a Gnani?

That is why Swami Vivekananda who was a disciple of Sage Ramakrishna Paramahansa himself said: ~ “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, and none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own Soul.”

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." (Select Works of Sage Sankara" also his commentary on Brihad)

Thus, the above passage proves that all those who ware the sanyasin robes are wearing them for the sake of bread belong to the religion; they are nothing to do with Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

There is no need to criticize and condemn the Gurus, yogis, and swamis because they are needed for the welfare of the ignorant masses in the dualistic world. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Moral, ethics, love compassion, code of conduct, celibacy, karma, sin, temple worship, ancestor worship, heaven, and hell are concerned with religion, not concerned with spirituality or Adyathma.+

Sage Sankara says rituals and rites such as yajna or fire rituals are meant for the ignorant populace.    Sage Sankara asserts that will not prepare the mindset for the journey to Self-knowledge. 

Moral, ethics, love compassion, code of conduct, celibacy, karma, sin, temple worship, ancestor worship, heaven, and hell are concerned with the one which is born, lives, and dies in the world.

Moral, ethics, love compassion, code of conduct, celibacy, karma, sin, temple worship, ancestor worship, heaven, and hell have nothing to with the Soul, the Self because it is unborn and eternal. It is unborn eternal because it is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. Religion and yoga prevent seekers from attaining Self- knowledge. 

Moral, ethics, love compassion, code of conduct, celibacy, karma, sin, temple worship, ancestor worship, heaven, and hell are concerned with religion, not concerned with spirituality or Adyathma.

Religion is concerned with the individual who is born, lives, and dies in the world. The world is the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Moral, ethics, love compassion, code of conduct, celibacy, karma, sin, temple worship, ancestor worship, heaven, and hell are nothing to do with the Soul, the Self because it is unborn and eternal. It is unborn eternal because it is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Religion and yoga prevent seekers from attaining Self- knowledge.

According to Sage Sankara Atman, the unchanging entity itself is the ultimate reality or Brahman. Atman alone is real, while the universe is unreal.

Advaitic wisdom is not based on scriptures religious and intellectual knowledge by karmas.

Starting from childhood, when learning has to start, Advaitic wisdom has to be a way of life.

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is nothing to do with religion, caste, rituals, worships, yoga, and other practices. Therefore an obvious disparity between what Sage Sankara‘s path of Gnana, and the path of Karma. The path of Gnana is meant for the advanced seeker of truth and the path of Karma is meant for the ignorant populace.

Even Sage Sankara appear and tell the orthodox people the path of orthodoxy is the path of ignorance they will not be able to drop their inherited samskara or conditioning, which they think is the only way to reach heaven and reap happy life in the next life.

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, and 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.- (11- Adhyasa Bhashya)

The orthodox people only teach and preach their knowledge of ignorance but none of them wants to know the God in Truth, which is hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Sage Sankara’s Gnanic path can help the seekers draw and prepare them for the journey to the reality hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya. :~Santthosh Kumaar

Manduka Upanishad:~ Brahman must be realized in the waking state when all objects are present to consciousness, otherwise, it is nonsense.+

The Soul is the ‘Self’. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. It is the Soul, which was in ignorance, experiences the duality as reality.

When it wakes up to its own true nature there is neither the ego, nor body, nor the world remains as reality. The Soul alone remains in its own formless nondual true nature, in Self - awareness.

The dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place. Similarly, the waking becomes unreal when wisdom dawns.

Limiting consciousness to waking or dream (duality) is erroneous. It was present even in deep sleep without the body and without the world (without waking or dream).

If consciousness was not there in deep sleep then one will not say he had a sound sleep in the waking experience. Therefore, a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’- leads to nondual Self-awareness in the midst of the dualistic illusion.

Manduka Upanishad:~"Both waking and sleep world must be known, both objects and non-objects must be understood before the truth of Brahman is realized. -Page 96. v. 29

Manduka Upanishad:~In deep sleep and anesthesia, you have non-duality but no Gnana. Therefore there must be discrimination along with non-duality. Otherwise sleeping dogs would be Gnanis. - (P.219)

Manduka Upanishad:~Existence means existence in the sense of the Atman. When you reduce everything to consciousness,, Gnana, or even give up all imaginations in truth it is unborn. -P.300. V.45.

Manduka Upanishad:~ Brahman must be realized in the waking state when all objects are present to consciousness, otherwise, it is nonsense.- Page 65: v.10.

Manduka Upanishad:~"Sleep does not exist in Turiya”: This emphatically disproves the mystic use of sleep as an analogy for Brahman. -Page 69.

Manduka Upanishad:~This means that objects do not disappear, they are there, and yet they are non-dual. Disillusionment is not the same as appearance. -Page 74. v. 17

If you say deep sleep state as Brahman then everybody will take a sleeping pill or hemp, no one will bother about Self-realization.

Deep sleep is still a state of ignorance because we become aware of the deep sleep experience in the waking experience. the waking experience is a state of ignorance.

Deep sleep is an analogy to realizing the three states changing. The one that witnesses the changes is the changeless Soul. Grasping the existence of the changeless witness of the three states leads to Self-awareness.

The nature of the Soul is like deep sleep. We must have the same repose of the deep sleep in the waking experience by realizing that all three states are created out of consciousness.

Sage Sankara: ~VC~ if the universe 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. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

A yogi cannot attain realization, because he thinks his body to be body and world to be world and fails to see them as consciousness.+

Why is the word Yoga used in so many different senses in the Gita? Because there are grades and the highest demands concentrated brains, not sitting mindless and imagining you are seeing God.

In Gita Chap.IV where Lord Krishna says: ~ “This yoga has been lost for ages" the word yoga refers to Gnana yoga, not other yogas: the force of the word this is to point this out.

Lord Krishna describes some of the other yogas but devotes this chapter separately to Gnana Yoga. So one sees even in those ancient days people did not care for Advaita; they wanted religion; hence Gnana got lost. That is why Krishna calls it "the supreme secret." Lord Krishna points out that the yoga must-see is "Brahman in action."

Gita Chap.IV:~ “He who achieves perfection in Yoga finds the Self in time." This means that after his yoga is finished, he begins the inquiry into ultimate truth, and in due course, this inquiry produces the realization of the universal spirit as the result.

Manduka Upanishad:~ Yoga is in the sphere of duality and is unnecessary to one who knows non-duality.

A yogi cannot attain realization, because he thinks his body to be body and world to be world and fails to see them as consciousness and thinks his experience of Samadhi is because of his individual effort.

The individual experience is limited to waking experience and is merely an illusion. Thus even his Samadhi is also limited to the waking experience, which is merely an illusion.

Yogi thinks the thoughtlessness is Samadhi but thoughts are of individuality. Thoughts disappear even in deep sleep. Therefore deep sleep is not wisdom.

If one thinks thoughtlessness is Samadhi and Samadhi is Brahman then anyone can get knowledge of Brahman by taking sleeping pills or hemp.

Brih Upanishad: page 32:~ "Yoga does not yield truth or liberation."

One who is in Samadhi will not know that this universe as the consciousness; therefore yoga is not the means to Self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

In Samadhi the yogi knows nothing and sees no universe; so if there is nothing but blankness. The blankness is not the Advaitic wisdom.

The yogi does not know the nature of the universe. If the universe is not seen in the Samadhi then there is no need to use the word Atman and Brahman. The yogi is unaware of the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

By shutting his eyes in Samadhi, the yogi does not know the universe, which confronts him. Hence the universe can't be known as the Soul or the consciousness through yoga.

One is in a non-dual condition in deep sleep or Samadhi, One without a second, true, but he did not know it at the time. He says only in the waking experience afterward. Hence, there must be an inquiry so that you find non-duality whilst you are awake so that you can see nonduality at the time not afterward. Hence, too the need for inquiring into the nature of the universe and knowing it as the Soul or consciousness whilst one is awake, and not during sleep or Samadhi.:~ Santthosh Kumaar

Religion is based on ignorance and it is meant for the ignorant populace.+

If you stick to religion then it blocks you from realizing the truth which is hidden by ignorance. Religion is based on ignorance and it is meant for the ignorant populace.

Seeker’s aim is to drop what is not the truth and accept only the truth beyond the form, time, and space. Whatever belongs to form, time and space is not the truth because the nature of the Soul is the formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

In the past, Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana was imparted only to a few because Sages of truth had preserved it people were more interested in their religious beliefs. Now a day’s people are more advanced and capable of understanding assimilating, and realizing the truth beyond form, time, and space.

As the seeker starts his journey he may find it difficult at first as he goes on reading the post his subconscious will start dropping the dualistic egocentric knowledge and start accepting the Soul-centric Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

The truth is very simple. It is very difficult to realize because it is lost in the dualistic knowledge we inherited, collected from different sources, different masters’ different gurus, different philosophies, different ideologies, different books, and scriptures.

All this accumulated knowledge is a mere hill of Garbage. Nothing is needed other than realizing the knowledge of the single stuff. The single stuff is the cause of the world in which we exist. And that single stuff itself is causeless. That single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The Soul is the Self. Knowledge of the Soul, the innermost Self, is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Atma Gnana is knowledge of God. Realizing God in this very life is your goal. God-realization itself is real worship.

A perfect understanding of ‘what is what’-is needed. Only an intense urge to know the truth, humility sincerity, and patience are the only qualifications to realize God in this very life and in this very world.

Discard accumulated knowledge. The Soul the inner Guru, is waiting for you to take the first step for you to realize there are no more steps. “It takes time for the seeker to gain the perfect understanding of ‘what is the truth’ and ‘’what is untruth’. It takes time for the Soul, the innermost Self to wake up from the sleep of ignorance, and it takes time for one realizes the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Remember:~

Religion with its beliefs, superstitions, and dogmas, the ideas of heaven, hell, sin, karma, and rebirth keep us in the prison of ignorance.

Heaven is 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.

The ultimate truth is not dependent on any books or any religion or belief of God or religious rituals.

All religions are dependent on their religious scriptures or holy books and their Gods based on blind belief.

Without their religious scriptures, holy books, and gods based on blind faith blind belief, religion ceases to exist.

Religion holds its scriptures and holy books as proof. The truth is hidden by the universe in which we exist. No books or Guru can help us to find the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Religious truth is limited by form, time, and space whereas the ultimate truth is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. Thus, religious truth is nothing to do with the ultimate truth.

When Vedas and Upanishads give clear-cut ideas of 'what God is supposed to be in truth' 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 says: ~ 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 toward Self-knowledge, which is the main goal.

One cannot reach the non-dual destination by glorifying gods 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 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 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. 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 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

The idea of God as a creator holds good theoretically. The creator and creation theory is the dualistic theory.

The idea of God as a creator holds good theoretically. The creator and creation theory is the dualistic theory. Every religion has its own idea of creator and creation and heaven hell, paradise, sin, and karma.

All the religious theories are based on the dualistic perspective. From the non-dualistic perspective, there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is God in truth.

Glorifying God and Guru is not needed to acquire Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Swami Vivekananda: ~ The Higher your ideal is, the more miserable you are,' for such a thing as an ideal cannot be attained in the world — or in this life, even. He who wants perfection in the world is a madman — for it cannot be. How can you find the infinite in the finite?

Only an intense urge and receptiveness to know the truth of true existence is needed in pursuit of truth. You have to get rid of all the accumulated knowledge of religion and yoga and start afresh to realize the truth, which is hidden by ignorance(I).

You have to be free from all sorts of egocentric knowledge such as religious and yogic or any sort of philosophical knowledge.

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (Advaitic wisdom) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but the philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita –Chap- IV-v.2)

When one goes into deeper self-search you will become aware that Advaitic wisdom expounded by Sage  Sankara has been hidden.

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.

Therefore, you should personally strive by all means to be free from the bondage of ignorance (I).

The Advaitic wisdom is nothing to do with orthodox preaching and practice because Advaitic orthodoxy is dogmatism. The Advaitic orthodoxy has to be discarded if one wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Yoga Vasistha:~ "Teachers, interpretations of sacred texts, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth which is revealed in the clear reflection of the heart, engendered from contact with the good."

It is necessary for the seeker to do his homework, and verify the validity of all the claims, rather than blindly believe, what orthodox pundits expound as knowledge, till; the un-contradicted truth is obtained.

Self- Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is only being true knowledge not the absence of duality. Self -Knowledge cannot destroy the world but it eliminates ignorance and exposes the unreal nature of the mind or the universe. 

Remember:~

The only real knowledge is Self- Knowledge. The knowledge of the Soul is hidden by the dualistic illusion.

The idea of the creation and creator within the dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. Similarly, the idea of creation and creator waking world becomes unreal when wisdom dawns. The wisdom dawns when the waking entity realizes the fact that, the matter is created out of Spirit.

Without the Spirit (consciousness) there is no matter. The Spirit alone is real and all else is merely an illusion created out of the spirit or consciousness.

Sage Sankara: ~ “VC~ All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought

You, search for the ‘Self’ you will find only the Soul. You, search for truth and you will find only the Soul. You, search for God you will find only the Soul.

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

What exists with or without the world, in which you exist, is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

When the Soul remains in its own awareness in the midst of the world, in which you exist, it is in its swa swaroopa or Self-awareness.

The unreal is created out of the real. The Soul is the fullness of consciousness without any division. A Gnani is fully aware of the division of form, time, and space is merely an illusion created out of consciousness. Thus, consciousness is one without the second. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The orthodox people only teach and preach their knowledge of ignorance but none of them wants to know the God in Truth.+

The orthodox people only teach and preach their knowledge of ignorance but none of them wants to know the God in Truth, which is hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10) - Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they still remain in ignorance of the Atman is the God in truth.

As a person, one performs rituals throughout his life. The person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view the world in which he exists as a reality. However, the Soul, the 'Self' unborn eternal hidden by the world in which he exists. From the standpoint of the Soul, the world in which he exists is merely an illusion.

The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (9) ~ Children, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's purpose. Because these performers of karma do not know the Truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery-stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (8) ~ Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.

Ish Upanishad declares:~ Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide 10/11/12

The religious orthodox people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide, as it were, are doomed to enter those worlds after death.

This is a condemnation of people who do not try to attain Self-knowledge. They are, in a real sense, committing suicide, for what can be worse than being a slave to sense enjoyment, completely oblivious of the real purpose of life, which is to be one ’s, own master?

Sage Sankara says “he who knows the Brahman (God in truth) is one and the ‘Self’ is another, does not know Brahman (God in truth).”

Sage Sankara also asserts that  the Self is realized when All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of Self- knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the non-Self.

Sage Sankara’s Gnanic path can help the seekers draw and prepare them for the journey to the reality hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya. 

The orthodox dualist and nondualists sects are nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. The orthodox Advaita considers, birth, life, death, rebirth, heaven, hell, sin, karma, and the world as a reality, whereas Sage Sankara declares the world in which we exist is merely an illusion.

If the world is an illusion, then birth, life, death, rebirth, heaven, hell, sin, karma, and the world, is bound to be an illusion.

Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (non-duality). Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy there is a lot of confusion. Sage Sankara’s quotes (selected verified) are quoted in my blogs and postings to show what Sage Sankara meant and ‘what is blocking the seekers from realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman. There are so many non-dualistic masters of the east and also from the west who expound Advaitic or non-dualistic knowledge, but none of them are helpful to reach the ultimate end.

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 most 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.

Sage Sankara's commentary to Brahma Sutras (Chap.3.4.50) shows that the Gnani "should pass through life", not run away from life, and should take a middle course between seeking worldly honor and worldly abasement.

Sage Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time, he showed just one step forward towards the truth. Sage Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words.

Sage Sankara gave religious, rituals, 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.

Sage Sankara says in the commentary in Vedanta, sutra that what is accepted without a proper enquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.

Seekers of truth should not believe blindly in traditional orthodox Advaita without verifying all the facts from every angle. The orthodoxy has nothing to with spirituality, which is based on the Soul or spirit. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar