Realize God in truth.+

When Upanishad itself says: ~ Sarvam khalvidam brahma ~ All this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the nondual reality (Chandogya Upanishad).

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God) 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 the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not 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.

Remember:~

God is merely a word used by the religion that believed there is a higher power that is the cause of the creation. Different religions used different words for the same thing. The idea depends on the man’s imagination. God is an English word. Different languages used different words for the same thing.

The words are there for only communication purposes. Sages of truth called the ultimate truth as Brahman. For them, the ultimate truth is God in truth.

The earliest uses of the word God in Germanic writing is often cited to be in the Gothic Bible or Wulfila Bible, which is the Christian Bible as translated by Wulfila (a.k.a. Bishop Ulfilas) into the Gothic language spoken by the Eastern Germanic, or Gothic parts. The oldest parts of the Gothic Bible, contained in the Codex Argenteus, are estimated to be from the fourth century. During the fourth century, the Goths were converted to Christianity, largely through the efforts of Bishop Ulfilas, who translated the Bible into the Gothic language in Nicopolis ad Istrum in today's northern Bulgaria. The words guda and guþ were used for God in the Gothic Bible.~wiki

Remember:~

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

If God is the Spirit, then how does 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).

Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him 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.

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 by 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 a second thing that exists other than the Spirit, God thus, God is Advaita.

Religion belongs to you. The religious belief of God belongs to you. All religious codes of conduct belong to you. But remember you belong to the falsehood because the world in which you exist is created out of the Spirit, the God in truth, which is present in the form of the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

God is divine, only held in the bondage of ignorance (matter); perfection will be reached when this bond will burst, and the word they use for it is, therefore, freedom, freedom from the bonds of imperfection, freedom from ignorance.

Realize God in truth.

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 which 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.

Even Bhagavad Gita says: ~ 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 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 mere beliefs. 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.

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 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.

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)

All these experiences as a father, son, guru, pupil, and the world were one and the same consciousness appearing differently. All these distinctions disappear when one realizes the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. : ~Santthosh Kumaar

All gurus of the east and west made Self-realization more so complicated, and books on Self-realization have made it still more complicated.

All gurus of the east and west made Self-realization more so complicated, and books on Self-realization have made it still more complicated by mixing yoga and religion.

The purpose of the whole Gita is to point out that nobody is able to live without action, even though seemingly inactive, that even the Gnani must work and not keep idle, and that the only difference between his action and the ignorant man's is that the latter works for his own self-interest or for that of a section connected with him whereas former works for the welfare of all, the world at large, for all beings without egoism because he regards them as one. Gita lays down principles applicable not only to battlefields but to daily life. Lord Krishna wants to correct the wrong idea that the Gnani spends his life sitting in meditation as a sanyasi. -

Gita Chapter 6 deals with meditation, verses 11 and 12. It says "Yoga is for purification." This means it is not for truth but for discipline.

Chap.5 deals with renunciation. The Gita says throughout the book, not to rely on Yoga, but to rely on reason (Buddhi) (discrimination between real and unreal).

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (our true Advaita wisdom) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but 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)

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." Krishna points out that yoga must see "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.

Understanding what is God is not so easy. Religious people can only imagine God based on their beliefs.

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.

Lord Krishna himself says that he can do nothing to make a man intelligent straight away. The adepts give Prasad, blessings, initiations, mantrams, etc. only to confer temporary peace of mind, to help one to get rid of worries, but not to confer Gnana. The capacity to receive it must first be inborn in man by evolutionary degree.

Gita Chap.VII. Verse 4: "Earth etc" Thus he begins his analysis with the world, with the solid earth, not with remote Atman. In all these things earth, water, etc. I am the finality." "Vasudeva sees the All." But to know this they must be examined and studied. There is a wide gulf between the yogi's "I do not care to know about the world" and the Gnani's "Nothing remains to be known for him."

Page 329: "Objection" and "Answer" explain why the Pundits do not know the true meaning of our sastras.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (brahmano hi pratisthaham, ( 14.27)

Remember:~

Yoga ~ does not qualify you to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

People try to see God through yogic samadhi meditation. And this process of yogic samadhi meditation does not help the seeker to get rid of ignorance. Ignorance hides God in truth.

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

One who is in Samadhi will not know that this universe as 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 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 inquiry so that you find nonduality whilst you are awake so that you can see nonduality at the time not afterward. Hence, too the need of 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

Remaining with or without the thoughts is not wisdom.+

Thoughts arise to the person within the domain of form, time, and space. The Thinker is within the domain of form, time, and space. Without form, time, and space thinking is an impossibility. 

Thus, the thinker and the thoughts are part of the dualistic illusion. The Soul is the witness of the dualistic illusion.

Thoughts, thinker, and the world in which the thinker exists is nothing to do with the formless witness. The witness is that witnesses the thoughts, the thinker, and the world together and remains always in the within dualistic illusion as its formless substance.

People think that the more they think, the more they will get, but it is really an error. It remains only a thought and gives them back only thoughts. Anything, seen, or observed, cannot be the Self or the Witness. 

By giving up thoughts, ignorance will not vanish. Without getting rid of ignorance the ‘I’ will prevail as a reality. The ‘I’ itself is ignorance.

Get rid of ignorance instead of getting rid of thoughts. Perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ helps to get rid of ignorance.

The thoughts come to the dream entity (thinker) within the dream world and the dream become unreal when the waking takes place.

The thoughts come to you (thinker) within the waking world the waking world becomes unreal when you realize the Self is not you but the Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Remember, the thought, thinker, and the world in the thinker exists are created out of a single clay and that single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thoughts are nothing to do with the Soul, the ‘Self’, which is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Remember:~

Thinker, thinking and the thoughts and the world are made of the single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. The nature of the Soul is Advaitic stillness. Advaitic Stillness arises when wisdom dawns.

You cannot renounce your thoughts. Wherever you are there the thoughts are bound to be there. By renouncing the thoughts the ignorance will not vanish. Without getting rid of the ignorance the truth hidden by the ignorance (I) will not be revealed.

People are trying to renounce their thoughts but they never become aware of the Self’ because they are only aware of the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ itself is ignorance. ‘I’ itself is the cause of the dualistic illusion. Without getting rid of ignorance nothing is gained. Remaining with or without thoughts is not wisdom.

The thoughts and thinker and the world in which the thinker exists are created out of the Soul, the Self. The thinker is not the Self because the world in which the thinker exists is the dualistic illusion created out of the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.

From the standpoint of the Soul, the thinker and his thoughts and the world in which the thinker exists are merely an illusion.

Perfect understanding of what is what helps the seeker to get rid of ignorance.:~Santthosh Kumaar

The theory of Avatara (‘descend’) of Gods which is very important to modern Hinduism is non-Vedic.+

 

The theory of Avatara (‘descend’) of Gods which is very important to modern Hinduism is non-Vedic.

The term Avatara (…) is not found in the earlier Vedic texts and is absent from the older Sanskrit glossaries. Avatara (‘descent’) of God was absent in the Sanatan Dharma. 

Hinduism has an ever-increasing number of Avatars and Gurus installed as God Himself, with the support and sanction of scriptures and teachings of saints and sages.

This idea of worshiping Guru as God is not a Vedic idea but adopted from Jainism and Buddhism.

Vedas bars human worship: ~

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.)

Then why worship and glorify the Guru s and Yogis (human form) in place of God when Veda bars such activities and it also warns people who indulge in such activities 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.

Remember:~

Meher Baba:~Every one of us is Avatar, in the sense that everyone and everything is everyone and everything, at the same time, and for all time.

Meher Baba: ~ “When the reality appears this ignorance which one thinks as reality becomes unreal. 

Meher Baba says:~    Unless and until ignorance is removed and Knowledge is gained . . . the Knowledge whereby the Divine Life is experienced and lived . . . everything pertaining to the spiritual seems paradoxical . . . God, whom we do not see, we say is real; and the world, which we do see, we say is false. 

In experience, what exists for us does not really exist; and what does not exist for us, really exists.

Meher Baba said: ~ "There is no higher or lower goal. There is only one goal, Self-Realization." 

Meher Baba said: ~ God is your innermost Self. Do not search for God outside of you. Let these words be inscribed in your heart. Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God. God is everywhere and does everything. God is beyond us and is everything. God alone is and all else is an illusion. 

Remember:~

Those Saints and Sages in the past introduced Glorifying God and Guru and rituals for the mass which is immersed itself in worldly life and incapable of inquiring or not ready for the pursuit of truth.

Glorifying God and Guru and rituals might also be regarded as harmful, as it might cause doubt and confusion in the minds of some seekers who strive with simple faith and earnestness to practice the discipline for Self- realization.

If one is seeking truth then this application of the theoretical philosophy is erroneous and improper. It has been instrumental in spreading sophistry and delusion in the guise of philosophy and direct realization and must be abandoned. :~Santthosh Kumaar

Bhagavad Gita itself says God is all-pervading consciousness then why accept anything as God in place of God in truth.+

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)

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." Krishna points out that the yoga must-see "Brahman in action."

Bhagavad Gita says: ~ 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 as God other than consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita itself says God is all-pervading consciousness then why to accept anything as God in place of God in truth.

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

Only the path of wisdom leads the seeker of truth on his journey to the ultimate realization of the true nature of the Universal Essence, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

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

Everything is consciousness and consciousness is everything. The consciousness encompasses everything.

Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Among thousands of men, scarcely one strives for perfection; and of those who strive and succeed, scarcely one knows the ‘Self’ in truth.

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

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.

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.

There is no need for any practice to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. A perfect understanding of assimilation of ‘what is what’ is very much necessary to realize the ultimate truth of Brahman, which is God in truth.

Remember:~

Sage Sankara says: ~ VC-47- All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the non-Self.

The path of wisdom is not for the religious populace. It is difficult for religious people to accept the truth because they already accepted something else as truth because of their samskara or conditioning. It is difficult for them to accept anything other than their inherited conditioning.

Even Sage Sankara appears personally and tells them what they have accepted as truth is not truth; they will never be able to accept anything other than their accepted truth.

Religious people must follow their chosen path which makes them happy and gives them satisfaction. Without an intense urge to acquire Self-knowledge it is impossible to tread the path of wisdom.

The path of wisdom attracts only those who are in search of truth and they appreciate it greatly. The ignorant are not spiritually mature the receive Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The ignorant indulge in argument and provocation and personal attack, which hinders their realization of the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “Advaita encompasses everything. Since Advaita requires heavy-duty intellectualism, it had to be progressively simplified. (From 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda)

Humanity has to awaken to the reality of its true existence by realizing the world in which humanity exists is merely an illusion created out of the consciousness through Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana frees the Soul, the Self from the cage of the dualistic illusion.

Sage Sankara says: ~ VC-162- There is no liberation for a person of mere book knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense organs, etc., which are unreal.

People dwelling in ignorance, but thinking themselves wise and erudite, go round and round by various blind beliefs and tortuous paths and practices, like the blind led by the blind.

Swami Vivekananda said:~ "The Vedas teach that the Soul is divine, only held in the bondage of matter; perfection will be reached when this bond will burst, and the word they use for it is, therefore, Mukthi - freedom, freedom from the bonds of imperfection, freedom from death and misery."

The truth is very simple, but it is very difficult to grasp because of ignorance. You have to only realize the world in which you exist is created out of single clay. And that single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, you and your body and the world in which you exist are nothing but consciousness because they are merely an illusion created out of consciousness. A perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is needed.

A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the star is the seeker's work.

It is necessary to reflect on the same truth again and again till it becomes a reality. One needs to constantly reflect on the subject until he gets a firm conviction of what is what. Words are needed until one gets a firm conviction of ‘what is what’.

People need to read and hear the words of wisdom to think reason and reflect deeply and reach the ultimate end.

It takes time for the seeker to gain the perfect understanding of ‘what is 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.

The Soul, the Self is the only Ancient One. Realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self is the Soul. God is not a belief that you worship because the Soul itself is God.

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

It is for every seeker who is seeking truth must first know what God is supposed to be in actuality according to Vedas and Upanishads and reject all non-Vedic Gods to realize the Atman is real God.

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 is present in the form of consciousness. Nothing matters but realizing 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.  

Thus, it refers to a formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the‘Self’ within the false experience. Thus, it indicates all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false ‘Self’. Thus, Atman or Soul, the ‘Self’ is God in 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 (verses-6)

The 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)

Sage Sankara said:~ “Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, does liberation come, but only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way. (1) VivekaChudamani v 56, pg 25

Sage Sankara: ~ VC- All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman which is free from all the limitations of Maya.

The Soul or Brahman or God in truth cannot be realized through performing ceremonies and rituals, the seeker must understand that whatever Sage Sankara indicated, the seekers have to follow it faithfully, honestly with humility to overcome the ignorance, which is blocking their realization of the ‘Self’.

Do not make your understanding just mechanical it will then bind you, rather than free you. Let all be done with all your heart in it; then you will know that all is an illusion and God is the only Reality. And, unless you have that realization and continual awareness ~ that continual Existence continually infinite ~ all else is beliefs that are untrue or make no sense. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

There is no need to walk in the mountains in search of the truth. There is no need to meet any gurus. There is no need to renounce family life to realize the Self.+

All the Guru Parampara is for religious people. There is no need for a Guru who wants to tread the of  path of wisdom..

Even Swami Vivekananda was Ramakrishna Paramahansa's disciple. Swami Vivekananda 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.”

There are 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 the ultimate truth or Brahman. The Guru and guru paramparas are meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, there is no need to follow any parampara and follow any Guru for those who wish to realize the truth which is beyond form, time, and space. 

We should not mix religion with spirituality because religion is based on the ego and spirituality is based on the Soul. Religion is concerned with its paramparas, not truth whereas spirituality is concerned only with the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. Religion is not spirituality.

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."

So he wore a Guru's robe only for the sake of the ignorant. So he was identified as Guru with parampara by religious people. For the truth seekers, Sage Sankara is a Brahma Gnani.

Sage Sankara himself said: ~ A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

Thus, it proves that the religious gurus and yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people.

Tripura Rahasya: ~ Second-hand knowledge of the Self-gathered from books or Gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization will do that. Realize yourself, turning the mind inward. (18: 89) 

Remember:~  

There is no need to walk in the mountains in search of the truth. There is no need to meet any gurus. There is no need to renounce family life.  

There is no need to study the scriptures.  

There is no need for glorifying the gurus.   

There is a need to spend a fortune to please the gurus.   

Going to the mountains, searching for a guru, renouncing family life, studying the scriptures, and glorifying the personal Goon and Gurus are the greatest obstacle in the path of Self-realization.

One need not be a monk a  sanyasi or a swami to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Religious orthodoxy and scriptural mastery are not qualifications to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Monkhood and sanyasa is the greatest obstacle in the pursuit of truth. 

Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatar belong to religious paths. The religious path is the path meant for the ignorant who blindly accept their experience the birth, life, death, and the world as real because the universe is the product of ignorance.

When wisdom dawns then the unreal nature of the universe is exposed. Thus, whatever experiences take place within the universe are bound to be a falsehood. 

Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatara have nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because they are based on the false self (ego or the waking entity) and false experience (waking). 

Path of wisdom is only for those who are seriously in search of ultimate truth or Brahman. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana is the mother of all knowledge thus it is not accumulated knowledge.

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 Reality is 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 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, succeed 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)

The ignorant think that the Self is the waking entity (ego) and perceives the world without being aware of the fact that the three states are mere illusory experiences created out of consciousness. Thus, they try to judge the truth on the false entity (waking entity or ego) within the false experience (waking). 

Until one makes sure of the true self, it is erroneous to judge and conclude the ultimate truth on mere intellectualism.  Thus one has to make sure of the fact that the Self is neither the waking entity, nor the Self is the dream entity but the Self is the  Soul or consciousness, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states. 

A Gnani has a firm conviction that the “Self” is definitely neither the waking entity nor the dream entity because the waking and dream both are illusory.  The Self is the Soul or consciousness. Consciousness is existence and knowledge.

Illusion’s "concealing power" merely means that when one looks at an ice block he thinks only of the ice block. But a Gnani will think of the substance of the ice block too.   That is a wise man has the knowledge of the substance plus of the ice block. Similarly, a Gnani has the knowledge of the universe and its formless substance also. Consciousness is concealed because of ignorance. 

As a man, one is not aware of the fact that his body, ego, and his experience of the world are mere mirages created out of consciousness. 

When one becomes aware of the fact that, the universe is merely an illusion then there is no physical body no ego and no world then there is only the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of  consciousness. 

One has to get the firm conviction that, the Self is definitely not the waking entity,  because the waking experience itself is an illusion. The Self is the formless substance and the witness of the three states.  

The formless substance and witness is the Soul or consciousness. The Soul, the Self, or consciousness.  

The Soul, the Self is without change, without any form, without any blemish, without any decay, without the disease, beyond all comprehension, beyond any change and consciousness is all-pervading.

The Soul, the Self is without properties, and without any activity; the Self is permanent, forever free, and imperishable.

The Soul or consciousness is the subject. All three states are an object to the formless subject.  And the three states are but the transient experience.  

The witness of the three states is the Soul, the Self.  The Soul (witness), is unaffected by the individual experiences happening within the waking or dream because it can never be lost or lose anything in itself. 

Thus nothing is lost or gained because everything is consciousness. Therefore, Gnani sees only consciousness in everything and everywhere in all three states.  Thus for Gnani, there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.  

It is not as if something that was not consciousness suddenly becomes consciousness. Rather, "knowing the truth” means the removal of ignorance about one's own existence as consciousness. Thus, to "know the truth” is to "be the consciousness."

The consciousness is ever-present. Without consciousness, you and the world, in which you exist cease to exist.

Consciousness is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proof. It is not possible to deny consciousness because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. Consciousness is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Consciousness is everything. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. :~Santthosh Kumaar