From the Vedic perspective, worshipping non-Vedic Gods causes the suffering.+

Advaitic Orthodoxy is not the means to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, because the

Advaitic orthodoxy is based on the experience of birth, life, death, and the world, whereas the Soul the Self is birthless, deathless, and the world less because it is ever formless.

When Sage Sankara declares the world is an illusion, then it is erroneous to hold the experience of birth, life, and death, which takes place in the unreal world as real.

When Sage Sankara says, the world is an illusion, then why hold the experience of birth, life, and death, which takes place in the unreal world as real.

The Advaitic orthodoxy is meant for the ignorant populace, which believes the world as real. The path of wisdom is meant for the class, not for the mass.

Remember:~

Dogmas and beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies can never be the essence of spirituality. They are generally not only superficial and ineffective but positively misleading.

All the rituals are based on non-Vedic Gods. Non-Vedic Gods are not God in truth. what is the use of the rituals and worships based on Gods which are not God in truth but merely belief?

They not only feed the ego of the priest class but also serve as an instrument for the exploitation of the credulous.

The diverse rituals and ceremonies are based on the mythical Gods that keep the Soul in the cage of ignorance.

The mythical Gods are myths not God in truth. All the mythical Gods are non-~Vedic Gods. From the Vedic perspective, worshipping non-Vedic Gods causes suffering. Vedic God is Atman, the Spirit.

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

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”. And never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman

The Upanishads say in effect that: ~ if you believe that the Soul is one and God (Brahman) is another you cannot understand Truth.

Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God there is no truth."

Attachment to the belief in mythical Gods and rituals is the attachment to ignorance. Attachment to ignorance is the attachment to the myth as truth. All mythical Gods and their rituals are not of Vedic origin.

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

All the beliefs based on Gods of all the religions have no universality in their belief of God. Thus diverse beliefs create divisions between one religion and another. Therefore the rituals and ceremonies keep the populace permanently in the prison of ignorance.

Yajur Veda indicates that: ~

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

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, and 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 mythical Gods in place of God when Veda bars such activities and 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.

God exists prior to form, time, and space. Form, time, and space cease to exist as a reality when wisdom dawns. Thus, the mythical Gods have no place in the domain of the Advaitic reality. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, which is the real God. Self-realization is the only way to God-realization.

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

Therefore, it is necessary for everyone to know what God is supposed to be in truth according to their own scriptures.

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

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.

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.

God is not a part but God is whole. God pervades everything and everywhere in the universe because the universe is nothing but an illusion of God. Seeing God as a part of ignorance.

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.

How can you worship the Absolute? That implies two ~ the worshipper and the worshipped, whereas the Absolute is nondual. One can worship his idea of the Absolute only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as a part.

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

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

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

All worship and ceremonies and 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 consciousness.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and Homa-havans, or any other forms of rituals formal observance has 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

Sage Sankara says: ~ The scriptures dealing with rituals, and rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.-Adhyasa Bhashya

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, 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 in truth), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not a body that is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara is the only Sage who has shown the light on the path of truth.+

Your quest for the truth will finish only when you acquire the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara. Seeker has to see Sage Sankara without religious identity and see Sage Sankara with rational lenses.

Sage Sankara is the only Sage who has shown the light on the path of truth.

Seekers of truth love Sage Sankara because he represents the ultimate truth, which is the essential core of Spirituality or Adyathma.

Sage Sankara is the only Sage who has ever existed in the world incomparable, and unique.

If People can have a taste of Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom, they will be infinitely benefited and blessed.

Before Sage Sankara, there were religions but never Spirituality or Adyathma. People are not yet spiritually mature.

With Sage Sankara, humanity enters into a mature age. All human beings have not yet entered into that, that’s true, but Sage Sankara has heralded the path; Sage Sankara has opened the doorless door to nonduality or Advaitic.

It takes time for human beings to understand the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is the deepest ever. Nobody has done the work that Sage Sankara has done, the way he has done it.

Nobody else represents the pure fragrance of his Advaitic wisdom. Sage Sankara is the profounder of Advaitic wisdom.

Sage Sankara has propounded not only religion but Spirituality or Adyathma. And this is a great radical change in the history of human consciousness.

Remember:~

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is not teaching or philosophy but Advaita is the universal wisdom. Advaitic wisdom is neither a teaching nor a theory but it is mere guidance to those who are seriously seeking the ultimate truth or Brahman. Grasp the ultimate truth anytime, at any age, if the seeker has the spiritual maturity and capacity to grasp it.

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 not-Self.

It really depends on his inborn natural capacity to understand and assimilate it. Sage  Sankara’s wisdom is a Self-examiner, to test oneself to discover how near to Gnana he has approached and what progress has already been made on the path, and what still remains to be done. It sets up criteria for Self-judgement. There are millions in search of truth but one in a million will be able to grasp it.

Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (nonduality). Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy there is a lot of confusion. I am highlighting all the obstacles, which is blocking one 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.

One has to know and realize his innermost Self is Soul and identify it as his true identity to find liberation from the bondage of the illusion of birth, life, death, and the world(duality). The goal of our life is to find and realize our identity with the Soul the Self.

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) Vivekachoodamani v 56, pg. 25

To come to a more precise understanding of what non-duality is or might mean, we must return to the original linguistic and philosophic backgrounds from which the word has been translated into English.

If we limit a probe of the meaning of non-duality to Hindu Sanskrit literature, we find that the most frequently used term is “Advaita.

Advaita” is not a religious concept. Advaita is the nature of existence hidden by form, time, and space. The seeker has to attempt to rule out from the start a false understanding of reality by a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’.

The Advaita is hidden by the dvaita. Advaita is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Dvaita is the universe.

Advaita is basically a denial; it is literally the negation of the dvaita. That means whatever remains by negating the universe by realizing the universe is created out of single clay and that clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, the hidden truth by dvaita uncovered. The consciousness is the cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

By tracing the source of the universe one will be able to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

The Advaita (nonduality) is hidden by the dvaita (duality). Advaita is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Dvaita is the universe.

Advaita is a denial; it is literally the negation of the Dvaita.

That means whatever remains by negating the universe by realizing the universe is created out of single clay and that clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, the hidden truth by dvaita uncovered. Consciousness is the cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused.

Thus, the path of wisdom is the only means. Then it is no use going a roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and the witness of the universe (mind).

By tracing the source of the mind or the universe one will be able to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

There is only the mind which is present in the form of the universe. Thus, we have to investigate the universe that confronts us.

Sage Sankara says you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand? If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth.

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.

Sage Sankara says: ~ VC-63- "Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

Sage Sankara: ~VC~ if the universe is 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.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman (Spirit), and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman”.

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 deeper verification.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then why you are indulging in other types of meditation.

Sage Sankara is the only Sage who has final authority on the Advaitic truth (non-duality). The Advaitic truth is rational truth and scientific truth without dogma.

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 not-Self.

It really depends on his inborn natural capacity to understand and assimilate it. Sage Sankara’s wisdom is a Self-examiner, to test oneself to discover how near to Gnana he has approached and what progress has already been made on the path, and what still remains to be done. It sets up criteria for Self-judgement. There are millions in search of truth but one in a million will be able to grasp it.

Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (nonduality). Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy there is lots of confusion.

All the Gurus of the east and west propagate Advaita based on the dualistic perspective and orthodox perspective. their knowledge is superficial and only indicates the truth, not wisdom.

I am highlighting all the obstacles, which is blocking one 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.

The seeker has to know and realize his innermost Self is Soul and identify it as his true identity to find liberation from the bondage of the illusion of birth, life, death, and the world (duality). The goal of our life is to find and realize our identity with the Soul, the Self. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

In reality, the experience is an impossibility because the reality is ever nondual.+

In reality, the experience is an impossibility because reality is non-dual. Experience is possible only in the domain of the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Experience implies duality. Experience belongs to an individual. The individual is nothing to do with the Soul, the Self because the Soul, the Self is not an individual because the Soul is nondual, the Soul is nondual because it is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Anubhav in the Advaitic contest is not an experience but is the realization of the 'Self' hidden by the illusory universe or Maya.

Remember the 'Self', is not an individual but the Self is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. the experience is possible only in the domain of form, time, and space. In reality, form, time, and space are one in essence.

Sage Sankara himself has warned us not to use ambiguous words, and to practice semantic analysis (“Definition of one's own Self." Page 199, v.24 of "Sankara's Selected Works”)

Remember:~

The 'Self' cannot be experienced because the experience is possible only in the realm of duality. There is neither experience nor experiencer in reality.

In Self-awareness, the body, ego, and the world are not considered different from consciousness

The experience and experiencer exist within the domain of form, time, and space. Form, time, and space are within the domain of the dualistic illusion.

To experiencer must have a form, without the form the experience is impossible? The experience is impossible without form, time, and space. The experiencer and the experience are one, in essence. The essence is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The Soul, the ‘Self’ is the fullness of consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space.

All the division in consciousness is merely an illusion. Thus, other than consciousness all else is merely an illusion. The illusion is also consciousness because it is created out of consciousness.

The Atmic path is nothing to do with religion and the yogic path. The Atmic path is the path of wisdom.

All your accumulated knowledge is nothing to do with the Atmic path. The Atmic path is not a path of discussion or exchange of views and opinions but the direct realization of the 'Self' hidden by the dualistic illusion.

The seeker must have the patience to open the blogs and posting and read. It will not only help you to clear all your cobweb of doubts and confusion.

Without reading the blogs trying to argue on your own yardstick, is not of any use. Whatever you have read, whatever you have heard and accumulated becomes a hindrance in realizing the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

All your egocentric accumulated cocktail knowledge is not Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana soulcentric knowledge is not available in the spiritual supermarket.

All accumulated knowledge is mental Garbage is no use in the quest for truth. The seeker has to discard all the accumulated knowledge and start afresh.

Reading and reflecting on my blogs and postings gradually, the seekers will start assimilating and realizing ‘what is the truth’ and what the untruth is.

Repeated reading of my blogs and postings makes the seeker Soulcentric and the inner dialogue will start and clear all the doubts and confusion.

Perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ through deeper thinking and reasoning helps to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

In the Atmic path discussion of the unimportant subject matter is a great hindrance. The path of truth is the path of verification.

When there are no doubts and confusion, then they have realized the truth that form, time and space are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness.

It is of no use in wasting time in questioning and arguing same time and effort have to be used to make the seeker more independent and without external spoon-feeding, he can reach the inner core, which is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

When there are no doubts and confusion, then they have realized the truth that form, time and space are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness.

There is no use in wasting time in questioning and arguing same time and effort have to be used to make the seeker more independent and without external spoon-feeding, he can reach the inner core, which is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. :~Santthosh Kumaar

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is buried under religious orthodoxy and yoga.+

Your quest for the truth will finish only when you acquire the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara. Bifurcate orthodoxy and yoga from the path of wisdom shown by Sage Sankara to move on to the ultimate end of understanding.

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is buried under religious orthodoxy and yoga.

It is very difficult to understand and assimilate Sage Sankara's Advaitic wisdom from an orthodox perspective because orthodoxy is based on ignorance.

Seeker has to see Sage Sankara without religious identity and see Sage Sankara with rational lenses.

Sage Sankara is the only Sage who has shown the light on the path of truth.

Orthodox people who are attached to their religious code of conduct and trying to preach Advaita are unaware that religion is meant for the ignorant masses.

Orthodox people mix the individual life, and personal Gods based on blind faith and hotchpotch religious doctrine and feed the seekers, are themselves not aware of the fact that individuality and the worldly life are part of the illusory universe or Maya.

It is time to free oneself from the prison of orthodoxy and strive to acquire the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara.

Adyatma is nothing to do with religious sects or creeds and religious beliefs or any philosophy or Guru's teaching. Adyatma is pure Spirituality. Knowledge of Atma is Adyatma. Advaita is Adyatma.

Adyatma is the knowledge of the truth beyond form, time, and space. Bifurcating religion, yoga, and theoretical philosophy and basing the truth on the Athma 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 Spirituality or Adyathma.

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 the real God.

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. The Soul, the Self is the cause of 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 ~ 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).”

Bhagavan Buddha must have verified religion, the Vedas, and the concept of God and found them inadequate and useless in the pursuit of truth and rejected them and he got enlightened without the aid of religion, the Vedas, and the concept of God.

After studying and going through all the rigorous training from the religious scholars in the Theosophical Society, Krishnamurthy was confused about all these, and when he started verifying with deeper introspection, he found everything was priest-crafted hotchpotch ideologies. Thus, he refused to become the world Guru, rejected it, and walked out and condemned the priestcraft.

The orthodox Advaitins accept the karma theory. If they accept the karma theory, one will not be able to reach the nondual destination. If one accepts the karma theory, then it is impossible to treat the world as an illusion. 

All the pundits’ explanation of the karma theory carries no weight on the realm of truth because if karma is accepted, they are accepting the false Self (ego or body) as the true Self and false experience (universe or the waking) as a reality.

Birth, life, and death are part of the waking experience, which is merely an illusion from the standpoint of the true Self. It is no use saying that we are not born, we do not die, because all were born and we all are going to die. However, birth, life, and death are part of the illusion, which comes and goes as the waking experience. The nondual witness of the three states is real, which is the eternal identity that has no birth and death. That is why Self-knowledge is nothing to do with the religious-based Advaita. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

For religion you can interpret texts as you like, in whatever way that pleases you, you simply imagine away.+

Katha Upanishad (1.2.5) says: ~ "Caught in the grip of ignorance, self-proclaimed experts consider themselves learned authorities. They wander about this world befooled, like the blind leading the blind."

Religion, yoga, and mysticism are so much preferred to spirituality because you have only to imagine, not inquire. The first is easy, and the second is hard.

Religion and mysticism are a species of mesmerism affecting weaker or impressionable minds. Thus, the panoply of a Godman's religious robes, etc. creates an unconscious suggestion in weaker minds of superior power or magical knowledge. Similarly, visitors to ashrams are suggested into thinking they experience great peace because they are unconsciously hypnotized into believing that will happen. But when a strong disciplined philosophic mind meets a Godman or visits an ashram, he is entirely unaffected.

Religion belongs to the world of emotions. That is why everyone likes it. You will always find it in primitive times, as now, linked with music, dancing, and art--both emotional expressions.

Religion changes as it appeals to different emotions. You will find at one pole the nude fakir is admired; at the other, the gorgeously-dressed Godmen is revered.

Religion is the Truth of the ignorant populace. Advaitic wisdom is universal truth hidden by ignorance. This means religious believer takes their feeling as truth whereas the Gnani takes their reasoned judgment, which will be the same under test everywhere in the world.

For religion you can interpret texts as you like, in whatever way that pleases you, you simply imagine away. 

The fallacy of religionists’ appeal to scripture lies in the varying and conflicting interpretations of the same scripture which different men feel entitled to give or hold.

Scriptures are being added from time to time. This process will go on. There is the final authority among them? One contradicts the other: duality reigns supreme.

Disappointments in religion or yoga or mysticism or even science imply error or ignorance. Create the question. "Am I on the right?" Where is the certainty that I am proceeding on the right lines?" Thus doubts arise and the inquiring spirit comes and impels to search elsewhere for truth where it will not be possible even to have doubt.

The test is therefore in the realization of the truth. Only in Advaita, where there are no two to argue about views or to have a difference of opinion can such doubtlessness be possible. Belief depends upon unstable bases whereas certainty depends on proof.

Finally, the truth of religion can only be proved by your physical strength or by your imagination, or your power of the sword, or your worldly power, never by reason.

Religions place God as the unknown reality. Every religionist has a different idea of God. Every man has a different idea of the real. Hence, there is a need for definition before accepting anything as truth.

There is nothing so absurd that men have not worshipped in religion, nor sacrificial forms of worship so cruel which have not been indulged in. And every imaginable face has been given to God from the tribal; some have made God with wild in looks and some with the sober look. !

People stop with their imaginations about God, Reality, and Truth, and do not go to the bitter end.

Two ways of religious cheating have always existed and are always successful

(1) Say what happens after death-- nobody can deny it

(2) Say you have seen God by intuition--who can disprove it?

The onus of proof is on those who make an assertion. Religionists and mystics are required to prove; the burden to disprove is not on their critics.

The mystic experience never reveals the truth. The feat of a guru, touching people and thus putting them into mystic states is purely a physical or at best a psychological one; based on the power of suggestions it has nothing to do with epistemology, with the question of truth. It is just a higher variation of the effect produced by patting a friend on the shoulder to encourage him.

Instead of finding fault and maligning others first realize what the Self is in actuality. Amazingly an honest introspection will reveal that all fault lies with “you” and “your "own perceptions and attitudes. If there is an error in understanding what 'Self' is in actuality it is in “you".

Correcting this and changing to a Soulcentric attitude will change your perception and then the Soul; the 'Self' will reveal its formless, timeless, and spaceless true nature.

Just as the snake sheds its skin the seeker must shed the untruth by realizing the truth hidden by the dualistic illusion (Maya).

Different paths will not converge to the same Ultimate Reality because they are based on the false ‘‘Self’’. They are not different stages on the same path.

People fight about the differences and greatness of their chosen paths but only through wisdom one can realize the Ultimate Reality. :~Santthosh Kumaar

What is the use of saying ‘I AM THAT’-without knowing what is this ‘I’ suppose to be in actuality?+

People who think, the 'I' in everyone and everything is the Self, without realizing the ‘Self is not the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ is not within you, but you and your experience of the world exist within the ‘I’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of the world in which you exist.

The ‘I’ disappears as deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is impermanent and illusory because ‘I’ is physical awareness. Physical awareness is not Self-awareness. ‘I-less awareness is Self-awareness.

It is erroneous to identify the Soul, the Self as 'I' or 'I AM' because the Soul the innermost Self is not 'I' or I AM’. The Soul the Self, is the witness of the 'I'.

To understand the false nature of the ‘I’, Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary.

The Self is not ‘I’, but the Self is the Soul which is the witness of the ‘I’. Holding the ‘I as the Self leads to hallucination based on the imagination.

What is the use of saying ‘I AM THAT’ -without knowing what the ‘Self’ is in actuality? Without knowing the truth of the Self, without realizing the truth of the world in which you exist it is impossible to realize the truth beyond form, time, and space. By a mere utterance of the word ‘I AM THAT', the truth will not be revealed.

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the Self is not you, but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

If the ‘Self’ is not you then what is the use of you saying ‘I AM THIS ‘or 'I AM THAT' because you are the false self within the universe, which is the dualistic illusion or Maya.

When the Soul wakes up from its sleep of ignorance the world in which you exist is merely an illusion.

When the Soul remains in its own awareness, the world in which you exist becomes one with the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

If the ‘I’ is there, then only the mind is present. If the mind is there, then only the universe is present. And the universe is present only when the waking or the dream is present.

One sees differences between things because of ignorance; all these differences would vanish when one gets wisdom and the various thoughts arise because one considers the ‘I’ as the Self.

Holding the ‘Self as ‘I’ blocks you from realizing the Self, which is free from form, time, and space.

First, make sure the Self is not ‘I’.

Make sure what this ‘I’ is supposed to be in actuality.

The ‘I’ is ignorance.

The ‘I’ is the duality.

The ‘I’ is the form, time, and space.

The ‘I’ is the universe.

The ‘I’ is waking.

The ‘I’ is the dream.

The ‘I’ is the illusion.

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

Remember:~

Without the ‘I’ there is no ignorance.

Without the ‘I’ there is no duality.

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

Without the ‘I’ there is no universe.

Without the ‘I’ there is no waking.

Without the ‘I’ there is no dream.

Without the ‘I’ there is no illusion.

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

There is something that exists prior to the appearance of the ‘I’. The ‘I’ appears along with the world in which you exist. The Soul, the Self, exists prior to the appearance of the ‘I’ and it prevails even after the disappearance of the ‘I’

The ‘I’ or the world in which you exist is merely an illusory appearance created out of the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, the ‘I’ is an illusion and impermanent. The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is permanent and eternal.

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

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self.

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

Intellectual answers to various questions remain in the domain of form, time, and space. The answers may satisfy one intellectually within the scope of form, time, and space. The truth is beyond form, time, and space.

The path of wisdom is the Soulcentric path. Thus, egocentric intellectualism is nothing to do with the truth which is beyond form, time, and space. All accumulated dross leads to hallucination. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar