Upanishads say no religious rituals or religious ceremony will bring you Self-realization or God- realization.+

Upanishads say no religious rituals or religious ceremony will bring you Self-realization or God-realization. All the religious rituals are based on the non-Vedic Gods. Non-Vedic Gods are not God in truth. God in truth is Vedic God the Atman or Brahman.

Whatever rituals based on the Non-Vedic Gods will not help to get rid of ignorance. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get self-realization of God-realization.

People’s approach was more practical, and they were stuck with the belief of their inherited belief system.

Religions are based on the belief, not the truth. Religions are more concerned with their beliefs, dogmas, and superstitions.

Religious Gods are based on imaginary beliefs. The beliefs are not truth. The belief is part of the dualistic illusion. The Atman is Brahman or God in actuality. Other than the Atman the God all else is an illusion. Whatever is based on the belief is a myth. God in truth is not God based on blind belief.

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

Know God in truth:

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. God is based on blind belief, is not God. 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. God in truth is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

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.

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

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.

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 Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

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

Even the 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, that 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.

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. Religious God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul the innermost ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul, the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence.

Ish Upanishad: ~ Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide.

10/11/12

Those 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?

Ish Upanishads: ~

MANTRA 10

Vidya and Avidya both are hindrances to Self-knowledge, but Vidya is even worse than Avidya. The word Vidya is used here in a special sense; here it means worshipping Gods and Goddesses. By worshipping Gods and Goddesses, you will go after death to the world of Gods and Goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spent there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of Gods and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

Avidya is Karma and therefore a hindrance. You perform Avidya - i.e., you perform Agnihotra and other sacrifices. This is a roundabout way of purifying the mind, and it is also groping in the dark. But it may not have as heavy a toll on your time and energy as the other.

Ishopanishad: ~ “They are steeped in ignorance and sunk into the greatest depth of misery who worships the matter, instead of the All-Pervading God and those who worship things born of matter like trees, animals, man, etc. are sunk deeper in misery."

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

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

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

No rituals help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, in the world in which he exists as a reality. For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the mantas will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

That is why Sage Sankara VC~.61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

VC- v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one ‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together.

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine.

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

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

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 enter again this world or a lower one.

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.

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.

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 worshiper and the worshiped, 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 based on the belief of God does not reach God.

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

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

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

Sage Sankara: ~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, that 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 innermost Self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body which is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise.

People’s approach was more practical, and they were stuck with the belief of their inherited belief system.

Religion God based on blind faith or blind belief is not God in truth. Religions are more concerned with their beliefs, dogmas, and superstitions.

Religious Gods are based on mythical Gods based on blind beliefs. Gods based on blind belief is part of the dualistic illusion. The Atman is Brahman or God in actuality. Other than the Atman. which is God in truth, all else is an illusion. Whatever is based on blind belief is a myth.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Even if you are most sinful of all the sinners, you will cross all the sins by the raft of the knowledge (IV-36)

Self–knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is the inexhaustible wealth. Other wealth disappears as one spends, but with Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the more one shares more he gains.

The Self is not the ‘I’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of the mind. The origin of the mind is the Soul. The mind is present in the form of the universe. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. The root of the universe is consciousness.

Thus, saying ‘I Am God’ keeps one in duality. The duality is not reality. The duality is a product of ignorance. The body, ego, and the world are of the ignorant.

When wisdom dawns, ignorance disappears. When ignorance disappears, the duality will never be a reality even though there is duality, it is merely an illusion created out of a single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness.

The Soul is the Self. The innermost Self is God. It is not “I AM GOD, but it’s correct to say ‘the SELF IS GOD because the Self is not the ‘I’ or ’I AM”. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

All religions survive on myths. The rationalists would be on the more solid ground if they attack myths of all religion.+

All religions survive on myths. The rationalists would be on the more solid ground if they attacked myths of all religions.

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

Religious Gods are Mythical Gods based on blind belief. Whatever is based on Blind belief or faith is a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition.

Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition.

Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement.

Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief, senseless rituals, and most irrational and gives them a divine outlook.

Religious Gods are not God in truth. One must know God in truth.

The Puranas are based on the false idea of a personal God because the writers have thought of God as a glorified man and woman.

The translations made till now of Indian philosophical works have represented religion and mythology, not philosophy.

The greatest pundits do not understand it, for they do not understand science. What has this mythological teaching done for India? Look at its state today. Look at the conversions.

Imagining that God has ashes on his forehead or blazing like the sun-- that is all poetry and depends only on faith.

All the Siddhantas are dualistic, and unphilosophical introduced by the founders of the different sects of Hinduism,

The religious Saints culled some paras from the Upanishads with convenient vagueness to establish their God and Theology.

Indians are more religious than other people in the world. The six systems of Indian Philosophy are really six systems of Indian speculation. For there is only one Truth.

The ancient Hindu tenet borrowed by theosophists of the universe appearing and dissolving, days and nights of Brahma, entering into pralaya, etc. is intended for mediocre intellects who cannot rise to the truth. It is a convenient fable representing the philosophic truth that the whole universe dissolves in your mind in deep sleep, thus entering pralaya, and rises again the next morning, i.e. it is all imagination, idea. The Brahma God has nothing to do with it.

Unfortunately, every religion is attacking the other considering them to be a myth. The only way out is to unfold the mystery of existence.

Many paths theories and practices make one confused about which path and practice are to use because each one of them claims to get the truth. Everyone tries this and still one is unable to unfold the mystery. The mystery of existence becomes a distant dream.

Religious truth is individual truth and it is not universal truth because religion is based on individuality. Spiritual truth is the universal truth.

There is no scope for individuality in the realm of ultimate truth or Brahman. In the realm of ultimate truth or Brahman the form, time, and space are one in essence. The essence is formless consciousness (Soul), the ‘Self’. Thus, consciousness alone is real and eternal and all else is mere illusion.

The scriptures give many advice and remedies and each of them claims to be infallible. It is high time for shift his attention from all the theories and practices that are based on the physical self indulge in self-analysis and discover the facts of his own existence.

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."

The only way to unfold the mystery of existence is a deeper Self-search helps the seeker of the truth to discover and realize the true facts of his true existence through deeper self-search without the help of religion, glorifying Gods, scriptural studies, or yogic practice.

When the seeker realizes the facts of his true existence then realizes that the Self is not ‘I’ but the ‘I’ is the mind, which is present in the form of the universe.

The waking experience is a dualistic illusion. Thus, the seeker realizes the fact that whatever he believed and experienced as a reality on the base of the ‘I’ is an illusion. The Self is the Soul, the cause of the ‘I’. Thus, it is necessary to seek the truth.

When the seeker inquiries into the nature of the mind, which is present in the form of the universe, then he realizes that ‘I’ is the mind. And the mind itself is the universe.

Truth-realization is a gradual process. The seeker progresses gradually. The first requirement is a strong aspiration which gives rise to the inquiry and reason.

Know what God is supposed to be in truth according to the scriptures.

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 to 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 the Bhagavad Gita says: ~ ‘Brahmano hi pratisthaham” ~ Brahman (God in truthy) 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, that 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 in truth) is present in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Religious Gods are based on blind 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.

Do not accept any other truth other than consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth, Nothing is real but consciousness. Nothing matters but to realize the ultimate truth. Consciousness is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

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 Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:~ "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from him does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)".(1.4.10)

No mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, in the world in which he exists as a reality. For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the mantas will not help to realize the truth, which is hidden by the illusory form, time, and space.

That is why Sage Sankara VC-61- For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

VC- v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman (God).” Brahman must be realized. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely a noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

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

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman or God in truth is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other besides it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described, because description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is no 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.

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

Holding anything of the illusory universe as a reality blocks you from realizing the Self hidden by the illusory universe.+

Holding anything of the illusory universe as a reality blocks you from realizing the Self hidden by the illusory universe.

The universe in which you are born, all your individual experiences of birth, life, and death, your experience of pleasure and sorrow, your action and inaction are nothing but an illusion created of single clay. That single clay is the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, the universe is nothing but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Attachment and detachment belong to the dualistic illusion. Ignorance is the cause of experiencing the illusory universe or Maya as a reality.

Attachment to ignorance is the bondage of illusory individual experiences of birth, life, death, and the world.

ignorance is present in the form of the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ is present in the form of the mind.

The mind is present in the form of the universe.

The universe appears as a waking or dream. (Duality)

Remember:~

Detachment from ignorance is freedom for the Soul from the cage of the universe, which is the dualistic illusion or Maya.

The detachment from the ‘I’ is freedom

The detachment form of the mind is freedom

The detachment form of the universe is freedom

The detachment from the waking or dream (Duality) is freedom.

Remember:~

In reality, there is neither attachment nor detachment because, the Soul, the Self the fullness of consciousness.

The Soul, the real ‘Self’ is hidden by the ‘I’. Perfect understanding of what is what leads the Soul to free itself from ignorance.

The ‘I’ is present only when the mind is present. The mind is present only when the universe is present. The universe is present only when there is a waking experience.

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the waking experience is not considered different from the universe. The universe is not considered different from the mind. The mind is not considered different from the I’. This truth has to be assimilated.

The ‘I’ is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. ‘I’ is not the subject. The ‘I’ is an object to the Soul, which is the formless, timeless, and spaceless subject.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then three states, are bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the form, time, and space are bound to be an illusion.

If the I’ is an illusion then the individual experience of birth, life, and death is bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the words and thoughts are bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the duality is bound to be an illusion.

Remember:~

When the ‘I; is present then the world in which you exist is present.

When the ‘I is absent then the world in which you exist is absent.

The one which is aware of the coming and going of the ‘I’ is not you but the Soul, the Self.

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure of the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes in order to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

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’, which is the cause of the 'I'.

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal.

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

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take it as real because some Gurus have propagated that the Self is the ‘I’. is no need to convince such a mindset. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.

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.

People refuse to accept anything other than their Guru's words. For them, their Guru's words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.

Such a mindset is not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross the sea of samsara on these poor rafts of rituals.+

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 based on God based on blind belief 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.

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

All worship 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 or formal observance have long since set in.

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

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

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

Adhyasa Bhashya of Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, that 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. Sage Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person. Adhyasa Bhashya

Sage Sankara:~ (11.2) In short, 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 innermost Self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body which is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara says rituals and rites, such as yajna or fire rituals, are meant for the ignorant populace.+

Sage Sankara says rituals and rites such as yajna or fire ritual meant for the ignorant populace. Sage Sankara asserts rituals and rites will not prepare the mindset for acquiring Advaitic wisdom or Atma Gnana.

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 do with the Soul, the Self because it is unborn eternal. It is unborn eternal because it is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Religion and yoga prevent seekers from acquiring Advaitic wisdom or 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, the Advaitic wisdom has to be a way of life.

Remember:~

All the orthodox ideas were rejected by Sage Sankara. There is no need to indulge in rituals to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. There is no need to study philosophy, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman so why indulge in studying philosophy.

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

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

Sage Sankara says the rewards of the rituals were not a matter of direct realization. The Advaitic wisdom is based on personal realization.

The orthodox Advaitin believes that rituals alone would lead one to higher levels of attainment. Further, the deities would reward only those entitled to perform the rituals alone. The entitlement involved caste, creed, and other parameters.

The scriptural authority and value of rituals are part of the Advaitic orthodoxy, which is meant for ignorant people.

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara has nothing to do with religion, caste, rituals, worship, yoga, and other practices. Therefore an obvious disparity between 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 appears and tells 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 a happy life in the next life.

As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, that 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.- (11- Adhyasa Bhashya)

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. 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 is Self-realization or God-realization. :~Santthosh Kumaar

Until you discard religion you will never be able to realize the Advaitic truth,which is hidden by dualistic illusion or Maya.+

People in India identify Advaita and Dvaita as their religious traditions inherited from their ancestors. No one questions their validity because it is considered blasphemy to question their religion, their Guru, and Godmen or the pundits.

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is pure Spirituality. Advaitic wisdom has nothing to do with religion yoga and philosophies. All Advaitic teachings of the Gurus of the East and West are not Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara.

Advaita is universal. Advaita is the non-dual nature of the Soul, the Self. The world in which you exist is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Knowledge of the single stuff is Advaitic wisdom.

Advaitic truth is very simple, but it is very difficult to realize because you have accumulated mental garbage from different sources in the name of Advaita.

Until you discard religion you will never be able to realize the Advaitic truth, which is hidden by dualistic illusion or Maya.

The Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the innermost Self shines in its own awareness when wisdom dawns.

The Advaita is the Soul is the cause and the support of all that exists as the world in which we exist. Advaita is the nature of God, the innermost Self.

The Advaita is present in the form of consciousness. Advaita is the root element of the universe. From the Advaita, the universe comes into existence. In the Advaita, the universe resides. And into the Advaita, the universe is dissolved. The Advaita is the parent of all that is there.

People who are attached to their religious code of conduct and trying to preach Advaita, that is mixing the individual life, and the concept of God and all mixed up hotchpotch religious doctrine and feed the seeking people are themselves not aware of the fact that the individuality and their worldly life is part of the illusion.

Religion is based on the blind belief as truth whereas Spirituality or Adyathma is based on the Athma the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Religion should be discarded to realize the real God hidden by ignorance. Religion is regarded as sacred and real by the common people, by the wise as false, and by the political class as useful.

Religion preaches that God is one and the ways to God are many. It simply tries to lead them to darkness with its dogma and idea of many Gods, which are apart from the Self.

Religion is based on the false self (ego) and false experience (world) thus; all religious beliefs are false.

Everyone likes religion because it belongs to the world of sentiments and emotions. Religion changes as it appeals to different emotions. One will find at one pole the nude Sadhu is admired; at the other, the gorgeous life-styled Godman is revered. Belief in religious prohibitions arises out of fear of God's punishment.

The man himself suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion. To say that one knows God exists always implies he must also exist always. It would be correct to say at this point, he does not know about the existence of God because God's existence depends on the individualized belief

People magnify every minor coincidence or every petty fact where yogis or Good men were concerned, and they see the miraculous or esoteric significance therein.

Religion is “believers Truth”; spirituality is universal truth.” This means a believer takes his feeling of truth whereas the seeker of truth takes his reasoned judgment, which will be the same under test everywhere in the universe.

The position of the seeker of truth is this: he has not seen God. He does not know his capacities, what God can do, and what God cannot do. Therefore any statement he might make about God would only be a lie.

The seeker of truth does not wish to tell a lie. Therefore he does not accept God nor deny Him; he simply refuses to make any statement about God.

Each sect concocts a God to suit its own purposes. Belief in such concocted Gods is a great hindrance in the pursuit of truth. The man himself suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion. Prayers and sacrifices belong to a premature stage of development. When no answers come to prayers to their God based on blind belief, then doubt arises about the existence of such God. Belief in religion weakens as the man pays more attention to the facts of his practical life within the practical world.

People who argue that truth is only in their religion are vain logicians based on mere ideas and imaginations. Religions that say "If one follows the religion they will go to heaven, while others “go to hell," are stories invented on the base of false Self within the false experience.

Religious truth is not the ultimate truth because it always shows a contradiction. A contradiction arises because a different person's interpretation may disagree with others.

Remember:~

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says:~ "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)

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

Rituals prayers and ceremonies of different religions and cults are not a tool for Self-realization. They keep one in the cage of ignorance.

Attachment to the rigid devotion to the religious beliefs of God limits one to think within the framework of the illusory division of form, time, and space.

Diverse beliefs of religion and its diverse idea of God create divisions between one religion and another. The rituals and ceremonies become an obstacle in realizing the religious God one believes and worships are not God in truth. Religion becomes an obstacle to realizing the real God hidden by ignorance.

The seeker of truth is keener to realize the Self hidden by the dualistic illusion. The seeker of truth has only one desire and longing — that of union with the Soul or God in truth.

A seeker is never entangled with the religion, rituals, yoga, and physical Gurus and never allows himself to be overpowered by any attachment emotions and sentiment

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

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

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 ultimate truth, or Brahman or God in truth.

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.

Sage Sankara:~ VC- v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together

Remember:~

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. Belief is not God. 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. God in truth is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

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

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.

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

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

Do not accept any other God other than Athma. The Athma is God in truth, Nothing is real but the Athma, 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.

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 Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

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

No mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, in the world in which he exists as a reality. For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the mantas will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

That is why Sage Sankara:~ VC~.61- For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

VC- v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be experienced. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

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

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

It clearly indicates that: -If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorify the conceptual Gods, Goddesses, and Gurus to go into deeper darkness. Instead, spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal. :~Santthosh Kumaar