There is no place for a personal God in Vedas. Mixing the concept of the personal God becomes a great hindrance in the pursuit of truth.+

There is no place for a personal God in the Vedas. Mixing the concept of the personal God becomes a great hindrance in the pursuit of truth.

In Vedas, God has been described as the Atman.

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

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

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

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

Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

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

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

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman 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)

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

Rig Veda says God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of the real God.

Thus, Vedas refers to God as Atman, which is a formless and attributeless God. It indicates clearly All the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false self. Thus, Atman, the  Self is  God in truth.

The Karma and Bhakti have nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman or God. The people, who talk about personal God, Karma are not fit for ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because they believe in the non-~Vedic Gods, which are not real Gods.

Hinduism accepts the concept of God in many forms. Sages of truth declare the Atman is Brahman. That is the Soul, which is in the form of consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. That is the ultimate truth is God. And the ultimate truth itself is worthy of Godhood.

Kena Upanishad (6) Chapter I - That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say, the mind is apprehended- That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (7) Chapter I - That which cannot be perceived by the eye, but by which the eye is perceived- That alone known as Brahman and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (8)Chapter I - That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the hearing is perceived-  That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (9)- Chapter I -That which cannot be smelt by the breath, but by which the breath smells an object- That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship.

Whatever we worship as Hindus are not Vedic God. Non-Vedic Gods are based on belief, not truth.

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.

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

When Bhagavad Gita says, 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.

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 innermost Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

That is why Swami Vivekananda: ~ The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods?

There is no place for a personal God in Advaita. The Nirguna God (Brahman) of Sage Sri, Sankara is impersonal.

Sage Sankara says:~ God (Supreme Brahman) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent).

God is above all needs and desires. God is always the Witnessing Subject. God can never become an object as God is beyond the reach of the senses. God is non-dual, one without a second. God has no other besides it. God is destitute of difference, either external or internal. God cannot be described because description implies a distinction. God cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In God, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Awareness is the very essence of the nature of God in truth.

God and Goddesses are religious concepts. Whatever is seen, known, believed, and experienced as a person within the dualistic illusion (world) is a falsehood. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

Yajurveda: ~ God in truth is nondual and pure."+

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 in truth. 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 real and all else is an illusion.

Vedas and Upanishads confirm the Soul, the ‘Self’, is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

And also in Yajurveda says:~

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.

Yajurveda: ~ There is no image of God in truth. God in truth is unborn and eternal. (Chapter 32, Verse 3)

Yajurveda: ~ God in truth is nondual and pure."

Translation 1.

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) ~[Yajurved 40:9]

Translation 2.

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent.~[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538]

Translation 3.

"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 Prakriti ~ the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the Prakriti, 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.]

So, Yajur Veda indicates that:- Those who worship visible things such as the earth, trees, and bodies (humans and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater ignorance. :~Santthosh Kumaar

All the Gurus of the East and the West teachings of Advaita are based on the dualistic perspective. dualistic knowledge is egocentric knowledge.+

All the Gurus of the East and the West teachings of Advaita are based on the dualistic perspective. dualistic knowledge is egocentric knowledge.

 All egocentric Advaita or nonduality is based on imagination. All imagined Advaita will not help to cross the domain of form, time, and space.

The egocentric knowledge keeps the Soul in the intoxication of the ‘I’. The ‘I’ hides the whole truth. The Gurus and the teachers of nonduality of the East and West are stuck up with their own accepted truth gathered from here and there and Their egoic attitude blocks them from realizing the Advaita is hidden by the dvaita, which is present in the form of the ‘I’.

Mundaka Upanishads: ~ So-called spiritual pundits and learned are called children because a child takes whatever it thinks as truth. The question never occurs to children “Is what I have seen or thought really the truth?" (P.334 line 9)

Scriptures are not needed in the pursuit of truth. Even the Upanishads and the sages of truth declare the same.

The ultimate truth has to be ascertained without the scriptures by realizing the Self is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity but the Self is the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness. 

In the realm of truth form, time, and space are created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Realizing the single stuff as the ultimate truth is Self-realization or truth realization. To realize this truth there is no need for the scriptures.

The ultimate truth has to be realized first then only it is possible to know what the scriptures are saying.

That is why Sage Sankara: ~ VC 56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by good work, nor by learning, but by the realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.

58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar but are no good for Liberation.

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest that merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

The real Advaitic wisdom of Sage  Sankara is soulcentric knowledge. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is soulcentric knowledge that destroys ignorance.

Advaita is universal. Advaita is not for sale. Do not buy Advaita from the spiritual supermarket. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the innermost 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 all the accumulated knowledge you will never be able to realize the Advaitic truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

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

The Advaita is the Soul is the cause and the support of all that exists in the world in which we exist. Advaita is the nature of God, the 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 there is. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom becomes very easy to grasp when one gains a soulcentric vision of the universe.+

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom becomes very easy to grasp when one gains a soulcentric vision of the universe.

If your intention is to preach or teach Advaita then you will never be able to grasp the Advaitic truth. Advaitic wisdom is continually shared with humanity without any expectation and helps humanity to wake up to reality. The more you share more inner grace you gain.

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

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 a 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.

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ “Truly the dualism is the root of suffering. There is no other remedy for it than the realization that all this that we see is unreal and that the Soul, the Self, is the one stainless reality, consisting of the consciousness”. 2:16

The sun, the moon, the stars, planets shine because of the Soul or Spirit. The Soul shines and all things else shine as a result. Everything in the universe reflects but that light of the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness. Merely knowing the truth is not enough to escape from the tangle of illusion.

The mind is in the form of the universe. From the standpoint of the Soul the innermost Self, the universe is merely an illusion. The illusion arises from ignorance. Enlightenment comes with detachment from the illusion by realizing the experience of the form, time and space are one in essence.

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ “The Self is pure awareness though through ignorance the ‘Self has imagined itself to have additional attributes. By continually reflecting like this, the Self’s dwelling place is unimagined. 2:17

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ “For the Self, there is neither bondage nor liberation. The illusion has lost its basis and ceased. Truly all this exists in me though ultimately it does not even exist in the Self. 2:18

By saying I know the truth; I know Brahman is not wisdom. The Truth is found only in the Unity of understanding which is the knowledge of both the matter and spirit. That is the matter and the spirit is one in essence. And that essence is a spirit, which is present in the form of the Soul or consciousness.

When one knows matter and spirit together, one has “Gnana or wisdom." One must have the humility to get to the very root of the matter.

Instead of discussing religion, religious Gods, and yoga, the seeker should dive into deeper self-search.

A deeper self-search will reveal that all fault lies because of holding the ‘I’ as the Self. People refuse to accept other than their accepted truth because they have accepted some Gurus’ words or teachings as the ultimate truth. These perceptions and attitudes block their realization of the Advaitic truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

The seeker must be ready to correct wherever it is necessary accept the truth and drop the untruth. This change in their attitude will change their perception of seeing the world from a dualistic perspective to a nondualistic perspective and then the world, in which they exist will never remain a reality again. Same way as a dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place, the world, in which they exist becomes unreal when wisdom dawns. :~Santthosh Kumaar

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ “For the 'Self' there is neither bondage nor liberation. The illusion has lost its basis and ceased.+

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ “Truly the dualism is the root of suffering. There is no other remedy for it than the realization that all this that we see is unreal and that the Soul, the Self, is the one stainless reality, consisting of the consciousness”. 2:16

The sun, the moon, the stars, planets shine because of the Soul or Spirit. The Soul shines and all things else shine as a result. Everything in the universe reflects but that light of the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness. Merely knowing the truth is not enough to escape from the tangle of illusion.

The mind is in the form of the universe. From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the universe is merely an illusion. The illusory universe arises from ignorance. Enlightenment comes with detachment from the illusion by realizing the experience of the form, time and space are one in essence.

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ “The Self is pure awareness though through ignorance the ‘Self' has imagined itself to have additional attributes. By continually reflecting like this, the Self’s dwelling place is unimagined. 2:17

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ “For the 'Self' there is neither bondage nor liberation. The illusion has lost its basis and ceased. Truly all this exists in me, though ultimately it does not even exist in the Self. 2:18

By saying I know the truth; I know Brahman is not wisdom. The Truth is found only in the Unity of understanding which is the knowledge of both the matter and spirit. That is the matter and the spirit is one in essence. And that essence is the Spirit, which is present in the form of the Soul or consciousness.

When one knows matter and spirit together, one has “Gnana or wisdom." One must have the humility to get to the very root of the matter.

Instead of discussing religion, religious Gods, and yoga, the seeker should dive into deeper self-search.

A deeper self-search will reveal that all fault lies because of holding the ‘I’ as the Self. People refuse to accept other than their accepted truth because they have accepted some Gurus’ words or teachings as the ultimate truth.

These perceptions and attitudes block their realization of the Advaitic truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

The seeker must be ready to correct wherever it is necessary accept the truth and drop the untruth. This and a change in their attitude will change their perception of seeing the world from a dualistic perspective to a nondualistic perspective and then the world, in which they exist will never remain as reality again. Same way as a dream becomes unreal when waking takes place, the world, in which they exist becomes unreal when wisdom dawns. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The brilliance shown by Sage Sankara, a man of wonderful genius, a matchless speaker, and an extraordinary dialectician is really a great spectacle in history.+

The brilliance shown by Sage Sankara, a man of wonderful genius, a matchless speaker, and an extraordinary dialectician is really a great spectacle in history. In his time, there was a severe conflict between Buddhism and the atheist Santana Dharma or the Vedic religion of Kumarila Bhatta. Utilizing this opportunity Sage Sankara intervened in the conflict and made use of some concepts and methodology of both the Kumarila Bhatta School and Buddhism to present a new coalition religion before the people.

Sage Sankara gave extraordinary charisma to this religion with the help of his methods of logic and style of exposition. Its influence was so great that both the Bhatta School and Buddhism had to flee from India without leaving a trace. The absence, even today, of a single follower of the Kumarila Bhatta School as well as of Buddhism, is proof enough for the great achievement of Sage Sankara. This indeed is a historical miracle.

One can see in the Santana Dharma or Vedic religion expounded by Sage Sankara a different version of the Kumarila Bhatta School and Buddhism. That is why the tradition of following Kumarila Bhatta's methodology in expounding the Advaita thought at the empirical level gained ground in the Advaita School. Different types of the methodology of Buddhism were absorbed into the Advaita thought, of course, under new labels. There is a very clear similarity between the Vedic religion of Sage Sri Sankara and Buddhism and the Advaita School has given the world a common message. The essence of both schools is:-

The entire world which man perceives is illusionary; it is just an appearance of unreality and there is only one indeterminate and attributeless Sat at the root of this world".

The term Hindu religion is totally a new name that cannot be found in any Indian literature prior to 1794 A.D. Out of the five Indian religions of Buddhism, Jainism, Saivism, Vaishnavism, and Sikhism; Saivism, and Vaishnavism were brought under the Varnashrama principle.

After naming the discriminating principle of casteism of Manu Dharma as Hinduism, the religions of Saivism and Vaishnavism, which were enslaved to the caste-discriminating principles, were given a new name as ‘Hinduism’! Thus, the Hindu religion is different from Santana Dharma or Vedic religion.

The term Hinduism came into existence under British rule. Hinduism is the caste-discriminating principle of Varnashrama Dharma based on the Book of Manu.

After 1750 A.D., Europeans captured certain parts of India and started ruling those areas. The capital of then British India was Calcutta the present-day Kolkata.

The Britishers were duty-bound to administer justice to the people living within their dominion. Thus, they set up courts of justice. They needed laws to administer justice through the courts.

To administer justice to the Christian citizens of India living within their dominion, there was Christian Law, based on Biblical principles.

To administer justice to the Muslim citizens of India living within their dominion, there was Islamic Law, based on Quranic principles. But to administer justice to non-Christian and non-Islamic citizens living in British dominion, there was no law book. This created problems for the Britishers.

As we peep into the annals of the religious history of India we find that Santana Dharma or Vedic religion was not the religion of the Hindus: ~

Every one of the great religions in the world, except our own, is built upon such historical characters; but ours rests upon principles. No man or woman can claim to have created the Vedas. They are the embodiment of eternal principles; sages discovered them.

Santana Dharma or Vedic religion was not the religion of the Hindus, nor were the Vedic people Hindus, nor will the Hindus of today approve the replacement of the term ‘Hinduism’ with Santana Dharma or Vedic Religion. None can say exactly when the Aryans became Hindus because neither the name Hindu nor its major beliefs and practices existed in the Vedic times.

To this, one must add the marginal place the Vedic gods occupy in today’s Hindu pantheon. In addition, as we have seen, the Vedas themselves are not attractive to most of today’s Hindus as sacred texts. The Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, and Manusmriti, may have more to do with the Hinduism of today than the Vedas.

Thus, it is clear that there is no direct ancestry of modern Hinduism traceable in the Vedas, though it does have some influence on it “The Vedic corpus reflects the archetypal religion of those who called themselves Aryas, and which, although it contributed to facets of latter-day Hinduism, was nevertheless distinct”:~Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara says:~ If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth.+

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 says: ~ V.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- All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman (Consciousness) which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.

The universe is the product of ignorance. The ignorance is present in the form of the ‘I’.

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.

Till you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there the universe prevails as reality.

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.

Perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-awareness. By holding on to theories one remains in the realm of duality.

You have to mentally go on dropping what is not the truth through deeper Self-search.

Finally when you become aware of the fact that, your ego, your body, and the world are one in essence then there is Self-awareness in the midst of dualistic illusion.

To say the universe is an illusion without first examining it and inquiring into its nature thoroughly is to delude oneself. This world is common to every one of us; therefore the seeker of truth must begin his inquiry with it.

It is only after he has inquired into the nature of the objective world, that he realizes the universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.

It is erroneous to believe the general impression is that the universe disappears to a Gnani, that he sees nothing in Samadhi. Only deluded persons will have such an impression? Nothing is destroyed. Only ignorance disappears and the unreal nature of the universe is exposed. The universe which appears as the waking experience is a dualistic illusion or Maya.

A Gnani has the full and firm conviction that the universe is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness in the midst of dualistic illusion. The Soul, Self-being aware of its true nature in the midst of dualistic illusion is called Self-awareness.

The universe or the waking experience will not disappear. It is there always but the unreal nature of the waking experience is exposed in the midst of dualistic illusion through Advaitic wisdom. :~Santthosh Kumaar