It is difficult for orthodox people to accept anything as truth other than their inherited samskara or conditioning.+

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy and all the arts Can be called lower knowledge. The higher Is that which leads to Self-realization. The eye cannot see it; the mind cannot grasp it. The deathless Self has neither caste nor race, Neither eyes not ears nor hands nor feet. Sages say this Self is infinite in the great And in the small, everlasting and changeless, The source of life.

Orthodox people are being conditioned by the religious myth which has made them a non-thinker. They have to come out of the religious myth by realizing God in truth.

Sage Sankara gave religious, rituals, and dogmatic instruction to the orthodox populace, but Advaitic wisdom only to the few who could rise to it. Hence the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd. 

If people have believed religious propagated myth thing over thousands of years, the length of time does not prove it true. 

Mundaka Upanishad 1:2:8:~ “Remaining in the fold of ignorance and thinking “we are extremely wise and learned,” the fools with boastful nature ramble about like the blind led by the blind alone.” 

Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:3:- “The weak and timid cannot realize the Self. Self-Realization is not possible through intellect or hearing spiritual discourse. One who welcomes God in every activity, through a thorough controlled and disciplined life, to him also the Soul is revealed. 

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 thinkers 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. Bifurcate religion, yoga, and theoretical philosophy and base the truth on the Athma it 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.

Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is pure spirituality or Adyathma do not make it a philosophic sect. Sage Sankara’s path of wisdom is the independent search for truth. 

If an orthodox Guru speaks today before a large crowd, and the same subject is repeated by the 500 listeners to others, there would be many different interpretations. 

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara was interpreted after his death perhaps a million times through different interpreters in the past by orthodox Gurus. 

The original wisdom of Sage Sankara is lost sight of and or made irrelevant because each orthodox Guru clings to his own different interpretation as the original. 

That is why so many today hesitate to believe in the Sage Sankara because his wisdom is buried under orthodoxy. 

Remember:~  

It is difficult for orthodox people to accept anything as truth other than their inherited samskara or conditioning.  

Only intense urge to know the truth and the courage to accept the truth after verification with better understanding one will be able to drop all his accumulated dross, which is the main obstacle in self-realization. 

Religion needs a guru to propagate its belief system, whereas in pursuit of truth there is no need for a guru. The ultimate truth has to be ascertained by him alone. Yoga needs a guru to guide its student to practice Samadhi. 

Religion encourages one who can induce himself to feel convinced that he has realized the Self, or has an admirer who believes that he has done so, it opens up for him the way for the founding of a new sect based on Guru-worship. 

People, too, have developed curious credulousness. Often, they would install an earnest seeker and devotee, or a pious saint, on the throne of God and begin to offer him worship and homage even if he protested and resisted such acts. They would lay prostrate, sing hymns, wave lights (arati), and burn incense before him, and present to him food which was to be returned by him as prasad, wash his toes, and sip the wash. At times the disciple would go to the length of getting food, fruit, or a betel-nut leaf chewed by him and taking the morsel back from it. 

They would place his photo in the private temples of their homes and perform all these rites and ceremonies which are usually offered to temple idols. In this way, there might be at present in our country scores of individuals who are worshipped as living God, with the following varying in numbers. 

Remember:~  

If one is seeking truth one has to drop religious baggage and move forward in their pursuit of truth. 

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

Sage Sankara says:~ One alone exists, and the rest is all superimposition on that One, due to ignorance  

The seeker of truth should not become attached to words as being in perfect conformity with meaning because Truth is not in the letters.  

The words and their discrimination bind one to the duality; meaning stands alone and is a guide to non-dual awareness. Meaning is attained by much learning, and much learning is attained by becoming conversant with meaning and not with words; therefore, seekers of truth have to avoid the sticklers for particular words.  The Advaitic wisdom is not suited for the unsettled mind, which sticks to religion, yoga, and all non-Vedic worship and activities. There is no use in convincing such a mindset. Everyone is free to move on his chosen path. 

Chandogya Upanishad: - This universe comes forth from Brahman and will return to Brahman. Verily, all is Brahman. A person is what his deep desire is. It is our deepest desire in this life that shapes the life to come. So, let us direct our deepest desires to realize the Self. 

If one is seeking truth then it is necessary to bifurcate and drop the traditional Advaitic path which is not the means to self-knowledge and move ahead without the traditional baggage to get direct realization on his own as suggested by the great sages. :~Santthosh Kumaar