Prohibition of idol worship in Yajurveda.+

The ancient peoples of India belong to the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma; therefore, they have nothing to do with present-day Hinduism.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains. There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘Self’ in i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

It indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false ‘Self’.

A great majority of Hindus are not in contact with their religious history therefore, they believe their inherited beliefs as the ultimate truth.

Hinduism is not the Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma. And all Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practice barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at a different time, whereas the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is ancient and has no founder. Thus to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the seeker has to realize his inherited religion is adulterated in the past and it becomes a great obstacle is realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

While they do not accept the texts past the Vedas, they are still monists and uphold other Hindu views. In their reformations, they rejected Brahminical control and they are open to all castes and women.

Hinduism is based on myths and thus people of Indian are unaware of the facts of their inherited religious history. The Vedic Culture and Vedas are complete in themselves but Hinduism which is a non-Vedic belief system with all rituals and conduct-oriented practices has been contributed largely by the orthodox priests to suit their convenience!

Vedic Gods, hardly have any significance in the present-day Hindu belief system. Gods and Goddesses important to the Hindus of today are Ram, Krishna, Kali, Ganesh, Hanuman, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the respective consorts of the last three, namely, Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Shakti. None of these deities figured prominently in the Vedic pantheon and some of them are clearly non-Vedic.

Vedic God is Atma, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Vedas says God is Supreme Spirit has no idol or form. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.

Rig Veda:~ Prajnanam Brahma: - Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman(God).

Do not accept any other God other than the Soul. The Soul is God in truth,  Nothing is real but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Nothing matters but realize  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. 

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 declares God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of real God.

Hinduism is nothing to do with Sanatana Dharma, which existed 2500 years prior to Hinduism.  

Until we bifurcated Sanatana Dharma from Hinduism it is very difficult to know what God is supposed to do in truth.

Hinduism is nothing to do with Sanatana Dharma, which is based on Vedas.

Sanatana Dharam has no founder Sanatana Dharam religion is without a caste system whereas Hinduism is based on different caste founded by the different founders. 

Vedas are the most sacred scriptures of Sanatana Dharma. Principally there are four Vedas and amongst all the Vedas, the Rigveda is the most sacred and oldest. 

Prohibition of idol worship in Yajurveda: ~

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.

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

Yajurveda: ~God in truth is nondual and pure" (Chapter 40, Verse 8) 

Yajurveda: "They are entering darkness, those who worship the natural things (like air, water, fire, etc.), they are sinking more in darkness who worship created things." (Yajurveda, Chapter 40, Verse 9) 

Hindus worship idols but worship Gods with attributes through an image.  God without attributes is undefined and cannot be worshipped. idol worship is prohibited in Sanatana Dharma or Vedic religion. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

God in truth is Self-evident. God in truth is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God in truth because God in truth is the very essence of the one who denies it.+

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

Do not accept any other God other than the Soul. The Soul is God in truth,  Nothing is real but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Nothing matters but realize  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. 

Remember:~

God in truth is Self-evident. God in truth is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God in truth because God in truth is the very essence of the one who denies it. God in truth is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. God in truth is hidden by the universe in which you exist, God in truth is the cause of the universe in which you exist.

God in truth is the Supreme Being the One eternal homogeneous essence, indivisible consciousness, and intelligence, which is beyond form, time, and space. To which the Sages describe in a variety of ways through diverse words.

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

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

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained 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."

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 innermost Self. In reality, there are no dualities, no differentiation. Only Atman exists. ~Santthosh Kumaar

Advaitic path of wisdom is neither a teaching nor a theory but it is merely guidance to those who are seriously seeking the ultimate truth or Brahman.+

Advaitic wisdom is nothing to do with Advaitic orthodoxy. As per Sage Sankara, Advaitic orthodoxy is meant for the ignorant populace.

Advaitic wisdom is buried under religion and yoga and other philosophies. The Advaita is hidden by the Dvaita. Advaita is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Dvaita is the illusory universe.

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

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 the illusory 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.

Remember:~

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 the criterion for Self-judgement. There are millions in search of truth but one in 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 are blocking one from realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

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.

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (Advaitic wisdom) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but the philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita –Chap- IV-v.2)

In Gita Chap.IV where Lord Krishna says: ~ "This yoga has been lost for ages" the word yoga refers to Gnana yoga, not other yogas: the force of the word this is to point this out.

Lord Krishna describes some of the other yogas but devotes this chapter separately to Gnana Yoga. So one sees even in those ancient days people did not care for Advaita; they wanted religion; hence Gnana got lost. That is why Krishna calls it "the supreme secret." Krishna points out that the yoga must-see is "Brahman in action."

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

The seeker has to realize the Self is not 'I' but the Self is Soul to find liberation from the bondage of the illusion of birth, life, death, and the world (duality). The goal of human life is to find and realize Soul, the Self, which is hidden by ignorance. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ The fool tries to control the mind with the mind - what folly! The wise one delights in the Self alone. There is no mind to master.+

Controlling senses are religious and yogic body-based theory is nothing to with path of the Advatic wisdom, which is based on the Soul.

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ The fool tries to control the mind with the mind - what folly! The wise one delights in the Self alone. There is no mind to master. 

Yogis say they control the Mind. They think the mind is an organ within the body. Thus, yoga is limited to form, time and space, whereas the truth is beyond form, time, and space. It is high time for them to realize the mind is not within the body, but their body and the world are within the mind.

Without knowing what is the mind it is impossible to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

The ‘I’ is present only when the mind is present. The mind is present in the form of the universe. The universe appears as the waking or the dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality). The one that becomes dual and nondual is consciousness. 

Thus, all three states are nothing but consciousness. Consciousness alone is real and all the three states are merely an illusion. When the conviction about consciousness becomes firm, then it leads to Advaitic awareness in the midst of the duality.

Thus, it is necessary to have a perfect understanding of ‘what is ‘what’ to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space. 

Remember:~

It possible is to concentrate it quietly on one subject, keeping all other subjects away ~ but the subject, the thoughts, must be there. It is not the absence of the duality which gives you knowledge of the Soul, the innermost Self: for this absence prevails during deep sleep or Yogic Samadhi. There is no difference between the two, only sleep comes of its own accord whereas Samadhi is self-induced.

The true knowledge cannot come from Yogic Samadhi but only through learning what the whole world really is.

Yoga should be used as a preliminary to such a study. Then only can you understand that the external world is unreal, a phenomenon? But this truth about yoga has been lost, and people in the past misunderstood and miss interpreted the scriptures, turning philosophy into religion and yogic blankness into Brahman. The secret knowledge has disappeared.

Remember:~

Everything you see must become consciousness. It is a most difficult practice because every minute you are being drawn away from consciousness. When you take a walk you think only of the walk and surrounding instead of consciousness because you fail to recognize the world in which you exist is created out of consciousness.

Thus it is very much necessary to understand, assimilate that whatever you have seen, known, believed, and experienced in this world is nothing but consciousness because the world in which you exist is created out of consciousness. Thus, consciousness alone is real and eternal all else is merely an illusion. : ~Santthosh Kumaar

Love is not the means of Self –realization.+

People think love is the means to Self-realization, but they are unaware of the fact that love and hate are made of the same stuff. Love is not the means of Self –realization.

Love is very much necessary in practical life within the practical world. Love implies duality. Whatever is of duality is a falsehood. Thus, love is a reality within the falsehood. Lover and love cease to exist in reality because the duality is not a reality.

The experience of practical life within the practical world is a reality within the waking experience, but the waking experience itself is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

Thus, lover, love, and the world are one, in essence. Thus, the path of love is a religious path because religion is the path of individuality. The ‘Self’ is not an individual to love or hate. In reality, there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness. Thus, there is no duality whereas love implies duality. The ‘Self' is the fullness of the consciousness. The Soul, the innermost Self, is the formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Humanism is limited to practical life within the practical world. The path of love is the path for humanity therefore, it is the individualized path.

Thus, the path of love is limited to the physical structure, it cannot transport one to the ultimate end. Thus, the seeker has to understand the fact that, from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the practical life, and the practical world are merely an illusion.

Meher Baba said: - To love God as he ought to be loved, we must live for God and die for God, knowing that the goal of life is to know God and find him as our own Self.

To realize God is to attain liberation from the bondage of illusion.

Live only to find and realize your true identity with your Beloved God.

The energy which is expended in mere thinking, talking, or writing is like steam that escapes through the whistle of a railway engine …

That is why the sages have always insisted on practice rather than theory. This applies particularly to those who want to know and realize God in truth.

----

~ It means one has to know and realize his innermost Self is God 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 our beloved God, which is our Self. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The birth, life, and death are happening within the illusory universe or Maya, therefore, it is bound to be an illusion.+

The birth, life, and death are happening within the illusory universe or Maya, therefore, it is bound to be an illusion.

Rebirth and reincarnation theories based on the false self within the false experience are bound to be illusions on the base of the Soul, the real Self.

Only the cause of the illusion which is the Soul, the Self is real and eternal. Therefore, everything has to be viewed and judged, on the base of the Soul, the Self to overcome ignorance.

The seeker of truth has to know somewhere he is going wrong, and it is for the seeker to go on his own and remove the obstacle.

The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, religious Gods, scriptures, and yogic theories.

Attachment to scriptures, personal God, and religious code of conduct keep one permanently in the grip of duality.

Seeker has to have the courage to accept the truth and reject the untruth. Most people will not be able to subscribe to the path of truth because they are sentimentally and emotionally involved with their inherited religion

These are problems for the seekers who are from religious backgrounds because of their inherited samskaras or conditioning.

People are made to accept their blind faith or blind belief as truth and their interest or insight is not deep.

All my blogs are useful to analyze these problems because they highlight what is not the truth according to their own religious scriptures and make them accept the truth and reject all the false conditioning and move ahead in pursuit of truth.

It becomes difficult for the orthodox cult to accept anything else as truth other than their accepted belief, which they hold as truth. :~Santthosh Kumaar

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