There is a need to bifurcate religion from spirituality or Advaita.+

There is a need to bifurcate religion from Spirituality or Advaita. Religion is not a stepping stone to Self-realization.

Religion is based on ignorance and it keeps the seeker permanently in ignorance by hiding the truth with its mythical beliefs and dogmas, and superstitions. According to the Vedas and Upanishads, all religious propagated beliefs are a myth.

Whereas Spirituality or Adyathma is based on the Spirit, which is the cause of the world in which we exist.

As one goes deeper into the annals of history, one becomes aware of the fact that the so-called present Hinduism has adopted many things from Buddhism, the religion of Abraham, Jainism, and Islam. If one goes deeper enough he will become aware everything is mixed up and messed up in time.

Sage Sankara endeavored toward establishing the Vedic religion overthrowing Buddhism. But even he was not able to avoid the influence of Buddhism. The influence of the revolutionary atmosphere of Buddhism has reappeared in the Advaita of Sage Sankara. His inability to revive the Vedic religion that flourished before the Buddhist revolution in its pure form is discernible.

No one has taken the pains to rectify it because people have inherited it from their ancestors, and they think it is blasphemy even to hear anything against their inherited religion and its blind

Once one gets involved with the religious class, it is the end of the pursuit of truth.::~Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara:~ “The world, filled with attachments and aversions, and the rest, is like a dream: it appears to be real as long as one is ignorant.+

Sage Sankara says: ~ Whatever thing remains eternal is true, and whatever is non-eternal is untrue. Since the world is created and destroyed, it is not true.

Advaitic Truth is the thing that is unchanging. Since the world is changing, it is not true.

Whatever is independent of space and time is true, and whatever has space and time in itself is untrue.

Just as one sees dreams in sleep, he sees a kind of super-dream when he is waking. The world is compared to this conscious dream.

The world is believed to be a superimposition of the Brahman. Superimposition cannot be true.

On the other hand, Sage Sankara claims that the world is not absolutely false. It appears false only when compared to Brahman. In the pragmatic state, the world is completely true, which occurs as long as we are under the influence of Maya. The world cannot be both true and false at the same time; hence, Sage Sankara has classified the world as indescribable. The following points suggest that, according to Sage Sankara, the world is not false (Sage Sankara himself gave most of the arguments)

This Māyāvāda of Sage Sankara was highly criticized and misunderstood. Bhaskaracharya described Sage Sankara to be indebted to the Buddhists for his concept of Maya. (The term Maya, however, appears in the Bhagavad Gita 7.14 and also in many Upanishads).

The concept of Māyā seems to be a hypothesis. Since, according to the Upanishads only Brahman is real, but we see the material world to be real, Sage Sankara explained the anomaly by the concept of this illusionary power Māyā.

Sage Sankara:~ “The world, filled with attachments and aversions, and the rest, is like a dream: it appears to be real as long as one is ignorant, but becomes unreal when one is awake.

Sage Sankara:~ “As fire is the direct cause of cooking, so knowledge, and not any other form of discipline, is the direct cause of Liberation; for Liberation cannot be attained without Knowledge." (Self-Knowledge).

Sage Sankara: ~ As the moon appears to be moving when the clouds move in the sky, so also to the non-discriminating. Atman appears to be active when, in reality, the senses are active.

The Soul is the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. Consciousness alone is real; the world is merely an illusion.

The world in which we exist has no independent existence apart from consciousness. The world in which we exist is not different from consciousness because the world is created out of consciousness.

The Soul, the Self, is eternal, impersonal awareness, one without the second. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

People believe and worship their religious Gods based on blind belief but the scriptures indicate God in truth is not that they believe and worship.+

People believe and worship their religious Gods based on blind belief, but the scriptures indicate that God in truth is not what they believe and worship.

People are not even aware that Gods they believe and worship are not God in truth, according to their own holy books.

Religions were coherent because they had a transcendent God as a central doctrine, whereas in the realm of truth, the religious God cannot be considered as the cause of the universe because all religious Gods are based on blind faith or blind belief.

God, based on blind belief, is not God in truth. Every religion has its own idea of God. There is no universality in religious beliefs. From the ultimate standpoint, religious Gods are a myth.

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

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships the Self as~ Atman (God in truth) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."

Religion breeds superstition because religion is based on blind belief.

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “If superstition enters, the brain is gone. Superstition is our great enemy, but bigotry is worse.

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)

According to the Vedas, the Athma (Soul) is the cause of the universe, therefore, Atma itself is God in truth.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul or Spirit) 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: ~ Brahman (God in truth) is present in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

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(God), 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 is known as Brahman (God in truth), and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad Chapter I:~ That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the hearing is perceived- That alone is known as Brahman(God in truth), 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 is known as Brahman(God in truth), and not that which people here worship.

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.

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. (Gita 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.

Vedas, Upanishad, and Bhagavad Gita confirm that the invisible and unborn Soul, the Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit, and they that worship God must worship God in Spirit and in Truth. (John 4:24)

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the invisible Soul, the Self. The invisible Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

Comparing Vedas with Koran or Bible or any other scriptures will not yield the truth, which is hidden by the illusory universe. +

Comparing the Vedas with the Koran, or the Bible, or any other scriptures will not yield the truth, which is hidden by the illusory universe.

Religion was introduced in the past for the benefit of the populace, which is incapable of grasping the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

All the religions of the world are based on form, time, and space. Thus, religion has nothing to do with the pursuit of truth, because the truth is not belief, and religion is based on belief.

The belief is based on the individual, whereas the invisible and unborn Soul, the Self, is not an individual because the invisible and unborn Soul is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

The scriptures are not necessary to realize the ultimate truth, or Brahman, or God, or Spirit. The scriptures are meant for the ignorant populace.

Sage Sankara said: -Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, does liberation come, but only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way.(1) VivekaChudamani v 56, pg 25

Sage Sankara said:- The world is unreal and Brahman alone is real. It means the birth, life, and death, which happen within the world, have to be unreal. If birth, life, and death are unreal, then the rebirth and reincarnation, and the Avatharic concept have to be unreal.

Thus, it is for the seeker to find out, from what standpoint the world becomes unreal, to know the Brahman, which is the ultimate truth or God in truth.

The ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth cannot be attained by the study of the scriptures of any religion, or by intelligence, or by much hearing of sacred books then why compare Vedas with Bible or Koran or any other religious scriptures to realize the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time and space.

Katha Upanishad:~ This Atman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, or by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom it chooses. To such a one, Atman reveals its own form. (Katha Upanishad Ch-II -23-P-20)

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ This Atman cannot be attained through study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Atman—by him alone is Atman attained. It is Atman that reveals to the seeker its true nature. (3 –page-70 Upanishads by Nikilanada)

The above passages further prove that: Self-knowledge cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas and intellectual understanding, or by bookish knowledge.

The Vedas and other scriptures of the other religions are not the means to acquire non-dual wisdom.

That is why Bhagavan Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sage Sankara indicated that the truth lies beyond religion, the concept of god, and the scriptures. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The whole universe and its contents are nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.+

RB-Q: ~ Santthosh, having read this post, who are we then? I am not asking about the Self, I am asking about us as humans, who are we?

Santthosh Kummar: ~ Dearest brother

If you had asked the same question in a dream, the dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. Similarly, the waking becomes unreal when you realize the Self is not you but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

If the waking is unreal, then your experience of birth, life, death, and the world within the waking experience also is unreal (illusion).

The question is based on the waking entity (you or ego). Whatever is based on the waking entity (ego) is based on the dualistic perspective.

You have to learn to view the worldview from the non-dualistic perspective then only you will be able to have the Soulcentric view of the worldview.

In Advaitic awareness, the ego is not considered as ego, even though the ego is present, the body is not considered as a body even though the body is present, the world which confronts him is not considered as the world even though the world is present, the duality ceases even though the duality is present, because of wisdom everything is considered as consciousness. Thus, there is conscious oneness.

Only in ignorance, the world in which we exist is an illusion created out of the Soul, the Self.

The world is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense, that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

People's approach is more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. In fact, our mental and intellectual conditions determine the world, observed and experienced. The commoner viewing the world will see it differently from a Gnani viewing the same world. Each one interprets the world that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego, therefore, he experiences birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas a Gnani sees everything as consciousness and he is fully aware of the fact that there is no second thing that exists other than the invisible Soul or consciousness.

Thus, all the egocentric knowledge has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Remember:~

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 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.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe.

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, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material, then no second thing exists other than consciousness. Thus, the whole universe and its contents are nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.

Remember:~

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.

Chandogya Upanishad:~ One who meditates upon and realizes the 'Self' discovers that everything in the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantrams and meditation--all come from the Self.

The universe is not different from the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, because the universe is made of consciousness.

Thus, consciousness alone is, and all else (the universe) is merely an illusion. Thus, the illusion is not different from consciousness, which is the ultimate truth, or Brahman or God in truth.

The non-dual consciousness appears as the diverse universe is only an illusion. If it really became diverse, then the immortal would become mortal. The dualist thinkers who seek to prove the origination of the unborn, by that very enterprise, try to make the immortal mortal. Ultimate nature can never change - the immortal can never become mortal and vice versa.

There's no plurality in the nature of the invisible Soul; the Self appears to be many. Those who are attached to creation or production or origination are in ignorance because their approach is more practical, and they are stuck with the reality of the universe (waking) take it as real. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

All the Gurus of the east and west misled the seeking world by glorifying the 'I'.+

Everyone uses the word “truth" and talks of it only from his own imaginary standpoint and not as it is.

People are not even aware of what truth they are seeking. They are seeking the truth of the existence of the invisible Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness hidden by the 'I'.

All the Gurus of the East and West misled the seeking world by glorifying the 'I'.

Until we discard the 'I-centric' Gurus and their teaching, it is impossible to realize the Self hidden by the 'I'.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in something detrimental to our spiritual progress.

Sage Sankara says: ~ 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 perverse arguments.

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.

When you finally realize the Self is not you, but the Self is the invisible and unborn Soul, then you will realize the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the invisible Soul. The invisible Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

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

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 non-Self.

Until you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world that 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 are you indulging in other types of meditation.

Perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-awareness. By holding onto 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 that your ego, your body, and the world are one in essence, then there is Self-awareness in the midst of dualistic illusion or Maya.

Remember:~

Do not search for the truth in the world in which you exist because the world in which you exist hides the truth you are seeking.

The truth is hidden by the world in which you exist because the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the invisible Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. Without the Soul, the world in which you exist ceases to exist.

Realize the Self is not you, but the Self is the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Until you hold the Self, as you will remain in ignorance. You are the false self within the dualistic illusion (Maya).

The dualistic illusion is created out of a single clay. And that single clay is consciousness. Knowledge of the single clay is Advaitic wisdom.

Remember:

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

After verifying through deeper inquiry if one finds the world is the reality within the illusion, then he cannot again say the world is not an illusion.

If one is frightened to accept the world is an illusion (waking), then he is unfit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Those who are stuck with the reality of the world are stuck with the reality of the individual experiences of birth, life, and death, which take place within the unreal world.

The pursuit of truth is for those who have the courage to accept reality as it is, that is, the reality without form, time, and space.

All is consciousness. The whole universe is consciousness. From consciousness, the universe comes.

When the universe disappears, the consciousness still remains without form, time, and space.

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.

When you finally realize the Self is not you, but the Self is the invisible Soul, then you will realize the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the invisible Soul. The invisible Soul is present in the form of consciousness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Those Gurus who propagate the ‘Self’ as ‘you’, are propagating ignorance.+

Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Among thousands of men, scarcely one strives for perfection; and of those who strive and succeed, scarcely one knows the Self in truth.

The path of wisdom attracts only those who are in search of truth, and they appreciate it greatly. Ignorants are not spiritually mature to receive Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana.

Ignorants indulge in argument and provocation, and personal attack, which hinders their own realization of the ultimate truth or Brahman.

That is why Jesus said: ~ - Do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. (Matthew 7:6)

~ Jesus meant knowledge of the Spirit, or Self-knowledge, or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana.

Bhagavad Gita says: ~ “Don't unsettle the minds of the ignorant by revealing the esoteric truth."

As the conviction of the invisible Soul, the Self becomes firm, all the inherited religious conditioning false on its own.

First, realize the Self is not you, but the Self is the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Mentally hold on to the Soul and mentally reduce the world in which you exist as consciousness by realizing the world in which you exist is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.

Swami Vivekananda: ~Jñāna Yoga is divided into three parts. First: hearing the truth--that the Atman is the only reality and that everything else is Maya. Second: reasoning upon this philosophy from all points of view. Third: giving up all further argumentation and realizing the truth. This realization comes from being certain that Brahman is real and everything else is unreal.

Katha Upanishad says: ~ This Atman is attained by him alone whom It chooses. (II -23-P-20)

Thus, those who have taken the path of wisdom are chosen ones. The chosen one will get the grace of the invisible Soul, the inner Guru.

The path of wisdom is the soulcentric path, whereas all other paths are egocentric. All egocentric paths lead to hallucination.

The invisible Soul, the Self,7 reveals ‘what is real’ and ‘what is unreal' when the seeker is receptive and ready.

Until you hold the Self as you, you will remain as ignorant. Those Gurus who propagate the Self as ‘you’ are propagating ignorance. Following such Gurus is following the path of ignorance.

,

You have nothing to do with the invisible Soul, the Self, because your existence is a reality within the illusory form, time, and space. Without the illusory form, time, and space, you cease to exist.

You are the birth entity bound by death, whereas the Soul is birthless and deathless because the Soul is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~ V C-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.

Remember: ~

There is only one Reality to be known, the same for all seekers, but the ways to it are hidden by religion. Self-discovery is the only way towards the non-dualistic absolute without any religious doctrines, which will help the seekers to unfold the mystery of the illusion in which we all are searching for the truth of our true existence.

There is no higher or lower Self. There is only one Self, which is the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The world in which we exist is merely an illusion created out of the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, the invisible Soul alone is real, and all else is an illusion. Mentally hold on to the invisible Soul and drop the illusion. And rest in the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Realizing the Self is not you, but the Self is the invisible Soul, as the Self is Self-realization.

Realizing the Self is not you, but the Self is the invisible Soul, as the Self is Self-realization. : ~Santthosh Kumaar