Sage Sankara: ~Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread.+

Sage Sankara: ~Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." (Select Works of Sage Sankara, also his commentary on the Brihad)

Thus, the above passage proves that all those who wear the sanyasin robes are wearing them for the sake of bread and belong to the religion; they have nothing to do with the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana.

There is no need to criticize and condemn the Gurus, yogis, and swamis because they are needed for the welfare of the ignorant masses in the dualistic world.

Sage Sankara says the transparent truth of the Self, which is hidden by the illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman (Gnani)

~ Then why stick to a Guru who is not a Gnani?

That is why Swami Vivekananda said: ~ “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own Soul.”

Yogis and Gurus are not Gods.

This idea of worshiping the Guru as God is not a Vedic idea but was adopted from Jainism and Buddhism.

Vedas bars human worship: ~

Yajur Veda:~

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

Why to worship and glorify the Gurus and Yogis (human form) in place of God when Veda bars such activities and it also warns people who indulge in such activities 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.

No one has ever seen God by practicing religion or yoga or indulging in glorifying the religious God and Goddesses because God exists prior to form, time, and space.

The form, time, and space cease to exist as a reality when wisdom dawns. Thus, the Gods and Gurus have no place in the domain of the Advaitic reality.

Advaita is the nondual nature of the invisible Soul, which is the real God. Thus, the Self-realization is the only way to God realization.

By worshipping the religious Gods and Gurus, one will not get Self-realization or God-realization.

The invisible Soul, the inner Guru, reveals ‘what is real’ and ‘what is unreal' when the seeker is receptive and ready. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

Consciousness is not temporary. Consciousness is permanent and eternal.+

Consciousness is not temporary. Consciousness is permanent and eternal.

Consciousness is formless, timeless and spaceless, and changeless existence.

The ‘I’ is an illusion upon consciousness, which appears and disappears. Thus, it is necessary to know what this ‘I’ is supposed to be in actuality.

Sage Sankara: ~VC~If the universe is true, let it then be perceived in the state of deep sleep also. As it is not at all perceived, it must be unreal and false, like dreams.

People say I AM THAT ~ I am God, I am Brahman. But when Brahman is, how can "I" remain? Only Brahman remains, not I.

It is erroneous to use the word ‘I’ for the Self, because ‘I’ represents the form, time, and space, whereas the invisible Soul, the Self, is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ disappears as deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is impermanent and illusory because ‘I’ is physical awareness.

Physical awareness is not Self-awareness. ‘I-less awareness is Self-awareness.

It is erroneous to identify the invisible Soul, the Self, as 'I' or 'I AM' because the invisible Soul, the Self, is not 'I' or I AM’. The invisible Soul, the Self, is the cause of the 'I'.

To understand the false nature of the ‘I’, the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana, is necessary.

The Self is not ‘I’, but the Self is the invisible Soul which is the cause of the ‘I’. Holding the ‘I as the Self leads to hallucination based on the imagination.: ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

Till you hold the Self as the ‘I’, you will never be able to get Self-realization.+

Till you hold the Self as the ‘I’, you will never be able to get Self-realization. ‘I’ hides the invisible  Soul, which is the  Self.

I’ is ignorance.

‘I’ is the duality.

‘I’ is the form, time, and space.

‘I’ is the universe.

‘I’ is the waking.

‘I’ is the dream.

‘I’ is the illusion.

‘I’ is the experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

But remember:~

Without the ‘I’, there is no ignorance.

Without the ‘I,’ there is no duality.

Without the ‘I,’ there is no form, time, or space.

Without the ‘I,’ there is no universe.

Without the ‘I,’ there is no waking.

Without the ‘I’, there is no dream.

Without the ‘I’, there is no illusion.

Without the ‘I’, there is no experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole. The ‘I’ hides the truth.

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.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

It is time to discard the ‘I’. Never use the word ‘I’ or I AM for the Self. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

A person who declares himself as Self-realized is not Self-realized.+

A person who declares himself as Self-realized is not Self-realized, because he is unaware of the fact that he is not the Self, but the Self is the invisible Soul.

A person who has realized the ultimate truth or Brahman will never declare he is self-realized. If a person says he is Self-realized, he is still ignorant.

If you think you are self-realized, but you still say 'I', and if you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, you are not a Gnani. You are simply ignorant with your accumulated dualistic intellectual knowledge, accumulated from here and there.

Upanishad says:~ "He who thinks he knows, does not know." This means that to know anything implies a second, an object of knowledge, hence duality, i.e., no Gnana.

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~ "The man of knowledge (Gnani), though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him, and only those like him understand his state.

A person who realized the ultimate truth or Brahman will throw off his religious robe and all religious identity and live like a commoner. He never identifies himself as Gnani, nor does he identify himself as superior to others. He only shares his knowledge with his fellow seekers.

A Gnani never identifies himself as a Guru or a Yogi, or someone's disciple. The one who accepts himself as a Guru or someone’s disciple is not a Gnani.

There is no liberation for a person of mere bookish knowledge, however well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense organs, etc., which are unreal.

Even friends and family members of a Gnani will not know him as the Gnani. Due to ignorance, people will not be able to recognize a Gnani. Outwardly, the Gnani behaves as an ordinary person behaves.

A Gnani talks and jokes like others, but he is not understood as he really is. People may regard him as an exceptional person, but only a few can recognize him as a Gnani.

Sage Sankara himself said: ~ A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

Thus, it proves that the intellectual who declares himself to be self-realized, the religious Gurus and yogis, are not Gnanis because they identify themselves as holy people: ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The thoughts that arise to the false self (ego) within the false experience(waking) are bound to be a falsehood.+

Thoughts like 'I ' and 'I AM ' will not cease until one understands ‘what is this ‘I’.

One has to realize the fact that the thought will not rise without the waking or the dream, therefore, the waking or the dream has to be there prior to the real thought process.

Thus, thoughts have nothing to do with the invisible Sou, the witness of the waking or the dream.

Thoughts are connected to the individual, not to the invisible Soul, the Self. Thus, whatever is part of the mind has to be a falsehood.

The thoughts that arise to the false self (ego) within the false experience(waking) are bound to be a falsehood.

Thus, it is erroneous to trace the source of the thought; instead, one has to first realize the fact that the ‘I’ is not the Self. And ‘I’ is not limited to the physical entity, but ‘I’ is the whole universe, which appears as waking or dream and disappears as deep sleep.

If the ‘I’ is there, then only the mind is present. If the mind is there, then only the universe is present. And the universe is present only when the waking or the dream is present.

One sees differences between things because of ignorance; all these differences would vanish when one gets wisdom, and the various thoughts arise because one considers the ‘I’ as the Self.

Individuality is a reality within the falsehood. All the great sages existed within the illusory duality (universe).

The duality is impermanent because it appears and disappears. The duality is merely an illusion from the ultimate standpoint.

The individuality names and forms are a reality within the unreality (duality).

The unreality (duality) is created out of a single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness (spirit).

Thus, what is the use of talking about unreality while we are seeking reality?

The seeker's aim is to realize the ultimate truth. It is no use discussing the unimportant subject in the Atmic discussion. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

The mind arises from the invisible Soul, which is in the form of consciousness+

The mind arises from the invisible Soul, which is in the form of consciousness. The sense of ‘I’ rises as the mind.

The mind is in the form of the universe. Thus, ‘I’ is the mind or universe.

The universe appears as waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep(nonduality). Holding the sense of ‘I’ limited to the ego is the cause of separation.

It makes one feel, he is an individual separate from the world and the world that existed prior to him, and he is born in it afterward. 

Until one has this conviction, it is very difficult to grasp the non-dual truth.

Thus, it is necessary to realize that the invisible  Soul, the Self, is neither the ego nor the world but is the witness of the ego, body, and world together.

The true Self is the  Soul, which is ever nondual. The invisible Soul, the Self, is the witness of the appearing and disappearing of the three states. And it is also the substance of the three states because without the invisible Soul, the Self, the three states are non-existent. 

In reality, the substance and witness are one in essence. The essence is consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman, or God in truth.

The invisible Soul, the Self, is the witness of the three states. And the formless witness is hidden by the three states. And it is without the three states. And also, it is apart from the three states. It is hidden by the three states because it is the cause of the three states. And it is without the three states as their invisible witness. And it is also apart from the three states because it is not an entity or identity within the three states.:~Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara: - One without knowledge does not obtain liberation.+

All these religions have produced a great many saints, prophets, and Sages. If they had been born in Hinduism, in all probability, they would have been deified in the same way as the founders of several Hindu sects.

Upanishad says: ~ The human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge, and they indicate that the belief in the personal Gods, yoga scriptures, worship, and rituals are not the means to Self–Knowledge, then why should anyone indulge in it? The religion, concept of individualized God, and scriptures are the greatest obstacles to realizing non-dual truth or Self-realization because they are based on the false self. The seeker of truth has to search for the ultimate truth without losing himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, through deeper self-search and assimilation, and realize it.

That is why Sage Sankara, indicated in Bhaja Govindam, says: ~ One without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows.

Thus, the path of wisdom is the only means. Then it is no use going a roundabout way, trace the Brahman, which is the formless substance and the witness of the universe (mind). By tracing the source of the mind or the universe, one will be able to realize the Brahman.

Hinduism has an ever-increasing number of Avatars and Gurus installed as God Himself, with the support and sanction of scriptures and teachings of saints and sages.

Those Saints and Sages in the past introduced Glorifying God and Guru and rituals for the masses who have immersed themselves in worldly life and are incapable of inquiring or not ready for the pursuit of truth.

Glorying God and Guru and rituals might also be regarded as harmful, as they might cause doubt and confusion in the minds of some seekers who strive with simple faith and earnestness to practice the discipline for Self-realization.

If one is seeking truth, then this application of the theoretical philosophy is erroneous and improper. It has been instrumental in spreading sophistry and delusion in the guise of philosophy and direct realization and must be abandoned.

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

Isa Upanishad says: ~ Into blinding darkness enter those who cling to ignorance, but into still deeper darkness go those who flirt with knowledge. It is the promotion of nescience with the help of scholarship to justify the worship of a mortal in lieu of God. It makes no difference whether God is conceived as clothed with attributes (Saguna) or as absolute, attribute-less existence (Nirguna).

Sage Sankara: ~VC 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 (verses-6)

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) Vivekachoodamani v 56, pg 25

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 the Gita Chapter. 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 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."

Gita Chap. IV:~ "He who achieves perfection in Yoga finds the Self in time." This means that after his yoga is finished, he begins the inquiry into the ultimate truth, and in due course, this inquiry produces the realization of the universal spirit as the result.

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.

There is no need for any practice to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman, or God in truth.

Perfect understanding and assimilation of ‘what is what’ is very much necessary to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman, which is God in truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar