People of India are not in contact with their religious history; therefore, they believe in Hinduism as their religion.+

People of India have to liberate themselves from the stranglehold of casteism to realize their original religion is not Hinduism, which is full of different castes and creeds, but the Vedic Religion or Sanatana Dharma. The people should be educated about the historical truth of the religion of the Vedas or Sanatana Dharma.

People of India are not in contact with their religious history; therefore, they believe in Hinduism as their religion.

People of India are sentimentally and emotionally involved with their inherited religion. They think it is irreligious to think or speak that their religion is not the ancient Vedic Religion or the Santana Dharma.

Hinduism is not a religion. Rather, it is a group of religions found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different. Many may even argue that it is not a religion but more a way of life. The term "Hinduism" was not developed by the practitioners, but by groups outside of the religions as a means for labeling the entire Indian people.

Some groups within Hinduism claim a sort of "going back to the Vedas". While these groups are attempting to create a bond with the Vedas, they will never be followers of the Vedic religion while they still hold their core ideals.

These core beliefs are at odds with those of the Vedas. Many followers of Hinduism translate the Vedas to fit into Hindu thought by changing the translation to reflect the beliefs of monism, reincarnation, the caste system, and the absence of animal and human sacrifice. However, these poor translators.

Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru:~ 'The word Hindu can be earliest traced to a source, the tantric text in the 8th century, and it was used initially to describe the people; it was never used to describe religion. (The discovery of India” on pages -74 and 75)

According to Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, its connection with religion is of late occurrence. The word Hinduism is derived from the word Hindu.

The word Hinduism was first used by English writers in the 19th century to describe the multiplicity of faiths of the people of India.

In Encyclopaedia Britannica, it says:~ The word Hinduism was first used by the British writers in the year 1830 to describe the multiplicity of the faiths of the people of India, excluding the converted Christians. (Volume- -20, Reference -581)

Swami Vivekananda says: - The word Hindu is a misnomer; the correct word should be a Vedantin, a person who follows the Vedas.: :~Santthosh Kumaar

The taboo on cow slaughter and beef-eating did not exist in Vedic times.+

The taboo on cow slaughter is not Vedic in origin. The taboo on cow slaughter and beef-eating did not exist in Vedic times. Criteria like taboo on beef-eating or belief in reincarnation might stamp the Vedic seers as non-Hindus”. The question, whether the Vedic people practiced cow slaughter is debated among Hindu traditionalists. 

The cow was a sacred animal that the authors of the Vedas sacrificed and ate beef on special occasions. This argument only substantiates the view that the cow was not an inviolable animal and that beef-eating was not taboo in Vedic times.

As is clear from the above, several aspects that are intrinsic to the Hinduism of today, such as the doctrine of reincarnation, avatars (‘descent’) of gods, the caste system, the taboo on cow slaughter, and beef-eating, were absent in the Vedic Religion. It was shown by a critical study of the Vedas that the Aryans had no developed idea of the caste system. (.…) The taboo on the use of beef was shown to be of later origin, that the cow was freely killed for ceremonial and other purposes in ancient India”.

Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma is distinct from Hinduism. The Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma deserves to be treated on its own as a distinct religion with its own sacred texts, rites, rules of social life, beliefs, and practices, without interlinking it with Hinduism. Perhaps it is right to maintain that the Mimamsa School, which is concerned with the investigation of the Vedic texts, their correct interpretation, and the meticulous performance of the Vedic rituals and ceremonies, has preserved and defended a part of the heritage of the Vedic tradition.

The Vedanta school may also have received a part of its inspiration from the Vedas. For the rest of the Hindu philosophical schools and religious sects, the influence of the Vedas is nominal. However, inasmuch as elements from the Vedas have influenced some aspects of Hinduism, it may be considered as one of the many factors influencing modern Hinduism.

But by no means can it be maintained that Hinduism has its direct ancestry in the Vedic religion or the Santana Dharma. Therefore, the Hinduism of Vedic times is an imagined community. Hinduism is of a much later origin, and a historical view of Indian religions would endorse a dichotomy between Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma and contemporary Hinduism.

Hinduism does not have a long ancestry as is often presumed or propagated by the Hindu ideologues. In fact, historically, religions like Buddhism and Jainism can claim greater antiquity than the Hinduism of today. Hinduism began to take a systematic form from the time of Sage Sankara (8th century A.D). In this sense, he may be considered the ‘founder’ of Hinduism, but he never called it Hinduism.

Thus, Hinduism came into existence with its own code of conduct, beliefs, and rituals after the 8th century. Hinduism, as one knows it today, is of recent origin. He states: “Hinduism did not really achieve its status as a coherent, though still baffling, religious complex until after the establishment of British rule in India.

In discussing the Vedic Religion, it is also to be remembered that in the course of history, many non-Aryan elements entered into the Vedic Religion. 

The Vedic Aryans freely borrowed elements from the culture and the society around them. But we cannot say with precision which are the non-Aryan elements in the Vedic Religion. Therefore, the thesis of the direct ancestry of Hinduism of today from Vedic Religion is to be considered as a myth purported by orthodoxy.:~Santthosh Kumaar

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

The ancient peoples of the Indus Valley of undivided India did not identify themselves as Hindu.

A Hindu idol or deity, or temple, has nothing to do with the Vedic religion. Vedic people ate beef. The Hindu practices of idol worship and temple worship ban beef-eating, which was introduced many centuries later.

As one peeps into the annals of religious history, he finds that Hinduism, which exists today, is not a continuation of the Vedic religion, and it has no real historical foundation. Hinduism is of a much later origin.

As per the researchers, the two faiths, the Hindu belief system, have drifted miles away from the Vedic faith, so the two seem to be two distinct faiths. It is not difficult to discover that there is no noticeable continuity of Hinduism from the religion of the Vedas.

The distinctive characteristics of the Hindu belief system cannot be traced in Vedic literature. Besides, although the Vedas are revered as sacred texts, there are many people in India who do not know what ‘belief in the Vedas’ means. In most cases, the acquaintance of the Hindus with the Vedas is limited to the few hymns that are recited in temples and household liturgies.

Max Müller says: ~ "The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal gods."

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses, whereas in the Vedas, the God has been described as: -

In the Yajurveda – chapter- 32: ~ It has been said that God Supreme or Supreme Spirit.

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.

Thus, it refers to the formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the Self within the false experience.

Thus, it indicates clearly that all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false self. Thus, Atman or Soul, the Self, is God in truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

All the religious Gods are based on blind faith ir blind belief, not God in truth. God in truth is Athma.+

All mantras are based on non-Vedic Gods. Non-Vedic Gods are imaginary Gods based on the false self (ego) within the false experience (dualistic illusion or the universe)

All the religious Gods are based on blind faith or blind belief, not God in truth. God in truth is Athma. All the mantras are based on the belief that based Gods are not in reality.

The 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)

The Gods of belief are personal and with form, names, and attributes, whereas the God in truth is impersonal and attributeless because God in truth is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

How can the God of belief yield fruits when they are not Gods at all through repeating the names of God when the real God is nameless because the real God is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence?

Know what God is supposed to be in actuality.

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. God, based on blind belief, is not God in truth.

Realizing God in truth is real worship. Whatever is based on the false God yields no fruit. It is necessary to realize what God is supposed to be in actuality.

God is not physical. God is present in the form of the Spirit. The Spirit is the cause of the world, and the Spirit itself is uncaused.

From the standpoint of the Spirit, the form, time, space, and name are merely an illusion. The Spirit alone is real and all else is an illusion. In reality, the Spirit (God)and matter (the world in which we exist) are one.

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

When the Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness (Spirit), 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 Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

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

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)

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 the real God?

Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God, there is no truth."

Chandogya Upanishad: ~ Sarvam khalvidam brahma ~ all this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the nondual reality.

No mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, the world in which they exist is a reality. For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the mantras will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

That is why Sage Sankara VC~.61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

VC- v6~ 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

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine.

Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be experienced. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise.

Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying, “I am a king.”

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 is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya: ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

The Advaita is the nondual nature of the invisible and unborn Soul, the Self.+

Advaita means the invisible Soul, the Self, which is second to none. The invisible Soul, which is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

Consciousness is the ultimate truth, or Brahman or God in truth. Advaita is the nondual nature of God in truth. Advaita is God in truth. Advaita is the fullness of consciousness.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ God is Supreme Spirit.

Vedas and Upanishads confirm that God is the invisible Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness.

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)

The 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 Soul, the Self. The 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.

Even the 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)

If God is Spirit, then how does man know God created the world? There is no proof. If man had seen God creating the world, he could admit it, but how could he have seen God before he came into existence? (i.e., were created).

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.

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 God Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana (pearls) should not be given to the ignorant populace (pigs).

Advaita is universal. Advaita is not for sale. Do not buy Advaita from the spiritual supermarket. Advaita is the nondual nature of the invisible Soul, the Self.

The world in which you exist is created out of a 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 form, time, and space.

The Advaita is the nondual nature of the invisible and unborn Soul, the Self shines on its own nondual awareness when Advaitic wisdom dawns.

The Advaita is the Soul is the cause and the support of all that exists as the world in which we exist.

The Advaita is present in the form of consciousness. Advaita is the root element of the universe.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

The seeker has to discard all the accumulated knowledge and start afresh.+

All accumulated knowledge that is mental garbage is of no use in the quest for the truth.

that

The seeker must discard all accumulated knowledge and start afresh.

A perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ through deeper thinking and reasoning helps to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana.

Truth is very simple, but it is very difficult to grasp because of ignorance.

You have to realize the world in which you exist is created out of a single clay. And that single clay is the invisible 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.

A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the star is the seeker's own work.

It is necessary to reflect on the same truth repeatedly until it becomes a reality. One needs to constantly reflect on the subject until one gets a firm conviction of 'what is what'.

Words of wisdom are needed until one gets a firm conviction of ‘what is what’. People need to read and hear the words to think, reason, and reflect deeply, and mentally reach the ultimate end.

The truth-seeker seeks only truth. The inner Sage will guide you with love. Your sincerity and seriousness lead you to your inner core. The sincere and serious seekers are not excluded.

All the chosen ones will get freedom from experiencing the illusion (duality) as a reality. All the seekers of truth are chosen ones.

Katha Upanishads: ~ This Atman is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one, Atman reveals its own form. (II -23-P-20)

All the chosen ones will get freedom from experiencing the illusion (duality) as a reality. All the seekers of truth are chosen ones.

Millions are searching for the truth, but only one in a million will find it. If you are a truth seeker, then you are one from a million: ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Vedas bar human worship. There is no need for the seeker of truth to indulge in glorifying the Gurus and worship them as Gods.+

Vedas bar human worship. There is no need for the seeker of truth to indulge in glorifying the Gurus and worship them as Gods.

The seeker has to go beyond religion. Going beyond religion means, to go beyond the belief in religious God to realize the real God hidden by ignorance.

When one delves into the annals of history, it appears that the true Advaita expounded by Sage  Sankara and Sage Gaudapada was lost or distorted by orthodoxy, as their preaching and practice do not align. Orthodoxy talks of Advaita but their practice is dualistic. 

The orthodoxy is nothing to do with Advaita because they are based on the experience of birth, life, death, and the world whereas the Advaita is based on Soul, which is ever birthless and deathless and worldless.

There is no use of prostration to holy sandals of the Guru or indulging in Pada Pooja (feet worship) when the inner Guru is invisible Soul, the  Self’, which is ever formless, timeless and spaceless existence. 

The guru who identifies with his experience of birth, life, death, and the world, and the disciple who worships his guru’s body, will remain ignorant of the truth beyond the form, time, and space. Without getting rid of ignorance, they will never get freedom from experiencing the dualistic illusion as reality.

People think prostrating to a religious Guru, adoring which the worst poverty-stricken have turned out to be great possessors of wealth, and even the mutes have turned out to be great masters of speech, are ideas based on the dualistic perspective is meant for the ignorant populace, which accepts the world as a reality. From the standpoint of the invisible Soul, the Self, the world in which birth, life, and death take place is merely an illusion.

People think by prostrating to the physical Guru, which serves as the downpour of water to put out the fire of misfortunes, which removes the groups of distress of those who prostrate to them. The devotion to a physical Guru and grace with the valuable dominion of renunciation is the religious ideas. All the religious belief is nothing to with the ultimate truth or Brahman.

The devotion to a physical Guru and grace with the valuable dominion of renunciation is the religious idea.

A person who realizes the ultimate truth or Brahman will throw off his religious robe and his religious identity and becomes free from experiencing the illusory duality as a reality.

Why worship and glorify the GURUS and YOGIS when Vedas bar human worship: ~

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 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.]

Then why worship and glorify the GURUS and YOGIS (human form) in place of God when the 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.:~ Santthosh Kumaar