Sage Sankara says:~ Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?+

Mythological Gods are a myth. All mantras are based on the mythological Gods that keep one in the prison of the dualistic illusion.

The mantras never help to cross the trash hold of form, time, and space. Mantras are meant for the ignorant populace who believe form, time, and space as reality.

What is the use of the mantras, which are based on the false God? Whatever is based on falsity will yield false fruits?

That is why Sage Sankara says:~ 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?

62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utters the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realization, one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

That is why in 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.”

The people who follow religion think that following their inherited religion is their duty. And questioning the Guru or scholars is irreligious. Thus, they indulge in rituals and hear religious discourses. They are weak and timid.

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 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."

When the Upanishad itself says: ~ 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 non-dual reality (Chandogya Upanishad).

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God in truth) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object. It is beyond the reach of the senses.

Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It.

In Brahman, there is no distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman and not just its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.::~Santthosh Kumaar 

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is the only weapon to get rid of ignorance.+

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

If the Self is not you but the Self is the invisible Soul, then your judgment of the truth has to be based on the invisible Soul. The Soulcentric judgment reveals the truth hidden by ignorance.

You are bound by birth, life, death, and the world. Without realizing what the Self is supposed to be, simply saying ‘I AM THAT’ shows that one is merely imagining the Self.

'I-centric' knowledge is based on imagination is not Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

The ‘I’ hides the invisible Soul, the Self, which is the cause of the 'I'.

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.

The waking experience is connected to the ‘I’

Remember:~

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

The form, time, and space are connected to the ‘I’.

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

The dream is connected to the ‘I’

The universe in which you exist is connected to the ‘I.

The mind is connected to the ‘I’

The Self is not the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ hides the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The ‘I-LESS Soul is permanent because it is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

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

Why are you struggling to find out who you are? You will never find the answer if you get stuck on the ‘I’.

Find out ‘what is this ‘I’, which appears and disappears. What is it that is aware of the coming and going of the ‘I’?

Without realizing ‘What is this ‘I’, you will never be able to realize the mystery of the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ is the most intoxicating stuff. Those who use the word ‘I’ for the Self will never be able to cross the threshold of the dualistic illusion.

The ‘I-centric Gurus and their teachings will not transport the seeker to the ultimate end of understanding.

Perfect understanding of ‘what is this ‘I’ lead to the realization of the truth beyond form, time, and space.

The ‘I-centric Gurus and their teachings will not help the seeker transport the seeker to the ultimate end of understanding.

The ‘I’ is the cage for the invisible Soul. ‘I’ is the cause of ignorance. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is the only weapon to get rid of ignorance. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Meditation is not a mechanical process of forcing your attention upon an idea or object.+

Meditation is a progressive step, and there is no need to condemn it. Religion and yoga were not the ends, for they can never directly lead to Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Meditation is not a mechanical process of forcing your attention upon an idea or object.

Without realizing the Self is not you but the invisible Soul, meditating is useless because it is not meditation but an imitation of the formless existence.

Meditation is not Advaitic wisdom. Meditation is not a means to find the truth hidden by form, time, and space. Without realizing that the Self is not you, but the Self is the invisible Soul, all the effort used in the meditation leads to hallucinatory thoughtlessness.

The thoughtlessness is not Advaitic wisdom. By ending the thoughts, you may get peace, not Advaitic wisdom.

Ashtavakra says: ~ “This is your bondage, that you practice Samadhi or meditation.”

Meditation is a progressive step, and there is no need to condemn it. Religion and yoga are not the ends, for they can never directly lead to Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

All other teachings and practices other than Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana, are for beginners only. There are stages in comprehending the truth.

Meditation always means the critical analysis of the Self to get rid of ignorance. The ignorance will not vanish by reaming without the thoughts or focusing attention on some object.

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.

Until a man is ripe to receive Self-knowledge, it is fatal to ask him to give up meditation.

The novice seekers must understand that yoga is all right in its places and that it is good at the beginning of the pursuit of truth, but when yoga is made ends in itself and not a means to acquire the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

It is all made so complicated, and books written by different yogis have made it still more complicated.

No amount of reading and understanding can lead to Self-realization.

All other teachings and practices other than self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana, are for beginners only. There are stages in comprehending the truth.

Advaitic truth is the ultimate truth for the seeker of truth. All religion, Yoga, mysticism, or theology is for the lower and middling intellect.

The seekers' aim is the search for the Ultimate Truth or Brahman. The search to find the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth that, in actuality, was never lost, only hidden.

Religious truth is not the truth because it always shows a contradiction. A contradiction arises because a different person's interpretation may disagree with others.

Poets are at liberty to imagine whatever they like, but the only thing wrong is that they take their feelings and sentiments for reality, or when they think that whatever seems, must exist.

Remember:~

Meditation is not meditating on the object, but realizing the object is not the Subject.

The Soul is the subject. The world is an object.

The world in which you exist is an object to the invisible Soul, the Self.

Remember, you are part of the objective world.

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.

For meditation, one need not sit and chant God's name or concentrate on some object. Anything you do will not be meditation.

People dip into meditation, but they do not understand that that is only one-half of the truth and that this dipping is also a mental discipline for them to understand the true nature of the external universe, which understanding they must next get if they are to become a Gnani.

Ashtavakra says: ~"This is your bondage, that you practice Samadhi or meditation.”

If there is a doer, then it is not meditation. As long as there is doing, there is ignorance.

As long as the doer is present, the ego is present. If the ego is present, the whole world is present.

If the world is present, the duality is present. If the duality is present, then there is an illusion. If the illusion is present, the birth, life, death, and the world are experienced as reality.

By realizing the world in which you exist is created out of a single stuff. That single stuff is the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Knowledge of the single stuff is Self-knowledge. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana leads to Self-awareness.

In Self-awareness, the invisible Soul, the Self, remains in its own awareness in the midst of form, time, and space. Self-awareness is real meditation. Mediation is the nature of the invisible Soul, the Self. .:~ Santthosh Kumaar

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

People’s approach was more practical, and they are stuck with the belief in their inherited belief system.

Religions are based on blind belief, not the truth. Religions are more concerned with their beliefs, dogmas, and superstitions.

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

God, based on blind belief, is part and parcel of the universe, which is a dualistic illusion. The Atman is Brahman or God in actuality.

All that God propagated by religion is nothing but imagination. There is nothing so absurd that men have not worshipped in religion; every imaginable face has been given to God.

If God is the creator, then it is foolish to worship anything as God from his creation because the creation is apart from God.

Every Religion has its own idea of God. Thus, every religion is based on the false self. Therefore, whatever is based on the false self has to be a falsehood.

Thus, the idea of God of any religion is an imagination based on the false ‘Self’.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ God Supreme or Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

God is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. According to the Vedas, God neither has any image nor does God reside in any particular idol or statue.

God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.

Mythological Gods and Goddesses are based on the belief. The belief is no God. The belief implies duality. From the ultimate standpoint, duality is merely an illusion.

Thus, whatever one sees, knows, believes, and experiences within the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion.

Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition.

Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement.

All the mythological Gods are worshipped in the form of idols. The belief system that propagated ideas of many Gods and Goddesses, Bhakti is the only way to God, is simply trying to lead the people to darkness with its dogma and idea of many Gods, which is apart from the Self.

Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief, and senseless rituals, and is most irrational and giving them a divine outlook.

Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition.

Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded if one has to realize the ultimate truth, or Brahman, or the real God.

Through deeper self-search, one gains a new understanding of certain dogmas.

Ideas injected by religion about the literal heaven where people are immersed in pleasure, in a literal hell where people suffer, are fables.

God is not up there to judge and decides our good and bad deeds. All the mythological stories and mythological Gods are religiously injected fables.

Remember:~

Other than the Atman, which is God in truth, and all else is an illusion. God, based on blind belief, is a myth.

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

Even the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God in truth) is the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

There is a clear-cut idea of God in the Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita. And also, there is a clear-cut idea of what not to worship as God in place of the real God. Thus, it proves from a Vedic perspective that the Puranic Gods are not Vedic Gods.

Vedas says never accept another God in place of the Atman, nor worship other than the Atman.

One must remember that for all periods the Vedas are the final goal and authority, and if the Puranas differ in any respect from the Vedas, the Puranas are to be rejected without mercy.

If you feel the Puranas say something and the Vedas say something else, reject the Puranas and believe in the Vedas. The Puranas are just a myth.

India takes pride in being the descendants of the Sages of truth who gave the Advaita the ultimate truth. The Advaitic truth is the truth beyond form, time, and space.

All the mythological Gods' existence is a myth. Such Gods can exist only within the dualistic illusion. Thus, the existence of such Gods is illusory.

Mythological Gods and Goddesses are based on the belief. The belief is not God. The belief implies duality. From the ultimate standpoint, the duality is merely an illusion. Thus, whatever one sees, knows, believes, and experiences within the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion.

Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition. Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement.

Swami Vivekananda: This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind, does not befit you, the Soul. The Self is infinite, deathless, and birthless. Because the Self is infinite Spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is no none to help you. The Self is the entire world. Who can help you?

Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief, and senseless rituals, and is most irrational and giving them a divine outlook.

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

The existence of God or no God is only a belief. Belief is not the truth.

The scientific theories and inventions have made the materialistic life easier and comfortable for a man to live in the practical world; however, science failed to unfold the truth of true existence. Since their invention is based on the false self (ego) and false experience (waking).

The religions have created an imaginary God based on blind belief and propagated the existence of such a God.

Religion imposes on people to blindly follow its scriptures without verification. Religion is based on blind belief. Every religion has its own beliefs and dogmas.

Religion discourages people from verifying whether it is based on truth or not. Scientific materialism and religiously regulated life have resulted in restlessness.

People reason according to their own mentality, their own degree of understanding, and their knowledge.

The majority of people’s idea of God is extremely vague. Many simply accept the orthodox concept of God. They blindly accept their inherited idea of God based on blind belief. Some reason God into their own ideals.

Only a few set out to verify their beliefs to find out for themselves what God is supposed to be in actuality.

The invisible Soul, the Self itself, is God in truth. The invisible Soul is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, consciousness is God in truth.

Even the Vedas and Upanishads clearly declare this truth. Consciousness is the cause of the universe, and it itself is causeless. This is hard for people to grasp this truth because the truth is beyond form, time, and space.

Beyond the form, time, and space is consciousness. Consciousness alone is. The nature of consciousness is nondual awareness.

We must know that the universe in which we exist is the illusory expression of consciousness.

Consciousness is invisible to the human eye, but, in reality, consciousness is visible as the whole universe. Consciousness is behind all that animates and inanimate things. The invisible Soul is the ocean of consciousness.: ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The ‘I’ hides the invisible Soul, the Self, which is the cause of the 'I'.+

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)

The seeker should not stick to a Guru who is not a Gnani.

Sage Sankara says: ~The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then there is no need to indulge in other types of meditation.

Remember:~

The ‘I’ hides the invisible Soul, the Self, which is the cause of the 'I'.

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self.

The seeker has to realize that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the Self is the invisible Soul, which is the cause of the ‘I’. The invisible and unborn Soul, the Self, is eternal.

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.

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take as real because some Gurus have propagated that the Self is the ‘I’.

There is no need to convince such a mindset. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth, nothing but the truth.

That is why Sage Sankara says: - VC-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.

People refuse to accept anything other than their Guru's words. For them, their Guru's words are the ultimate truth.

People do not accept anything other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.

Such a mindset is not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana.

The seekers of truth accept only the truth, nothing but the uncontradictable truth.

Remember:~

Religion and yoga were not the ends, for they can never directly lead to Advaitic wisdom or Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

All other teachings and practices other than Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana, are for beginners only. There are stages in comprehending the truth.

Advaitic truth is the ultimate truth for the seeker of truth. All religion, Yoga, mysticism, or theology is for the lower and middling intellect.

The seeker's aim is the search for the Ultimate Truth or Brahman. The search to find the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth that in actuality never was lost, only hidden.

Religious truth is not the truth because it always shows a contradiction. A contradiction arises because a different person's interpretation may disagree with others.

Poets are at liberty to imagine whatever they like, but the only thing wrong is that they take their feelings and sentiments for reality, or when they think that whatever seems, must exist.

Religions place God as the unknown reality”. Every religious believer has a different idea of God. Every man has a different idea of the real. Hence, the a need for a definition before the study.

The fallacy of orthodoxy’s appeal to scripture lies in the varying and conflicting interpretations of the same scripture that different men feel entitled to give or hold.: ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The Self is not the ‘I’ but the Self is the invisible Soul, the cause of the ‘I.+

The experience of birth, life, death, and the world is happening within the ‘I’. The ‘I’ is extraneous to the Self. Remember the Self is not the ‘I’ but the Self is the invisible Soul, the cause of the ‘I.

Until 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 ignorant.

‘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

Without the ‘I’, there is no ignorance.

Without the ‘I’, there is no duality.

Without the ‘I,’ there is no form, time, and 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 invisible Soul, the Self, which is the cause of the 'I'.

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 the I’ or I AM for the Self.

The invisible Soul is not within your body, but the invisible Soul pervades the whole world in which you exist. Those gurus who think the Self is within the body propagate that the Self is to be ‘I AM and they also propagate that consciousness is limited to the physical body. They think the consciousness is not permanent because it disappears along with physical death.

When the Self is not the body but the invisible Soul, which is birthless and deathless, how can you relate the Self to the invisible Soul, which is the ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence?

The ‘I-centric’ teachings are mere imagination based on the dualistic perspective, whereas the truth is based on the nondualistic perspective. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar