If your seeking truth then you have to bifurcate Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and all other isms from Spirituality.+

In India, people are unaware of the fact that Hinduism is nothing to do with ancient Santana Dharma or Vedic religion.  Though many Hindus hold Vedas as their sacred scriptures they indulge non~Vedic activities barred by Vedas.  

Those who are seeking truth must know Hinduism is nothing to do with Self-knowledge or Atma Gnana or Brahma Gnana.  

Holding Hinduism as the means to acquire self-knowledge or Atma Gnana or Brahma Gnana is an error. Self-knowledge or Atma Gnana or Brahma Gnana is nothing to do with religion, sect, and cult because it is pure spirituality.  If you are seeking truth you have to bifurcate  Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and all other isms from Spirituality then only you will be able to grasp the truth hidden by ignorance.

In India, people think that religion as a stepping stone to the higher truth but it is not so because religion is based on the false Self (waking entity or ego) within the false experience (waking or the world).

One must go beyond form, time, and space. The theistic tradition has been kept alive by religious orthodoxy. The orthodoxy is the path of ignorance because it is based on ignorance.  The orthodoxy is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. Thus, it is not the path of ultimate truth or Brahman.

Remember:~

Vedic people did not worship Hindu God s and Goddesses. Hindu Gods and Goddesses are not Vedic Gods.  Vedas mention that God is “One” whereas in Hinduism there are sixty million Gods. Hinduism is not ancient Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma.  Hindus do idol worship, while Vedas bar idol worship.  God pervades everything and everywhere. Hindus worship Puranic Gods. The Puranic Gods are not Vedic Gods.

Hindus indulge non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, and child marriages. All these lack Vedic sanctions, therefore, Hinduism is not Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

All Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practices barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at different times, whereas the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is ancient and has no founder.

Hinduism is not Santana Dharma or Vedic religion.  Hinduism is not a religion. Rather it is a group of religions found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different.

To be considered an orthodox Hindu one need only accept the authority of Shruti, however, there is no universal agreement among Hindus on what constitutes Shruti. Vedantins consider the Vedanta, i.e., the Upanishads as Shruti, but also include the Bhagavad Gita and Brahma Sutras as authoritative. For some Vaishnavas, the Bhagavata Purana is to be considered Veda. Some consider the Tantras are considered Veda. Thus, we find that there is ample scope for different philosophies, ideologies, and practices under the very broad umbrella of Hinduism. And all Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practices barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism.

Remember:~

The vast ocean of Vedic religion or Santana Dharma was consistently steady and calm for a very long period. It appears that as a consequence of the rage of the Buddhist revolution it got suddenly disturbed and flowed down to us in disorder. Even today Vedic religion or Santana Dharma has not recovered from the onslaught of Buddhism and Jainism and is not able to settle in people's hearts in its original form in the same old measure.

The Buddhist influence is seen in great measure in the Vedic philosophy which is followed by the majority of Indians. Thus, it is clear that the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma has not retained its original form, but has been influenced by other religions and has undergone a sea change. Thus, the influence of Buddhism on Santana Dharma is extraordinary. Even Kumarila Bhatta, who fought with great heroism for the revival of Vedic religion, was so much influenced by Buddhism that he established for the first time in the country, an atheist Vedic religion or Santana Dharma. There is no room for any doubt to assert that the Kumarila Bhatta School was influenced by atheist Buddhism because the school which is based on the validity of the Vedas and rituals refutes the existence of God.

Remember:~

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.

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

God in truth is the Atman, the Self. Atman is present in the form of consciousness.

Do not accept any other God other than Atman not worship other than Atman.

Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything.

God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone is and all else is an illusion.

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 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). 

Remember:~

Even 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 as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other besides 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 not 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.

Sage Sankara: ~"That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman  (God ) ~ that thou art."

Sage Sankara’s Nirguna Brahman is based on the Vedas. The Saguna Brahman has no Vedic sanction.

Thus, it clearly indicates the Vedic God is without form and attributes and is ever free. Vedic Gods, hardly have any significance in the present-day Hindu belief system. The God s 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.

The more important religious sects among the Hindus, like Vaishnavism, Saivism, and so on, did not have a Vedic origin but had come into existence in comparatively recent times.

Originally Shiva and the cult of the Mother Goddess belonged to the religion of the Indus (Sindhu) Valley people. Vedic worshipers did not use temples and idols as Hindus of today do. For them, sacrificial rituals were more important than temple or idol worship.

The theory of Avatara (‘descend’) of God s which is very important to modern Hinduism as non-Vedic.

The term Avatara (…) is not found in the earlier Vedic texts, and is absent from the older Sanskrit glossaries”.

Understanding what is God is not so easy. Religious people can only imagine God based on their beliefs.:~Santthosh Kumaar