Upanishads say:~ 'If you believe that ‘Self’ is one and God is another you cannot understand Truth.+

The universe in which you exist hides God. God is the Soul, the Self.  The Soul is present in the form of the Spirit.

The religious Gods are manmade.  Every religion has its own idea of God.   He who thinks God is one and the Soul, the Self is another can never be able to understand, assimilate realize the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth.  

God cannot be brought down to the domain of duality. There is only one being in reality and it is the Soul, the Self.  

The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness pervades in everything and everywhere in all three states. Thus, the Soul or consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Brahman is God in truth.  

When one realizes that form, time, and space are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness, then he realizes there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness. Thus everything is consciousness. Thus, consciousness is God in truth.

The Upanishads say in effect that: ~ 'If you believe that ‘Self’ is one and God is another you cannot understand Truth.

No conceptual God can exist, apart from the consciousness. People are not aware of the fact that there is no individual God that can exist, apart from the Soul, which is in the form of consciousness. 

Thus, the Soul or consciousness is the true Self.   If there is no consciousness, then there is no physical body, no ego, no universe, no religion, and no conceptual God.

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

People think that there must be a creator of this universe. If one thinks physical entity or ego as the Self, then there is a creator, but if one thinks of the Soul as the Self, then there is nothing that exists other than consciousness.

If one objectifies and sees a universe, then he is bound to see many things besides himself and postulate a God, the creator. The body, the idea of the God and world rise and set together from, and into, the Soul, the ‘Self.’ 

If God is apart from the ‘Self ‘, then He would be Selfless, that is, outside existence, that is, non-existent.

Religious Gods are not God in truth. The Bible says “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Rig Veda says may ye never accept another God in place of the Atman (Spirit) nor worship other than the Atman.

What is the use of arguing with religious believers?  They think of what they know as the ultimate truth.

Whatever is real in the world in which we exist is God. All that is real in the world in which we exist is the Soul, the  Self. 

Thus, by realizing the Self, which is the Soul, we discover the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness itself is God which is hidden by the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion. 

Make sure what God is supposed to be according to the Vedas. And what happens if you worship non-Vedic Gods. 

All the attributed Gods are imaginations based on form, time, and space. From the ultimate standpoint, the existence of all the Gods with attributes is limited to the illusion. 

Without the illusion, all these attributed Gods cease to exist.  The real God is hidden by the illusion.

Thus, whatever is seen, known, believed, and experienced as real within the illusion is bound to be a falsehood.  

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

People who worship non-Vedic Gods are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." 

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

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~  God is  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.

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."

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 in truth) matter (the world in which we exist) is one.

That is why Swami Vivekananda:~

The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods?

 Knowing this, stand up and fight! Not one step back that is the idea. ... Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the sphere! Let the whole world stand against us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards. ... Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune. You have cried to all the Gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods? ... The Gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? Die game. ... This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, my soul. You are infinite, deathless, and birthless. Because you are the infinite spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. You are the entire world. Who can help you? ~ Swami Vivekananda  (Delivered In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900) -The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Lectures And Discourses/The Gita II

As indicated in ISH Upanishads:~  By worshipping Gods and Goddesses you will go after death to the world of Gods and Goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spend there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of Gods and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into the darkness.

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

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

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)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that:~

 

Those who worship visible things such as the earth, trees, and bodies (humans and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater ignorance. 

When the religion of the Veda knows no idols, then why so many Gods and Goddesses with different forms and names are being propagated as Vedic Gods. 

Why these conceptual Gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is free from form and attributes.

It indicates clearly all the Puranic Gods with form and name, and their worship and rituals were introduced by replacing in place of Vedic rituals and modifying books of the code of conduct.   

Thus, the pure Vedic rituals have been replaced by the founders of present-day Hinduism, the reason best known to them. When the Vedic goal is Self-realization. 

All these Puranic-based understandings and knowledge are the misguided direction of the seekers of truth.

It clearly indicates that:- If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge then why indulge in rituals and glorify the conceptual Gods, Goddesses, and gurus to go into deeper darkness. Instead, spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana, which is one’s prime goal.   : ~ Santthosh Kumaar