If you are the seeker of truth then you must know Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana itself is Sage Sankara's Advaitic wisdom.+

If you are the seeker of truth then you must know Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana itself is Sage Sankara's Advaitic wisdom.

If you are seeking truth in India then you must know yoga is not the means to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  Yoga is good as a health care kit it helps to remove the mental and physical stress.

All religious-based Advaita is not for those seriously seeking truth. There is no need to study scriptures, there is no need to practice rituals, and there is no need to believe in the religious idea of God. There is no need to meditate in the forests or mountain caves. There is no need to attend sermons.

As per the scriptures, the three "Ashrams" or stages in life were originally intended for three grades of intelligence thus: ~

v             Religion: low intellects had to do 'karmas' works, ritual actions, chanting of mantras and indulging in bhajans and prayers, etc.

v             Middle intellects:  Yoga: taking yellow robes, going to caves, ashrams, etc.

v             High intellects: wisdom who wanted the truth is concerned with no external rites or sanyasa but depends solely on the intelligent inquiry for their path.

Chose your path according to your taste and capacity.

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman. Thus, the Purva mimam.sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

Those who lack intelligence have to follow the path of religion or yoga, which is meant for the ignorant populace. Serious seekers must follow the path of wisdom.

Those who lack the intelligence to discriminate between formless witness (subject) and three states (object) will not be able to grasp what is real and what is unreal. Both subject and object are consciousness, not subject alone.

Remember:~

Religious orthodox think that through their good karma and performing rituals they get moksha.

The Religious orthodoxy is meant for ignorant populace The Atmic path, emphasis on the Advaitic wisdom is meant for those who wish to realize the truth, which hidden by the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion.

Although Sage Sankara puts the mystic goal highest in his mystical books, he is careful to say that this goal leads to Brahman, not that it is realization.

That is why 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)

As one goes deeper in annals of history he becomes aware of the fact that the so-called present Hinduism has adopted many things from Buddhism, the religion of Abraham, Jainism, and Islam. If one goes deeper enough he will become aware everything is mixed up and messed up in time.

No one is taken pains to rectify it because; because people have been inherited them, from their ancestors and they think it is blasphemy even to hear anything against their inherited religion and belief. Once one gets involved with the religious class it is the end of the pursuit of truth.

Advaitic orthodoxy, which is meant for the ignorant populace holds the experience of birth, life, the death which happens in the world as a reality whereas the Sage  Sankara says the world is unreal and Brahman (God) alone is real.

 Advaitic orthodoxy, which is meant for the ignorant populace believes and worships mythical non-Vedic Gods as  real God and indulges in non-Vedic rituals and activities whereas Sage,  Sankara’s supreme Brahman(God in truth)  is Nirguna (without the Gunas), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without attributes) and Akarta (non-agent).

There is no need to study neither Advaita Vedanta nor Vedas nor Buddhism to realize ultimate truth or Brahman. It is no use going roundabout way; trace the Brahman.

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

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to study the Scriptures, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

 ~ then why you indulge in studying the scriptures.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to study philosophy, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why you indulge in studying philosophy.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to indulge rituals, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.

~ then why you indulge in rituals.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to indulge yoga, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~ then why you indulge in yoga.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to indulge yoga, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why you indulge in yoga.

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 you are sticking 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 why you are indulging in other types of meditation.  

Remember: ~ 

Sage  Sankara: ~ “All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman (Consciousness) which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought. 

Sage  Sankara: ~ VC~.63: "Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know the Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

After verifying through deeper inquiry if one finds the world is the reality within the illusion then he cannot again say the world is not an illusion.

If one is frightened to accept the world is an illusion (waking) then he is unfit to acquire ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Those who stuck with the reality of the world are stuck with the reality of the individual experiences of birth, life, and death, which takes place within the unreal world. Thus the pursuit of truth is for those who have the courage to accept the reality as it is, that is the reality without form, time and space.

Sage Sankara says: ~ VC-47   All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the not-Self. 

Sage Sankara’s whole teaching can be summed up in one sentence, ‘There is nothing else but Brahman (Atman or consciousness). Sage Sankara says that the Absolute Existence, Absolute Knowledge, and Absolute awareness are real. The universe is not real. Sage  Sankara says that Brahma and Atman are one. The ultimate and the Absolute Truth is the Self, which is one though appearing as the universe containing many different individuals. The individual has no reality. Only the Self is real; the universe is but passing appearances.

In fact, Sage Sankara states a paradox- the world is and is not. It is neither real nor unreal. It leads us to recognize the existence of Maya (illusion). He thinks that the world is illusory from one perspective and from the second it is nothing but Brahman (God), Itself in manifestation. This apparent world is Maya and has its basis in Brahman, the Eternal. It looks as real. It has names and forms and actually, it is not real In the light of true knowledge, it disappears and Self-alone shines as real. However, Sage Sankara's Mayavada has not been accepted by many preachers and philosophers.

When Sage Sankara says clearly, the universe is not real. He says that Brahman and Atman are one. The ultimate and the Absolute Truth is the Self, which is one though appearing as many in different individuals. The individual has no reality. Only the Soul, the innermost  Self is Real; the rest, mental and physical are but passing appearances, then it indicates the form (waking or duality or mind) is unreal and the formless soul (consciousness or soul) is real.  Therefore, only Atman is real because there is no second thing exist other than Atman, which is in the form of consciousness.

All is consciousness.  The whole universe is consciousness. From consciousness, the universe comes. When universe disappears, the consciousness still remains without form, time and space.

In fact, Sage Sankara states a paradox- the world is and is not. It is neither real nor unreal. It leads us to recognize the existence of Maya (illusion). He thinks that the world is illusory from one perspective and from the second it is nothing but Brahman (God), itself in manifestation. This apparent world is Maya and has its basis in Brahman, the Eternal. It looks as real. It has names and forms and actually, it is not real In the light of true knowledge, it disappears and Self-alone shines as real. However, Sage Sankara's Mayavada has not been accepted by many preachers and philosophers.

When Sage Sankara says clearly, the universe is not real. He says that Brahman and Atman are one. The ultimate and the Absolute Truth is the Self, which is one though appearing as many in different individuals. The individual has no reality. Only the Soul, the innermost  Self is Real; the rest, mental and physical are but passing appearances, then it indicates the form (waking or duality or mind) is unreal and the formless soul (consciousness or soul) is real.  Therefore, only Atman is real because there is no second thing exist other than Atman, which is in the form of consciousness.

The realization of truth does not come because you having a Guru or becoming a disciple of some Guru.  The Guru, disciple and the world in which they exist are within the dualistic illusion or Maya.  The dualistic illusion is created out of the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

The idea of having a Guru or becoming some guru’s disciple blocks you from realizing the ‘Self’ hidden by the dualistic illusion. The seeker's aim is to transcend the dualistic illusion to non-dualistic reality.

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

Thus, the above passage proves that all those who were the sanyasin robes are wearing it for the sake of bread belong to the religion; they are 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 ignorant mass in the dualistic world.

Sage Sankara in Viveka Chudamani (2), states that the Knower of the Atman (i.e., a Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

It means the Gurus, Swamis, and Yogis who identify themselves as holy people are not Gnanis.

Those who are seeking truth need not follow any Guru or any teaching. The one who thinks himself as a Guru and the one who thinks himself as a chela (disciple) will not be able to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because both of them accepted themselves as the body. And all their understanding, practices, knowledge are based on the false Self (ego or you).  Therefore, the Guru –Shisya concept is a great obstacle in the pursuit of truth.  

A Gnani never accepted himself as a Guru or accepted anyone as his disciple, because he is fully aware of the fact that the Gurus and disciple and the world in which they exist is nothing but the dualistic illusion. In reality, the Soul, the Self alone exists without the dualistic illusion.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar