Sage Sankara: ~ Neither nudity nor the religious robe has anything to do with a Gnani.+

Religion is regarded as sacred and real by the common people, by the wise as false, and by the politicians as useful. 

In this hi-fi world, many self-declared Spiritual Gurus are born like mushrooms amidst us and they are looked upon as great solace by the mass of gullible people, who are more ‘peace and wisdom hungry.  

Most seekers are looking for something beyond their inherited belief system. Most of these dollar-hungry gurus hankered after titles and honors. These modern-day self-styled Gurus and are connected to one or other controversies and scandals.

People get stuck with these modern self-proclaimed Gurus who claimed to be enlightened. Many of these Gurus have taken many new “avatars” like Corporate Gurus, Universal Gurus, online Gurus, Global Gurus, one name it, he will find them. The honest Gurus and swamis never come to the limelight and they remain to mind their own inherited divine business remains aloof from the publicity.  

Many Gurus have overnight become Global Gurus. They only play with the feelings of people. Most of them are propagating ancient yogic practices as if it is their own great new invention and branding them or getting them patented,   this is the height of the mockery of spirituality. 

As long as innocent and ignorant people are there, these kinds of Gurus can flourish their business to peak height. They cannot only fool the people but also the people at political power.

Religion needs a Guru to propagate its belief system, whereas in the Atmic path there is no need for a Guru. The ultimate truth has to be ascertained by him alone.  Yoga needs a Guru to guide its students to practice Samadhi. 

The one who says he is enlightened is not a Gnani.  The ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. How can you and the world in which you exist remain when the ‘Self’ gets enlightenment?   Only the Soul the innermost ‘Self ‘remains in its own awareness in the midst of the dualistic illusion.

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

Manduka Upanishads: ~    Even the Gods cannot find out who is a Gnani because he bears no external mark. Neither nudity nor the religious robe has anything to do with him. 

Thus, one who identifies themselves as a swami,   a Guru, or a yogi is not a Gnani. A Gnani never identifies himself as a swami, Guru, pundit, or yogi.  The Swami, Guru, pundit, or the yogi belongs to the religious or the yogic path not to the path of wisdom.

That is why Sage Sankara's commentary: ~   "The knower of Brahman (Gnani) wears no signs. 

Sage Sankara: ~ "Tell us what you know, show it, and let us examine it under the mental microscope." It means we must bring notions and beliefs out of vagueness into clearness. It also criticizes the mystics who claim superior knowledge but who cannot communicate it for purposes of verification.

Sage Sankara: ~ "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior."  When the knower of Brahman wears no signs ~ it means he does not identify himself as a Guru. 

Ashtavakra Samhita: - "The man of knowledge, though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.

Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. Know the ‘Self’ not ‘you’, and what is hidden beyond the form, time and space will be disclosed to you.

The feat of a Guru, touching people and thus putting them into mystic states is purely a physical or at best a psychological one; based on the power of suggestions it has nothing to do with epistemology, with the question of truth. The truth is not physical because the ultimate truth is the Soul or the Spirit.

The ultimate truth or Brahman is nothing to with religion.   Religion is based on the illusory ‘I’ as a reality whereas the ultimate truth or Brahman is hidden by the illusory form, time, and space. If you are seeking truth make sure you are not chosen the wrong path.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The karma theory is based on the birth entity whereas the Soul, the Self is unborn eternal.+

The karma theory is based on the birth entity whereas the Soul, the Self is unborn eternal because it is the ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

You are not the ‘Self’ because you are the birth entity. You are born, live, and die within the world, which is the dualistic illusion.   Whatever karma performed with the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion.

The karma theory based on the birth entity is a false theory. Realize the Self is not the birth entity but the Self is the unborn Soul, therefore, the unborn Soul has no karma because it is the ever formless timeless, and spaceless existence.

Religion is based on the birth entity, therefore, religion is based on falsehood, not truth. From the standpoint of the unborn, Soul the religion and its belief and its theories are falsehood based on the false self (birth entity)

There is nothing more rational, more intelligible, and more un-dogmatic insights of Sage  Sankara is to drop all the theistic non-duality or Advaita which is meant for those who are incapable and not receptive to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.

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

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

Religious Gods are based on imaginary beliefs. The beliefs are not the truth. The belief is part of the dualistic illusion.  The Atman is Brahman or God in actuality.   Other than the Atman God all else is an illusion.  Whatever is based on the belief is a myth.

Ish Upanishad declares: ~ “Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide. 

Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide, as it were, are doomed to enter those worlds after death. This is a condemnation of people who do not try to attain Self-knowledge. They are, in a real sense, committing suicide, for what can be worse than being a slave to sense enjoyment, completely oblivious of the real purpose of life, which is to be one's, own master?

Ish Upanishads: ~ Avidya is Karma and therefore a hindrance. (Mantra 10)

Sage Sankara: ~ “Action (karma) cannot destroy ignorance, for it is not in conflict with or opposed to ignorance. Knowledge does verily destroy ignorance as light destroys deep darkness. ~ Atma Bodha

Sage Goudpada says:~ the merciful Veda teaches Karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.

So they clearly indicate rituals and theories are not meant for the ignorant populace, not for those who are searching for higher knowledge or wisdom.   The path of wisdom is the only means to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.  

All the orthodox Advaitins indulge and immerse themselves in the ritualistic oriented lifestyle and follow the path of Karma and Upasana which is meant for lower and middling intellect and not for realizing the Advaitic truth.  Many chose these orthodox scholars as their gurus. But these gurus are good to learn the conceptual Advaita meant for those Orthodox who believe their conduct-oriented lifestyle leads to Moksha [liberation].  But religious-based Advaita is not the means to acquire Self~ knowledge or nondual wisdom.  Those who are seeking the truth have to do their own homework to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

When everything is consciousness, where is the room to say the thinker, thought, words, body, and the universe are not the consciousness? The consciousness alone is real and eternal and the thinker, thoughts, words body, and the universe are merely an illusion created out of the consciousness.

Sage Sankara says in Aparoksh Anubhuti:~ 88. When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman?

89. O enlightened one; pass your time always contemplating on Atman while you are experiencing all the results of Prarabdha; for it ill becomes you to feel distressed.

90. The theory one hears from the scripture, that Prarabdha does not lose its hold upon one even after the origination of the knowledge of Atman, is now being refuted.

91. After the origination of the knowledge of Reality, Prarabdha verily ceases to exist, since the body and the like become non-existent; just as a dream does not exist on waking.

92. That Karma which is done in a previous life is known as Prarabdha (which produces the present life). But such Karma cannot take the place of Prarabdha (for a man of knowledge), as he has no other birth (being free from ego).

93. Just as the body in a dream is superimposed (and therefore illusory), so is also this body. How could there be any birth of the superimposed (body), and in the absence of birth (of the body) where is the room for that (i.e., Prarabdha) at all?

94. The Vedanta texts declare ignorance to be verily the material (cause) of the phenomenal world just as the earth is of a jar. That (ignorance) being destroyed, where can the universe subsist?

95. Just as a person out of confusion perceives only the snake leaving aside the rope, so does an ignorant person see only the phenomenal world without knowing the reality?

96. The real nature of the rope being known, the appearance of the snake no longer persists; so the substratum being known, the phenomenal world disappears completely.

97. The body also being within the phenomenal world (and therefore unreal), how could Prarabdha exist? It is, therefore, for the understanding of the ignorant alone that the Shruti speaks of Prarabdha.

98. “And all the actions of a man perish when he realizes that (Atman) which is both the higher and the lower”. Here the clear use of the plural by the Shruti is to negate Prarabdha as well.

99. If the ignorant still arbitrarily maintain this, they will not only involve themselves in two absurdities but will also run the risk of forgoing the Vedantic conclusion. So one should accept those Shrutis alone from which proceeds true knowledge.

 The above proves that the karma theory is a reality only on the base of false Self (ego or you), where one thinks of the body and the universe as a reality. When one becomes aware of the fact that, the ‘Self ‘is the unborn  Soul then the karma theory becomes part and parcel of illusion.

Sage Sankara says: ~ From the point of any of these four uses karma is of no use for attaining liberation. Remaining in one's own true form is released. It consists of realizing the true nature of the Self which is ever-existent and eternal. Moksha, therefore, is not something to be produced, for it is eternal (nityatvat). It is not something to be purified, for it is bereft of all qualities and impurities (nirgunatvat, nirdoshatvat cha). There is also another reason here. It cannot be purified since it is not a means (asadhanadravyatmakatvat). Only a thing that serves as a means can be purified, as the sacrificial vessel or clarified butter by the sprinkling of water and so on. (commentary on Bhr, Upanishads 3-3-1)

Sage Sankara says:~ Karma is not competent to remove ignorance, for it is not opposed to it. It does not matter in what way we characterize ignorance, whether as the absence of knowledge or as doubt or as erroneous knowledge. It is always removable by knowledge, but not by action in any of its forms, for there is no contradiction between ignorance and karma. (Commentary on   Brah.3-3-1 )

Remember:~

Taittiriya Vartika, verse-24:~ There is also another reason for rejecting this view. Karma involves duality in the form of means and end, doer, and deed. The perception of duality is ignorance. Further, it is only a person who has the desire to perform karma. Since he is ignorant of the non-dual Self, he thinks that there are objects other than the Self which he should strive for and that there are persons for whom he should suffer in his body. "He struggles to desire something for himself, something else for his son, the third thing for his wife and so on and gets involved in the cycle of births and deaths." (Brh. Up. Sankara's Commentary, 4-4-12) 

In short, karma presupposes desire, involves duality, and is, therefore, a product of avidya. If so, how can it destroy avidya, the root cause of bondage, and thereby cause liberation? 

If one accepts the karma theory as a reality, he will never be able to come out of ignorance. And ignorance makes him believe the cycle of birth, life, and death or pain and pleasure as a reality.  Thu, s the freedom which one is seeking will remain a distant dream. For the one who accepts the experience of birth life, death, and the world as a reality, Self-knowledge is impossible.

Thus, the seeker of truth must know the fact that the body which is born, lives, and dies is not the Self. Since he is taking the body to be the Self, he is experiencing the duality as reality within the waking experience. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

When Sage Sankara himself declares : Atman is Brahman (God in truth) then why to accept anything else as God other then Atman.+

Remember this; Hinduism is not Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma, which existed prior to Buddhism and Jainism.

Hinduism is not the Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma. And all Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practice barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at a different time, whereas the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is ancient and has no founder. 

Thus, all the non-Vedic caste-based belief systems founded by different founders of Hinduism have to be dropped in order to realize Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is nothing to do with the present-day Hinduism.

Hindus indulge non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, child marriages, and Sati. All these lack Vedic sanction therefore

The Vedic system did not have castes system. The caste system was a fake created in the name of Hinduism. This non~Vedic belief system called Hinduism has created hatred in the low caste Hindu for the higher caste is not the Vedic idea.

Remember:~

Brahmin was never a caste in the ancient Vedic society, and Chaturvarna was a professional classification and not a caste system as is being projected today.

Terming the original Chaturvarna system as the caste system is like saying that the classification of people as doctors, engineers, laborers today is a caste system.

To be considered an orthodox Hindu one need only accept the authority of Shruti, however, there is no universal agreement among Hindus 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 and practices under the very broad umbrella of Hinduism.

Remember:~

The people of India adopted Buddhism, Jainism and many other splinter groups with non-Vedic ideologies with new beliefs, new Gods rituals, dogmas, and superstitions.

All the mythological heroes of the mythological stories projected as real God. All the mythological stories are nothing to do with Vedas. There is no mention of these mythological Gods in Vedas. Thus, the ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma was disappeared without a trace.

Reincarnation was not a Vedic belief. Belief in reincarnation which is central to Hinduism of today is not really attested to in the Vedas though they hint at life after death. The doctrine of transmigration as elaborated in Hinduism has no place in the Vedic hymns”. In the early Vedic literature, there is no express mention of the doctrine of transmigration.

It is in the Upanishads that it appears for the first time. The Rig Veda speaks of two paths for the Souls of the deceased, namely, the path of the Gods (devayana) and the path of the fathers (pitriyana). Those who go by the former enjoy immortality and there is no return to physical life after that.

In fact, the Vedic man longed for this state of life. Whereas those who go by the latter path, unite with the fathers and then return to earth, after having enjoyed the fruits of his deeds.

Rig Veda consisting of about 10,500 verses ― there is only one occasion where there is mention of a return to this world after death. What is implied here is that it cannot be taken as important teaching of the Rig Veda.

The Avatara and caste system are not Vedic in origin. The theory of Avatara (‘descend’) of Gods which is very important to modern Hinduism is non-Vedic. The term Avatara (…) is not found in the earlier Vedic texts and is absent from the older Sanskrit glossaries

The religion of the Veda knows no idols, then why so many Gods and Goddesses with different forms and name are being propagated as Vedic Gods. Why these conceptual Gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is free from form and attributes.

Remember:~

The God of Santana Dharma or Vedic religion is Athma. Athma is the Soul, 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 innermost 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: ~ “They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni or the heavenly sunbird Garutmat. The seers call in many ways that which is One; they speak of Agni, Yama, Matarishvan.

Rig Veda 8/58/2:~ Only One is the Fire, enkindled in numerous ways; only One is the Sun, pervading this whole universe; only One is the Dawn, illuminating all things. In very truth, the One has become the whole world.

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.

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

When Yajurveda says that God Supreme or Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape then whatever the Indian innocent populace believing and worshiping today are non-Vedic Gods. All the mantras and prayers are based on non~Vedic Gods.

On the Vedic perspective, all non-Vedic Gods are a myth. Worshipping myth in place of real God barred by Vedas.

The religion of the Veda knows no idols, then why so many Gods and Goddesses with different forms and name are being propagated as Vedic Gods. Why these conceptual Gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is free from form and attributes.

In Yajurveda gives clear-cut instruction what not to worship in place of God: ~

Translation 1

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent." (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

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.)

Yajur Veda clearly says:~ 

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol etc (Yajurved 40:9)

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.)

Sage Sankara says: ~ Atman is Brahman. Thus, the Soul the ‘Self’ is God. Therefore, all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false self. Thus, there are adulteration and add-ons in the past, which has to be bifurcated if one wants pure Vedic essence.

This clearly indicates the nature of the innermost ‘Self’, which is the Soul. Thus, the Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

When the Soul is the ultimate truth or God why to indulge in worshiping the belief individualized God, which is not God. The Hindu belief system which came into existence after the 2nd century is nothing to do with the Vedas and Vedic religion.

The ultimate truth or Brahman is God in truth. God in truth is not the religious God we believe and worship.

Those who want to know the truth of the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma have to discard the non-Vedic belief system founded by different founders of Hinduism which propagates falsehood as truth.

When Sage Sankara himself declares: Ataman is Brahman (God) then why to accept anything else as God other than Atman.

Sage Sankara is a Vedic Sage of universal order projecting him as non~Vedic Sage is a great sin. The Vedic truth is a pure spiritual truth. The essence of the Vedas is pure spirituality. Advaita propagated by Sage Sri, Sankara is pure spirituality. Advaita is nothing to do with Advaitic orthodoxy, which is meant for the ignorant populace. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara declared the truth centuries back then why you are struggling to find the truth.+

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic treasure hidden requires mental excavation, the removal of ignorance and finally grasping, but never come out by merely reading and collecting information. 

If you are seeking truth nothing but the truth you must seek the truth independently.   If you are sticking up to gurus, yogis and intellectuals then you are sticking up to ignorance. They do not have the truth which you are seeking for.  They have plenty of information to seduce you to remain in ignorance forever.

Without discarding the religious propagated truth it is impossible to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Sage  Sankara says: ~ VC-162- There is no liberation for a person of mere book knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense organs, etc., which are unreal.

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 says: - VC-162-  There is no liberation for a person of mere book-knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense-organs, etc., which are unreal.

All your egocentric accumulated cocktail knowledge is not Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana Soulcentric knowledge is not available in the spiritual supermarket.

All accumulated knowledge is mental Garbage is no use in the quest for truth. The seeker has to discard all the accumulated knowledge and start afresh.

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

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?

Sage Sankara:~ 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 has already declared:~ ‘What is the truth?’ and What is untruth?’

  The truth:~

~ Atman is Brahman ~ “Atman is the only one ultimate reality. 

The  untruth is:~

~ The universe is an illusion. ~ The universe is false.

Sage  Sankara’ declared this truth centuries back Then why you are struggling to find the truth.

Sage Sankara: ~ 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, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by perverted arguments.

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~ “A sickness is 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.”

Advaita means the Soul, the innermost Self, which is second to none. The Soul, which is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Advaita is the nature of God, the innermost Self. Advaita is God. Advaita is the fullness of consciousness.

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is very much in the tune with the essence of Vedas and Upanishad but Advaitic orthodoxy indulges in non-Vedic beliefs of God and non-Vedic rituals and practices. There is no need to condemn the Advaitic orthodoxy because it is path meant for the ignorant as per Sage Sankara himself. Do not mix  up the two and mess up your quest

The Soul, the Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

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

~ then why indulge in studying the scriptures.

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

~then why indulge in studying philosophy.

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

~then why indulge in rituals.

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

~then why 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 leads truth realization. 

Atman is Brahman. The Atman is the Self is non-dual because there is no second thing exist other than the Atman. Atman is present in the form of consciousness. The consciousness is the only true reality, and everything else, which appears as form, time and space are merely an illusion. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar