Without knowing what God suppose to be in actuality what is the use of worshiping and praying to God.+

Without knowing what God is supposed to be in actuality what is the use of worshiping and praying to God. 

Religious Gods are not God in truth. The Bible says “God is Spirit, and they that worship God must worship God 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 the consciousness itself, which is hidden by the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion.

Religious believers are fanatics about their religious beliefs customs and traditions.  Religious believers will not accept other than their religious beliefs as truth. They think it is Blasphemy to think anything other than their religious believers quarreling about the superiority religion of their scriptures condemning other religions. It is like hounds fighting for the bare bones which have no marrow in them.

O God, forgive the orthodox and fanatics, for they are unaware of God in truth according to their own scriptures.

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

Religious rites and rigid ceremonies were passed down from one generation to the next as a practice or set customs and traditions and performed automatically with blind faith. Such worship based on the belief of God does not reach God.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual are meant for the ignorant populace.

Belief in God without knowing God in actuality holds the worshiper more firmly in the grip of ignorance. 

All worship ceremonies and rituals performed on the base of non-Vedic Gods will not yield any fruits.  Deeper self-search reveals the fact that worshiped, the worship, and the worshiper and the world are merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans or any other forms of rituals or formal observance have long since set in. 

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual are meant for the ignorant populace. In the Atmic path, the seeker has to discard what is not needed to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

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 darkness.

Yajur Veda:~"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." (40:9.)

It clearly indicates that:- If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge then why one has to 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, which is one’s prime goal. 

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says:~ "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from him does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10) - Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.

It is high time for orthodox people to realize the fact that their inherited belief system is meant for ignorant people. If they think they are on the right path, but the Vedas declare they are on the wrong path because they indulge in non-Vedic activities.  Orthodox people think that they are on the right path to Moksha, but such moksha is merely an imagination within the dualistic illusion.

It is high time to realize the truth of their own inherited religion is full of adulteration and they are simply indulging in worships and activities barred by the Vedas.  Vedas warns not to indulge in non-Vedic activities.  

   

Remember

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshipped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains.  There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘Self’ i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

It indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false self.

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: ~ 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) 

Upanishads confirm God is Atma: 

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

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

Even the Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God in truth) is considered the all-pervading consciousness (Spirit), which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness (Spirit) which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness. 

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 innermost Self.   In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

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). The Nirguna Brahman of Sage  Sankara is impersonal.

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 description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman (God) 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 in truth)."

Self-realization is the truth-realization, truth realization is God-realization. Thus, Self-realization itself is real worship. :~Santthosh Kumaar

People take their religious God for granted are not even aware ‘what God supposed to be in actuality.+

Why different religions have different ideas of Gods. There is a need to bifurcate religion from spirituality to realize God in truth, which is hidden by ignorance. Belief in the religious Gods keeps the Soul, the ‘Self’ in the cage of ignorance. 

Seeker of truth has to discard the idea of personal God because God in actuality is impersonal. In spirituality the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

God has no gender because God is formless, timeless and spaceless existence. The male /female Gods are religious Gods. The religious Gods are not God in truth.

Without realizing God in truth what is the use of praying and worshipping the religious Gods, which is not God in truth.

God is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God because God is the very essence of the one who denies God. God is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs.

God is the Supreme Being the One eternal homogeneous essence, indivisible consciousness and intelligence, which is beyond the form, time, and space. 

The quest for truth does not begin with God, God has to be proved, not assumed. People take their religious God for granted are not even aware ‘what God supposed to be in actuality.

Has it ever struck religious believers to doubt whether their religion is true? Religious never use their reason because they start and conclude that their religion alone is true because they never question.

Theological philosophers say God is a perfect being, but they have never known God, never proved his existence; hence their ascription of perfection to God is purely self-imagined. 

If we have to test truth their religion in the next world then there is no proof, so the religious doctrines have no value. The seeker of truth need not follow the religious doctrines, which are based on religious propagated myth.

For mysticism or religion, one can interpret texts as he likes, in whatever way that pleases him, he simply imagine away.

It is impossible to prove the existence of a religious God by any reasoning: one can only believe in the existence of belief based Gods. 

Yoga and mysticism are primitive things which appealed in the past to early races; now they indicate undeveloped mind when they are taken for truth!

Every founder of the diverse castes of Hinduism concocted their own idea of Gods and goddesses introduced and the mythological stories and built monasteries and temples to have their own cult.

In Yajurveda God is Spirit has not Pratima’ (idol). God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. The idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Rig Veda says never accept another God in place of the neither Atman nor worship other than the Atman?

So, it proves all God and goddesses introduced by the different founders of Hinduism are not God in truth and worship of such Gods and Goddesses are barred by Vedas. Which Hindus hold as sacred? 

According to their imagination, is the paradise or heaven of religious believers? But where people have got a little thinking capacity, they begin to disbelieve through the contradictions of various contending orthodox claims and descriptions.

Mystics see visions of gods and goddesses and adapts according to their own inherited conditioning.

Many Gurus of the east and west will preach that all is yourself without knowing ‘what is the ‘Self in actuality. , but none of them can show that this is so, none has analyzed it scientifically, none can prove it. Sage Sankara’s wisdom is a rational proof so that you arrive at realizing the truth hidden by the universe; all the gurus of the east and west is mere imagination parrotism, repetition of what they read in scripture.

People dwelling in India belonged to different castes and communities of Hinduism, worshipped different Gods, and practiced different rites.

The belief of individualized God, heaven, hell, paradise, sin, karma, rebirth, and reincarnation are a myth propagated by the religion.  Religious myths built on holding the individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality.

Self-realization is very much necessary to realize the religious propagated Gods based on blind belief, heaven, hell, paradise, sin, karma, rebirth, and reincarnation are a myth.

God is impersonal:- 

Self is not you. The Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Identifying the Self as 'you' is a great error. The Soul, the Self is God in truth. God in truth is impersonal. 

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 beside it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described, because description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not a 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’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 (universe) 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 Self is Real; the rest, mental and physical are but passing appearances, then it indicates the form (universe) is unreal and the formless soul (consciousness) 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 seeker of truth should not be satisfied with religion and yoga, which are meant for the ignorant populace but inquire into the world around you, which you can see. 

Deeper inquiry revels it is passing away every second. Everything is dying repeatedly. Where is it going? Thus, you follow up your inquiry into what you can lay hands on. How can you inquire into Atma which you cannot see? So first we deal with the known and seen, this inquiry leads up to the unknown in the end.  Atman or Brahman or God are things you can never see. So do not inquire into them.

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 ones, own master?

Remember, the Self is not you but the Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  Until you hold ‘Self’ as you will remain in ignorance. You are the false self within the dualistic illusion (Maya).

The Soul, the ‘Self’ is hidden by the dualistic illusion (I). It is hidden by the dualistic illusion because the dualistic illusion is created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

You and your experience of the world is nothing but an illusion created out of the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. The nature of the Soul is awareness.

Realize what God supposed to be in actuality according to your own holy books. 

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

Do not accept any other God other than the Soul. The Soul is God in truth. Nothing is real but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Nothing matters but realizing God in truth. God in truth, is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

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

Brahman is merely a word to indicate the ultimate truth or God in truth. The ultimate truth itself is God in truth.

People are not aware that there is no religious God that can exist, apart from consciousness.

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

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)

Yajur Veda also says:~  God has no image and His name is Holy.  (32.3)”

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) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself’.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham Brahman (God in truth) is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material (Gita 14.27)

The Upanishads say in effect that: ~ If you believe that the Soul is one and God (Brahman) is another you cannot understand Truth.

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

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.

Sage Sankara said: ~ Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many Gods as you please, observe ceremonies, and sing devotional hymns, but the liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness.

Thus, by worshiping a religious God and following religion, studying scripters are meant for those who are incapable of realizing the truth of their true existence.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Knowledge of the ‘ Self ‘gathered from scriptures holy books or Gurus can never emancipate a man until its ‘Self’ is rightly investigated and applied.+

The dualistic knowledge of the ‘ Self ‘gathered from scriptures holy books or Gurus can never emancipate a man until its ‘Self’ is rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization of the ‘Self ‘ will reveal the truth hidden by the ‘I’.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.  

Sage Sankara regards personal realization as independent and convincing evidence.  Sage Sankara says that an individual’s experience cannot be disputed because the experience he went through was real to him; though that may not be real from the absolute point of view.

Sage Sankara makes a distinction between the absolute view and the relative view of things.

Sage Sankara strongly advocated the study of Upanishads and at the same time cautioned that the study of Upanishads alone would not lead to moksha. In matters of such as spiritual attainment, one’s own realization was the sole authority and it cannot be disputed 

Sage Sankara also said the study of Upanishad was neither indispensable nor a necessary prerequisite for attaining the human goal, the moksha. 

Sage Sankara pointed out; that even those who were outside the Upanishad fold were as eligible for moksha as those within the fold were. He declared that all beings are Brahman, and therefore the question of discrimination did not arise. All that one was required to do was to get rid of ignorance (Avidya or duality). 

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. 

The Upanishads are Self-contradictory. Every pundit even gives conflicting interpretations of them. The final authority, therefore, is using one’s own reason. One should apply his reason to them.

The scriptures are for ignorant masses, who wholly accept the material world as it presents itself. Gnana is for those who have begun to realize that things are not what they seem.

The Scriptures are of value only when dealing with persons who are incapable of understanding the truth. They have no value as authority for those who use reason.

I quote only verified citations from the scriptures. I need no scriptures but I quote them to help the seekers to realize that religion, scriptures, and religious God  based on blind belief have nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

The Upanishads are the only scriptures in the world which says: ~

It is impossible to find and realize the truth via religion and scriptural study.

That is why Sage Sankara says in Vivekachoodamani: ~

58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar but are no good for Liberation.

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the “Self’.

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.

63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the “Self’, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

64. Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendor of the entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely saying, ‘I am an emperor’.

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, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

The religion is based on the birth entity whereas the Soul, the Self’ is birthless and deathless. Spirituality is based on the Soul (formless). Thus, there is a need to bifurcate the religion from spirituality. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Mundaka Upanishad:~ - Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good.+

Religious orthodox people think that they have accomplished life's purpose by indulging in rituals and sacrifices prescribed by the scriptures and advice of their Gurus but these performers of rituals and sacrifices do not know the Truth owing to their attachment they remain in ignorance.

Even Sage Sankara appears and tells the orthodox people the path of orthodoxy is the path of ignorance they will not be able to drop their inherited samskara or conditioning, which they think is the only way to reach the heaven and reap happy life in the next life.

As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, that the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies the ‘Self’  with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.-  (11- Adhyasa Bhashya)

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10) - Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they still remain in ignorance of the Atman the real God. 

As a person, one performs rituals throughout his life.  The person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view the world in which he exists as a reality. However, the Soul, the 'Self' unborn eternal hidden by the world in which he exists.  From the standpoint of the Soul, the world in which he exists is merely an illusion. 

The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.   

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (9) - Children, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's purpose. Because these performers of karma do not know the Truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery-stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted.  

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (8) - Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.  

Ish Upanishad declares: - Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide. 10/11/12

The religious orthodox 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:~

MANTRA 10

Vidya and Avidya both are hindrances to Self-knowledge, but Vidya is even worse than Avidya. The word Vidya is used here in a special sense; here it means worshipping Gods and Goddesses. 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 darkness.

Avidya is Karma and therefore a hindrance. You perform Avidya - i.e., you perform Agnihotra and other sacrifices. This is a roundabout way of purifying the mind, and it is also groping in the dark. But it may not have as heavy a toll on your time and energy as the other.

Ishopanishad: ~ “They are steeped in ignorance and sunk into the greatest depth of misery who worships the matter, instead of the All-Pervading God and those who worship things born of matter like trees, animals, man, etc. are sunk deeper in misery." : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Vedas and Upanishads say God is one and that God is Athma, debase this myth of 33 million Gods of Hinduism.+

Theism is in the traditional sense; it is the belief in at least one God. Monotheism is defined as the belief in only one god and polytheism is defined as the belief in many gods.

Some organized religions follow monotheism where God is supreme and none except him. These god-centric faiths follow particular rules and regulations that the ‘believer’ has to follow without questioning. He cannot question those rules, the life of the sage or the ultimate God. The individualized gods God is isolated from nature and everything is God’s. Thus an element of attachment to a name and gender, obstruction to free thinking and free will can be seen in any belief system.

In the past those who questioned the validity of this religious authority were exiled, killed or termed as irreligious and condemned.

Theism, in this specific sense, conceives of God as personal, present and active in the governance and organization of the world and the universe.

If mysticism appeals readily to the largest number it does so because it demands not deep inquiry or reasoning which is always so taxing even to the most intelligent people. Mental peace is sought by all, fools and philosophers alike.

What however makes mysticism especially attractive seems to be that any man can get all the satisfaction he needs as easily as possible and can boldly declare that what he has known is the Highest or the Absolute, by saying that it is 'indescribable.'

Mysticism brings inexpressible joy which is an unquestionable fact. This has made many believe that mystic experience also helps man to make contact with the Highest Being or the Absolute or God.  

Without knowing what God supposed to be in actuality how can one accept the mystical experience as truth?  The experience implies duality whereas God is nondual.

The vagueness due to ignorance which alludes can be found in plenty in mystic literature religious, theological, scholastic literature in the world.

Advaita presentation to the Western world has been in the hands of those who were proficient in religion or mysticism and expert in interpretations of its teachings not of the Gnanis.

No religion or mysticism can claim to teach or reveal the ultimate truth or Brahman because they all are based on a dualistic standpoint, holding their individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality.  

Every religion founded on the foundation of the individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality whereas Sage Sankara says the universe is an illusion. 

If the universe is an illusion then the individual experience of birth, life, death which happens within the universe is bound to be an illusion.

 The illusory nature of the universe is ignored by every scholar and expert in interpretations of religion and mysticism because their views and judgment are based on religious and mystic points of view. 

The worst wars violence, terrorism waged to assert the supremacy of one religion over another or to undermine another's religion and forceful conversion from one faith to another.

Theism, in this specific sense, conceives of God as personal, present and active in the governance and organization of the universe.

Polytheism based on Puranas belongs to Hinduism, not Vedic religion or  Sanatana Dharma. 33 million Gods in Hinduism but from the scriptures, we find a plethora of quotes that completely debase this myth.

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.

Mundaka Upanishad/3/1/8: Eye cannot see God, nor words reveal God; by the senses, austerity, or works he is not known. When the mind is cleansed by the grace of wisdom, God is seen by contemplation–the One without parts.

Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad/ 3/8/9: It is in the truth that Imperishable, O Gargi, which is not seen but is the seer, which is not heard but is the hearer, which is not thought but is the thinker, which is not known but is the knower. There is no other seer but God, no other hearer but God, no other thinker but God, no other knower but God. And it is that Imperishable which is the warp and the woof of space.”

Thus, the Vedic scriptures recognize the unity of REALITY which is hidden by the universe.

Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad (/3/7/3 – 22):-

3. “God dwells in the earth, yet is other than the earth, which the earth does not know, its body is the earth, which controls the earth from within–it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

4.” God dwells in the waters, yet is other than the waters, which the waters do not know, which body is the waters, which controls the waters from within– it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

5.” God dwells in the fire, yet is other than the fire, which the fire does not know, which body is the fire, which controls the fire from within– which is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

6 God dwells in space, yet is other than space, which space does not know, which body is space, which controls space from within–it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

7.” God dwells in the wind, yet is other than the wind, which the wind does not know, which body is the wind, which controls the wind from within– it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

8.”God dwells in the sky, yet is other than the sky, which the sky does not know, which body is the sky, which controls the sky from within– it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

9. “God dwells in the sun, yet is other than the sun, which the sun does not know, which body is the sun, which controls the sun from within–   it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

10. “God dwells in the regions of space, yet is other than the regions of space, which the regions of space do not know, which  body is the regions of space, which  controls the regions of space from within– is the ‘Atman’ within  the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

11. God dwells in the moon and the stars, yet is other than the moon and the stars, which  the moon and the stars do not know, which body is the moon and stars, which controls the moon and the stars from within– it is the ‘Atman’ within  the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

12. “ God dwells in the atmosphere, yet is other than the atmosphere, which the atmosphere does not know, which body is the atmosphere, which controls the atmosphere from within– it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

13 God dwells in the darkness, yet is other than the darkness, whom the darkness does not know, which body is the darkness, which controls the darkness from within– it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

14.  God dwells in the light, yet is other than the light, which the light does not know, whose body is the light, which controls the light from within– it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

 So far with reference to the divinities. Now with reference to beings:~

15.  God dwells in all beings, yet is other than all beings, whom all beings do not know, which body is all beings, which controls all beings from within– it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

So far with reference to the beings. Now with reference to the body: ~

16. God dwells in the life breath, yet is other than the life breath, which the life breath does not know, which body is the life breath, which controls the life breath from within– it is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

18. God dwells in the eye, yet is other than the eye, which the eye does not know, whose body is the eye, which controls the eye from within–. It is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

19.  God dwells in the ear, yet is other than the ear, which the ear does not know, which body is the ear, who controls the ear from within––. It is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

20. “God dwells in the mind, yet is other than the mind, which the mind does not know, which body is the mind, which controls the mind from within– It is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

21. God dwells in the skin, yet is other than the skin, which the skin does not know, whose body is the skin, which controls the skin from within–It is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

22. “He who dwells in the understanding, yet is other than the understanding, which the understanding does not know, whose body is the understanding, who controls the understanding from within–It is the ‘Atman’ within the ‘I’, the Inner Controller, the immortal.

The above verses show that the creator is the life force of living beings and the dynamism of the universe. This also shows the dual aspect of reality being manifested, yet, unmanifested, known, yet unknown, and being inside yet being outside.

Hinduism is the story of 33 million Gods in Hinduism. Vedas and Upanishads say God is one and that God is Athma, debase this myth of33 million Gods.

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, 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

People's understanding of Advaita is from a religious perspective. The Advaitic wisdom itself completely refutes the religious idea of God. Advaitic wisdom is not dependent on the religion and religious scriptures and yoga to realize the ‘Self ‘hidden by the ‘I’.:~Santthosh Kumaar