The goal of our life is to find and realize our identity with God, which is the Soul, the Self.+

To love God you must know what God is supposed to be in actuality. The religious Gods are based on blind belief not God in truth.

Meher Baba said: ~ To love God as he ought to be loved, we must live for God and die for God, knowing that the goal of life is to know God and find him as our own Self.

To realize God is to attain liberation from the bondage of illusion.

Live only to find and realize your true identity with your Beloved God.

T,he energy which is expended in mere thinking, talking or writing is like steam that escapes through the whistle of the railway engine …

That is why the sages have always insisted on practice rather than theory. This applies particularly to those who want to know and realize God.

~ It means one has to know and realize the Soul, the ‘Self ‘ is God and identify it as the real ‘Self’ to find liberation from the bondage of the illusory experience of the birth, life, death, and the world (duality).

The goal of our life is to find and realize our identity with God, which is the Soul, the Self.

Realize God in truth.

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. Belief is not God. Religious God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul, the ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence. God in truth is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit and they that worship God must worship God in spirit and in truth.- (John 4:24) 

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the innermost Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there.

There is no God but God. There is no God because the world in which we exist is merely an illusion created out of God, the Spirit. Call it by any name God is universal. God belongs to the whole of humanity. 

Religion creates separation God is unity in diversity. God is one which the cause of the whole world in which humans exist. There is no God but God means the world in which we exist is an illusion GOD is the cause of the world is real and eternal. God alone is real and all else is an illusion. There is no second thing that exists other than the Spirit, God thus, God is Advaita.

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.

God with form, name, and attributes does not find any support from the Vedas.

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman 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 constituted the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.

Even  Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, 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 which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.

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

Even 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)

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

The I AMNESS is physical awareness and physical awareness is not Self-awareness.+

The seeker has to go alone, just remember two things. Don’t carry your mistakes — that means, don’t make the mistake of holding the Self as ‘I’.

I-centric Gurus go on teaching that you are the Self because it is through ignorance that they make you feel the Self is you and say I AM THIS OR I AM THAT.

I AM- represents individuality whereas the Self is not an individual because the Self pervades everything and everywhere in the universe. The I AMNESS is physical awareness and physical awareness is not Self-awareness.

In Self-awareness, there is no trace of I AMNESS, because, the Soul, the Self is the formless timeless and spaceless existence. I AMNESS ceases to exist without the form, time and space.    

Remember: ~

By thinking I am not the body, I am formless, I am Brahman or I am God,  the ignorance will not vanish.

People say Aham Brahmasmi -- I am not the body, I am formless, I am God, I am Brahman. But when Brahman is, how can "I" remain? Only Brahman remains, not I. But there is no other way to express it.

The Ultimate truth itself is God.  When the Upnishdic quote:  Ahum Brahmasmi is physicalized it gives wrong interpretation – I AM BRAHMAN.  But the Self is not ‘I AM’. 

The Self is the formless Soul which is in the form of the Spirit.   Ahum Brahmasmi, = the Soul the Self is Brahman – that is Atman is Brahman.  Thus, it is wrong to say ‘I AM’ Brahman because the Self is not ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ but the Self is the witness of the ‘I’ or ‘I AM’.

Yoga Vasistha:~ "Teachers, interpretations of sacred texts, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth which is revealed in the clear reflection of the Self, engendered from contact with Gnanis."

Sage Sankara: ~ ‘Reality can be realized only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar. What the moon is like must be seen with one's own eyes. How can others do it for you?"~Vivekachoodamani

When the ‘Self’ is not ‘I’ or ‘you’ but the ‘Self is the Soul then what is the use of saying I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not this or I am not that.  What is the use of saying ‘I AM THAT’ without knowing what the ‘Self’ is in actuality?

Without knowing the truth of the Self, without realizing the truth of the world in which you exist it is impossible to realize the truth hidden by the illusory form, time, and space. By merely uttering the word ‘I AM THAT', the truth will not be revealed.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is nothing to do with the ‘I-centric' or You-centric’   Gurus and their teachings. 

Remember, the ‘I’ is not an individual because the ‘I’ is the whole universe. Limiting the ‘I’ to individuality is the cause of experiencing the dualistic illusion a reality? 

The nature of the ‘I’ is the nature of the mind.

The nature of the mind is the nature of the universe.

The nature of the universe is the nature of the waking.

The nature of waking is the nature of the illusion.

Thus, it is necessary to study the nature of the ‘I’ to unfold the mystery of the universe. 

All the teachings which limit the ‘I’ to an individual and glorify the ‘I’ without knowing what this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality. All ‘I’ based teachings are inadequate and useless for the serious seeker of truth. 

If you are seeking truth nothing but the truth must discard without mercy such teaching in order progress in your spiritual quest. 

The seeker must know the ‘I’ is not limited to individuality. The seeker has to see the ‘I’ as the universe, in order to overcome ignorance. When the Advaitic wisdom dawns, then the ignorance vanishes. 

When ignorance vanishes and the dualistic illusion (world) you used to think as reality becomes unreal.:~Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara’s followers might have found Sage Sankara’s mission a hard task and therefore compromised the liberating wisdom with the performance of rituals.+

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

Sage Sankara pokes fun at ascetics and points out that all their austerities do not cause desires to go.  (Altar Flowers" Page 205, v.2 P.207 v.4)

The rituals mentioned in the karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the jnanakanda which is also part of the same scripture. While the karmakanda enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down rules for the same, the jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules the worshipper of deities as a dim-witted person no better than a beast.

 This seems strange, the latter part of the Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals throughout with karma, while the second or concluding part is all about jnana. Owing to this difference, people have gone so far as to divide our scripture into two sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to mean the karmakanda and the Upanishads (Vedanta) to mean the jnanakanda.

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)

Liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality through wealth.  (Verses -7)

Religious rites and rigid ceremonies were passed down from one generation to the next as a practice or set customs and tradition 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 rituals 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 and the ceremonies 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 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 formal observance have long since set in. 

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas, and homa-havans, or any other forms of rituals 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 the form, time, and space.

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

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross the sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.

Sage Sankara pointed out that rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less moksha. He asserted while the rewards of the rituals were not a matter of direct realization, wisdom which is the fruit of Vedanta is based on immediate and personal realization; one need not have to wait for the reward nor one be in doubt whether the reward would or would not come.

This was in sharp contrast to the position taken by Mimamsakas who asserted that rituals alone would lead one to higher levels of attainment. Further, the deities would reward only those entitled to perform the rituals alone. The entitlement involved the caste, creed, and other parameters.

Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices. However, the texts that combined rituals with wisdom (jnana_karma_samucchaya) more in favor of the Mimamsaka position came onto vogue, projecting Sage Sankara as the rallying force of the doctrine. His followers might have found Sage Sankara’s mission a hard task and therefore compromised the liberating wisdom with the performance of rituals.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.  

Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, 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. Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara:~ (11.1) This ignorance (mistaking the body for Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction, and thus a host of miseries(anartha). This anartha is caused by projecting karthvya(“doer” sense) and bhokthavya (object) on the Atman. Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person. Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara:~ (11.2) In short, the person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is Avidya, an error that can be removed by Vidya. Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara: ~ (12) Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma Vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman. Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara: ~ Atman, the Self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body that is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Religious beliefs and practices, which are considered superstitious by Gnanis whereas religious believers do not consider it as so Superstition.+

Superstition is considered a widespread social problem. Superstition refers to any belief or practice which is explained by supernatural causality and is in contradiction to modern science. Religion is the fountainhead of Superstition.

Religious beliefs and practices, which are considered superstitious by Gnanis whereas religious believers do not consider it as so  Superstition.

People all over the world in the past and present accepted the idea of the existence of God.  The fear of God injected by the religion was the root cause of worship, superstitions, and dogmas.  The religious beliefs were passed on to the populace from one generation to the next generation. It is necessary to realize what God is supposed to be to realize God in truth.

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

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

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods, and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods? (In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900, of Swami Vivekananda/volume 1)

Religion breeds superstition because religion is based on blind belief. Whatever is based on blind belief is superstition.

God in truth is not a belief. One must know God in truth. Without knowing what God is supposed to be in actuality worshipping God based on blind belief is superstition.

Worshipping superstitious Gods barred by Vedas. Know what God is supposed to be according to Vedas Upanishads Bhagvad Gita and Bible.

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)

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

Kena Upanishad (6) Chapter I: ~  “That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say the mind is apprehended-That alone know as Brahman(God), and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (7) Chapter I:~  That which cannot be perceived by the eye, but by which the eye is perceived-That alone know as Brahman (God), and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (8) Chapter I:~  That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the hearing is perceived-That alone know as Brahman(God), and not that which people here worship.

Kena Upanishad (9)- Chapter I:~ That which cannot be smelt by the breath, but by which the breath smells an object-That alone know as Brahman(God), and not that which people here worship.

Lord Krishna Says Ch. V:~ “Those who know me 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.

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

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

Vedas, Upanishad, and Bhagvad Gita confirm the Soul, the  Self is the present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness

Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)”, 

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. 

From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there is. 

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “If superstition enters, the brain is gone. Superstition is our great enemy, but bigotry is worse.

***

How can you worship the Absolute? That implies two ~ the worshipper and the worshipped, whereas the Absolute is nondual. One can worship his idea of the Absolute only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as apart.

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

The religion preaches that God is one and the ways to God are many. It simply tries to lead them to darkness with its dogma and idea of many Gods, which is apart from the Self. 

Realizing the single stuff of which this universe in which you exist is made is Truth realization or Self-realization or God-realization.

When the expression itself is illusory, then the evolution within the illusory expression is bound to be an illusion.  Thus, the evolution theory holds no water from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self.

Truth-realization is Self-realization and Self-realization is God-realization and God-realization is real worship.   : ~Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara: ~As layers of clouds generated by the sun's rays cover the sun and alone appear(in the sky), so ignorance generated by the Self, covers the reality of the Self.+

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is nothing to do with religion, caste, rituals, worships, yoga, and other practices. Therefore an obvious disparity between Sage  Sankara‘s path of Gnana and the path of Karma. Path of Gnana is meant for the advanced seeker of truth and the path of Karma is meant for the ignorant populace

Many masters of the east and west designed their own spiritual teaching in the name of Advaita is not the Soulcentric Advaita but Advaita based on egocentric imagination.  Such teaching instead of helping seekers leads them to hallucinations.  Once the seeker accepts these teaching then it is difficult for him to come out of this hallucinating Advaitic teaching, which is not of Sage, Sankara’s line of thinking.

Only the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara unfolds the mystery of the ‘I’. Sage  Sankara means Advaita and Advaita means Sage Sankara. Advaitic wisdom of Sage  Sankara is not theology. Theological Advaita is not Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom. 

Sage Sankara: ~ ‘Reality can be realized only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar. What the moon is like must be seen with one's own eyes. How can others do it for you?"~Vivekachoodamani

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences –

1, “The ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices”.

2, “The   advanced seekers who seek to know the ultimate truth or 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 the illusory form, time, and space.

Thus,  those who are seeking the truth have to discard the Theological Advaita without mercy to realize the Advaitic truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

A Gnani is a person who sees everything from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self. Therefore, he is free from ignorance. He has transcended the dualistic illusion.

The truth of our true existence is not the dualistic truth based on form, time, and space.   We are searching for the truth, which is the cause of the universe in which we exist.

To unfold the truth out of individual existence we have to unfold the truth of the whole universe.  

The truth of our true existence is not some theory. All theoretical philosophies are based on egocentric imagination thus they are not the truth.

Sage Sankara means Advaita and Advaita means Sage Sankara.  If the seeker is seeking truth nothing but the truth then he has to drop all the theistic Advaita and different versions of Advaita created by eastern and western masters without mercy, to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Such teaching instead of helping the seeker blocks them from realizing the truth, hidden by the ‘I’.

Without realizing what is this ‘I’, supposed to be in actuality, it is impossible to unfold the truth of our true existence.  

Theistic Advaita is for the ignorant populace is nothing to with the Advaita, which Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. By mixing this and that is not Advaitic wisdom.  The seeker has to stick to the truth and drop all that is an untruth.  

By holding, the Atman as real and realizing all else is merely an illusion created out of Atman, which is present in the form of the consciousness one will be able to establish in Atman the ultimate truth or Brahman or God.   

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is nothing but the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara.

Sage Sankara: ~ VC "As layers of clouds generated by the sun's rays cover the sun and alone appear(in the sky), so ignorance  generated by the Self, covers the reality of the Self and appears by itself."

Sage Sankara ~ VC~ "All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms is nothing else but Brahman which is absolutely free from all the limitations of Maya.

Without realizing what is this ‘I’, supposed to be in actuality, it is impossible to unfold the truth of  the true existence.:~    Santthosh Kumaar