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

People are intoxicated with the theory of karma; some are with the theory of cause and effect, some with love alone, some with humanism, some with service, and some with rituals, worship, some with glorifying and surrendering to the guru, some with their logical and intellectual conclusions, some with their orthodoxy and some with their Yogic Samadhi. But all these are the biggest hindrance, not the qualification to acquire Advaitic wisdom.

It is a waste of time to convince these people because they have already had accepted something else as truth. Thus, they will not have any urge to know the ultimate truth. Therefore, it is no use discussing with such a crowd and it is better to avoid such a mindset if one seriously seeking the truth.

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 to stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world instead spend the same time to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to realize the world (Samsara) is unreal the Brahman alone is real. According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the most advanced seeker, who seeks to know Brahman. Thus, the Purva mimam. sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

The orthodox people are ordinary people. Thus, the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures are obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices. The karma kanda of the Vedas is meant for the ordinary audience, to help lead its followers along the way.

A modern mindset is more advanced and capable of reasoning and discriminating. Thus, the modern mindset is the most advanced which seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.

It is high time for the orthodox highly educated noble Advaitins to realize their religious orthodox path chosen path was meant for the ignorant in the past; therefore, it is outdated not suited for the modern mindset.

The right path for the modern mindset is the path of the wisdom or reason of Sage Sankara. The orthodox religious Advaitic path is nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman. Thus getting stuck with the religious path is getting stuck with duality. Getting stuck with duality is getting stuck with the falsehood. Getting stuck with the falsehood is accepting the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality. Thus, the people who want freedom or Moksha right here right now in this very life and in this very world must follow the path of wisdom or Soulcentric reason.

The orthodoxy is the path of ignorance because it recognized the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as reality.

It is high time to stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world instead one has to spend the same time to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana by realizing ‘what is real’ and ‘what is unreal’.: ~Santthosh Kumaar

Bhagavad Gita, The permanent is always there, only the transient I comes and goes.+

Only your intense urge to know the truth will take you to the ultimate end, but your accumulated knowledge will block you from realizing the truth, which is  hidden by the illusory form, time, and space.

It is impossible for  the seeker to discard the ‘I’ because they are stuck up with the idea that ‘I’ itself’ is the  'Self’. 

In the past, some famous Gurus and their teachings glorified the ‘I’ people take it as a final and accepted it as the ultimate truth. Such acceptance without verifying the fact about the ‘I’, their journey is incomplete. Blind acceptance, and reverence for the guru will not help the seeker to get rid of  ignorance.

Firstly, doubt about this ‘I’, how it came into existence. There are no other means to the final goal is the realization of the source of the ‘I’. There is a need to understand, assimilate, and realize the nature of this ‘I’, which appears and disappears.

It is erroneous to use the word ‘I’ for the “Self’, because ‘I’ represents the form, time, and space whereas the Soul, the  'Self’ is a formless, timeless and spaceless existence.

It is high time to stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world instead spend the same time  acquiring  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to realize the world (Samsara) is unreal the Brahman alone is real.

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the most advanced seeker, who seeks to know Brahman. 

Thus, the Purva mimam.sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

The orthodox people are ordinary people. Thus, the ordinary ones who desire transitory heaven and other pleasures are obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices. The karma kanda of the Vedas is meant for the ordinary audience, to help lead its followers along the way.

A modern mindset is more advanced and capable of reasoning and discriminating. Thus, the modern mindset is the most advanced which seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.

It is high time for the orthodox highly educated noble Advaitins to realize their religious orthodox path chosen path was meant for the ignorant in the past; therefore, it is outdated and not suited for the modern mindset.

The right path for the modern mindset is the path of the wisdom or reason of Sage  Sankara. The orthodox religious Advaitic path is nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman. Thus getting stuck with the religious path is getting stuck with duality. Getting stuck with duality is getting stuck with falsehood. 

Getting stuck with falsehood is accepting the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality. Thus, the people who want freedom or Moksha right here right now in this very life and in this very world must follow the path of wisdom or Soulcentric reason.

The orthodoxy is the path of ignorance because it recognized the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as reality.

It is high time to stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world instead one has to spend the same time acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana by realizing ‘what is real’ and ‘what is unreal’.: ~Santthosh Kumaar

The Bhagavad Gita: Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness.+

When ‘Self’ is not ‘you’ then whatever you have seen, known believed, and experienced as reality is bound to be an illusion.  Self-realization is necessary to realize your present the world in which you exist is merely an illusion.

If the present world in which you exist is merely an illusion, then whatever you believed as a reality with the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ 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.

Religious Gods are not God in truth. One must know God in 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.

The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace.

The God in truth is only Atman, the  ‘Self’. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

From the dualistic perspective, people see the world in which they exist as a reality. They see their body as the body, their ego as the ego, and the world in which they exist as the world whereas a Gnani sees everything from the non-dualistic perspective. A Gnani sees his body as the consciousness, his ego as consciousness, the world in which he exists as the consciousness. For a Gnani, whatever is seen, known, believed, and experienced is nothing but consciousness. There is unity in diversity in Gnani's understanding whereas the ignorant people see only diversity and separation.

Thus, it is necessary to learn to view and judge the worldview from the non-dualistic perspective in order to realize that form, time and space are one in essence. There is nothing to realize other than realizing the consciousness is everything. The consciousness is second to none.

When everything is nothing but the consciousness then what remains which is not the consciousness

The World in which we exist is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense, that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

People's approach is more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~ VC-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. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Why worship and glorify the Gurus and Yogis when Vedas bars human worship.+

Religion is the home of mysticism and deification which is why they are not very keen on the rational truth. Religion and scholasticism and yoga are for those to help who are incapable of grasping the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Religion is based on dogmatism, not philosophy. One finds philosophical insights here and there in religious doctrine. All the religious doctrines are dogmatic because they also begin by assuming their inherited Gods based on blind faith or blind belief. 

Religious Gods become a center of the religion, thus, every religion has its own idea of God thus there is no universality in religious beliefs.

Religion takes the position that God as a separate entity outside us, i.e. God really exists separately from us. Orthodox people are afraid to go deeper and refuse to accept anything other than their religious authority because of punishment by God.

 A Gnani says the scriptures are for children, but wise seekers will think rationally.

Vedas bars human worship: ~

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.:~ (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

Then why worship and glorify the Gurus and Yogis (human form) in place of God when Veda bars such activities and it also warns people who indulge in such activities 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.

No one has ever seen God by practicing religion or yoga or indulging in glorifying the religious God and Goddesses because God exists prior to the form, time, and space. Form, time, and space cease to exist as a reality when wisdom dawns. Thus, the Gods and Gurus have no place in the domain of the Advaitic reality. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, which is the real God. Thus, Self-realization is the only way to God-realization.

By worshipping the religious Gods and Gurus one will not get Self-realization or God-realization.

There is no scope for God based on blind belief because God based on blind belief is not God in truth. Religion and its ideas of Gods are mere imagination based on the false Self (ego), within the false experience (waking).

All beliefs based on the false self are bound to be a falsehood. Thus, it is erroneous to worship the matter, instead of the All-Pervading Spirit (God in truth) and those who worship things born of matter.

 The religious-based Gods and Goddesses with form and attributes (matter) are not the Gods in truth. That is why Vedas declare, those who sink into the greatest depth of misery and suffer who worship the matter.

Ishopanishad says: ~ “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."

Rig Veda: ~ May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman

Vedas declare: ~ One should never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman. If one, worships any other God in place of Atman, 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."

So, it clearly indicates the so-called Gods worshiped in the temples today are not Vedic Gods. Vedas bars worshiping such Gods.

Why worship and glorify the Gurus and Yogis when Vedas bar human worship.

 If you are a truth seeker then it is better to spend time discovering the facts about your own existence than waste precious time discussing God’s existence. Religion blocks the realization of truth because religion is built on the foundation of form, time, and space whereas the ultimate truth is hidden by the illusory form, time, and space.

If one is ready to drop all his baggage of inherited accumulated knowledge then it becomes easy to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Freedom means becoming free from experiencing the illusion or duality as reality by realizing the fact that, the Self is not the form but the Self is the formless Soul. It is not possible to realize the Self without realizing the fact that, the individual Self (ego) is a reality within the false experience (waking). Thus, all the knowledge accumulated by judging on the base of the false Self (ego), is a false knowledge. 

All religiously propagated ideas of God, heaven, hell, and sins, karmas are mere imagination based on the birth entity whereas the Soul, the Self is birthless and deathless because it is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. 

Till all religious-based knowledge is dropped, it is impossible to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The present moment is within the domain of the time, which is the dualistic illusion or Maya.+

The one who says about the present moment is you. You are the false self (ego) within the false experience (waking). 

You exist only in the domain of form, time, and space. From the standpoint of the Soul the innermost Self, form, time, and space are merely an illusion. 

If the form, time, and space are merely an illusion then the present moment is bound to be an illusion.

Thus, all the claims made about the present moment are part and parcel of that illusion. The illusion is created out of the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness. 

Thus, the Soul or consciousness alone is real and all else is merely an illusion. Thus, to realize this truth, you have to realize Self is not you, but the Self is the witness of you and the world together. 

Whatever is based on you is bound to be an illusion

Remember: ~ 

The present moment is possible only in the domain of form, time, and space, which is the dualistic illusion or Maya. Without form, time, and space, there is no present moment.

The present moment is within the domain of time. Without the past, the present will not appear. Every moment, the present becomes past. The present moves towards the future. Time appears along with form and space. 

The form, time, and space are merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus one cannot remain in the present moment. Time is the product of ignorance, therefore, every moment is the product of ignorance.

The theory of the present moment is based on the false Self (waking entity) within the false experience (waking).

From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the form, time, and space are merely an illusion thus the theory of the present moment belongs to the illusion. ~Santthosh Kumaar

A Gnani sees no duality and differentiation but sees everything as Ātman.+

There are hundreds of commentaries from different authors on the Bhagavad Gita. Each one goes on spinning yarns imagining as he likes what the meaning may be.

Bhagavad Gita has been interpreted in a thousand ways, according to the author’s capacity to understand the test of all these is the reason. Only a few understood Bhagavad Gita.

Bhagavad Gita is a hodgepodge containing everything; hence it suits the populace because there is something in it for every type of mindset. It is difficult to find any tradition whose voice is not found in the Gita. It is difficult to find anyone who does not take solace from the Bhagavad Gita. But for such people, the Advaitic path will prove very difficult.

Once you are Soul centric you will know what Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures really meant, you will see that there is only one possible interpretation, irrespective of diverse opinion or imagination.

The Bhagavad Gita does not contain higher wisdom. Bhagavad Gita is intended for those who are incapable of thinking rationally.

People love Bhagavad Gita because it is very easy to extract one's own meaning from it. Reading Bhagavad Gita a religious believer extracts something of which he can make a belief because Bhagavad Gita speaks on bhakti, devotion. The karma yogi extracts his belief because Krishna has spoken on karma yoga, the Yoga of action. The believer in knowledge finds what he wants because Bhagavad Gita has spoken on knowledge as well. Somewhere Krishna calls bhakti the ultimate, somewhere else he calls knowledge the ultimate, again elsewhere he calls karma yoga the ultimate.

Lord Krishna taught the Karma and Bhakti yogis their own paths only in order to lead them up to the Gnana yoga path, which is the highest and the real object of his teaching.

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (our true Advaita philosophy) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but the philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita ~ Chap ~IV~ v.2)

Why is the word Yoga used in so many different senses in the Gita? Because there are grades and the highest demands concentrated brains, not sitting mindless and imagining you are seeing God.

In Gita Chap.IV where Lord Krishna says: ~ “This yoga has been lost for ages" the word yoga refers to Gnana yoga, not other yogas: the force of the word this is to point this out.

Lord Krishna describes some of the other yogas but devotes this chapter separately to Gnana Yoga. So one sees even in those ancient days people did not care for Advaita; they wanted religion; hence Gnana got lost. That is why Krishna calls it "the supreme secret." Krishna points out that yoga must-see "Brahman in action."

Gita Chap.IV: ~ “He who achieves perfection in Yoga finds the Self in time." This means that after his yoga is finished, he begins the inquiry into ultimate truth, and in due course, this inquiry produces the realization of the universal spirit as the result.

Understanding what is God is not so easy. Religious people can only imagine God based on their beliefs.

Remember: ~

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

Only the path of wisdom leads the seeker of truth on his journey to the ultimate realization of the true nature of the Universal Essence, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: 7:19:~"Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare"

Bhagavad Gita:~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.

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.

Bhagavad Gita: 5: 19:~ "Those who have achieved the true knowledge i.e. the 'Self-Knowledge' or the 'knowledge of Atman' and see no difference, are free from conflicting dualities have merged in Brahman"

Bhagavad Gita: 5: 20:~ "One who does not get excited out of happiness on getting good and does not get depressed on getting bad is situated in Brahman i.e. is merged in Brahman"

Bhagavad Gita: 6: 9:~  "The one who has equal the vision for a Selfless do-gooder, a friend, a foe, an unbiased, a well-wisher, a depressed and jealous man, relatives, a righteous and a sinner is the best (as he sees no duality and differentiation but sees everything as Atman)"

Bhagavad Gita: 6: 32:~ “.....as one seeks and treats oneself with equal vision, the same way one who has an equal vision for good and evil, for everybody is the best of all".

Bhagvad Gita: 6: 8:~ "For whom soil, a pebble, and gold are alike, he is merged in Brahman.

Bhagavad-Gita Gita: 7: 27:~ ".....people are getting entangled in the primordial ignorance (Avidya) of the conflicting dualities like good and evil, happiness and sorrow caused due to attachments, desires, and hatred....."

Bhagavad Gita: 6: 28:~ “.....who have cut-off conflicting dualities (like good and evil)is determinedly in my service. ...."

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, in the last birth in the series of many births worships Me as~ Atman alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare"

A Gnani sees no duality and differentiation but sees everything as Atman. The knowledge of both matter and spirit is True knowledge. The true knowledge is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara says It is of no use of renouncing the worldly life, and become and sanyasi or monk or Sadhu to acquire Advaitic Gnana.+

A Sanyasi or Guru who dressed in a religious robe, with coiled hair and a beard, and his whole body was smeared with ashes and for years he has lived aloof like a recluse, he has been visiting places of pilgrimage, but unless and until he gets Advaitic Gnana he will gain no Advaitic Gnana.  He will remain as ignorant.

Sage Sankara himself said: ~ A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."

So, he wore a Guru's robe only for the sake of the ignorant. So, he was identified as Guru with parampara by religious people. For the truth seekers, Sage Sankara is a Brahma Gnani.

Thus, it proves that religious Gurus and yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people and their religion. 

Sage Sankara says the knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life then it is of no use of renouncing the worldly life, and become and sanyasi or monk or Sadhu to acquire or Advaitic Gnana or Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Brahma Gnana.

It is easy to renounce the world by taking sanyasa and wearing a religious robe, but to find a Gnani is very difficult. Realizing the Self is even more difficult for the Sanyasi because they are unaware of the fact that the region is built on a false foundation based on the ego.  The most difficult of all is discarding religious conditioning.

The seeker of truth need not renounce the worldly life run to the mountains or run behind the Gurus or Yogis waste their precious life and fortune in order to get ‘Self’-knowledge. If the seeker has an intense urge to realize the truth, then that very urge leads to the realization of the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

What is the use of renouncing anything within the dualistic illusion? By giving up anything the ignorance will not vanish. By hearing ornamental words from some guru wisdom will not dawn. Sticking to some Guru trying to get ‘Self’-realization is trying to drain the sea drop by drop.

The path of wisdom is the inner path. The inner path is a mental path. Without stepping out of the boundary of form, time, and space, it is impossible to assimilate Advaitic truth. The Advaitic truth is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

This Path of wisdom is Soulcentric, therefore, it is very difficult to tread this path on the egocentric perspective. Even the yogis and saints have not come to understand the state of the Soul, the Self’.

Ignorance is the cause of the ‘I’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of the mind. The mind is present in the form of the universe. The universe appears as waking or the dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality).

Man and his experience of the world are the results of ignorance. Man and his experience of the world cease to exist as a reality in the realm of the Soul, the ‘Self’.

Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. The world in which you exist is created out of consciousness. When this truth is revealed from the inner core then the Advaitic wisdom will dawn. When wisdom dawns then the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’, remains in its own awareness in the midst of the diversity.

Remember:~

Clinging to any physical Guru is clinging to ignorance. The half-baked knowledge propagated as the ultimate truth leads the seeker to a hallucinated version of the truth.

Sage Sankara page 482: On Gnani: ~ "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior."

Sage Sankara: ~ The Knower of the Atman or the knower of Brahman or Brahma Gnani.

When the knower of Brahman (Gnani) wears no signs, it means he does not identify himself as Guru or yogi or teacher or Swami because a Gnani sees the form, the time and space are one in essence. Thus, there is unity in diversity in his realization. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar