Yogi thinks the Self is within his body. The Soul, the ‘Self ‘is not within the body because it pervades the form, time and space.+

Yogis say, ‘I am not the body’ but they believe in body-based practices. The Soul is bodiless because it is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.  Without the body where are the chakras and where is the kundalini.

Yogi thinks the Self is within his body. The Soul, the ‘Self ‘is not within the body because it pervades the form, time, and space.

All the yogic theories are limited to form, time, and space whereas the Soul, the Self is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Kundalini is based on the physical form. Kundalini requires a physical form.  Without the physical form, there is no kundalini. The physical form is not the ‘Self’.  The ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

From the standpoint of the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’ the form, time, and space is merely an illusion. Thus, all the theories based on form, time, and space are bound to be illusory theories based on the false self (form) within the dualistic illusion.

A yogi cannot attain realization, because he thinks his body to be the body and world to be the world and fails to see them as consciousness and thinks his experience of Samadhi is because of his individual effort.  The individual experience is limited to waking experience is merely an illusion. 

Thus even his Samadhi is also limited to the waking experience, which is mere illusion. He thinks the thoughtlessness is Samadhi but thoughts are of individuality. 

Thoughts disappear even in deep sleep. Therefore deep sleep is not wisdom. If one thinks thoughtlessness is Samadhi and Samadhi is Brahman then anyone gets knowledge of Brahman by taking sleeping pills or hemp.

Brih Upanishad: page 32. "Yoga does not yield truth or liberation."

One who is in Samadhi will not know that this universe is the consciousness; therefore yoga is not the means to Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

In Samadhi the yogi knows nothing, and sees no universe; so if there is nothing but blankness. The blankness is not the Advaitic wisdom.

The yogi does not know the nature of the universe. If the universe is not seen in the Samadhi then there is no need to use the word Atman and Brahman.  The yogi is unaware of the ultimate truth beyond form, time, and space. 

By shutting his eyes in Samadhi, the yogi does not know the universe, which confronts him. Hence the universe can't be known as the Soul or the consciousness through yoga.

One is in a non-dual condition in deep sleep or Samadhi, One without a second, true, but he did not know it at the time. He says only in the waking experience afterward. Hence, there must be an inquiry so that you find non-duality whilst awake so that you can see nonduality at the time not afterward. Hence, too the need for inquiring into the nature of the universe and knowing it as the Soul or consciousness whilst one is awake, and not during sleep or Samadhi.

Advaitic truth is the ultimate truth.  Yogis, mystics, and religious teachers do not accept the path of wisdom because it pries into the truth, the source, and the validity of the knowledge they claim. Therefore, it is the most difficult part of the study of Advaita.

That is why Sage Sankara said :~VC-63- Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how can one achieve Liberation. 

The universe in which we exist will not remain a reality when wisdom dawns. The universe is a mere mirage created out of consciousness and there is a conscious awareness of unity in diversity because there is no second thing exists other than consciousness.

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (Advaitic wisdom) 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)

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 the yoga must see "Brahman in action."   : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara: ~The path of karma, the path of yoga and the path of wisdom were intended for different classes of people.+

When the Self is not the form but the Self is the formless Soul, then whose karma. The one which is born lives and dies is not the Self. If the ‘Self is not you but the Soul then the question of karma does not arise.

The waking entity (ego or you) is the false Self within the false experience (waking). Thus, whatever action and inaction, past, present, and future belong to the waking experience from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the waking experience is merely an illusion.  

Thus, whatever happens within the illusion is bound to be an illusion.  Thus, the karma theory is based on the illusory Self within the illusory world is bound to be an illusory theory.

What happens to the dream entity which did good karma within the dream world and it died and reincarnated in the next life and suffered, but when the waking takes place the dream becomes unreal.

The waking becomes unreal when the waking entity (you) realizes the fact that, it, itself (you) is not the Self but the Self is the formless Soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states in succession. 

Thus, neither the karma of the waking entity nor the karma of the dream entity has meaning because the Self is neither the waking entity nor the Self is the dream entity but the Self is a formless Soul, which is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.   

Karma is possible only in the domain of form, time, and space. From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self,  the form, time, and space are merely an illusion.   

If form, time, and space are merely an illusion then the experience of birth, life, death, and the world are merely an illusion. If the experience of birth, life, death, and the world is merely an illusion then the karma theory is bound to be an illusory theory.

You are not the Self because you are the birth entity; you are bound by form, time, and space whereas the Self is Birthless then how the karma theory has any meaning when the karma theory is based on the false Self (you) and false experience (world).  

The karma theory is a religious fable meant for people who are fully immersed in the practical life and practical world believing the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as reality.   

If the Self is birthless then what values the karma theory will have because the karma theory is based on birth, life, death, and rebirth.

The karma theory is merely a religious and yogic fable. The one who believes in karma theory is unfit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Remember: 

Sage Ramakrishna Paramahansa Sage Ramana, Maharishi J. Krishnamurthy, and Nisargadatta Maharajah, all died of cancer-type illness. It does not make any difference if they die of cancer or not of cancer or any illness. Even Lord Krishna died a painful death.  The death is certain the cause of death is irrelevant to a Gnani.

When the Self is birthless then it is deathless A Gnani is unconcerned about the death because he is fully aware that the illusion is only a passing show. The karma theory has nothing to do with the birthless Self. Thus, people’s painful death cannot be taken as evidence because the  Self is ever deathless, it is unborn because it is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

The karmic account is never-ending because one has to be born again and again to reap his good or bad karma carried forward from one life to the next.   To end his karmic account one has to be born in a religion, which does not accept the karma theory in his next birth.  The karma theory is merely a religious and yogic fable.

As per Sage  Sankara: ~

The karma theory is a merely religious and yogic fable. The path of religion, the theory of karma, the path of yoga, and the path of wisdom were intended for different classes of people.

The path of wisdom is for the advanced seekers of truth. It deals with the nature of the ultimate Truth and Reality. It is meant for superior aspirants who have an inner urge to know the truth and it is not for those who are immersed in earthly desires.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The above proves that karma is a reality only on the base of the false Self, where one thinks of the body and the universe as reality. When one becomes aware of the fact that, the true Self is formless Soul, then the karma becomes part and parcel of illusion.   

My point is that, if one accepts the karma theory as reality, he will never be able to come out of ignorance. And ignorance makes him believe the cycle of birth, life, and death as a reality.  

Thus the freedom that one is seeking will remain a distant dream. For the one who accepts birth, life, death, and the world as reality, Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is impossible. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

Many Gurus of the east and west quote Advaita without understanding its highest aspect. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the Self.+

Many Gurus of the east and west quote Advaita without understanding its highest aspect. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the Self.

The path of Advaitic orthodoxy is the path of ignorance. “There are conflicting teachings. 

People get confused as to which are true?"  It is very difficult to know which is the real Advaita. People will be unable to prove because they do not know the proper test of truth.

The Veda serves only at the starting point. What one has to learn from Veda must be understood through the exercise of reason, as far as reason might go. And what one has understood must be realized in one’s life.

Only pretenders claim they God-realized without knowing what God supposed to be in actuality. People generally misinterpret the scriptures.  People think the Gnani is one sitting idle, remote from worldly concerns.

By a study of the holy texts, it is not possible to establish in the truth he is seeking for. Direct realization of the ultimate truth or Brahman is possible only through deeper self-search.

The seeker may be able to grasp the truth hidden by ignorance by discriminating between truth and untruth.

The citations from scriptures are not proofs.  The ultimate truth has to be proved without the scriptures.  The ultimate truth is the universal truth and it does not belong to any religion.  

The religion causes diversity in unity, whereas, the ultimate truth brings unity in diversity. 

It is not that one should pore over the ancient scriptures.  There is no need to study first then realize. One has to realize first then only he will know ‘what is the truth’ and ‘what is untruth’.

One has to make his discoveries through the process of rational thinking and reasoning.

That is why Sage Sankara says: - VC-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.

It means to search the truth independently on your own therefore there is no need of any teacher our teaching the truth has to ascertained by the seeker himself.

Until the seeker realizes the truth, how can he know what is the untruth?  How can one know his Gurus knows the truth or teaching speaking of the truth?  The seeker should not accept anything as truth without deeper introspection. 

Only uncontradictable truth has to be accepted as the ultimate truth of Brahman. The path of wisdom is the path of verification. Nothing has to be accepted as truth without verification.

The Guru is useless so long as the ultimate truth is unknown, and the Guru is equally useless when the ultimate truth or Brahman has already been known.

Guru is needed in the religious and yogic path.  There is no need for Guru to acquire Self-knowledge.

That is why Sage  Sankara himself says:~ VC 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.

Self-knowledge is achievable without the grace of any Guru or conceptual god or the mercy of some godmen. The seeker has to simply wake up to the reality (consciousness), which is the formless substance and witness of the unreality (universe of mind).

At the end of the quest, the seeker becomes aware of the fact that the Self is not ‘I’ but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  There is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

The Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is the fairest flower of wisdom in the world. +

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is the fairest flower of wisdom in the world. 

Sage Sankara says:~ 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.

Advaita is not philosophy. Advaita is the ultimate truth of Brahman or God in truth.   The nature of God is Advaita.  All the teachings propagated by some gurus are adulterated with theories, tradition, and religion is not Advaitic wisdom.   Advaita Gnana is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (Advaitic wisdom) 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)

In advaitic reality, there is neither God nor Goddess but only consciousness. Consciousness is the real God.

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

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the 'Self’.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5) 

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

Do not accept any other truth other than consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth. Nothing is real but consciousness. Realize consciousness as the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. Consciousness is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

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

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of the real God.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~   God is  Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus,   Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

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

Meher Baba said: ~   God is your innermost “Self’. Do not search for God outside of you.  Let these words be inscribed in your heart. Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God. God is everywhere and does everything. God is beyond us and is everything. God alone is and all else is an illusion.

People who are saying ‘I Am God’ are hallucinating that they become God. First, you must know what God is supposed to be in actuality.

Sage   Sankara declares - Atman is Brahman. That is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is the ultimate truth, and the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

The nature of God is Advaita. Advaita is the fullness of consciousness. God is in the form of the Atman, therefore; never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.

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

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

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 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 the religious God based on blind belief have nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Remember:~

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 that 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

Sage Sankara says the rewards of the rituals were not matter of direct realization. The Advaitic wisdom is based on personal realization.+

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.

There are two kinds of audiences ~ those who follow the Advaitic orthodox path are the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual, prayers, devotion to personal Gods and sacrifices. And the more advanced seeker who seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.

The religion and yoga are meant for the ignorant populace, to help lead its followers along the way.

The path of wisdom meant for those who wish to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time and space.

Those who lack the intelligence to discriminate between reality and the illusion will not be able to grasp what is real and what is an illusion. Both real and unreal are consciousness, not real alone. 

For those who have chosen the Atmic path have to drop all the orthodox adulteration bifurcation and dropping what is not needed to acquire ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana: ~ 

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:~  ‘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)

All the orthodox ideas rejected by Sage Sankara. There is no need to indulge rituals, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. There is no need to study philosophy, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman then why you indulge in studying philosophy.

Sage  Sankara 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)

Sage Sankara pointed out those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less moksha.

Sage Sankara says the rewards of the rituals are not a matter of direct realization. Advaitic wisdom is based on personal realization.

The orthodox Advaitin believes 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.

The scriptural authority and value of rituals are part of the Advaitic orthodoxy, which is meant for ignorant people.

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

Even Sage Sankara appear and tell 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, 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.

Remember:~

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 toward 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