The religious Gurus or yogis are nothing to do with Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.+

The religious Gurus or yogis are nothing to do with Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Religious gurus and yogis are more concerned with practical life and the practical world. They preach to their followers to be, to behave, to live according to the code of conduct prescribed by the religious books, and live in a society with love, peace, and harmony.  

The seekers of truth have to realize the fact that, all religious ideas of God, scriptures, rituals, and yoga in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.  Bhagavan Buddha rejected religion, the idea of God, and the Vedas they are inadequate and useless. Sage Sankara also indicated the same.  

Religion, Yoga, God and Guru glorification, and scriptural studies are not needed in pursuit of truth. Only an intense urge and courage to accept the truth and reject the untruth, when the uncontradictable truth is revealed through deeper self-search.

A religious guru or yogi is too enthusiastic to have everyone as his disciple, and he will push himself on others with his advice, and authoritative scriptural knowledge. Religious Gurus or yogis want to keep everyone in the domain of religion and yoga. More than he wants to help people, he wants to help his ego. he only uses people and imposes his inherited idea of religion and God on them, usually unintentionally because he himself is more unconscious than others of the ultimate truth. 

A Gnani is not enthusiastic to have anyone as his disciple. He never identifies himself as a guru.  He does not impose his ideas on anyone. A Gnani sows the seed of truth by sharing the  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana and tries to guide the serious seeker to the ultimate end. It is very difficult to identify a Gnani because he never claims himself to be a guru or teacher.

Most people are not aware of what they are really seeking. They start their pursuit with their inherited religious ideas, and as they go deeper they will feel that religion and yoga are inadequate and useless in quenching their inner thirst.

A serious seeker will realize the fact that he is looking for something else, and he is now sure it is not a self-assurance, fulfillment of dreams, or fulfillment of social demands. He will realize the fact that religion and yoga are not meant to quench his inner thirst.

A Gnani dearly cares about the serious seeker but will stay aloof, he knows that if the seeker needs to be assisted by him, he will approach or rather be drawn to approach him. He has no self-interest whatsoever and so anyone considered equally, for his love as anybody else, whoever comes, comes and if no one comes it is also fine. 

If the Advaita is bifurcated from all the religious add-ons it becomes scientific then it becomes very easy to understand and assimilate.   All these scientific –inventions are nearer to the truth, but they are not the truth in themselves. 

Sage Sankara and Sage Goudpada have declared non-dualistic or Advaitic truth centuries back, but one has to reach the destination with the scientific (rational) investigation, not through punditry. 

Until one mentally reaches the conclusion, the conviction will not arise. Without firm conviction, the wisdom will not dawn.  Therefore, there is a need to know consciousness is real all else is a myth, which Sage  Sankara declared as the world is a myth Brahman alone is real.

Sage Sankara says Atman is Brahman, and everything is Brahman is a scientific declaration not religious or yogic. Sage Sankara and Sage  Goudpada are more scientific than anyone else in the world. Since the real Advaitic essence is hidden it cannot be got without the inner (mental) journey.  

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

Gnana here is the knowledge of uncontradictable truth or scientific truth.  Thus their scientific truth of the whole, not the part is declared by  Sage  Sankara 1200 years back and thought only to those of higher intellect.  Karma and Upasana (religion and yoga), which are meant for the ignorant masses have to be bifurcated from Advaita to reach the ultimate end.    

Advaitic Wisdom is for those who are capable of inquiring into their own existence to know and realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

When one goes into the annals of history it looks like the true Advaita expounded by Sage Sankara and Sage Goudpada was lost or mutilated by the orthodox cult because their preaching is based on nonduality and practices are based on duality. 

Sage Sankara says in Brahma Sutras:~ ' Brahman is the cause of the world, whereas in Mandukya he denies it. This is because he says that at the lower stage of understanding, the former teaching must be given, for people will get frightened as they cannot understand how the world can be without a cause, but to those in a higher stage, the truth of non-causality can be revealed. 

Sage Sankara himself has warned us not to use ambiguous words and to practice semantic analysis in his book "Definition of one's own Self. (Page 199, v.24 of "Sankara's Selected Works) 

Bhagavad Gita:~brahmano hi pratisthaham- Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. -14.27 

Sage Sankara’s notion of the Maya, the cosmic illusion (mind or matter), must be transcended in order to realize the ultimate truth of Brahman.

If Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness then, it is necessary to realize, the consciousness as self, which pervades all the three states, to realize the fact that there is no second thing that exists other the consciousness. Thus, consciousness (Atman) is the ultimate truth or Brahman.  

The Sruti itself says:~  "This Atma is NOT to be attained by a study of the Vedas.  (Katha Upanishad I, 2, 23.)

It means the seeker has to investigate on his own and realize the ultimate truth. Ultimate Truth can be known if the seeker keeps up the pursuit to the very end, whereas some assert that the ultimate truth cannot be known. 

When the Vedas and Upanishads declare that Consciousness or Atman is actually nothing but Brahman, then why go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind.:~Santthosh Kumaar