This universe comes forth from Brahman and will return to Brahman. Verily, all is Brahman.+

As indicated in Isa Upanishad:~' The human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana therefore,  why one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying the conceptual Gods, Goddesses, and Gurus to go into deeper darkness. Instead spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal.    

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

This clearly indicates that religion, which is based on individual conduct, prescribes karma and Upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, therefore religion is for the lower intellect.  

Advaitic wisdom is for those who are capable of inquiring into their own existence to know and realize the ultimate truth, which is Brahman. Therefore, if one is seeking truth he has to know his true self is not physical but it is the Atman, which is in the form of the consciousness. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas and intellectual understanding or by bookish knowledge.  Therefore, there is no use in studying the Vedas and other scriptures to acquire nondual wisdom.  That is why Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sage  Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, the concept of God, and the scriptures. 

There is only one Reality to be known, the same for all seekers, but the ways to it, are hidden by the religion.  Self-discovery is the only way, toward non-dual Absolute without any religious doctrines, which will help the seekers to unfold the mystery of the illusion in which we all are searching for the truth of our true existence. 

The beliefs of God, religion, and yoga are based on the false self and is nothing to do with the mental (inner) journey.   

The religious rituals, worship, prayers, and glorifying Gods, and Guru may be useful in worldly life, for those who believe in birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, but they are not useful tools in realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, everything other than the Soul or the consciousness is a mere illusion.  Thus, man and his experience of the world and his belief in religious God and religion are part and parcel of the mirage created out of consciousness.   

There is no use in taking the strain to understand and assimilate the conceptual divisions invented by teachers of philosophy through their excessive analysis. There are more and more doubts and confusion if one tries to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth through scriptures. 

Why follow the path of doubts and confusion by losing oneself in the labyrinths of philosophy, when one can realize the ultimate truth without them.  By mentally tracing the source of the mind from where it rises and subsides one becomes aware of the fallacy of the mind, which rises as waking or dream and subsides as deep sleep.  The mind raises from consciousness and subsidies as consciousness.  Therefore, there is a need for a  perfect understanding of the assimilation of non-dualistic truth.  

There is no need to renounce worldly life to get Self-Realization. Any householder can attain it if he has the inner urge. 

There is a need to study the scriptures. One has to self-search the truth and realize it without the scriptures. And then when he reads the scriptures he becomes aware the scriptures are also saying the same thing, but everything is misinterpreted.    

That is why Sankara says:~  VC 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. 

There is nothing more rational, more intelligible, and more un-dogmatic insights of Sage Sankara is to drop all the theistic non-duality or orthodox  Advaita which is meant for those who are incapable and not receptive to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.  If one merely theorizes, tries to understand through his intellect and there contended he cannot become a Gnani, but he becomes a scholar or pundit. 

Seeker of truth must make what he has understood and assimilated has to be realized, to get a firm conviction of the non-dualistic truth or ultimate truth or Brahman, then only he can transcend all the limitations of the experience of form, time, and space.   

The existence beyond limitations of form, time, and space is known as Moksha or Nirvana. Spiritual freedom or self-realization is the goal of every seeker of truth. 

Chandogya Upanishads:~  This universe comes forth from Brahman and will return to Brahman. Verily, all is Brahman. A person is what his deep desire is. It is our deepest desire in this life that shapes the life to come. So let us direct our deepest desires to realize the Self.

If one is seeking truth then it is necessary to bifurcate and drop the traditional Advaitic path which is not the means to self-knowledge and move ahead without the traditional baggage to get direct realization on his own as suggested by the great Sages of truth.

Thus, the seeker of truth has to know what this universe? What is this ultimate truth or Brahman? to realize the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth?   

No one can escape the waking experience which is the very basis of physical existence. What was the waking experience before it appeared? Was their existence before the appearance of the waking experience?  When the waking perishes, does the soul or consciousness survive alone?  Is there a self or soul?  The seeker has to find answers to all these doubts to realize ‘what is the truth’ and ‘what is untruth’.   

The Self is the formless substance and witness of the three states. And the formless substance and witness of the three states are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness.  If the formless substance and witness are one in essence, then there is a second thing that can exist, other than consciousness?  Thus,  the consciousness alone is real and all else is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, the 'Self', which is present in the form of the consciousness. 

Remember 

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ “The universe rises from the Soul, the innermost Self like bubbles from the sea. Thus know the ‘Self’ to be One and in this way enter into the state of dissolution."

Sage Sankara said: ~A.A~ 88. When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman (consciousness), and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman?

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.

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 beyond the form, time, and space. By a mere utterance of the word ‘I AM THAT', the truth will not be revealed.

Sage Sankara: ~VC~ if the universe be true, let it then be perceived in the state of deep sleep also. As it is not at all perceived, it must be unreal and false like dreams.

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~ “Brahman is the truth The World is Unreal everything is Truly Brahman and nothing else has any value.

Sage Sankara says: ~ ‘What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead to the final Goal. (Commentary on Vedanta Sutra)

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then why you are indulging in other types of meditation.

Those who tell you that Brahman is unity, that you can get it only by intuition, that you should not reason, you should not question or inquire, are deluding you. Verification must come by thought. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar