Shaivism is the oldest sect of the Hinduism. But we must note that Shiv is a non- Vedic God.+

Max Müller says: ~ “The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal God s."

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

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

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

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

Thus, Atman the innermost Self is God. Thus, Self-realization itself is real worship. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get the realization.

Chandogya Upanishad Chapter: ~ ekam evaditiyam ~ God is only one without a second. (6- Section- 2- Verse- 1)

According to Vedas,  the Atman the Self is God.

Shiv is not Vedic God. All the gods and goddesses with form, name, and attributes belong to Hinduism,  not of the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

The Origin of Shiv and Shaivism

Shaivism is the oldest sect of Hinduism. But we must note that Shiv is a non- Vedic God. There is no reference to Shiv or Shaivism in Rig-Veda. According to some scholars, Vedic God Rudra was evolved in Shiv. But this theory is not accepted by other scholars. As Vedics like to adopt popular Gods of others and give them a Vedic touch, it is all possible that they adopted and converted Rudra in Shiv.

For Vedics, Brahma is a creator and Vishnu is a protector. But as Shiv was an enemy of Vedics, they made him a destroyer.

What today we know about Shaivism, comes from the Puranic literature, which is written much later, and so unauthentic and non-reliable.

Gavin Flood, a scholar of comparative religion with specialization in Shaivism at the University of Oxford says: ~ The formation of Śaiva traditions as we understand them begins to occur during the period from 200 BC to 100 AD.

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

Thus, it refers to formless and attributeless God,  which is the Atman (Soul), the Self within the false experience. Thus it indicates clearly all the God s with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false Self.  Thus Atman or Soul, the Self is God in truth. 

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains.  There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme Self i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

It indicates clearly all Gods with forms and attributes are merely imagination based on the false Self.

The Vedas as a body of scripture contains many contradictions and they are fragmentary in nature. For Hindus, scriptures like the Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas. And also the God s and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones. The collection of hymns called Vedas are written in praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus.

Yajur Veda says: ~

Translation 1

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example,  table, chair, idol, etc.) (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2

Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti is intent." (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3

"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 Prakriti, 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.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that: ~

They sink deeper in darkness than those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example,  table, chair, idol, etc. (Yajurveda 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the Prakriti, 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.)

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

Thus, Atman the innermost Self is God. Thus, Self-realization itself is real worship.    Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get the realization.

To acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the seeker has to realize his inherited religion is adulterated in the past and it becomes a great obstacle is realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.    

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.

Upanishad aspiration is best expressed in the following sutra:~

OM Asato ma sad gaMaya, tamaso ma jyotir gaMaya , mrityor ma aamritaam gaMaya.  Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

"OM Lead me from ignorance to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. Peace, Peace, Peace" (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (1/3/28)).

The belief system was coherent because they had a transcendent individualized God as a central doctrine, whereas in the realm of truth individualized God cannot be considered as a center because the Soul and the innermost Self is the center of all that exists.

First, one should not hold a God as the center of existence without verification. Both the theist and atheist are theories, nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman. :~Santthosh Kumaar