The universe is nothing but the consciousness.+

Even Bhagavad Gita says: ~ 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. 

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

Religious  Gods are based on blind belief. Religious God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul and the  ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious Gods are dependent on the Soul for their existence.

Even 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)

 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:~ "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the Self does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

No mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, the world in which he exists as a reality.  For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana,  the mantas will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

That is why Sage Sankara VC~.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?

VC-  v6~ 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.

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be experienced. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely a noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it, your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by subtle arguments.

Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

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

God in truth is the Atman, the Self. Atman is present in the form of consciousness.

Do not accept any other God other than Atman not worship other than Atman.

Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything.

God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone is and all else is an illusion.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ God is Supreme Spirit.

Vedas and Upanishad confirm the Soul, the Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness.

If God is a formless, timeless, and spaceless Spirit, then how does man know God created the world? There is no proof. If man had seen God creating the world, he could admit it, but how could he have seen God before he came into existence? (i.e. were created).

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the innermost Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that there is.

 The Spirit is present in the form of consciousness. Everything is consciousness. All the moments are within the dualistic illusion. Whatever happens within the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion created out of consciousness. Thus, the consciousness alone is real and all else is merely an illusion.

“Spirit is my father and I and my father are one.”

If the Spirit is the father the son is bound to be the Spirit. The Spirit, the beloved alone is real and all else is merely an illusion. 

There is no God in the dualistic illusion because the dualistic illusion is created out of God, which is present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness.  Thus, God alone is real.

Spirit is prior to Love. Love implies duality. The love hides God. When love disappears God appears.  Find the Self and Love the Self and rest in God, which is the Spirit. 

Consciousness is the only reality in which the universe exists, to which the universe belongs; from which the universe has emerged, which is the cause of the universe and which itself is uncaused.  Thus, the universe is nothing but consciousness. 

Remember:~

Sage Sankara: ~ “VC- All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman (consciousness) which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.

The universe is the product of ignorance. The ignorance is present in the form of the ‘I’.

Sage Sankara says: - VC-47 All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the non-Self.

Until you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward the ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there the universe prevails as reality.

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.

Sage Sankara says ~ V.63 ~ "Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

Sage Sankara says in the commentary on the Vedanta sutra that 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.

Seekers of truth should not believe blindly in Orthodox Advaita without verifying all the facts from every angle. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process.

Perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-awareness. By holding on to theories one remains in the realm of duality. You have to mentally go on dropping what is not the truth through deeper Self-search. 

Finally when you become aware of the fact that, your ego, your body, and the world are one in essence then there is Self-awareness in the midst of duality. :~Santthosh Kumaar