Sage Sankara:~ "This Atman is Self-evident.+

Mundaka Upanishad:~ The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross the sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.

When the world in which you exist is created out of the ‘Self’ which is not you but the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness then whatever you have seen, known, believed, and experienced is bound to be the consciousness. 

Like an ornament made from gold is Gold, which is born out of consciousness is consciousness. Like gold is the permanent thing, in ornaments made of gold, similarly, the mind, which is in the form of the universe is born out of consciousness, is consciousness in its essence.

Sage Sankara is the foremost among the Sages of truth that India has produced. He was the expounder of the Advaitic wisdom, which is the knowledge of the beyond the form, time, and space. 

Sage Sankara was a Gnani for the Seekers of truth and Jagadguru for the ignorant populace dynamic personality and a stupendous moral and spiritual force. His grasping and elucidating powers knew no bounds. He was a great Sage and was a powerful spiritual magnet.

Sage Sankara’s scholarly erudition and his masterly way of the exposition of intricate philosophical problems have won the admiration of all the philosophical schools of the world at the present moment.

Sage Sankara was an intellectual genius, a profound philosopher, an able propagandist, a matchless preacher, a gifted poet, and a great religious reformer. Perhaps, never in the history of any literature, a stupendous writer like him has been found. Even the Western scholars of the present day pay their homage and respect to him. Of all the ancient systems, that of Sage Sankara will be found to be the most congenial and the very easy of acceptance to the modern mindset.

There is no place for a personal God (Ishvara), Sage Sankara’s wisdom because the personal Gods imply duality.  The duality is an illusion. Thus, the ideas of personal Gods are part of the illusion; because of the curtain of ignorance man worships personal Gods within the illusion.

Sage Sankara’s supreme Atman is Attributeless (without the Gunas), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without attributes), and Akarta (non-agent). He is above all needs and desires.

Sage Sankara:~ "This Atman is Self-evident. This Atman or Self is not established by proofs of the existence of the Self. It is not possible to deny this Atman, for it is the very essence of he who denies it. Atman is the basis of all kinds of knowledge. The Self is within, the Self is without, the Self is before and the Self is behind. The Self is on the right hand, the Self is on the left, the Self is above and the Self is below".

Satyam-Jnanam-Anantam-Anandam is not a separate attribute. They form the very essence of Atman. Atman cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. Atman cannot be distinguished from any other than Atman, which is present in the form of the spirit.

The objective world-the world of names and forms has no independent existence. The Atman alone has real existence. The world is only Vyavaharika or phenomenal.

There is not one branch of knowledge that Sage Sankara has left unexplored and which has not received the touch, polish, and finish of his superhuman intellect.

Every seeker of truth has very high reverence for Sage Sankara and his wisdom. The loftiness, calmness, and firmness of his mind, the impartiality with which he deals with various questions, his clearness of expression of the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space all these make us revere the Sage Sankara more and more. His wisdom will continue to live as long as the sun shines.

Sage Sankara taught that it was only through direct knowledge of Advaita that one could be enlightened.

Sage Sankara wisdom can be summed up in the following words: ~

Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya,

Jeevo Brahmaiva Na Aparah

Atman alone is real, this world is unreal; the Jiva is identical with Atman.

Just as the snake is superimposed on the rope, this world in which you exist is superimposed on the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

If one gets the knowledge of the rope, the illusion of the snake will vanish. Even so, if one gets knowledge of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, the world in which you exist will become unreal.

Remember:~ 

The Soul, the Self is the only Ancient One. Realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self is the Soul. God is not a belief that you worship because the Soul itself is God in truth.

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

It is for every seeker who is seeking truth must first know what God is supposed to be in actuality according to Vedas and Upanishads and reject all non-Vedic Gods to realize the Atman is real God.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter:~ “All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many Gods. (7- Verse -20)

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

Sage Sankara:~ VC 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)

Liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality through wealth. (Verses -7)

Sage Sankara said:~ “Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, does liberation come, but only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way. (1) VivekaChudamani v 56, pg 25

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 is "Brahman in action."

Gita Chap.IV: "He who achieves perfection in Yoga finds the Self in time." This means that after his yoga is finished, he begins the inquiry into ultimate truth, and in due course, this inquiry produces the realization of the universal spirit as the result.

Lord Krishna says Ch. V:~ “Those who know me 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.

There is no need for any practice to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. Perfect understanding assimilation of ‘what is what’ is very much necessary to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Sage Sankara: ~ VC~"All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman which is absolutely free from all the limitations of Maya. 

The Soul or Brahman or God in truth cannot be realized through performing ceremonies and rituals, the seeker must understand that whatever Sage Sankara indicated, the seekers have to follow it faithfully, honestly with humility to overcome the ignorance, which is blocking their realization of the ‘Self’.

Do not make your understanding just mechanical it will then bind you, rather than free you. Let all be done with all your heart in it; then you will know that all is an illusion and God is the only Reality. And, unless you have that realization and continual awareness that continual Existence is continually infinite ~ all else is beliefs that are untrue or make no sense. :~ Santthosh Kumaar