The religious rituals and theories are not meant for those who are searching for the higher knowledge or wisdom.+

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

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. Belief is not God.  Religious God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, it means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence. God in truth is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Even The 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. 

No mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and worships are based on the belief of the non-Vedic personal Gods.  Non-Vedic gods are not God in actuality.

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.

The rituals and theories are not meant for those who are searching for higher knowledge or wisdom.   Advaitic wisdom is the only means.

Ish Upanishad declares ~ “Those people who have neglected the attainment of “Self’ -knowledge and have thus committed suicide (10/11/12).

People who are incapable of inquiring and reason are tending to follow some philosophy without verification. Therefore, the more ignorant they are easier to get them into a religious fold. Religion is so strong and popular because it makes no demand on the most intelligent; it simply requires belief in Guru and his teachings.

It never strikes believers to doubt whether his inherited belief system is true. They never use their reason because they start and conclude that their belief system alone is true because they never question the validity of their inherited beliefs. 

For religion, one can interpret texts as he likes, in whatever way that pleases him, he simply imagine away.  The idea of god injected in the past and inherited by people and they refuse to verify the facts because they think it blasphemy even to question their inherited belief system. 

In pursuit of truth, the ultimate truth has to be proved, not assumed. Pundits who take the scriptures for granted are not Gnanis.

Remember:~

Pundits teach that all is yourself’, but none of them can show that this is so, none has analyzed it scientifically, and none can prove it. The rational proof is needed so that one arrives at knowing truth i.e. wisdom; punditry is mere dogma, parrotism,  a repetition of what they read in scripture. The scripters are not yardstick and the scriptural truth is not proof.   Pundits take scripters as an authority.   Authoritarianism merely assumes as true what another says, but what has yet to be proved.

Pundits have to test truth in this world, not in the next world.  There is no proof other than blind belief based on the scriptures, belief is not the truth.  So, doctrines are not the means to realize the ultimate truth. There is no need to follow them.

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.

So, he clearly indicates rituals and theories are not meant for those who are searching for higher knowledge or wisdom.   The path of wisdom is the only means. Thus, it proves that the Advaitic orthodoxy is not the means to acquire “Self’ -knowledge it is meant for lower and middling intellect.

All the orthodox Advaitins indulge and immerse themselves in the ritualistic oriented lifestyle and follow the path of karma and Upasana which is meant for lower and middling intellect and not for realizing the Advaitic truth.  Many chose these orthodox scholars as their Gurus. But these Gurus are good to learn the conceptual Advaita meant for those Orthodox who believe their conduct-oriented lifestyle leads to Moksha (liberation).   

Orthodox Advaita is not the means to acquire “Self’ - Knowledge.  Those who are seeking the truth have to do their own homework without scriptures in order to acquire “Self’ -knowledge OR Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Sages of truth restrained themselves parting the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to the mass and it was given only selected a few.   It was hidden from the populace who were not qualified and receptive to it. 

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana was not written down but was imparted orally to the chosen few.  Thus, religion was given to the mass and knowledge of the spirit is given only selected a few.  Thus, we find traces of the knowledge of spirit in religious books in the form of parables.

Remember: ~

Mundaka Upanishad condemns rituals. The Para or Higher knowledge is the knowledge of the Supreme Being while the Apara or Lower Knowledge is that of following sacrificial rites and ceremonies. (1/2/ 1 – 6)

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Physical & mental discipline such as Karma, Mantra Yoga, and Yajna, Puja Japa Blind devotion to deity or Guru is not the tool for liberation or freedom from experiencing the dualistic illusion as a reality. It is a dualistic cult including Advaitic orthodoxy propagates these disciplines. Such disciplines and code of conduct have no value if one is seeking ultimate truth or Brahman to get Nondualistic Self -awareness. 

Mysticism, scriptural knowledge, penance based Scholasticism are the great hindrance to ‘Self –realization’. Inherited blind belief with corresponding actions based on scriptures, worship, ritual faith that imply certain mental and physical discipline, or scripture supporting the belief, faith, creed, ritual, theological knowledge personal or opinion leads to hallucinated knowledge. All these become a great hindrance to grasping, understanding, assimilating and realizing the Advaitic or nondual truth.

Scriptural mastery including ancient Sastras, Tarka, and Samkhya disciplines to support Karmas & belief Bhakti Argument & interpretation with the help of logic, grammar, etc.

to support beliefs, revelations, prayers, etc. In addition, dogmas, theological or other based on authorities.

That is why 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) Vivekachoodamani v 56, pg~25

Sage Sankara says:~ The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.-Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. In addition, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the 'Self' has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies Self with the body is confusing one for the other; and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.-Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara:~ (11.1) This ignorance (mistaking the body for Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction and thus a host of miseries(anartha).This anartha is caused by projecting karthvya(“doer” sense) and bhokthavya (object) on the Atman. Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person.-Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara:~ (11.2) In short, a person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is avidya, an error that can be removed by Vidya.

Sage Sankara: ~ (12) Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma Vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman.-Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara: ~ Atman, the Self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body which is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise.

Everyone’s inner work is on. The Soul is the Self. The Soul the inner Guru guides us all till we get the stillness of its Advaitic true nature. It is the Soul that is in ignorance it is the Soul that has to wakes from the sleep of ignorance. : ~Santthosh Kumaar