Only those who find the religious and yogic or other practices inadequate and useless must take the path of wisdom.+

Bhagavad Gita Krishna says: ~It is only one amongst thousands of people who strive for spiritual salvation. Even amongst such seekers, it is only the rare person who gets to know “Self” correctly.’ (7.3)

Sages of truth restrained themselves parting the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to the mass, and it was given only a selected few.   It was hidden from the mass 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 to a selected few. Thus we find traces of the knowledge of the Spirit in the religious books in the form of parables.

In Manduka Upanishad: ~ Brahman and Atman are defined as the same: ~

Manduka Upanishad, verse-2:~ All indeed is, this Brahman; This Atman is Brahman.

While Brahman lies behind the sum total of the objective universe, some human minds boggle at any attempt to explain it with only the tools provided by reason. Brahman is beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, beyond imagination. Indeed, the highest idea is that Brahman is beyond both existence and non-existence, transcending and including time, causation, and space, and thus can never be known in the same material sense as one traditionally 'understands' a given concept or object.

Imagine a person who is blind from birth and has not seen anything. Is it possible for us to explain to him the meaning of the color red? Is any amount of thinking or reasoning on his part ever going to make him understand the sensation of the color red? Similarly, the idea of Brahman cannot be explained or understood through material reasoning or any form of human communication. Brahman is like the color red; those who can sense it cannot explain or argue with those who have never sensed it. 

Only those who find the religious and yogic or other practices inadequate and useless must take the path of wisdom.

Sage Sankara in the commentary to "Brahma Sutras: ~ " "The highest beatitude is not to be attained by Yoga." (Sacred Books of East Series page 298 Vol.1.)   And he also says Samadhi is the same as sleep (p.312) ~ which indicates that yoga is not the means to ‘Self’-realization.  And yogic Samadhi is not nondual ‘Self’-awareness.

The essence of Mundaka is: ~  “Do not be satisfied with rituals, yoga, etc. which are good in their own way but inquire. Into what? Brahman and Atman are things you can never see. So do not inquire into them. Inquire into the world around you, which you can see. Science tells you it is passing away every second. Everything is dying repeatedly. Where is it going? Thus you follow up your inquiry into what you can lay hands on. How can you inquire into Atma which you cannot see? So first we deal with the known and seen, this inquiry leads up to the unknown in the end.

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

A Gnani imparts Knowledge to others. A Yogi lies in Samadhi like a wooden log so he does not know yogic Samadhi is not wisdom.  Gnani is fully aware of all things, either permanent or perishable and he has realized both permanent and perishable to be consciousness.  Thus consciousness alone is real and eternal all else is merely an illusion.

One of Sage Sankara’s missions was to wean people away from the ritualistic approach advocated by Mimamsakas and to project wisdom (jnana) as the means of liberation in the light of Upanishad teachings. Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices.

If you are seeking truth then never mix the path of religion and yoga with the path of wisdom. Religion and yoga are nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.  

Those who talk of purifying the mind through other practices are hallucinating.  ‘Self’ is always pure.  Only the ignorant talk of purity.  The Atman is always pure.  Those who are stuck with the egocentric paths thinking they are valuable will never be able to discard the old deep-rooted conditioning or samskaras.

The path of wisdom is a soulcentric path whereas all other paths are egocentric paths they will not but they create a mental barricade and the egoic attitude becomes deep-rooted and obstruct the realization of the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.   The path of wisdom is the direct path to reality, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Remember:~

Ish Upanishad says: ~ “Those people who have neglected the attainment of ‘Self’-knowledge and have thus committed suicide.

Those people who have neglected the attainment of ‘Self’-knowledge and have thus committed suicide, as it were, are doomed to enter those worlds after death.

This is a condemnation of people who do not try to attain ‘Self’-knowledge. They are, in a real sense, committing suicide, for what can be worse than being a slave to sense enjoyment, completely oblivious of the real purpose of life, which is to be one, own master?

Mundaka Upanishad: - The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy, and all the arts can be called lower knowledge. The higher Is that which leads to ‘Self’-realization. The eye cannot see it; the mind cannot grasp it. The deathless ‘Self’ has neither caste nor race, neither eyes nor ears nor hands nor feet. Sages say this ‘Self’ is infinite in the great And in the small, everlasting and changeless, The source of life.

Sage Sankara' gave religious, rituals and dogmatic instruction to the populace but Advaitic only to the few who could rise to it. Hence the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.

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 (V-6)

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

Actions help to purify the mind but they do not, by themselves, contribute to the attainment of Reality. The attainment of the Reality brought about only by ‘Self’ Inquiry and not in the least by even ten million acts. (V-11)

The fear and sorrow created by the delusory serpent in the rope can be ended only after fully ascertaining the truth of the rope through steady and balanced thinking. (V-12)

Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us the knowledge about our own ‘Self’.  The firm experience of the nature of the ‘Self’ is seen to proceed from inquiry along the lines of the salutary advice of the wise. (V-13)

Ultimate success in spiritual endeavors depends chiefly upon the qualifications of the seeker.  Auxiliary conveniences such as time And place all have a place indeed, but they are essentially secondary. (V-14)

He alone is considered qualified to enquire after the supreme Reality, who has discrimination, detachment, qualities of Calmness, etc., and a burning desire for liberation. The four-fold qualifications (V-17)

Great sages have spoken of four qualifications for attainment which, when present, succeeds in the realization of Brahman and in the absence of which the goal is not attained. (V-18)

(While enumerating the qualifications), first, we count the ability to discriminate between the Real and the unreal; next comes a spirit of detachment from the enjoyment of the fruits of actions here and hereafter; after that is the groups of six virtues beginning with  Calmness, and the last is undoubtedly an intense desire for liberation. (V-19)

A firm conviction that Brahman alone is Real and the phenomenal world is unreal is known as discrimination between the Real and the unreal. (V-20)

They have crossed the dreadful ocean of (embodied) existence through their own efforts and without any (personal) motives; they help others to cross it. (V-37)

Remember:~

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “The Higher your ideal is, the more miserable you are,' for such a thing as an ideal cannot be attained in the world — or in this life, even. He who wants perfection in the world is a madman — for it cannot be. How can you find the infinite in the finite?

It has not been possible to preach Advaitic Truth entirely free from the settings of dualistic weakness it has not been more operative and useful to mankind at large because only a few will be able to grasp and realize it.

'To realize the Advaitic Truth a freer and fuller scope the seeker has to realize the form, time and space are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. And the Soul, the  ‘Self’ is present in the form of consciousness.    

To realize the Advaitic truth the seeker has to be free from all superstitions and orthodox contaminations. The seeker has to be dedicated to acquiring ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana   alone.’  : ~Santthosh Kumaar