Sage Sankara declares the world in which we exist is merely an illusion.+

Religion is nothing to do with the ultimate truth of Brahman. If one is seeking truth, then he has to be free from all the religious beliefs and dogmas. Religion is based on the ego (you),  whereas, the ultimate truth is based on the Soul, the  Self. 

Whatever is based on the ego is an illusion and whatever is based on the Soul is the ultimate reality or Brahman. Thus, religion has to be bifurcated from spirituality to realize the truth beyond form, time, and space. 

The orthodox dualists and the non-dualistic sects are nothing to do with the ultimate Truth or Brahman.  The orthodox Advaita considers, birth, life, death, rebirth, heaven, hell, sin, karma, and the world as reality, whereas  Sage Sankara declares the world in which we exist is merely an illusion.  If the world is an illusion, then birth, life, death, rebirth, heaven, hell, sin, karma, and the world,  is bound to be an illusion. 

Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (non-duality). Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy there is a lot of confusion. Sage Sankara’s quotes (selected verified) are quoted in my blogs and postings to show what Sage Sankara meant and ‘what is blocking the seekers from realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman. There are so many non-dualistic masters of the east and also from the west who expound Advaitic or non-dualistic knowledge, but none of them are helpful to reach the ultimate end.

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman. 

Thus, the Purva mimam. sa, with its emphasis on the Karma Kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the Jnana Kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

Sage Sankara's commentary to Brahma Sutras (Chap.3.4.50) shows that the Gnani "should pass through life", not run away from life, and should take a middle course between seeking worldly honor and worldly abasement. 

Sage Sankara varied his practical advice and doctrinal teaching according to the people he was amongst. He never advised them to give up their particular religion or beliefs or metaphysics completely; he only told them to give up the worst features of abuse: at the same time, he showed just one step forward towards the truth.  Sri, Sankara was extremely precise and careful in his choice of words. 

Sage Sankara gave religious, rituals, and dogmatic instruction to the mass, but pure philosophy 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 says in the commentary in 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, in something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.

Remember:~

Seekers of truth should not believe blindly in traditional orthodox Advaita without verifying all the facts from every angle. Orthodoxy has nothing to do with spirituality, which is based on the Soul or spirit.  

One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process. 

By observing the world, wisdom will not dawn. You must know the world in which you exist in truth. Simply by sitting and observing the world, nothing is gained.

Suppose Anastasia is given in a dream, then the dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. Similarly, the waking becomes unreal when Advaitic wisdom dawns. 

The Advaitic wisdom dawns when one realizes the existence of the witness of the three states. The Soul is the witness of the coming and going of the three states.  

From the standpoint of the Soul, the three states are non-existent as reality. Thus, our individual experiences within the waking are as real as a dream.

The Soul, the innermost Self is the witness of the coming and going of the three states, and is nothing to do with happening within the three states.

We become aware of the blankness only in the waking experience. The waking experience is a state of ignorance.  

The witness of the coming and going of the three states is the Soul, the Self.  From the standpoint of the Soul, the witness, the three states are non-existent as reality.

The witness is the one which is aware of you and the world together.  The witness is nothing to do with the individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

The one that witnesses the dream as a whole same witness, witnesses,  the waking as the whole. Thus, one has to realize the existence of the formless witness apart from the three states.  

It is not the waking entity that witnesses the dream, nor does the dream entity witnesses the waking. Thus, a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is very much necessary to realize the nature of the witness and the witnessed are one, in essence.  

From Atmic satsangha one becomes aware of the fact that the duality is the product of ignorance. When wisdom dawns,  then Self-awareness arises.  

In Self-awareness the ignorance vanishes and the Soul, the Self remains in its own awareness. In Soul awareness,  there is unity in diversity.  Self-awareness leads to freedom from experiencing the illusion as a reality.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

The Gurus who think the Self is within the body are propagating half baked knowledge.+

Sage Sankara clearly indicates in Viveka Chudamani (2) that the Knower of the Atman (A Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).  

The ‘Self’ is not you.  Your nature is not the formless, the timeless, and the spaceless existence, because ‘you’ exist only in the realm of the form, time, and space. The Soul is the  Self. 

The nature of the Soul is ‘I-LESS’.  The Soul is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.  By simply saying: ‘I AM’ Sat-Chit-Ananda, without realizing the Self is not the ‘I’, but the Self is the  ‘I –less’ keeps you in the prison of the duality.  

All the doubts and confusion are only from the dualistic perspective. There are no doubts or confusion on the nondualistic perspective. In Self-awareness, there is unity in diversity in consciousness. 

In physical awareness, there is diversity in consciousness.  The seeker has to be always aware of this truth! Everything within the dualistic illusion is merely an illusory division created within consciousness.

The error is in observing the worldview.  Egocentric observation yields objective awareness.  Soulcentric observation leads to Advaitic awareness in the midst of diversity. Thus Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana leads to Advaitic awareness. 

Sage Sankara says:~ 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

But how does one have that realization? That is where Advaita and Advaita Vedanta diverge.

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 experienced Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely 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 perverted arguments. 

The ignorance will not vanish without Advaitic wisdom. It is not you who has to get rid of ignorance because you and you and your experience of the world are the product of ignorance. 

The Soul, the Self is in ignorance of its own true nature. Only through Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the Soul, the Self, awake from the sleep of ignorance.  When the Soul remains in its own awareness of its own true nature, there is no division in the Soul or consciousness, there is unity in diversity.

 The Gurus who advise getting rid of ignorance first must realize the fact that it is not the man who is in ignorance, but it is the Soul, which is in ignorance. Thus, it is necessary to realize ‘what is what’ to realize the truth beyond the form, time, and space. 

The Gurus who think the Self is within the body are propagating half-baked knowledge. Their views and judgment of Advaita or nonduality are based on the dualistic perspective. Only those who can view and judge the three states from the non-dualistic perspective are perfected knowledge. 

All accumulated Advaitic knowledge accumulated from different Gurus will not yield truth because they are not the verified truth.  The seeker has to do his homework to realize the truth beyond the form, time, and space. 

Some Gurus declare that  “Just by sitting quiet and knowing Self is without the words, nothing else has to be done,  and shortly one arrives at his natural state”.

Such a declaration does not lead one to Advaitic Self-awareness. Such acts will not destroy ignorance. 

Without getting rid of ignorance, wisdom will not dawn. Only Advaitc wisdom leads to Self-awareness,  in the midst of the duality. Only perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what leads to Advaitic  Self-awareness. :~Santthsh Kumaar  

Manduka Upanishad,:~ All indeed is, this Brahman(God); This Atman is Brahman(God in truth).+

Upanishad itself declares: ~ sarvam khalvidam brahma - all this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the non-dual reality (Chandogya Upanishad). 

In Manduka Upanishad Brahman and Atman are defined as the same.

Isha Upanishad:~  The Self is one. Even still, the Self is Swifter than thought, swifter than the senses. Though motionless, he outruns all pursuit. Without the Self, never could life exist.

Tripura Rahasya, 18: 89:~ Second-hand knowledge of the Self-gathered from books or Gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization will do that. Realize yourself, turning your attention inward.

Chandogya Upanishad:~ One who meditates upon and realizes the 'Self' discovers that everything in the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantrams and meditation--all come from the Self.

Upanishads: ~ They alone in this world are endowed with the highest wisdom who are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of Ataman. The ordinary man does not understand their way. (Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada)

How can you drop yourself when the Self is not you? You and your world are part of the illusion.  Playing with words and emotions is not wisdom. Realizing the truth beyond the form, time, and space,  is very much necessary. 

Sage Sri, Goudpada quotes from the Upanishads: ~ "There's no plurality here"; "The Soul through its powers appears to be many"; "those who are attached to the   creation or production or origination go to utter darkness"; "the unborn is never reborn, for what can produce it?”

In the 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)

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. :~Santthosh Kumaar

Prohibition of idol worship in Yajurveda: ~ God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape.+

Prohibition of idol worship in Yajurveda: ~

Yajur Veda – chapter- 32:~ God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. He pervades all beings and all directions.

Yajurveda: ~ There is no image of God in truth. God in truth is unborn and eternal. (Chapter 32, Verse 3)

Yajurveda: ~ God in truth is nondual and pure"

Yajurveda: ~ "They are entering darkness, those who worship the natural things (like air, water, fire, etc.), they are sinking more in darkness who worship created things." (Chapter 40, Verse 9)

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Yajurveda: ~ "They are entering darkness, those who worship the natural things (like air, water, fire, etc.), they are sinking more in darkness who worship created things." (Chapter 40, Verse 9)

Remember:~

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

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)

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

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

Rig Veda: ~"Say this, all one God in many names." (Rigveda, book 1, Hymn 164, Verse 46)

Rig Veda: ~ Do not worship anyone besides God in truth alone, praise God in truth alone" (Book 8, Hymn 1, Verse 1)

Rig Veda: ~ Praise God in truth would matchless and alone." (Book 6, Hymn 45, Verse 16)

Do not accept any other God other than the Soul. The Soul is God in truth, Nothing is real but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Nothing matters but realizing God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

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

Brahman is merely a word to indicate the ultimate truth of God in truth. The ultimate truth itself is God in truth.

Those whose intelligence has been stolen by ignorance worship demigods":~Santthosh Kumaar

If you are trying to become a Guru or Monk then you are unfit to acquire Self-knowledge.+

If you are trying to become a Guru or Monk then you are unfit to acquire Self-knowledge. Someone posing as a Gnani because he is some Gurus’ direct disciple cannot be a Gnani. Those who pose themselves as Gnanis are not Gnanis.  A Gnani never poses himself as a Guru, a swami, a sadhu or a yogi, or some Guru’s disciple. 

Different Gurus and teachers are pointing out the understanding of the Advaitic truth from different standpoints. All such an understanding of Advaita is on the dualistic perspective accumulated from here and there.

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."

Sage Sankara: ~ A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

Thus, it proves that the religious gurus and yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people. 

A Gnani never claims himself as a Gnani, he guides the seekers, not posing himself as a Guru, and he does not force his wisdom on others.

Advaita is not a theory or a philosophy. Advaita is the nature of the Soul the innermost Self.  There is no need for any theory or philosophy or scriptures to acquire Self-knowledge. Only a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is needed.

Sage Sankara:~ 'Like a servant who carries a lamp in front of you to find your way, and you have found it, so becomes the Veda to that person. What is the Veda? ~ utterances of those who have known the Truth. Here is one who has known the Truth; why should he or she depend upon the Veda further? Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, books become a botheration. The Upanishad itself says that the 'words are only so much of the  distraction for such minds.'

Bhagvan Buddha: ~ Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

You need not become a Guru or a monk to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. You have not to renounce the world or leave anything ~ your wife, children, job, responsibilities. You do not have to renounce anything! 

The only thing you have to realize is the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space by realizing the form, time and space are the product of ignorance. When ignorance vanishes, the unreality of the form, time and space is exposed.

Upanishad's say:~  "He who thinks he knows, does not know." This means that to know anything implies a second, an object of knowledge, hence duality, i.e. no Gnana.

Tripura Rahasya: ~ Second-hand knowledge of the Self-gathered from books or Gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization will do that. Realize the Self, by mentally turning your attention inward. (18: 89) :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Aham Brahmasmi ~ I am God, I am Brahman. But when Brahman is, how can "I" remain? +

Bhagvan Buddha: ~ Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

Gurus and Godmen say: ~ Aham Brahmasmi ~ I am God, I am Brahman. But when Brahman is, how can "I" remain? Only Brahman remains not the ‘I’. ‘I’ is not the Self. The Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, it is the Soul, the Self which is Brahman or God in truth.

Man and his experience of the world are present only in the duality. The duality is present in the form of the mind. The Mind is present in the form of the universe and the universe appears as the waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality).

One cannot live without the physical world; it is the basis of his life. The physical world is within the waking experience. In the same way, the dream world and the dream entity exist within the dream. 

The dream entity and the dream world are a reality within the dream. Similarly, the waking entity and the waking world are a reality within the waking experience. The dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place, and the waking remains as a reality until the ignorance is there.

Ignorance will prevail until the waking entity remains unaware of the existence of the formless witness. 

Thus, one has to trace the formless witness of the three states in order to realize, that the Self is neither the waking entity nor the Self is the dream entity but the Self is that which witnesses the coming and going of the three states, without the physical apparatus.

So it is the starting point of his spiritual quest. Proof, not imaginations, must be the seekers’ material.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Sage Sankara : ~ The highest beatitude is not to be attained by Yoga.+

Yoga is based on the body as the Self. The deeper investigation reveals the fact that the Self is not the body. Therefore, the physical-based practices will not yield truth. Yoga has its own value in practical life within the practical world. But yoga is nothing to do with the ultimate Truth or Brahman.

The path of Wisdom is nothing to do with yoga and religion. The path of religion, the theory of karma, the yogic path, and the path of wisdom were intended for different classes of people. 

The path of wisdom is for the advanced seekers of truth. It deals with the nature of the ultimate Truth and Reality. It is meant for superior aspirants who have an inner urge to know the truth and it is not for those who are immersed in earthly desires.

Remaining thoughtless in the waking experience is Yogic Samadhi. Yogic Samadhi is not the Advaitic wisdom

Brih Upanishad: page 32. "Yoga does not yield truth or liberation."

One who is in Samadhi will not know that this universe as the consciousness; therefore yoga is not the means to Self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

In Samadhi the yogi knows nothing, sees no universe; so if there is nothing but blankness. The blankness is not the Advaitic wisdom.

The yogi does not know the nature of the universe. If the universe is not seen in the Samadhi then there is no need to use the word Atman and Brahman.  The yogi is unaware of the truth, which is beyond the form, time and space. 

By shutting his eyes in Samadhi, the Yogi does not know the universe, which confronts him. Hence the universe can't be known as the Soul or the consciousness through yoga.

One is in a non-dual condition in deep sleep or Samadhi, One without a second, true, but he did not know it at the time. He says only in the waking experience afterward. Hence, there must be an inquiry so that you find non-duality whilst you are awake so that you can see nonduality at the time not afterward. Hence, too the need for inquiring into the nature of the universe and knowing it as the Soul or the consciousness whilst one is awake, and not during sleep or Samadhi.

Advaitic truth is the ultimate truth.  Yogis, Mystics and religious teachers do not accept the path of wisdom because it pries into the truth, the source and the validity of the knowledge they claim. Therefore, it is the most difficult part of the study of Advaita.

That is why Sage Sankara said: ~VC-63- “Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation.   

The universe in which we exist will not remain as reality when wisdom dawns. The universe is a mere mirage created out of the consciousness and there is conscious awareness of unity in diversity because there is no second thing exists other than the consciousness.

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."

As per the scriptures, the three "Ashrams" or stages in life were originally intended for three grades of intelligence thus:~

Religion: low intellects had to do 'karmas' works, ritual actions, chanting of mantras and indulging in Bajans and prayers, etc.

Middle intellects:~ Yoga: taking yellow robes, going to the caves, ashrams, and doing meditation, etc.

High intellects:~ Wisdom who wanted truth are concerned with no external rites or sanyasa but depend solely on the intelligent inquiry for their path.
Remember:~

Sage Sankara says: ~  Yoga is not the means of liberation (page 132-133 - Commentary on Brihadaranyakopanishad).

In Sutra Bashya and Manduka: ~ The Samadhi and sleep are identical.

Brihad Upanishad does not advocate Samadhi.

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) ~this indicates that yoga is not the means to Self-realization.

Yoga can yield only the duality because everything that one can do or practice becomes a vanishing 'known.' It yields relative truth based on imagination, which is true from the physical viewpoint of view, not the Advaitic truth, which is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

Realizing the universe is created out of single stuff and that single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness leads to non-dualistic or Advaitic Self-awareness. Self-awareness is freedom or Moksha. Moksha is unity in diversity in the midst of duality. :~Santthosh Kumaar