Swami Vivekananda: ~ Beware of everything that is untrue. Stick to the truth and we shall succeed, may be, slowly, but surely.+

If one searches for truth within the domain of the form, time, and space then he will not find it. 

Deeper self-search makes one realize the fact that the form, time, and space are created out of single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

Thus, form, time, and space are merely an illusion created out of consciousness. Thus, consciousness alone is real and eternal.

When one searches for his Self then finds only the Soul. The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Brahman is God.

Meher Baba Said: ~ A true aspirant is not content with the knowledge of spiritual realities based on hearsay... he insists on the direct knowledge."

Jesus said: ~ "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all." (Gospel of Thomas 2)

Jesus said: ~” Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. (THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS- Saying 5)

"The Kingdom of God is inside you and all around you, Not in a mansion of wood and stone. Split a piece of wood and God is there, Lift a stone and you will find God." (Gospel of Thomas)

Gospel Thomas login 22:~ Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, “These infants being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom.”

They said to him, “Shall we then, as children, enter the kingdom?”

Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female is female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom.”

Swami Vivekananda: ~ STICK TO TRUTH. Beware of everything that is untrue. Stick to the truth and we shall succeed, maybe slowly, but surely.

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.  

When the Soul the innermost Self, establishes itself in its own awareness, then you and your experience of the world will become one with it.

When the Self is not you then what is the use of saying ‘I AM THIS’ OR ‘I AM THAT’.  The Self is not physical because the  Self is the formless Soul which is present in the form of the consciousness.  The Soul or the Spirit is genderless because it is ever formless. 

The Soul is birthless and deathless because it is the ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.  

The Self cannot be identified as he or she, thus the physical-based inquiry does not hold water. 

To realize the truth beyond form, time, and space,  the seeker has to drop all the accumulated egocentric knowledge.   Becoming more and more Soulcentric leads the seeker towards Advaitic Self-awareness. :~Santthosh Kumaar  

God has to be proved without religion and without religious books but only using our own reason.+

God has to be proved without religion and without religious books but only using our own reason. No one can claim they have visited religious heaven, hell, or paradise when such heaven, hell, or paradise does not exist in the domain of God in truth. Religious heaven, hell, and paradise are limited to religious books.

People, who worship the belief of God, are hallucinating that they become one with such God.

Vedas itself declares: May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman? Thus, to know the real God Self-realization is necessary. Self-realization is God-realization. Self-realization itself is real worship. 

God in truth does not belong to any religion because God in truth is universal. God is not He or She because God is the Spirit. God in truth is nondual because God in truth is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Religious Gods are not God in truth. Bible says “God is a Spirit, and they that worship God must worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Rig Veda says may ye never accept another God in place of the Atman (Spirit) nor worship other than the Atman.

What is the use of arguing with religious believers?  They think what they know as the ultimate truth.

Whatever is real in the world in which we exist is God. All that is real in the world in which we exist is the Soul, the innermost Self.

Thus, by realizing the Self, which is the Soul, we discover the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness itself is God which is hidden by the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion. 

Remember:~

All God propagated by belief systems are nothing but imaginations. There is nothing so absurd, that men have not worshiped in religion, every imaginable face has been given to God. If God is the creator then it is foolish to worship anything as God from his creation because the creation is apart from God. 

Every religion has its own idea and conviction of God. Thus, every belief system is based on the false self.  Whatever based on the false self has to be a falsehood? Thus, the idea of God in any belief system is mere imagination based on the false self. 

In Advaita Vedanta:~Brahman is without attributes and strictly impersonal. It can be best described as infinite Being, infinite Consciousness, and infinite Bliss. It is pure knowledge itself, similar to a source of infinite radiance. Since the Advaitins regard Brahman to be the Ultimate Truth, so in comparison to Brahman, every other thing, including the material world, its distinctness, the individuality of the living creatures, and even Ishvara (the Supreme Lord) itself are all untrue. Brahman is the effulgent cause of everything that exists and can possibly exist. Since it is beyond human comprehension, it is without any attributes, for assigning attributes to it would be distorting the true nature of Brahman. Advaitins believe in the existence of both Saguna Brahman and Nirguna Brahman; however, they consider Nirguna Brahman to be the absolute supreme truth. 

Tattireya Upanishad (II.1):~ where Brahman is described in the following manner: Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahman - "Brahman is of the nature of truth, knowledge, and infinity". Thus, Brahman is the origin and the end of all things, material or otherwise. Brahman is the root source and Divine Ground of everything that exists and does not exist. It is defined as unknowable and Satchidananda (Truth-Consciousness-Bliss).

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas. 

God is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. According to the Vedas, God neither has any neither image nor God resides in any particular idol or statue. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.

Remember:~

Mythological gods and Goddesses are based on blind belief or faith. The belief is not God. The belief implies duality. From the ultimate standpoint, the duality is merely an illusion. Thus, whatever one sees, knows, believes, and experiences within the dualistic illusion are bound to be an illusion.

Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition. Mythology was introduced in the past to the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement. 

All the mythological Gods are worshiped in the form of idols. The belief system which propagated ideas of many Gods and Goddesses Bhakti is the only way to God is simply trying to lead the people to darkness with its dogma and idea of many Gods, which is apart from the Self. 

Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief, senseless rituals, and the most irrational and gives them a divine outlook. Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition. Mythology was introduced in the past to the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded if one has to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or real God. 

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God in truth) 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 other than consciousness a God. 

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

The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the innermost Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists. 

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the  Self. 

Rig Veda:~ Prajnanam Brahma- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman(God). 

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May I 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 1/164/46: ~ “They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, or the heavenly sunbird Garutmat. The seers call in many ways that which is One; they speak of Agni, Yama, Matarishvan.

Rig Veda 8/58/2:~ Only One is the Fire, enkindled in numerous ways; only One is the Sun, pervading this whole universe; only One is the Dawn, illuminating all things. In very truth, the One has become the whole world.

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

Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God there is no truth." 

When 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). 

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God) is impersonal, Nirguna (without the Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal. 

Sage Sankara: ~"That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman (God) ~ that thou art." 

Sage Sankara:~ '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) 

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is nothing to do with the orthodox belief systems. Some philosophers in the past dissented from this interpretation of Vedanta philosophy, holding that the incarnated Souls were separate from the Divine Essence and only finally merged with it after the cycles of birth. 

All these theoretical philosophies are based on the imagination based on the false self (ego or you) within the false experience (waking). 

Remember:~

Religion causes one to become crippled, Self-mortifying and Self-deprecating is not a religion, but the social system of controlling the populace through psychological deformation and retardation.

Religions place God on diverse ideas and beliefs.  Every religious believer has a different idea of God. Every man has a different idea of the real.  There is a need to accept and verify the facts about the religious Gods before accepting anything as God.  There is in religion the element of imagination and sentiments. The ordinary man is happy because religion gives him satisfaction, and pleases his taste.

Every sect and creed concocts a God to suit its own purposes. Belief in such concocted Gods is a great hindrance in pursuit of truth.  The man himself’ suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion. Belief in religion weakens as the man pays more attention to the facts of his practical life within the practical world.

An honest e seeker of truth says that he has not seen God. He does not know God's capacities, what God can do, and what God cannot do. Therefore any statement he might make about God would only be a lie. The seeker of truth does not wish to tell a lie. Therefore, he does accept not God nor deny Him; he simply refuses to make any statement about God because he wants to discover what is supposed to be God.  Without verification, he does not want to accept anything as truth. 

Every sect and creed concocts a God to suit its own purposes. Belief in such concocted Gods is a great hindrance in pursuit of truth.  The man himself’ suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion. Belief in religion weakens as the man pays more attention to the facts of his practical life within the practical world.

Spirituality is a replacement for religion. Advaita is pure spirituality. Advaita is truth beyond form, time, and space. Advaita is the Spirit.  The Spirit is the universal God and God of the whole of humanity.

Do not believe in God as a separate entity. Realize God is the cause of the existence of the universe in which we exist. God should not be worshipped but realized right in this very life, not in the next life or next world.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara:~ Actual realization takes you beyond books.+

There has never been a single scripture that has the whole wisdom in it. Sage  Sankara restrained himself parting the Advaitic wisdom to the mass and imparted only to a selected few. 

Advaitic wisdom was hidden from the people who were not qualified and receptive to it. 

Advaitic wisdom was not written down in one book but was imparted orally to the chosen few. Thus, religion was given to the ignorant populace and the Advaitic wisdom is given to only a selected few.

Thus, we find very few traces of Self-knowledge in the religious books in the form of parables. 

Sage Sankara says: ~ 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 discriminating between real and unreal, and renouncing the false is real meditation, 

Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Among thousands of men, scarcely one strives for perfection; and of those who strive and succeed, scarcely one knows the ‘Self’ in truth.

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.'

The man who possesses the highest intellect can grasp Advaita, by merely hearing the truth mentioned and will know it.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Reason as means to reality. (Chap.18 verse 37)

In chap. 10 of the Bhagvad Gita, Krishna says: ~ I cannot save you, but I can give you Buddhi (reason). (chap. 10)

In chap. 10 of the  Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says: ~ "I have given you the most secret teaching, now reflect over it all" Krishna plainly says reflect, think. (Verse 63 of Chap. 18)

Mundaka Upanishad says: ~  Both states are harmful and take you away from the path of inquiry into the truth. (Page 234)

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ It is not the absence of Buddhi (Reason) that can grasp Advaita, but the man who possesses the highest intellect. Brains are necessary. Such a man, by merely hearing the truth mentioned will know it. (Page~ 224).

The mystic must become a constant slave to some line of "thought" or rather imagination, and then he will really see visions confirming his imaginations.

The mystic who sees God in the vision has seen Him during the waking state. The waking experience itself is an illusion. Thus, whatever is seen within the illusion is bound to be an illusion. Thus, it is necessary for the mystic to realize his existence is a reality within the illusion. 

Whatever belief of God one is familiar with through his inherited conditioning or samskara that he will see in his visions.  When the man is the false Self within the false experience, then whatever he believes is bound to be a falsehood. 

God is the Soul, the Self.  The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. God is not within you, but you and your experience of the world are within God.  Self-realization is God-realization because the Soul, the Self itself is God in truth.  

When you and your experience of the world disappear, then God alone prevails as the formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

The rituals mentioned in the Karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the Jnanakanda which is also part of the same scripture.+

Bhagavad Gita 2:46:~  "A man of true knowledge who has attained enlightenment, has the same use for all the scriptures as one has for a small reservoir of water in a place flooded on all sides."

The rituals mentioned in the Karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the Jnanakanda which is also part of the same scripture. While the Karmakanda enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down rules for the same, the Jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules the worshipper of deities as a dim-witted person no better than a beast.

This seems strange, the latter part of the Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals throughout with karma while the second or concluding part is all about jnana. Owing to this difference, people have gone so far as to divide our scripture into two sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to mean the Karmakanda and the Upanishads (Vedanta) to mean the Jnanakanda.

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)

It is clear that liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality by means of 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 (our true Advaita philosophy) 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 the 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 the Self 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.  A perfect understanding of assimilation of ‘what is what’ is very much necessary to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman 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.

Sage Sankara said:~  Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many Gods as you please, observe ceremonies, and sing devotional hymns, but liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness.

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.

Those who lack the intelligence to discriminate between formless witness (subject) and three states (object) will not be able to grasp what is real and what is unreal. Both subject and object are consciousness, not subject alone. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

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

There is no need to walk in the mountains in search of the truth. There is no need to meet any Gurus. There is no need to renounce family life. There is no need to study the scriptures. There is no need for glorifying the Gurus.  

There is a need to spend the fortune to please the Gurus.  Going to the mountains, searching for a Guru, renouncing the family life, studying the scriptures, and glorifying the personal Gods and Gurus are the greatest obstacle on the path of wisdom.

One need not be a monk, a sanyasi, or a swami to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Religious rituals and worships, and scriptural mastery glorifying God and Gurus are not qualifications to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Monkhood and sanyasa is the greatest obstacle to realizing the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.  

Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatara belong to religious paths. Religious paths are paths meant for the ignorant who blindly accept their experience the birth, life, death, and the world as a reality because the universe is the product of ignorance. 

When Advaitc wisdom dawns, then the unreal nature of the world in which you exist is exposed. Thus, whatever experiences take place within the world in which you exist are bound to be a falsehood. 

The Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatara have nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because they are based on the false Self (ego), and false experience (waking). The Path of wisdom is only for those who are seriously in search of the ultimate truth or Brahman. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana is the mother of all knowledge. 

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)

Actions help to purify the mind but they do not, by themselves, contribute to the attainment of Reality. The attainment of the Reality is brought about only by Self Inquiry and not in the least by even ten million acts. (Verses-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. (Verses-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. (Verses-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. (Verses-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. (Verses 17)

Great sages have spoken of four qualifications for attainment which, when present, succeed in the realization of Brahman and In the absence of which the goal is not attained. (Verses-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. (Verses-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. (Verses-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. (Verses-37).:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Katha Upanishad :~ Neither by reading the book, nor by taking a bath at holy place has one become pure.+

All religions claim that their books are not man-made. Hindus claim that the Vedas are Aporsheya: not made by man but revealed by God himself; and Sanskrit is the divine language, not human.

All religions have the same type of claim. Muslims say the Koran has descended from God, and so with Jews and Christians. Everybody is trying to claim that their book is the sacred book and nobody bothers to look at the real divine book.

This is what the real Veda, the real Koran, the real Bible is. This is the book, and all other books are man-made. Only this universe is the book that is authored by God because God is hidden by the universe.

The universe is the real Veda, the real Koran, the real Bible is. The universe is the book, and all other books are man-made.

Only when you open the book of the universe the God hidden in the book will be revealed. When you finish reading the book of the universe then the universe will become an illusion and God alone prevails as the ultimate reality.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “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. 

You are also part of the divine book of the universe! And whatever you have seen, known, believed, and experienced as an individual is part of it.

It is difficult to understand and assimilate Advaitic wisdom within a framework of some Gurus teaching or holding some philosophy as a yardstick.

We have to drop all our accumulated dross to understand and assimilate and realize the non-dualistic truth.

I am highlighting some scriptural citations only to show the seeker that the Advaitic Sages themselves declare that scriptures, religion, and ideas of God are unimportant in the pursuit of truth. It is easier to understand, assimilate and realize the ultimate truth or non-dualistic truth by rationalizing our views and understanding. 

Upanishads clearly declare:~

Katha Upanishad 1:2:23:~ The Soul cannot be realized through hearing the scholarly explanation of the discourses, not even by the intellect.

Katha Upanishad 1:3: 6: ~  “Through the knowledge of the Soul, God, one is pure and clean constantly.” Neither by reading the books nor by taking a bath at the holy place has one become pure. Inner purity is possible when one remains in constant touch with the Soul. Constant Soul-Consciousness is real purity.

Kena Upanishad 2:4:~  When it is known through every state of cognition, it is rightly known, for (by such knowledge) one attains life eternal. Through one's own 'Self' one gains power and through wisdom, one gains immortality.

Kena Upanishad 2: 5: ~  If here one knows it, then there is the truth, and if here one knows it not, there is a great loss. Hence, seeing the Real in all beings, wise men become immortal on departing from this world.

Mundaka Upanishad 1:2:8:~   “Remaining in the fold of ignorance and thinking “we are extremely wise and learned,” the fools with boastful nature ramble about like the blind led by the blind alone.”

Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:3:~   “The weak and timid cannot realize the Self. Self-Realization is not possible through intellect or hearing spiritual discourse. One who welcomes God in every activity, through a thorough controlled and disciplined life, to him also the Soul is revealed."

Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:3:~   The Soul cannot be realized by the weak and timid.  

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~   VC-56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.

58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar but are no good for Liberation.

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest that merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence,  men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

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?

62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utters the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realization one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

64. Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendor of the entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely saying, ‘I am an emperor’.

Until one knows the truth of his true existence, whatever he knows about God is mere belief. Belief is individual whereas the ultimate truth is universal every belief system has its own idea of God thus there is no universality in the belief system.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Sage Sankara : Liberation comes only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way.+

Holding the blind religious belief as God keeps the Soul, the  Self permanently in ignorance. The ignorance keeps the Soul permanently in the prison of dualistic illusion. Illusion makes the Soul remain in the domain of form, time, and space. In the domain of form, time, and space the experience of birth, life, death, and the world is experienced as a reality.

If the seeker wants to realize the truth, then he has to discard all the religious beliefs and yogic practices, and scriptural studies. Nothing is needed in pursuit of truth other than an intense urge and receptivity to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

That is why 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)

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’s wisdom is nothing to do with religion and yoga. There are 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 the truth beyond the form, time, and space. Religion and yoga are meant for the first audience, to help lead their followers along the way. Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom, with its emphasis on the Advaitic wisdom, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

First, you must know what God is supposed to be.

There is a clear-cut idea in the scriptures, of what is supposed to be God. And what not to worship in place of God then why worship the belief of God, which is not God in truth.

That is why Lord Krishna says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Self 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.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ 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)

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)

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~  God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

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

People, who worship the belief of God, are hallucinating that they become one with such God.

Vedas itself says: May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman? Thus, to know the real God Self-realization is necessary. Self-realization is God- realization. Self-realization itself is real worship. :~Santthosh Kumaar