Yajurveda says:~ If you worship what is not God in place of the real God fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time.+

Yajurveda says:~  If you worship what is not God in place of  the real God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time."

Translation 1

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc.).

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) - (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent. ("Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal Prakriti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that:-

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example,  table, chair, idol, etc. (Yajurveda 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the Prakriti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

The Hindus believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which was introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs caste, and creed to help the ignorant populace.  

Many Gods and Goddesses with different forms and names are being propagated as Vedic Gods by the saints and founders of different caste and creeds in the past. All these conceptual Gods have introduced in place the Vedic concept of God which is free from form and attributes.  Puranic Gods are non-Vedic Gods. Worship of Such Gods is barred in Vedas.  

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)

Sage Sankara says Atman is Brahman (God in truth). 

That is why Sage Sankara,  VC-  v6~ 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.

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman is impersonal, Nirguna (without 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 besides 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

The God you see and meet and in your vision is not God in truth but a hallucination.  How can you see and meet God without knowing what God is in actuality? Praying and meditating on God without knowing what God really is, leads to hallucination.    The world in which you exist hides God. Thus, Self-realization is necessary to realize ‘what God is in actuality.  

The Atman, the ‘Self is the Infinite God. 

The Atman is the Self. God is the Atman, which is present in the form of consciousness. God is the fullness of the consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space.  Therefore, there is nothing apart from it. 

God is Self-evident. God is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God because God is the very essence of the one who denies it. God is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. God is within the universe in which you exist, the God is without the universe in which you exist.

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

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) 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 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.

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)

How can you worship God? That implies two ~ the worshipper and the worshiped, whereas God is nondual. One can worship his idea of God only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as apart.

When Upanishads and Vedas declare that, “God is in the form of the Athma, and God is indeed Athma itself” then why accept another God in place of the Atman or worship other than the Atman.

God is the Supreme Being the One eternal homogeneous essence, indivisible consciousness, and intelligence, which is beyond form, time, and space. Which the Sages describe in a variety of ways through diverse words.

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

Only the path of wisdom leads the seeker of truth on his journey to the ultimate realization of the true nature of the Universal Essence, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."

The 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).

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.

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.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV-13:~ ‘As a mass of salt has neither inside nor outside, but is entirely a mass of taste, thus indeed, has that Self neither inside nor outside but is altogether a mass of Knowledge. Just as a lump of salt has inside as well as outside one and the same saltish taste, not any other taste, so also that Brahman (consciousness) has inside as well as outside one and the same intelligence. Inside and outside are mental creations only. When the mind melts in silence, ideas of inside and outside vanish. The sages cognize one illimitable, homogeneous mass of consciousness only.

Causality taught in the Upanishads is only to enable us to understand the supreme truth of no-origination. The world is not different from the consciousness and consciousness is not different from the Soul, the Self, and the Soul is not different from the ultimate truth or Brahman. That consciousness appears as a diverse world is only an illusion. If it really became diverse then the immortal would become mortal.

The dualists who seek to prove the origination of the unborn, by that very enterprise try to make the immortal, mortal. Ultimate nature can never change - the immortal can never become mortal and vice versa.

Sage Goudapada 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?”

Thus, the goal is to realize Self-realization.  Atman (consciousness) is nothing but Brahman (God). Realizing Atman (consciousness) as Brahman (ultimate truth) is truth realization or Self-Realization, the Self-realization is God-realization. :~Santthosh Kumaar  

Atma Gnana is common to all religions.+

Bible says:~   “God is a Spirit, and they that worship God must worship God in Spirit and in truth “(John 4:24)

All biblical insights lead to non-dual Self-awareness. Self-Awareness is Christ consciousness.  Self –Knowledge or Brahma Gnana in the biblical sense is the ultimate Truth or Christ.  The truth was not written down but was imparted orally to the chosen few. 

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ God is Supreme Spirit.

If God is the formless Spirit, then how does the man know God created the world? There is no proof. If man had seen God creating the world, he could admit it, but how could he have seen God before he came into existence? (i.e. were created).

Atma Gnana is common to all religions.  There is nothing like One Gnana for a Hindu and another for a Christian or any other religion. 

John 8:32:~ You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  

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) 

 It means one has to know the world which confronts him confronts to realize his body and world are made of the same essence and that essence is Spirit (father).   

Even Sage Sankara says: ~ One must first know what is before him. If he cannot know that, what else can he know or understand? If he gives up the external world in his inquiry, he cannot get the whole truth. 

VC- 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. 

Sage Sankara says ~ VC 65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

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) 

"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)

 1. According to the New Testament, Jesus said to his disciples: ‘To you, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others, they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand (Luke, 8:10). While speaking to the multitude in a veiled manner, ‘privately to his own disciples he explained everything (Mark, 4:34), and advised them not to ‘throw your pearls before swine (Matthew, 7:6). 

2. According to Clement of Alexandria (150-215 CE), ‘Mark’ preached three different gospels. The New Testament version was intended for ‘beginners’, but there was also a Secret Gospel of Mark for those who were ‘perfected’, i.e. initiated. Clement advised one of his students that the existence of this secret gospel should be denied ‘even under oath’, for ‘the light of the truth should be hidden from those who are mentally blind’. The third gospel was so mystical that it was not written down but was imparted orally to the chosen few (JM 120-1).

 When the seeker indulges in deeper self-search then he realizes the fact that the experience of birth, life, death, and the world is merely an illusion created out of Spirit or Brahman or the  Self.  :~Santthosh Kumaar    

Sage Sankara himself says that a Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man and religious robes are for earning bread.+

In this modern world,  spirituality is a fast-selling commodity. India is a supermarket having all verities of spiritual teaching for sale in the name of spirituality.  People mostly foreigners are in search of a Guru to get Self-realization or enlightenment. Many Gurus sell their diverse spiritual package in the name of Self-realization.

The Guru is not needed to realize the Self.  The knowledge arises from within. The real Self is prior to the idea “I” which is the beginning of all of the apparent manifestation. As the levels of mistaken understanding are whittled away, this truth is able to reach out, as it were, and clear away the final barrier of the ego itself.

People think when they meet a Guru they get instant enlightenment because many people have experienced it. Such instant enlightenment is not wisdom but a hallucination. And such enlightenment or any experience of that sort is temporary.    There is no doubt people must have experienced but what they experienced is a mere hallucination. Experience implies duality. Experience is possible within form, time,  and space.

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).  

So, Sage  Sankara clearly indicates A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man" then why hold Gurus and Yogis who identify themselves as holy men.

From the  Advaitic perspective,  A Gnani never identifies himself as a Guru or a Yogi or someone disciple.  The one who accepts himself as a Guru or someone’s disciple is not a Gnani.

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~ "The man of knowledge (Gnani), though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.

Yoga Vasishtha says:~  Self-knowledge or knowledge of truth is not had by resorting to a Guru (preceptor) nor by the study of scripture, nor by good works: it is attained only by means of inquiry inspired by the company of wise and holy men. One’s inner light alone is the means, naught else. When this inner light is kept alive, it is not affected by the darkness of inertia. 

A person who realized the ultimate truth or Brahman will throw off his religious robe and all religious identity and live like a commoner. He never identifies himself as Gnani nor does he identify himself as superior to others. He only shares his knowledge with fellow seekers.

A Gnani never identifies himself as a Guru or a Yogi or someone disciple.  The one who accepts himself as a Guru or someone’s disciple is not a Gnani.

A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the star is the seeker's own work.

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 on different standpoints. All such understanding of Advaita is on 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."

When Sage Sankara himself says that a  Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man and religious robes are for earning bread then it means 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:~ Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, books become a botheration.

Bhagavan 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 to 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 form, time and space are the product of ignorance. When the ignorance vanishes, the unreality of the form, time, and space is exposed.

Upanishad says:~  "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 yourself, turning the mind inward. (18: 89) :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana is not had by resorting to a Guru nor by the study of scripture.+

In this modern world, spirituality is fast a selling commodity. India is a supermarket having all verities of spiritual teaching for sale in the name of spirituality.  People mostly foreigners are in search of a Guru to get Self-realization or enlightenment. There are many Gurus who sell their diverse spiritual package in the name of Self-realization.

The Guru is not needed to realize the Self.  The knowledge arises from within. The real Self is prior to the idea “I” which is the beginning of all of the apparent manifestation. As the levels of mistaken understanding are whittled away, this truth is able to reach out, as it were, and clear away the final barrier of the ego itself.

Yoga Vasishtha says:~ Self-knowledge or knowledge of truth is not had by resorting to a Guru (preceptor) nor by the study of scripture, nor by good works: it is attained only by means of inquiry inspired by the company of wise and holy men. One’s inner light alone is the means, naught else. When this inner light is kept alive, it is not affected by the darkness of inertia. 

A person who realized the ultimate truth or Brahman will throw off his religious robe and all religious identity and live like a commoner. He never identifies himself as Gnani nor does he identify himself as superior to others. He only shares his knowledge with fellow seekers.

A Gnani never identifies himself as a Guru or a Yogi or someone disciple.  The one who accepts himself as a Guru or someone’s disciple is not a Gnani.

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~ "The man of knowledge (Gnani), though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.

A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the star is the seeker's own work.

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 understanding of Advaita is on 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:~ Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, books become a botheration.

Bhagavan 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 to 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 form, time and space are the product of ignorance. When the ignorance vanishes, the unreality of the form, time, and space is exposed.

Upanishad says:~  "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 yourself, turning the mind inward. (18: 89) .:~Santthosh Kumaar 

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

The path of religion, the path of yoga, and the path of wisdom were intended for different classes of people. The 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 which is beyond form, time, and space.

What is the use of practicing Samadhi within the dualistic illusion?  Samadhi belongs to the yogic path.

Yogi thinks of his body as the body and his experience of the world as the world thus; he permanently remains in a state of ignorance.

A yogi thinks he is an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to him and he is born in this world.  Thus, this conviction makes him remain permanently in ignorance.

Yogi believes he has achieved the samadhis through his individual effort.   And he believes the thoughtlessness or yogic blankness or yogic bliss as the Atmic awareness.  

The Yogic Samadhi is not Atmic awareness or Self-awareness. Such thoughtlessness can be achieved by taking a sleeping pill or hemp.   Thus, the Yogic Samadhi and sleep is identical.  Yogic Samadhi is not Advaitic Gnana.

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

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.  And Yogic Samadhi is not Advaitic Self-awareness.

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

Brihad Upanishad:~   does not advocate Samadhi.

Panchadasi, P.509 v, 109, shows the impossibility of yoga arriving at a successful end to its practices. 

The notion of ‘Self-realization through yoga is nothing to do with Advatic wisdom. Every yogi who shuts himself in a cave is not thereby freed from thinking. 

Yoga can lead only to temporary peace because the world is subject to change. Only Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana can yield Advaitic awareness in the midst of the form, time, and space. :~Santthosh Kumaar