Self-discovery is the only way to unfold the mystery of the ‘I’, which hides the truth.+

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

Therefore, if one is seeking the truth he has to know the Self is not the ‘I’ but it is the Soul, which is in the form of the consciousness. 

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ “If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers”. 

Buddha rejected the religion, the idea of God, scriptures, and even Sage Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, the concept of God and scriptures.

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.

There is only one Reality to be known, the same for all the seekers, but the ways to it, are hidden by the religion.  Self-discovery is the only way to unfold the mystery of the ‘I’, which hides the truth.

There is no need to study religious doctrines or indulge in rituals or glorifying the Gods and gurus.

The seekers are trying to unfold the mystery of the dualistic illusion in which seekers are searching for the truth of their true existence.

The beliefs of God, religion, yoga are based on the false self, is nothing to do with the mental (inner) journey.   The religious, rituals, worships, prayers God and guru glorification may be useful in the worldly life, for those who believe in the birth, life, death, and the world as reality, but they are not useful tools in realizing the ultimate truth. On the base of consciousness (Soul) as Self, everything other than consciousness is an illusion.  Thus, man and his experience of the world and his belief of God and religion are part and parcel of the mirage created out of consciousness. 

Arguing with believers is fruitless. Belief in tradition and scripture as if they were true or factual quite clearly is delusion, but the payoff for holding such delusions is, for those who hold them, extremely compelling--the avoidance of the "wrath of God," the hope of heaven or salvation, or the imagined "end of suffering."

Mentally reducing the universe as the waking and waking as the mind and mind as the consciousness leads to Self-awareness.  The universe, the waking, and the mind are one and the same thing.

Without the mind, the universe ceases to exist. Without the universe, the waking ceases to exist.  Without the Soul or consciousness, the mind, the universe, and the waking cease to exist.

Perfect understanding of 'what is what' is very much necessary to realize the formless, timeless and spaceless truth.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

When you reduce everything as consciousness then there is nothing exists there is only Advaita.+

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.

Only through deeper self-search do beginners and intermediates gradually become aware ‘what is what’. Only after they have realized the fact that the ‘Self’ is not ‘I’ but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness,  they are ready for the inner journey towards reality, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

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

If you are seeking truth you have to know the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Sage Sankara says:~  you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand? If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth. 

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.

People refuse to accept anything other than their Gurus words. For them, their Gurus words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.

Such mindsets are not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (8):~  Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.

Mentally reduce the universe as the consciousness by realizing the universe is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.

Mentally reduce the three states as the consciousness by realizing the three states is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.

Mentally reduce the form, time, and space as the consciousness by realizing the form, time and space are nothing, but an illusion created out of consciousness.

Mentally reduce your body, ego, and the world, in which you exist as the consciousness by realizing your body, ego, and the world, in which you exist is nothing but an illusion created out of the consciousness. 

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 you reduce everything as consciousness then there is nothing that exists other than the Advaita. The nature of the consciousness is Advaita.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Chandogya Upanishad :~ God is only one without a second.+

Chandogya Upanishad Chapter: ~ekam evaditiyam- God is only one without a second. (6- Section- 2- Verse- 1)

Swethaswethara Upanishad:~ Na casya kasuj Janita na cadhipah, which means of him of Almighty God, there are no parents they have got no lord. Almighty God has no true father, he has no true mother, he has no true superior. (Chapter-6- Verse -9)

Swethaswethara Upanishad: ~  “Na Tasya Pratima Asti- of that God there is no Pratima, there is no likeness, there is no image, there is no picture, there is no photograph, there is no sculpture, there is no statue. (Chapter -4- Verse- 19)

Swethaswethara Upanishad:~   “No one can see the Almighty God  (Chapter -4, Verse -20)

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

The Vedic pantheon of Gods is said, in the Vedas and Upanishads, to be the only higher manifestations of Brahman. For this reason,- "ekam sat" (all is one), and all is Brahman.

The Soul is the innermost ‘Self’. The seeker's goal is to realize the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness) is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is nothing but God because the Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman. The ultimate truth is God. 

All God propagated by belief systems are nothing but imaginations.  There is nothing so absurd which men have not worshipped 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 belief system has its own idea and conviction of God.  Thus, every religion is based on the false ‘Self’.  Therefore, whatever is based on the false ‘Self’ has to be a  falsehood? Thus, the idea of God of any belief system has is mere imagination based on the false ‘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.

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.

Mythological gods and Goddesses are based on blind belief. The belief is no God. The belief implies duality. From the ultimate standpoint,  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 for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement. 

All the mythological Gods are worshipped 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 tries 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, and senseless rituals, and 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 for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded if one has to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

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.

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

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 innermost ‘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.

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 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  or God in truth ."

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:~  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’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).:~ Santthosh Kumaar 

Bhagavad Gita : - All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many Gods.+

From the Vedic perspective, all our religious Gods we believe and worship are non-Vedic Gods based on imagination.

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

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God)  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 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.

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? By 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 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)

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 

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 other than consciousness a God.

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

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 ‘Self’. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

Thus, by sticking up to the Gods, which are not God in truth, you are sticking up to the illusion. Sticking up to illusion means sticking up to ignorance. sticking up to ignorance means you are not qualified to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

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.

The beliefs of God, religion, yoga are based on the false self, is nothing to do with the mental (inner) journey.   The religious, rituals, worships, prayers God, and guru glorification may be useful in worldly life, for those who believe in birth, life, death, and the world as reality, but they are not useful tools in realizing the ultimate truth. On the base of consciousness (Soul) as the ‘Self’, everything other than the consciousness is merely an illusion.  Thus, man and his experience of the world and his belief in God and religion are part and parcel of the mirage created out of consciousness. 

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.

Arguing with believers is fruitless. Belief in tradition and scripture as if they were true or factual quite clearly is delusion, but the payoff for holding such delusions is, for those who hold them, extremely compelling--the avoidance of the "wrath of God," the hope of heaven or salvation, or the imagined "end of suffering."

Goudpada says that: ~ “The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect”.

Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual or 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.

This clearly indicates that religion, which is based on individual conduct, prescribes karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, therefore religion is for the lower intellect. And wisdom is for those are capable of inquiring into their own existence to know and realize the ultimate truth, which is Brahman.

Sage Sankara: ~ “The illusion must be transcended by getting rid of the ignorance in order to realize the truth of the Soul which is the ultimate truth or Brahman.  

If Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness then, it is necessary to realize, the consciousness as the Self, which pervades all the three states, to realize the fact that there is no second thing that exists other than the consciousness. Thus, consciousness (Ataman) is the ultimate truth (Brahman).  

The Vedas confirms God is Atman (Spirit), the innermost ‘Self’.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul or Spirit) 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.

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

Thus, it refers to formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the innermost ‘Self’ within the false experience. Thus it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are merely an imagination based on the false self’.  Thus Atman or Soul, the innermost ‘Self’ is God.

There is a clear-cut idea of God in the Vedas, Upanishad and Bhagavad Gita. And also there is a clear-cut idea of what not to worship as God in place of real God.

That is why ISH Upanishads says: ~“By worshipping Gods and Goddesses you will go after death to the world of Gods and Goddesses”. But will that help you? The time you spent there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of Gods and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

It clearly indicates that:-If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying the conceptual Gods, Goddesses, and gurus to go into deeper darkness. Instead spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal. 

All the religious and yogic based knowledge, which are inferior, have to be discarded know the ultimate truth or Brahman or God, which is formless, timeless and spaceless existence.:~ Santthosh Kumaar 

There is no need to study Advaita Vedanta.+

There is no need to study Advaita Vedanta or Buddhism or indulge in yogic practice.  There is no practice as such only a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is very much necessary.

Sage Sankara says ~ VC-162- There is no liberation for a person of mere book knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense organs, etc., which are unreal.

Scriptures mastery, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth or Brahman. The ultimate truth is revealed in the clear understanding and realization of ‘what is the truth and ‘what is the untruth. When one realizes the untruth (universe) is created out of single stuff, Self-awareness rises in the midst of duality exposing the unreal nature of the form, time, and space. 

The ultimate truth has to be realized first then only it is possible to know what the scriptures are saying. I do not require any scriptures.

Self-knowledge cannot be attained by the study of the scriptures and intellectual understanding or by bookish knowledge. Therefore, there is no use of studying the scriptures and other scriptures in order to acquire the non-dual wisdom. That is why Bhagavan Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sage Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, the concept of God, and the scriptures. 

Remember:~

Astavakra: ~ “My child you may speak upon various scriptures or hear the sermons on the scriptures. But you cannot establish in the ‘Self’ unless you forget all. 16-1 – p49 

Sage Sankara says - VC-162- There is no liberation for a person of mere book-knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense organs, etc., which are unreal.

There is no need to study Vedanta.  The seeker has to find out: - ‘What is the mind or ‘I’?’, ‘What is the substance of the mind (I)?’  And what is the source if the mind?  (I),  in order to realize the nature of the mind (I). 

The non-duality has to be grasped in the midst of the duality (waking experience).  When one is Soul-centric than he will realize ‘what is the truth’ and ‘what is untruth’ and ‘what is a reality’ and what is unreality’  and able establish himself in the truth and able to view and judge, the three states, on the base of the Soul, the innermost Self.  The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

It is unfortunate people are stuck with their accumulated ideas based on the false self, and imagine about nonduality and say nothing exists other than the source. But a Gnani says everything exists (illusion) but everything is created out of single stuff and that single stuff is the consciousness.  Everything arises from consciousness and subsides as consciousness. Thus, the whole diversity (three states) has no relevance, from the standpoint of the consciousness as the Self.

Everything (illusion) is nothingness (consciousness) realizing the three states are created out nothingness (Consciousness). Nothingness is the nature of the consciousness because there is no second thing exists other than itself.       

Religion, mysticism, and yoga are meant for the mass mindset, which is incapable of investigating and verifying their inherited beliefs.  The path of wisdom is to get the pure essence of non-duality or Advaita.

The ultimate truth is based on the formless Soul, the  Self.  Soul-centric reasoning leads one to non-dual Self-awareness.  Therefore, there is a  need to rectify the reasoning base from ego base to Soul base to understand, assimilate and realize the Non-dualistic or Advaitic truth.
Remember:~

Self –inquiry is not the critical study of the scriptures.  Self-knowledge is a cure for getting rid of ignorance. It is the highest of all the results. There is nothing greater than it.  there is no necessity to study the scriptures to acquire Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

Scriptures are being added from time to time. This process will go on. There is the final authority among them? One contradicts the other: duality reigns supreme.

The Upanishads are ‘Self’-contradictory. Every pundit even gives conflicting interpretations of them. The final authority, therefore, is using one’s own reason. One should apply his reason to them.

The scriptures are for the ignorant masses, who wholly accept the material world as it presents itself’. Gnana is for those who have begun to realize that things are not what they seem.
The Scriptures are of value only when dealing with persons who are incapable of understanding the truth. They have no value as authority for those who use reason.

I quote only the verified citation form the scriptures. I need no scriptures, but I quote then to help the seekers to realize the scriptures are saying

The Upanishads are the only scriptures in the world that says it is impossible to find and realize the truth via religion and scriptural study.

When the Upanishad says: the human goal is to acquire ‘Self’-Knowledge and they indicate the personal Gods, scriptures, worship, and rituals are not the means to ‘Self’ –Knowledge, then why anyone should indulge in it.

The religion, concept of individualized God and scriptures are the greatest obstacle to realize non-dual truth or ‘Self’-realization because they are based on false ‘Self’.

The seeker of truth has to search the ultimate truth without losing himself’ in the labyrinths of philosophy, through deeper ‘Self’-search and assimilate and realize it.

Upanishads clearly indicate:~

Katha Upanishad:~ This Atman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, nor by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals Its own form. ( Ch-II -23-P-20)

Mundaka Upanishad:~  This Atman cannot be attained through the study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Atman—by him alone is Atman attained. It is Atman that reveals to the seeker Its true nature. (3 –page-70 Mundaka Upanishad (Upanishads by Nikilanada)

There is no need to study the Vedas or at least Prastnatraya Bhagavad Gita. Dasoponishad and Brahma Sutra all with commentaries to ensure firm realization.  All that is intellectual wealth, useful in explaining doubts and difficulties if others rise them if you yourself encounter them in the course of thinking. But to attain realization, all that is not necessary. 

Fortunate are the seekers who do not lose themselves in the labyrinths of philosophy. Philosophies are conceptual divisions invented by authors of philosophy by their excessive analysis. 
Fortunate is the man who does not lose himself in the labyrinths of philosophy but inquires into the nature of the universe and finds the source from which the universe arises.

The above passages further prove that: Self-Knowledge cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas and intellectual understanding or by bookish knowledge.  Therefore, there is no use of studying the Vedas and other scriptures in order to acquire the non-dual wisdom.  

That is why Bhagavan Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even  Sage Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, the concept of God, and the scriptures. 

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)

Therefore, there is no use of taking the strain to understand,  assimilate the conceptual divisions invented by teachers of philosophy by their excessive analysis. There are more and more doubts and confusion if one tries to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth through scriptures. 

Why follow the path of doubts and confusion by losing oneself in the labyrinths of philosophy, when one can realize the ultimate truth without them.  By mentally tracing the source of the mind from where it rises and subsides one becomes aware of the fallacy of the mind, which rises as waking or dream and subsides as deep sleep.  The mind arises from consciousness and subsides as consciousness.  Therefore, there is a need for perfect understanding,  assimilation of non-dualistic or Advaitic truth.  

There is no need to renounce worldly life to get Self-Realization. Any householder can attain it if he has the inner urge. 

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

Sage Sankara believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore, dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. :~Santthosh Kumaar