All the mythological Gods existence is a myth.+

Religious people believe the stories of Jesus who raised the dead and Krishna who picked a mountain as a reality but Jesus who raised the dead and Krishna who picked a mountain within the dualistic illusion. Whatever belongs to dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion.

One must remember that for all periods the Vedas are the final goal and authority, and if the Puranas differ in any respect from the Vedas, the Puranas are to be rejected without mercy.

If you feel Puranas say something and the Vedas say something else, reject the Puranas and believe in the Vedas.  The Puranas are just a myth.

India takes pride in being the descendants of the Sages of truth who gave the Advaita the ultimate truth.  The Advaitic truth is the truth beyond form, time, and space.

All the mythological God's existence is a myth.  Such Gods can exist only within the dualistic illusion. Thus, the existence of such Gods is illusory.

Mythological gods and Goddesses are based on belief. 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 for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement.

Swami Vivekananda: This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, the Soul. Self is infinite, deathless, and birthless. Because the Self is infinite Spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. Self is the entire world. Who can help you? 

Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief, senseless rituals, and the most irrational and gives them a divine outlook.

Swami Vivekananda: ~ If superstition enters, the brain is gone. Superstition is our great enemy, but bigotry is worse.

Mythological contains stories of people with 10 with seven heads, etc., which are fables, yet are taken seriously by pundits.  All these stories are a reality within the dualistic illusion. The waking experience is a dualistic illusion.   Thus, whatever belongs to the dualistic illusion is bound to be a falsehood. In reality, there is no duality because there is only Oneness.  

That the ancient Sages had miraculous occult power and books relate stories of their feats, are fairy tales were meant for children, women and those whose minds had not developed.

When ‘Self’ is not ‘you’ then whatever you have seen, known believed, and experienced as reality is bound to be an illusion.  Self-realization is necessary to realize your present the world in which you exist is merely an illusion. 

If the present world in which you exist is merely an illusion, then whatever you believed as real with the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion.

Religion can never make you know God because it propagates the bling belief as God. Only an intense urge to know what God is supposed to be in truth can make you realize God.  

The Soul, the ‘Self is the Infinite God. 

The Soul is the Self. God is the Soul, 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, God is without the universe in which you exist.

The Vedas confirm God is Athma (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.

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 say, “God is in the form of the Athma, and God is indeed Athma itself” then why accept another God in place of the Atman nor 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. To 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 the consciousness is not different from the Soul, the  Self, and the Soul is not different from the ultimate truth or Brahman. That the consciousness appears as the 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?” 

Religious Gods are not God in truth. One must know God in truth is Athma.

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

There is a clear-cut idea of God in the Vedas, Upanishad, and Bhagvad Gita. And also there is a clear-cut idea of what not to worship as God in place of real God.  Thus, it proves from the Vedic perspective the Puranic Gods are not Vedic Gods.

Vedas says never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.

That is why 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. 

 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad declares: "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the 'Self''  does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

Yajur Veda says: ~

Translation 1

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

They sink deeper in 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. Griffith 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 prakrti -- 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 in 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 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.)

Then why worship and glorify the non-~Vedic Gods in place of  Vedic God when Veda bars such activities and it also warns people who indulge in such activities 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.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

The far shore is Nirvana, and it is also said that when one arrives, one can see quite clearly that there was never any river at all..+

So-called spiritual paths are useless unless it causes us to seek the truth of our true existence. All controversies about creation, the nature of the universe, evolution, the purpose of God, etc., are useless in the Atmic path.

Buddhism: ~ Buddhist teaching has itself become a kind of interactive and Self -evolving process, much like its idea of pratityasamutpada. However, the end goal is still Nirvana, which is an experience ultimately beyond all concepts and language, even beyond the Buddhist teachings. In the end, even the attachment to the Dharma, the Buddhist teaching, must be dropped like all other attachments. The tradition compares the teaching to a raft upon which one crosses a swift river to get to the other side; once one is on the far shore; there is no longer any need to carry the raft. The far shore is Nirvana, and it is also said that when one arrives, one can see quite clearly that there was never any river at all.

Bhagavan Buddha said: ~Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.

Even Buddhism is mixed up with regional culture and traditions of the local religion, wherever it existed. Thus to get the full essence from Buddhism is very difficult.

Dalai Lama said:~ Buddhism need not be the best religion though it is most scientific and religion and inquisitive. But Buddhism has no answer to certain questions like the existence of Atama (Soul) and rebirth. Dali Lama said that as an individual he believes in rebirth as he had come across a few cases of rebirth. Modern science, Dalai Lama hoped would unearth the mystery behind the rebirth. (In DH –dec-212009-Gulbarga).

Buddhism and its relationship with Science are like that of water and wine, one cannot say there is no water in wine, but when you drink it, it would not be the water but wine... thus Einstein’s view is water in wine because modern science does not believe in the matter but in this religion, everything is the matter only"

Bhagavan Buddha: ~ There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way... and not starting.

Dali Lama:~ If the scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.

Thoughtless awareness comes only when there is oneness in awareness in the midst of dualistic illusion. The dualistic illusion exists as a reality until ignorance is there. Ignorance will vanish only when the non-dualistic or Advaitic wisdom dawns. The wisdom dawns only when one becomes aware of the fact that the world in which you exist is a dualistic illusion created out of single stuff that is the consciousness.

Thus, realizing consciousness alone is and all the three states are merely an illusion created out of consciousness leads to non-dual Self-awareness.

Buddhist Sunyavada is incongruous because every thought has its opposite every word is tied to its coordinate for all thought and speech can only operate under such dualism. Hence, taking the most fundamental word, existence is implied opposite non-existence is also there, and vice versa. Therefore, the Sunya "non-entity" is meaningless without "entity". Both are there.

Buddhist Idealism speaks only of ideas.

What about the knower of these ideas?

Buddhist Nihilism does not ask, "What is meant by Nihilism?

It is a thought. There must be a thinker of this thought.

Bhagavan Buddha kept silent, refusing to answer questions on the ultimate. Therefore, he was the wisest man in refusing to commit himself.

Zen is quite OK in mentioning non-duality: it is the nearest to Advaita, but it is still inferior because

(1) It fails to prove non-duality,

(2) It illogically gives ‘Koan’ exercises as a means of attaining that which is beyond attainment, because always here,

(3) It talks of insight or intuition to see Reality when sight involves a second thing, duality.

When you say "Nothing is" what is the meaning of "is"? "Sunya" is something that exists: you cannot prove that consciousness does not exist.

Zen Buddhism gives much importance to the place for meditation practice. The truth is that Zen advocates the necessity of meditation for those of its adherents who cannot grasp the absolute truth.

Zen Buddhism is also on this lower stage of Yoga because it depends on flashes of Intuition gained by meditation, not by reasoning.

Has the Void a meaning? If so then it is only your imagination.

Bhagavan Buddha gave up yoga after practicing it for six years. He saw it could not yield truth.

Bhagavan Buddha gave up his austerities of yoga as impossible and useless. (Page.70/71 "Buddhism in Translation” by Warren)

Bhagavan Buddha got enlightenment only after he gave up Yoga. Unless you exercise your Buddhi--reason--there is no chance of getting the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space. Buddhism is based on form alone, and it does not include time and space in its investigation.

Buddhism has not proved the truth of Nonduality. Bhagavan Buddha pointed out the unreality of the world. He told people they were foolish to cling to it. But he stopped there. He came nearest to Advaita in speech but not to Advaita fully.

Zen Buddhism Satori is not Advaitic wisdom because it comes as flashes, it does not depend on seeing the world and does not depend upon mental sharpness so much as intuition.

Zen Buddhists are only mystics ~ they do not offer proof. How is their main method different from that of Christian mystics, Hindu mystics, all of whom do not seek to prove by reason, but by "I know," intuition? :~Santhosh Kumaar 

Ashtavakra Gita:~ Know the Soul, the innermost Self to be One and in this way enter into the state of dissolution.+

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

The Soul is the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.  Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Ultimate truth or Brahman is God. Realize that to be Brahman which is Existence, Knowledge and Bliss Absolute, which is nondual and infinite, eternal and One and which fills all that exists.

 After the realization of Advaitic truth, the attainment of which leaves nothing more to be attained, the pure blessedness, and the Knowledge after which nothing needs to be known. When seen, there is nothing more to be seen.  

The experience of birth, life, death, and the world is made of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Self-knowledge makes you realize the experience of birth, life, death, and the world is merely an illusion.

Consciousness pervades everything and everywhere in all three states. Consciousness illumines the whole universe that includes the Sun, Moon, and the whole galaxy.

The consciousness pervades the entire universe outwardly and shines of itself, as the fire that permeates a red-hot iron ball both inwardly and outwardly shines of itself. There exists nothing that is not consciousness. 

People perform all their actions in and through consciousness, but they are ignorant of the Soul, the Self, not being consciousness is merely an illusion. From illusion springs separation wherein the experience of birth, life, death, and the world have roots. 

Ashtavakra Gita:~ The universe rises from the Soul, the 'Self' like bubbles from the sea. Thus, know the Soul, the Self to be One and in this way enter into the state of dissolution."

For the Gnani who realizes everything as consciousness, what is there to meditate or not to meditate, what to speak or not to speak, what to do or not to do? Those who give up the highest and purest Brahmic consciousness live in vain and though human, are like beasts. Having turned visible into the invisible, one should realize everything to be consciousness itself.

A  Gnani always dwells in Advaitic awareness. The ever-existent Soul or consciousness shining within the three states can be realized only through Self -knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  

The Self indeed is this Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, not the phenomenal universe which is present in the form of the mind.

Sage Goudpada:~ The non-dual Atman is realized when the individual Self  (Jiva) is awakened from its ignorance. Atman is unborn, dreamless, sleepless, and motionless, and is beyond duality. It is cognition at its purest. It is Brahman- Ayam Atma Brahma, this Atma is that Brahma; Thus, epitomizing the core of Upanishad teachings. :~Santthosh Kumaar

  

Sage Sankara: ~ Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us the knowledge about our own Self.++****

Those who come to India in search of truth must know the truth they are seeking is not available in Himalayas or Ashrams or with any Gurus or yogis, but it is hidden by the world in which they exist. All the paths and practices available in India are not meant for those who are seriously seeking the truth of their true existence.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “Atman is Brahman. The Atman alone is real is not religious truth. 

Sage Sankara declared this Advaitic truth, which is the ultimate truth to the whole world, many centuries back is the rational truth, scientific truth, and ultimate truth.

Thus, the Atman which is present in the form of the consciousness is real and eternal, the world in which we exist is merely an illusion.

Sage Sankara already declared ‘what is the truth’ and ‘what is untruth’.

Ataman is Brahman ~ “That is the Soul the ‘Self’ is the ultimate truth”.

The world is unreal ~ “The unreal hides the truth because the world is created out of the real.

Sage Sankara: ~ “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.

Sage Sankara:~ 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.

Atman which is present in the form of the consciousness is real and eternal, the world in which we exist is merely an illusion.

Sage Sankara says the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by the illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, (Gnani)

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).

Vedas declares not to accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman but people are unaware of their own sacred Vedas and worship non-Vedic Gods as real Gods.

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

Even Bhagavad Gita says: ~ 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.

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. Religious God cannot be considered as a 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, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence.

Even 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)

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)

The Gods worshiped in India today are not God in truth. Believing and worshipping in non-Vedic Gods barred by Vedas.

That is why Swami Vivekananda: ~ “The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods?

Be aware of what you are searching for. Be aware of what you are seeking. The truth will reveal itself to you if you move in the right direction. You are making it complicated by accepting the untruth propagated as truth.

There is nothing but water in the Holy Rivers. Even if you dip million times and by indulging in performing pranayama, your ignorance will not vanish.

Sage Sankara: ~ “VC 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. (13)

All the Gods sculpted of stone and metal will not be pleased with your devotion and offering. People are praying out to them.

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) 

The Sacred Books of the East are nothing but words you will not find the truth in it.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “Keep the scriptures for children but throw them on the fire for wise seekers.

Mundaka Upanishads: ~ “So-called spiritual pundits and learned are called children because a child takes whatever it thinks as truth. The question never occurs to children “Is what I have seen or thought really the truth?" (P.334 line 9)

People have lived through indulging in all these priestcraft beliefs dogmas and superstitions, something, it is not true.

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

Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices.

Mundaka Upanishad says: ~ “The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross the sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.

If you are seeking truth and you are trying to get it from yoga and following some teaching and following some Guru and other paths then you are dwelling in ignorance and go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

One need not renounce the worldly life and become sanyasi or monk in order realize the truth of the true existence.+

One need not renounce worldly life and become a sanyasi or monk. One need not retire from his business or corporate job and become a Guru all these religious and yogic propagated outdated ideas has to be discarded to realize the truth of the true existence.

Do not become a  slave of all these outdated religious and yogic ideas they are not meant for those who seriously seeking the truth.  There is no need to follow anyone.  Self–realization becomes easy if you independently walk your path.

Atmic path is your own path. You have to tread the path alone to reach it alone finally nothing remains as reality other than the Athma or the Soul.

Stop your emotionally and sentimentally getting stuck with the Guru.  

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

Sage  Sankara was a Gnani.  Most of the modern masters are not Gnani. And you have to understand that to be a Gnani is one thing; to be a Guru is totally different.

Out of a million people perhaps one is a Gnani. Most of the Self-  realized decide to remain silent – seeing the difficulty, that whatever they have realized is impossible to convey in any possible way to others; seeing that not only is it difficult to convey, it is bound to be misunderstood too.

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.  A Gnani is not a religious person or Yogi.

One need not roam one mountain to another, one ashram to another, or meet gurus or yogis to get Gnana.  One can get Gnana and become a Gnani wherever he lives.

We all are searching for truth within the illusion, not being aware of the fact that the illusion is created out of single stuff which is the Soul, the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.  

Thus, searching the truth in the illusion with the illusory self, within the illusory experience, has to be an illusion.  The illusion is created, sustained, and, finally dissolves as consciousness.  There is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.  Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

No one becomes a Gnani by taking sannyasa or wearing religious robes or by mastering the scriptures or by identifying with the religious symbol.  Religious robe and religious symbols are not the means to Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Blind faith is an obstacle to the pursuit of truth.  The seeker should not waste his time on it, he should primarily reflect on the Soul, the innermost self; not on the ‘I’.

 The Soul, which is present in the form of the spirit (consciousness), is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. 

Sruti says ~ "brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati" - He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman Itself. In the Advaita understanding of this statement, the "becoming" is only metaphorical. It is not as if something that was not Brahman suddenly becomes Brahman. Rather, "realizing Brahman" means a removal of the ignorance about one's own essential nature as Brahman. Thus, to "know Brahman" is to "be Brahman".

The one who has realized the identity of the Soul, the Self with the Brahman is a Gnani, one who is liberated even while embodied. Such a realization should not and cannot just be a literal understanding of Upanishadic Mahavakyas.

**

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

A Gnani has realized the ultimate truth of the identity of the Soul, the innermost self. Thus, moksha is not a result of ritual action (path of karma a) or of devotional service (path of bhakti). 

These paths are egocentric, therefore, they will not help anyway to get rid of the ignorance. In fact, moksha is not a result of anything, for it always exists. All that is required is the removal of ignorance. The path of wisdom helps the seeker to acquire the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Why go round and round by various tortuous paths when there is clear cut truth declared by Sage Sankara.+

Why go round and round by various tortuous paths when there is clear-cut truth declared by Sage Sankara. 

Sage Sankara says: ~ Ataman is Brahman (God). Thus, the Soul the ‘Self’ is God. Therefore,    all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false Self.  Thus, there is adulteration and add-ons in the past, which have to be bifurcated if one wants pure Vedic essence.  

When the Vedas and Upanishad declare that the Soul which is present in the form of the consciousness is actually nothing but Brahman, then why go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind. 

One has to realize the fact that, the mind is in the form of the universe.  Trace the source of the mind and realize that the source is consciousness. The mind arises from consciousness as the waking or the dream and subsides as the deep sleep.  

Even 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)

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

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

Vedas and Upanishad confirm the Soul, the  Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

The Soul is the root element of the universe. The Soul is present in the form of the Soul, the innermost Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. From the Soul, the universe comes into existence. In the Soul, the universe resides. And into the Soul the universe is dissolved. The Soul is the parent of all that is there is. 

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

Realize right now right here the Soul, the Spirit is God.  There is nothing to realize other than realizing the Self is not you but the ‘Self is the God the Spirit, which is present in the form of consciousness.  Knowledge of God is Advaita because God is Advaita, the one without the second

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

सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोयमात्मा चतुष्पात् / sarvam hyetad brahmaayamaatmaa brahm soyamaatmaa chatushpaat ~

Mandukya Upanishad, verse-2

Translation:~

sarvam(सर्वम्)- Whole/All/Everything; hi(हि)- Really/Just/Surely/Indeed; etad(एतद्)- This here/This; brahm(ब्रह्म)- Brahm/Brahman; ayam(अयम्)- This/Here; aatmaa(आत्मा)- Atma/Atman; sah(सः)- He; ayam(अयम्)- This/Here; chatus(चतुस्)- Four/Quadruple; paat(पात्)- Step/Foot/Quarter

Fragmented Verse:~

सर्वम् हि एतद् ब्रह्म अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म सः अयम् आत्मा चतुस पात् / sarvam hi etad brahm ayama aatmaa brahm sah ayam aatmaa chatus paat

Simple Meaning: ~

All indeed is this Brahman; This Atman is Brahman; God, this Atman has four steps/quarters.

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

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

Bhad Upanishad: ~ “This Self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else because It is innermost. If one holds the 'Self' dear were to say to a person who speaks of anything other than the Self as dear, that he, the latter, will lose what he holds dear—and the former is certainly competent to do so—it will indeed come true. One should meditate upon the Self alone as dear. He who meditates upon the Self alone as dear—what he holds dear will not perish”. (Bhad Upanishad -8-p- -211)

Taittiriya 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 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).

The ultimate truth or Brahman is God. God in truth is not the religious God that people believe and worship.:~Santthosh Kumaar