How you know what your Guru preaches you is the ultimate truth.+

How you know what your Guru preaches is the ultimate truth. Simply because others are following you also accepted whatever he preaches is the ultimate truth. 

If you are searching for the truth then there is no need for Guru. You need a Guru if you are searching for something else other than the truth of your existence. If you are searching for truth then you do not get entangled with Gurus dead or living because it will block you from self-realization.

That is why  Bhagavan Buddha said: ~ “Believe nothing because a wise man said it, Believe nothing because it is generally held. Believe nothing because it is written. Believe nothing because it is said to be divine. Believe nothing because someone else said it. But believe only what you yourself judge to be true

The Guru is useless so long as the ultimate truth is unknown, and Guru is equally useless when the ultimate truth or Brahman has already been known.

A Guru is needed in the religious and the yogic path.  There is no need for a Guru to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

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

Yoga Vasistha 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 (Gnani). 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. 

Swami Vivekananda said:~   “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own Soul.”

Self–knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gann is the knowledge of the Supreme Spirit or God while religious Knowledge is lower knowledge meant for the ignorant populace.

Guru is needed to guide the ignorant populace who are sticking to the religious and yogic path.

Modern Guru and yogis propagate love, bliss, Samadhi, and grace; all these belong to duality limited to form, time and space. Thus, whoever is intoxicated to dualistic knowledge is unfit to acquire ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is based on the Nondualistic base. Thus all dualistic knowledge Instead of helping, they obstruct.

It is necessary to realize that religion, yoga, and the other paths and practices based on the waking entity (ego), which is the false ‘Self’ within the false experience, is false knowledge. The true path is the path of wisdom, which is based on the formless Soul, the real ‘Self’.

Remember:~

One has to test the truth in this world, not in the next world. There is no proof other than blind belief based on the scriptures, belief is not the truth. So, doctrines are not the means to realize the ultimate truth. There is no need to follow them.

Sage Goudpada says ~  "The merciful Veda teaches Karma and Upasana to people of lower and the middling intellect while jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.

So, they clearly indicate rituals and theories are not meant for those who are searching for higher knowledge or wisdom. The path of wisdom is the only means.

All the orthodox Advaitins indulge and immerse themselves in a ritualistic oriented lifestyle and follow the path of karma and Upasana which is meant for lower and middling intellect and not for realizing the Advaitic truth.

Mundaka Upanishad:~ 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.

Many chose these orthodox scholars as their Gurus. But these Gurus are good to learn the conceptual Advaita meant for those Orthodox who believe their conduct-oriented lifestyle leads to Moksha [liberation]. But the theistic Advaita is not the means to acquire Self-knowledge or non-dualistic or Advaitic wisdom. 

Those who are seeking the truth have to do their own homework in order to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. :~ Santthosh Kumaar 

God-realization is real worship. +

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

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

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

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. 

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

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad declares: "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)

Religion breeds superstition because religion is based on blind belief. Religious Gods are merely based on belief. 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

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

Max Müller says ~ “The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods."

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

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

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

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

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

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the 'Self'. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

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

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

Thus, Atman the 'Self’, is God. Thus,  Self -realization is real worship.  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get realization.

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

According to Vedas the Atman, the 'Self’, is God in truth.

Shiv is not Vedic God. All the God s and Goddesses with form, name, and attributes belong to Hinduism, not of the Vedic religion or Santana dharma

Shiva and Shakti are religious concepts.  Whatever is seen, known, believed, and experienced as a person within the dualistic illusion (world) is a falsehood. 

Hinduism is identified with different founders whereas the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma has no founders.

Those who believe the Vedas as their sacred scriptures have to discard all the non-Vedic Gods and accept only the Vedic God, which is the Atma, the Self.  

Truth-realization is Self-realization and Self-realization is God-realization. God-realization itself is real worship. :~ Santthosh Kumaar  

Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘‘Self’’ in i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.+

Max Müller says ~ “The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods. 

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

In Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~   It has been said that God Supreme or 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 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 that God is Atman, then why believe and worship anything else in place of real God.

Thus, Atman the innermost ‘‘Self’’, is God. Thus, ‘‘Self’’-realization is real worship.    ‘‘Self’’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get realization.

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

According to Vedas the Atman the innermost ‘‘Self’’, is God.

Shiv is not Vedic God. All the God s and Goddesses with form, name, and attributes belong to Hinduism, not of the Vedic religion or Santana dharma

The Origin of Shiv and Shaivism. 

Shaivism is the oldest sect of Hinduism. But we must note that Shiv is a non- Vedic God. There is no reference to Shiv or Shaivism in Rig-Veda. According to some scholars, Vedic God  Rudra was evolved in Shiv. But this theory is not accepted by other scholars. As Vedics like to adopt popular God s of others and give them a Vedic touch, it is all possible that they adopted and converted Rudra in Shiv.

For Vedics, Brahma is a creator and Vishnu is a protector. But as Shiv was an enemy of Vedics, they made him a destroyer.

Whatever today we know about Shaivism, comes from the Puranic literature, which is written much later, and so unauthentic and non-reliable.

Gavin Flood, a scholar of comparative religion with specialization to Shaivism at the University of Oxford says: ~ The formation of Śaiva traditions as we understand them begins to occur during the period from 200 BC to 100 AD.

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

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 mere imagination based on the false ‘‘Self’’.  Thus Atman or Soul, the innermost ’’Self’’ is God. 

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains.  There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘‘Self’’ in i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

It indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false ‘‘Self’’.

The Vedas as a body of scripture contains many contradictions and they are fragmentary in nature. For Hindus, scriptures like the Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas. And also the Gods and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones. The collection of hymns called Vedas written in the praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus.

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

Translation 2

Deep into a 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 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 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 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.)

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

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

Thus, Atman the innermost ‘‘Self’’, is God. Thus, ‘‘Self’’-realization is real worship.    ‘‘Self’’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get realization.

To acquire ‘‘Self’’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the seeker has to realize his inherited religion is adulterated in the past and it becomes a great obstacle is realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.  

  

The Seeker's aim is the search for the Ultimate Truth or Brahman.  The search to find the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth that in actuality never was lost, only hidden.

Upanishad aspiration is best expressed in the following sutra:~

OM Asato ma sad gaMaya , tamaso ma jyotir gaMaya , mrityor ma aamritaam gaMaya . Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

"OM Lead me from ignorance to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. Peace, Peace, Peace" (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (1/3/28)).

The belief system was coherent because they had a transcendent individualized God as a central doctrine, whereas in the realm of truth individualized God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul and the innermost ‘‘Self’’ is the center of all that exists.

First, one should not hold a God as the center of existence without verification. Both the theist and atheist are theories, nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman. :~Santthosh Kumaar

The God who appears to the mystic in meditation or penance is a hallucination.+

No one can honestly say that he knows the ultimate truth unless he is Soul centric. Yet mystics and Godmen glibly declare, "I know God."  And “I AM GOD.  Such a declaration is nothing but falsehood because God is not a form but God is the formless Spirit or consciousness. 

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

Yajur Veda also says: ~ God has no image and His name is Holy. “(32.3)”,

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

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

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

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

Mythreyi Upanishad 2:26 says: ~ “All those who desire to have salvation without taking several births, should worship God in spirit and truth.  

If there is God -- prove it. If there is Goddess -- prove it right here right now. Religious so-called philosophy dogmatically assumes the existence of individualized God.

The God who appears to the mystic in meditation or penance is a hallucination because whatever is known, seen, believed, and experienced as a person within the waking experience is a falsehood because the waking experience itself is a falsehood. From the ultimate standpoint, there is no value for such a claim.  

When one does not know the truth, then he can only guess, imagine, hence doubts and questions, and discussions arise.

One says God is Light.  Again the light may take different colors, then which color is correct? Some people contend that God is sound and say one hears the Aum sound, the sound inside in meditation, still others say God is in the form of fragrant smell and that beautiful scent comes in meditation as the presence of God. All these differences of opinion, they can be endless, show mutual contradiction and general error, i.e. lack of certain truth. Moreover, if one sees a light he is seeing a second thing or duality.  Where there is duality there is no reality.

God is impotent, incompetent, or lacking in intelligence--if he exists! But all Gods propagated by belief systems are nothing but imagination based on the false ‘Self’ (waking entity or ego) within false experience (waking. 

There is nothing so absurd which men have not worshipped in religion, every imaginable face has been given to God.  If God is created then it is foolish to worship anything as  God from his creation because the creation is apart from God. 

Mystics speak of cosmic consciousness. How do they know it in this rock, or in that log? It is mere guesswork!  People who speak of developing God-Consciousness are meaningless because they merely find their own idea of hallucination of God. They do not know what God is in actuality.

How is one to know that what he believes as God is true? This question must prick the seeker of truth.

What do they know? ~ means ~ “What do they know as a fact?"

How do they know there is a God?  Just a belief in God is not the truth. The onus of proof is on the one who makes this assertion. You have not seen God but you only believe in the existence of God. If you say that God did this or God went there, it will be only your imagination. The seeker must examine whether what he believes is really God.  He must think about what it is. That is to inquire.

• Is there a God?

• What is his nature?

Let there be proof. Such questions must arise.

• Why God created this pain?

• Why does he torture men with new diseases?

• Has God no better business to do?

• It is useless to say that God is teaching people lessons through these sufferings.

• What lesson can God teach the year-old child died in a road accident?

• Why there is no universal God?

• Why every religion has its own idea of God?

•  Why God created pain?

• Why does he torture men with new diseases?

• Has God no better business to do?

It is useless to say that God is teaching people lessons through these sufferings.

Remember:~

How can we believe that God is all-merciful when he constantly makes the whole of humanity suffer from wars, violence, terrorism in the name of protecting religion and God? Is God is so weak as to protect himself?

Suppose one person says he has got faith in his religious God. Suppose his friend says he has no faith in any God. Thus there is a contradiction. Nothing can be done. Everyone is stuck to their own beliefs. 

Those who pray to God for something occasionally get what they ask for. They then declare it to be a miracle to be placed to the credit of God! But when they fail to get what they pray for they do not attribute these failures to God, and thus the obvious fact that the failures far outnumber the successes

Millions of people in the world every day prayed to their God of their belief to protect them but the people who don’t believe other people's ideas of God mercilessly kill them so the prayers remained unheard of those who prayed for protection.

There is no invisible power of God is working to save mankind. There are visible tangible signs in the world of such power? There are no signs of benefit to humankind in this world.   The wars, violence terrorism calamities epidemics are happening despite most people in the world are praying to their God of their belief. There is no proof that by praying to God such as wars, violence terrorism calamities epidemics will stop happening.  

There cannot be any proof to show that the wars, violence terrorism calamities epidemics can be stopped by praying to God.  People indulge in wars, violence, and terrorism in the name of God and their religion.  How God of one religion can protect the people who belong to another religion.

So, it is time to investigate what God is supposed to be according to the religious Doctrine. 

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

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness (Spirit), 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 (Spirit) 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 (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.

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 (God). 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). 

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

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God in truth) 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.

God is not physical. God is present in the form of the Spirit. The Spirit is the cause of the world and the Spirit itself is uncaused.

From the standpoint of the Spirit, the form, time, space, and name are merely an illusion. The spirit alone is real and all else is an illusion.  In reality, the Spirit (God in truth) matter (the world in which we exist) are one.

Belief is not proof. Thus, whatever is propagated by the belief system is not proof According to their own doctrine God is Spirit but they worship humanized God. First, one must know what is God is in truth.

All the religious worship and prayers to God are meant for the ignorant populace.  One must know the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God. :~Santthosh Kumaar