Non-Vedic beliefs practices barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at a different time.+

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship; the followers of Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma never worshiped idols. 

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

                              

From the Vedic perspective, Lord Krishna has been just a Mahan yogi and not God himself. Because in the Bhagavad Gita itself’ says: ~

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)

So, from a Vedic perspective, Lord Krishna is not a Vedic God because Rig Veda says:   May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?"

That is why Lord Krishna says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Self in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.

Non-Vedic beliefs and practices are barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at different times, whereas the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is ancient and has no founder.

Hinduism is not Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.  Hindus do idol worship, while Vedas bar idol worship.

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’ i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

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

When the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma knows no idols then why so many Gods and goddesses with different forms and names are being propagated as Vedic Gods. Why these conceptual Gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is free from form and attributes. 

Hindus do idol worship, while Vedas bar idol worship.   According to Vedas, God pervades everything and everywhere.

People, who worship the belief of God, are hallucinating that they become one with such God because they believed the false God as God in truth. 

To be considered an orthodox Hindu one need only accept the authority of Shruti, however, there is no universal agreement among the Hindus on what constitutes Shruti. Vedantins consider the Vedanta, i.e., the Upanishads as Shruti but also include the Bhagavad-Gita and Brahma Sutras as authoritative. For some Vaishnavas, the Bhagavata Purana is to be considered Veda. Some consider the Tantras are considered Veda. Thus, we find that there is ample scope for different ideologies,   philosophies, and practices under the very broad umbrella of Hinduism.

Hindus indulge non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, and child marriages. All these lack Vedic sanctions, therefore, Hinduism is not Ancient Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma.

Remember:~

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

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

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

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

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, and 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.)

Thus, 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 or God.     : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Rig Veda says God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship any other God in place of real God.+

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship; the followers of Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma never worshiped idols. Thus all the Puranic Gods which are of the form and attributes are not Vedic Gods.

Hinduism is not Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.  Hindus do idol-worship, while Vedas bars idol worship.

Yajur Veda – chapter- 32:~God  is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. He cannot be seen directly by anyone. He 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. 

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 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 says God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship any other God in place of real God.

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

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

Vedas do not permit idol worship. All the idols are of the Puranic Gods priests are referring to the Puranic Brahma as God they are ignorant of the God in Vedas even though they speak of Vedas.

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. All these 60 million Gods are non-Vedic Gods based on their beliefs.

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

Chandogya Upanishad: ~   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 

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.

Even Sage Sankara declares: ~ 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.

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

                            

From the Vedic perspective, Lord Krishna has been just a Mahan yogi and not God himself. Because in the Bhagavad Gita itself says: ~

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)

Lord Krishna Says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know me 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.

So, on Vedic perspective, Lord Krishna is not Vedic God because Rig Veda says:   May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?"

That is why Lord Krishna Says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Self in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.

All Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practice barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at a different time, whereas the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is ancient and has no founder.

Hinduism is not Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.  Hindus do idol-worship, while Vedas bars idol worship.

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

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

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other 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. 

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ ‘Everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman.”

All is consciousness. The whole universe is consciousness. From consciousness, the universe comes. When the universe disappears, the consciousness still remains without form, time, and space.

The one who awakened to the knowledge of the 'Self' becomes Brahma Gnani. A Gnani by realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman knows that all three states are merely an illusion created out of consciousness. Whoever realizes the ultimate truth or Brahman knows that the three states and the formless witness of the three states are one in essence. If a man worships God as a separate entity is ignorant.  If one is thinking God is one and the ‘Self’ another, he has not the true knowledge. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

The Soul, the ‘Self is the Infinite God.+

Religion can never make you know God because it propagates Gods based on blind faith or blind belief. 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 innermost 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 Atman (Spirit), the Self.

 Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~  God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. 

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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?”. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

PROOF.+

PROOF.

People demand proof but they are unaware of the fact that their own existence is dependent on the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The onus is on them to prove whether the world in which they exist,  exists without consciousness.

Scientists now concluded that you are not the brain (body). Consciousness requires the joint operation of the brain, body, and the world. "The 'Self'  not your brain. The brain, rather, is part of what the 'Self is."

Max Planck ~Father of quantum physics says: ~ Science has no answer to it. Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we are part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.

The Biology of Consciousness

by Alva Noë. Hill and Wang, 2009

Alva Noe, a University of California, Berkeley, philosopher, and cognitive scientist, argues that after decades of a concerted effort on the part of neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers "only one proposition about how the brain makes us conscious ... has emerged unchallenged: we don't have a clue." The reason we have been unable to explain the neural basis of consciousness, he says, is that it does not take place in the brain. Consciousness is not something that happens inside us but something we achieve it is more like dancing than it is like the digestive process. To understand consciousness the fact that we think and feel and that the world shows up for us we need to look at a larger system of which the brain is only one element. Consciousness requires the joint operation of the brain, body,  and the world. "You are not your brain. The brain, rather, is part of what you are."

Thus, science is going in the right direction in its invention and one day it will declare that everything is consciousness, which Sage Sankara declared 1200 years back ~ everything is Atman- because Atman is in the form of the consciousness

The universe in which you exist is nothing but an illusion created out of the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness.

Consciousness is ever-present. Without consciousness, the world, in which you exist ceases to exist. Consciousness is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny consciousness because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. Consciousness is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Consciousness is everything. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Man cannot live without the physical world; it is the basis of his life, so it must be the starting point of his inquiry. Things, not imaginations, must be the seekers' material.

The one who knows the ultimate truth or Brahman knows the world in truth because sees the world in the nondualistic perspective.

One who loses touch with the external world and gives himself over to his thoughts alone takes his illusions to be the reality and remains in the realm of a perverted intellectualism. Perverted intellectuality is nothing but an egoic exhibition.

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. In fact, our mental and intellectual conditions determine the world, observed and experienced. The commoner viewing the world will see differently from a Gnani viewing the same world. Each one interprets the world that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego, therefore, experiences the birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas a Gnani sees everything as consciousness and he is fully aware of the fact that, there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul or consciousness. Thus, all the egocentric (religious) adulteration has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. 
Remember:~ 

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.

The Soul is the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is the cause of the world in which you exist and it is uncaused. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self the world in which you exist is merely an illusion.  Thus, the world in which exists hides the Soul, which is the ultimate truth, or Brahman or God in truth. 

Till you think the ‘Soul, the Self’ is within you, you will never be able to realize God. God is not limited to you but it pervades in everything and everywhere in the world in which you exist.

You are with the body. You are born in this world. You are living in this world and you are going to die in this world.  The world itself is an illusion.

When the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness then what is the use of discussing about the birth, life, death, and the world because the one which is born, lives and dies is not the ‘Self.   The Soul is birthless and deathless because it is the ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

You are the birth entity. Your existence is limited to form, time and space. Your religion, your religious Gods your beliefs, your religious rituals and prayers, your race, your nationality are nothing to do with the Soul, the  ‘Self’  because the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness itself is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

It is not you have to establish in consciousness but by realizing you, and your experience of the world is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness the Self-awareness raise in the midst of the dualistic illusion. 

Mentally reduce the world in which you exist into consciousness by realizing the world in which you exist is nothing but consciousness.  If everything is consciousness then how can anything exist which is not consciousness?

When the conviction about consciousness becomes firm then everything falls into the right slot. Self-realization is very much necessary to realize the world is an illusion.   Until and unless you realize the Self is not you but the Self is the Soul, Self-realization is an impossibility.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

In the past the Gurus and the scriptural interpreters used the word ‘I’ to the ‘Self’ without knowing what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality.+

In the past the Gurus and the scriptural interpreters used the word ‘I’ to the ‘Self’ without knowing what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality.

Deeper Self-search reveals the fact that the ‘Self’ is not the ‘I’  but the  ‘Self’ is the witness of the ‘I’, which appears as waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality).

The witness of the ‘I’ is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness is real and eternal.

WHO AM ‘I’ AND ‘I AM THAT’ is only for a lower stage where one gives up externally in order to expose the false nature of the form(ego), which is not the full truth.

To unfold the ‘Self’ hidden by the ‘I’ the seeker has to inquire into the nature of the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ appears as the universe.  Inquiring into nature the universe is higher.  

With the ‘WHO AM ‘I’? or ‘I AM THAT’- teaching is not the Advaitic wisdom of Sage  Sankara wisdom.  With the ‘WHO AM ‘I’? or ‘I AM THAT’-  the journey is incomplete.

Sage Sankara introduced WHO AM ‘I’? or ‘I AM THAT’ for the lower stages and it becomes inadequate and useless as the seeker advances in his quest for truth.  Some Gurus in the past introduced WHO AM ‘I’? or ‘I AM THAT’ –as their own teaching with their own cocktail of imagination.

Self-knowledge is the knowledge of the whole, not the part. Therefore the universe, which confronts one, has to be included in the inquiry to get the truth of the whole.  Thus, the ‘WHO AM ’I’ inquiry is helpful in unfolding the half-truth. 

Thus WHO AM ‘I’?- inquiry is helpful in the first stage, but the seeker has to go much beyond ‘WHO AM ’I’ ?.  The seeker has to do his homework to realize the truth of the whole.  

Advaitic truth is the ultimate truth.  Yogis, Mystics, and religious teachers do not accept the path of wisdom because it pries into the truth, the source, and the validity of the knowledge they claim. Therefore, it is the most difficult part of the study of Advaita.

Sage Sankara:~ “VC "As layers of clouds generated by the sun's rays cover the sun and alone appear(in the sky), so egoism generated by the Self, covers the reality of the Self and appears by itself."

Sage Sankara: ~ VC~ "All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.

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.

Sage Sankara says: ~ V.63 ~ "Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

The universe in which we exist is non-existent without the ‘I’. The universe in which we exist will not remain as reality when wisdom dawns. 

The universe is a mere mirage created out of consciousness and there is a conscious awareness of unity in diversity because there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.

That is why Sage Sankara said: ~ “Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the ‘Self’, how is one to achieve Liberation.

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (Advaitic wisdom) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but the philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita –Chap- IV-v.2)

There is no need to criticize these Gurus and their ‘I’-centric teachings but it is necessary to expose their falsity to correct past errors.

Mundaka Upanishad 1.3:~ ‘Complete knowledge includes knowledge of the phenomenal world, the spirit behind it, and the source of both of them.  When the cause of all causes becomes known, then everything knowable becomes known, and nothing remains unknown.”

It is erroneous to identify the Soul, the Self as 'I' or 'I AM' because, the Soul, the Self is not 'I' or I AM’. The Soul, the Self is that witness of the 'I'.

That is Why Sage Sankara says in the commentary in Vedanta-sutra that what is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.  

Seeker of truth should not believe blindly any Gurus teaching without verifying all the facts from every angle. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process.:~ Santthosh Kumaar

Not by listening to Gurus nor by the studying of the books, not by meritorious deeds one gets Advaitic Gnana.+

Not by listening to Gurus nor by the studying of the books, not by meritorious deeds one gets Advaitic Gnana. Advaitic Gnana is attainable only through association with the Gnanis and the clear quest of the Self.  Advaitic Gnana is given neither from outside nor from another person.

Many seekers on the spiritual path are still struggling even after long years and waiting for something to happen. Even after reading and inquiring deeply enough, still, they are unable to progress further. 

The seeker has to find the answers on his own through deeper reasoning, then all his doubts and confusions will be cleared, and he will be able to move ahead in the quest for the Self, and he will be able to reach the destination he is seeking for.

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

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

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

A Gnani imparts Knowledge to others. A Yogi lies in Samadhi like a wooden log so he does not know Yogic Samadhi is not wisdom.  Gnani is fully aware of all things, either permanent or perishable and he has realized both permanent and perishable to be consciousness.  Thus consciousness alone is real and eternal all else is merely an illusion.

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 (6)

It is clear that liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality by means of wealth.  (7)

Actions help to purify the mind but they do not, by themselves, contribute to the attainment of Reality. The attainment of the Reality is brought about only by Self-Inquiry and not in the least by even ten million acts. (11)

The fear and sorrow created by the delusory serpent in the rope can be ended only after fully ascertaining the truth of the rope through steady and balanced thinking. (12)

Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us the knowledge about our own Self.  The firm experience of the nature of the Self is seen to proceed from inquiry along the lines of the salutary advice of the wise. (13)

Ultimate success in spiritual endeavors depends chiefly upon the qualifications of the seeker.  Auxiliary conveniences such as time And place all have a place indeed, but they are essentially secondary. (14)

He alone is considered qualified to enquire after the Supreme Reality, who has discrimination, detachment, qualities of Calmness, etc., and a burning desire for liberation. The four-fold qualifications (17)

Great sages have spoken of four qualifications for attainment which, when present, succeeds in the realization of Brahman and In the absence of which the goal is not attained. (18)

(While enumerating the qualifications), first, we count the ability to discriminate between the Real and the unreal; next, comes a spirit of detachment from the enjoyment of the fruits of actions here and hereafter; after that is the groups of six virtues beginning with  Calmness; and the last is undoubtedly an intense desire for liberation. (19)

A firm conviction that Brahman alone is Real and the phenomenal world is unreal is known as discrimination between the Real and The unreal. (20)

They have crossed the dreadful ocean of (embodied) existence through their own efforts and without any (personal) motives; they help others to cross it. (37)

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “The Higher your idea is, the more miserable you are,' for such a thing as an ideal cannot be attained in the world — or in this life, even. He who wants perfection in the world is a madman — for it cannot be. How can you find the infinite in the finite?

It has not been possible to preach Advaitic Truth entirely free from the settings of dualistic weakness it has not been more operative and useful to mankind at large because only a few will be able to grasp and realize it.

'To realize the Advaitic Truth a freer and fuller scope the seeker has to realize the form, time and space are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. And the Soul the innermost Self is present in the form of consciousness.   

To realize the Advaitic truth the seeker has to be free from all superstitions and orthodox contaminations. The seeker has to be dedicated to acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana   alone.’  : ~Santthosh Kumaar