Self-Realization is Truth -Realization. Truth- Realization is God -Realization.+

When one becomes aware of the fact that, all the three states are unreal on the base of the Soul, the innermost Self, then he becomes aware of the fact that whatever is seen, known, believed, and experienced as a reality within the waking experience as a person is merely an illusion. 

Thus, his experience of the world and belief in religious God is merely an illusion from the standpoint of the Soul, which is the true Self.  Thus, it is necessary to learn to view and judge the three states on the base of the Soul, the 'Self to realize the fact that all the three states are illusory. 

Only after realizing the three states are illusory one can say the world is an illusion, not until then.  

Remember:~

Religion dogmatically assumes God's existence which is based on individual perception. One has to realize the fact that whatever is based on individuality is bound to be an illusion. Thus the physical body and the experience of the world and belief in religious Gods are part of the illusion. In reality, no second thing exists other than Atman. Thus Atman alone is a reality that is a formless substance and the witness of the illusion (three states). 

All God's appearance through vision is a mere hallucination from the standpoint of the Soul, which is the true Self.  Thus all the claims about the appearance of god are not truthful on the base of the Soul as the Self.  Even if God appeared to anyone cannot be taken as real since the waking experience itself is unreal. 

Thus, whatever is based on the individual and the world is bound to be a reality within the illusory waking experience. The waking experience is impermanent, which appears and disappears. The permanent is the formless substance and the witness of the three states. 

No doubt the mystic had a vision, but it is his individual experience within the illusory experience (waking).  Wherever there is individuality there is duality. Wherever there is an experience of duality the unreality is bound to exist as a reality. Therefore there is a need for careful observation to assimilate what is real and what is unreal to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

The Seeker has to consider the waking/dream/astral is also a vision.  The question is, what is it that witnesses these visions (waking/dream/astral).  One gets deluded if he views and judges the reality on the base of the waking entity, which is limited to waking experience alone. When one does not know the truth, he can only guess, imagine, hence doubts and questions, and discussions arise. 

People say God is light, or God is light within.  Some people think God is energy and they are separate from that energy. Some contend that God is sound and say, they hear the divine sound, the sound inside in their meditation. Some say God is a fragrant smell and that beautiful scent comes in their meditation as the presence of God. All these differences of opinion, they can be endless, show mutual contradiction and general error, that is lack of certain truth. The seeker has to realize the fact that if one sees a Light he is seeing it as a person, a person is the cause of duality, and therefore there is no reality in his claim. 

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. 

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. 

God in truth is Self-evident. God in truth is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God in truth because God in truth is the very essence of the one who denies it. God in truth is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. God in truth is within the universe in which you exist, God in truth 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.

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

Vedas itself says: 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 innermost self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

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

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

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

Bhagavad Gita: ~ ‘All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many God s. (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.

The 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. 

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

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.

Third Mundaka - Chapter 1 (8):~ Brahman (Self) is not grasped by the eye, nor by speech, nor by the other senses, nor by penance or good works. A man becomes pure through the serenity of intellect; thereupon he beholds the 'Self' which is without parts.

Yajur Veda:~  "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.)

"Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no image of Brahman."[Yajurveda 32:3]

"Ekam evadvitiyam"
"Brahman is One only without a second." [Chandogya Upanishad 6:2]

"Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah."
"Of Brahman, there is neither parents nor lord." [Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]

"Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no likeness of Brahman." [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]

"shudhama poapvidham"
"Brahman is bodiless and pure." [Yajurveda 40:8]

"Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam."
"His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye." [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]

All this is referred to as Atman the innermost Self. Atman is the ultimate truth or Brahman. The ultimate truth or Brahman itself is God. Thus the Atman which is in the form of consciousness is God. Thus Self-Realization is Truth-Realization. Truth-Realization is God-Realization.  

Only through deeper inquiry, analysis, and reasoning on the base of the soul as a self, one become aware of the fact that the individual gods propagated by religions do not exist in reality.  God is impotent, incompetent, or lacking in intelligence--if he exists! However, all Religions are nothing but imaginations, because religion and its idea of god are a reality only on the base of ‘I’, which is the false self.

No one can know God other than his inherited belief.  If anyone performs worship and meditation on God, it is only he who is worshiping/meditating his inherited belief. The belief is not God. 

When the believer and his experience of the world are part of the illusion, then whatever he believed within the illusion is bound to be an illusion. Thus, the seeker must make sure of the fact that ‘I’ is not the self, to assimilate and realize the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

Isa Upanishads indicates that: By worshiping gods and goddesses and going to the world of gods after death is of no use.  The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend the same time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is the main goal.

One cannot reach the non-dual destination by glorifying gods and goddesses and by doing that, one goes deeper and deeper into darkness. It surely indicates the fact that the seeker of truth has to drop the worshiping god and goddess to get Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

The one, which is born, lives and dies is not the ‘Self. The Soul, the Self is birthless and deathless because it is the ever formless, timeless and spaceless existence.+

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.

From the Vedic perspective, all your religious Gods are non-Vedic Gods based on imagination.

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. Belief is not God.  Religious God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul, the ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. 

Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence. God in truth is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

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.

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

That is why Sage Sankara,  VC-  v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together.

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be realized. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

Sage Sankara says:~   A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by subtle arguments.
Remember:~

The Atmic path is not for religious and yogic-minded people. Religious and yogic people must move on their chosen path. The Atmic path is for only seekers of truth who are seriously searching for the truth of their own existence.

Sages of truth restrained themselves parting the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to the mass and only a selected few. It was hidden from the people who were not qualified and receptive to it. 

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana was not written down but was imparted orally to the chosen few. Thus, religion was given to the ignorant populace, and knowledge of the Spirit(Advaitic wisdom) was given to only a selected few. Thus we find traces of the knowledge of the Spirit in the religious books in the form of parables.

Katha Upanishad says: ~ This Atman is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals Its own form. ( II -23-P-20)

Upanishads:~  Fools dwelling in darkness, but thinking they wise and erudite, go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind. (Upanishads Nikilanada - Ch II-5 P-14)

 The Soul, the  'Self' reveals ‘what is real’ and ‘what is unreal” when the seeker is receptive and ready.    : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The Advaita is hidden by the dvaita. Advaita is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. Dvaita is the universe.+

The Advaitic wisdom leads the seeker from darkness to light, from ignorance to wisdom, from unawareness of the ‘Self’ to Self-awareness, from unreality to reality.

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."

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

The Soul itself is God, the One without a Second. 

The Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. The Soul which is God in truth is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, consciousness itself is God in truth.

Even Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God in truth) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).

Consciousness, the God in truth is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God because God is the very essence of the one who denies God. God is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs.

Even Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul) 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?"

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

All those whose intelligence has been stolen by ignorance believe in non-Vedic Gods. The Vedas talk about Brahman (God) which refers to the ultimate truth or ultimate reality or Advaita. The consciousness is the Advaita or the ultimate truth, therefore, the consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Brahman is Advaita God.

Remember: 

The world in which we exist is lifeless without the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Ignorance of the truth of our true existence makes us like a stagnant pond of water. Advaitic wisdom is like the flow of the water.

The garbage of the religious beliefs dogmas superstition is confounded with the human imagination. The great reality of the glory of the religious Gods is hyped and obscured by so much tinsel and commercialism.

Spirituality is not theology.  Advaita is not a philosophy, but Advaita is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Advaita is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana or knowledge of the Spirit or God in truth.

The word “Advaita” is one without the second.  Advaita essentially refers to the Atman and the whole existence. Advaita is the fullness of consciousness without the division of form, time, and space.

Theology is nothing to do with spirituality. Advaita is pure spirituality. The theological Advaita is nothing to do with the Advaitic wisdom, which is based on the Spirit the Atman. 

Theological Advaita is conceptual having its own doctrine is nothing to do with the Gnanic Advaita because Gnanic Advaita is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Both approaches are not workable together because the theological Advaita is based on the birth entity (ego)   Gnanic Advaita is based on the Atman (Soul). Thus, the theological Advaita has to be discarded without mercy to get Advaitic Gnana.  

“Advaita” is a term used variously to express the unity of reality.  Advaita is unity in diversity.  

The seeker has to begin by defining "What is real?" "What is unreal?   to establish in Advaitic reality by sheer reasoning alone.   The reasoning is the right way to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. People must first know what is the truth? and what is untruth’.  

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is not teaching or philosophy but Advaita is the universal wisdom. Advaitic wisdom is neither a teaching nor a theory, but it is mere guidance to those who are seriously seeking the ultimate truth or Brahman. Grasp the ultimate truth anytime, any age, if the seeker has the spiritual maturity and capacity to grasp it. 

Sage Sankara says: ~ VC-47   All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the not-Self.

It really depends on his inborn natural capacity to understand and assimilate it.  Sage Sri, Sankara’s wisdom is a Self-examiner, to test oneself to discover how near to Gnana he has approached and what progress has already been made on the path, and what still remains to be done.  It sets up a criterion for Self-judgement.   There are millions in search of truth, but one in million will be able to grasp it.

Without Sage Sankara, there is no Advaita (nonduality).  Since it was mixed up with orthodoxy there is a lot of confusion. I am highlighting all the obstacles, which are blocking one from realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman. There are so many non-dualistic masters of the east and also from the west who expound Advaitic or non-dualistic knowledge, but none of them are helpful to reach the ultimate end.

One has to know and realize his innermost Self is Soul and identify it as his true identity to find liberation from the bondage of the illusion of birth, life, death, and the world(duality).   The goal of our life is to find and realize our identity with the Soul, which is the Self. 

Sage Sankara said:~ Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, does liberation come, but only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way. (1) Vivekachoodamani v 56, pg. 25

To come to a more precise understanding of what non-duality is or might mean, we must return to the original linguistic and philosophic backgrounds from which the word has been translated into English.

 If we limit a probe of the meaning of non-duality to Hindu Sanskrit literature, we find that the most frequently used term is “Advaita.

Advaita” is not a religious concept.  Advaita is the nature of the existence hidden by form, time, and space.   The seeker has to attempt to rule out from the start a false understanding of reality by perfect understanding of ‘what is what’.

The Advaita is hidden by the dvaita. Advaita is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Dvaita is the universe.

Advaita is basically a denial; it is literally the negation of the dvaita.  That means whatever remains by negating the universe by realizing the universe is created out of single clay and that clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, the hidden truth by dvaita uncovered.  Consciousness is the cause of the universe and it, itself is uncaused. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

God should not be worshiped but realized right in this very life not in next life or next world.+

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.

Among million people, scarcely one strives for perfection; and of those who strive and succeed, scarcely one knows the ‘God’ in truth.

The Upanishads say in effect that: ~ If you believe that the ‘the Soul, the innermost Self’ is one and God (Brahman) is another you cannot understand Truth.

Whatever is real in the world in which we exist is God. All that is real in the world in which we exist is the Soul, the Self.

Thus, by realizing the Self, which is the Soul, we discover the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness itself is God in truth, which is hidden by the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion.

Sage Sankara’s wisdom reveals: ~ Atman is the only one ultimate reality or Brahman.  Brahman is God in truth.

Advaita means the Soul, the innermost Self, which is second to none. The Soul, which is present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Advaita is the nature of God, the innermost Self. Advaita is God. Advaita is the fullness of consciousness.

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

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.

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)

One should not accept any belief, philosophies, or theories as truth without verification.  If one says it may be true, then he is only imagining. The seeker must go as far as he can, never stop at a doubt; he should not get disheartened by it.  

The seeker has to try to overcome all the doubts and confusion. The seeker should not kill it without verifying. Let the entire doubts sprout, but the seeker must try to overcome them fearlessly until he reaches the ultimate truth.

The religion preaches that God is one and the ways to God are many. It simply tries to lead them to darkness with its dogma and idea of many Gods, which is apart from the Self.

All the physicalized Gods and belief-based Gods are a reality within the dualistic illusion. 
  

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)

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

If one says he has not seen Gods' face. If he says that he did this or went there, it will only be his imagination. This applies to all learned theorists.

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

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

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

The Spirit is present in the form of consciousness. Everything is consciousness. All the moments are within the dualistic illusion. Whatever happens within the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion created out of consciousness. Thus, the consciousness alone is real and all else is merely an illusion.

Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Remember:~ 

Religions place God as diverse ideas and beliefs.  Every religious believer has a different idea of God. Every man has a different idea of reality.  There is a need to accept verify the facts about the religious Gods before accepting anything as God.  There is in religion the element of imagination and sentiments. The ordinary man is happy because religion gives him satisfaction, and pleases his taste.

Every sect and creed concocts a God to suit its own purposes. Belief in such concocted Gods is a great hindrance in pursuit of truth.  The man himself’ suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion. Belief in religion weakens as the man pays more attention to the facts of his practical life within the practical world.

An honest e seeker of truth says that he has not seen God. He does not know God's capacities, what God can do, and what God cannot do. Therefore any statement he might make about God would only be a lie. The seeker of truth does not wish to tell a lie. Therefore, he does not accept God nor deny God; he simply refuses to make any statement about God because he wants to discover what is supposed to be God in truth.  Without verification, he does not want to accept anything as truth. 

Every sect and creed concocts a God to suit its own purposes. Belief in such concocted Gods is a great hindrance in pursuit of truth.  The man himself’ suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion. Belief in religion weakens as the man pays more attention to the facts of his practical life within the practical world.

Spirituality is a new religion. Advaita is pure spirituality. Advaita is truth beyond form, time, and space. Advaita is the Spirit.  The Spirit is the universal God and God of the whole of humanity.

Do not believe in God as a separate entity. Realize God is the cause of the existence of the universe in which we exist. God should not be worshiped but realized right in this very life, not in the next life or next world.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The path of wisdom is not for those who have the firm conviction about religion, yoga, and theories as the only means to higher truth.+

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is not teaching or philosophy but Advaita is the universal wisdom. Advaitic wisdom is neither a teaching nor a theory but it is mere guidance to those who are seriously seeking the ultimate truth or Brahman. Grasp the ultimate truth anytime, any age, if the seeker has the spiritual maturity and capacity to grasp it. 

Advaitic wisdom is pure spirituality. Advaitic wisdom is nothing to do with religion and yoga.

This universe is nothing but Atman (Soul) because it is created out of Atman. Atman is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Thus the Atman, the innermost self is Brahman. The Atman the Self by knowing its formless non-dual true nature becomes free from experiencing the illusory duality as reality.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul) is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe.

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,  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.

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.

Sage Sankara says in the commentary on the 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 detrimental to our spiritual progress.

Seeker of truth should not believe blindly in Orthodox Advaita without verifying all the facts from every angle. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process.

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

The universe is the product of ignorance. The ignorance is present in the form of the ‘I’.

Sage Sankara says:~ VC-47- All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the non-Self.

Until you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world that existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward the ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there the universe prevails as reality.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then why you are indulging in other types of meditation.

Perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-awareness. By holding on to theories one remains in the realm of duality. You have to mentally go on dropping what is not the truth through deeper Self-search. Finally when you become aware of the fact that, your ego, your body, and the world are one in essence then there is Self-awareness in the midst of duality. 

 People believe that teacher or mystics or priest has got so many followers and therefore there must be some truth in their teaching, which is a common fallacy accepted by the mass due to their inherited conditioning. It proves only an ignorant can find a number of greater ignorant to follow him.

The one who identifies himself as swami, guru, or yogi is not a Gnani. A Gnani never identifies himself as a swami, guru, pundit, or yogi. Swami, guru, pundit, or yogi belong to the religious and yogic path, not to the path of truth or wisdom.  

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.”

Sage Sankara's commentary:~"The knower of Brahman (Self-realized or Gnani) wears no signs.  

The seeker must examine everything under the mental microscope. It means he must bring notions and beliefs out of vagueness into clearness. The mystics claim superior knowledge but they cannot communicate it for purposes of verification. nothing has to be accepted without verification. 

Sage Sankara:~ On Gnani: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life,…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior."

The path of wisdom is not for those who have a firm conviction about religion, yoga, and theories are the only means to higher truth, and what they know or believe is the ultimate truth.

In practical life, religion and yoga are needed.  Religion is the tool to give samskara or conditioning to the ignorant mass, -- to be, to believe, to behave, and to live in a cultured society with its code of conduct with the fear of God, but are of no value as proof.

Remember:~

Intellectuals think that the Ultimate truth cannot be known. They do not want o to discuss nor accept anything whatever they know and accepted as truth.  "What I know is right, what another man knows is wrong." This unfortunate vanity is common to all men and prevents realization. 

A man must begin by doubting his own knowledge, therefore. Only when doubts begin to arise does a man start in quest of Truth. And such doubts usually first take the shape of asking why God sends or permits epidemics, calamities and wars, and unrest. 

Quotations from others should come only after verification convinced by the use of reason based on facts, and then only may one introduce quotations to show that others have reached the same conclusion.

One must go to the very fundamentals, to the root of thinking, to "grasp the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time and space.

How does one know what others say and quote is true?  When this question arises from within then the inner dialogue starts within and the truth will start revealing on its own.

When all the doubts are cleared within, that is the doubts on every question. However, ultimate understanding cannot be reached without having doubts and asking questions, and demanding proof from one’s own innermost self.

To overcome doubt by the sword of wisdom, it does not mean that the seeker should give up his doubt and believe, as the religionists and intellectuals interpret it, but that he should keep on thinking about his doubts until they are solved; that he should not stop until this point is reached.:~Santthosh Kumaar