The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped idols.+

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshipped 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.

It indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false self.

Prohibition of idol worship in Yajurveda: ~

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.

Yajurveda: ~ There is no image of God in truth. God in truth is unborn and eternal. (Chapter 32, Verse 3)

Yajurveda: ~ God in truth is nondual and pure" (Chapter 40)

Yajurveda: ~ "They are entering darkness, those who worship the natural things (like air, water, fire, etc.), they are sinking more in darkness who worship created things." (Chapter 40, Verse 9)

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

Remember:~

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or 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 God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of real God.

Rig Veda: ~"Say this, all one God in many names" (Rigveda, book 1, Hymn 164, Verse 46)

Rig Veda: ~ Do not worship anyone besides God in truth alone, praise God in truth alone" (Book 8, Hymn 1, Verse 1)

Rig Veda: ~ Praise God in truth would matchless and alone" (Book 6, Hymn 45, Verse 16)

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 realizing 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 of God in truth. The ultimate truth itself is God in truth.

Those whose intelligence has been stolen by ignorance worship demigods.

Remember:~

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 is written in praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries and 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 in darkness than those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent." (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. 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 in darkness than those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc (Yajurved 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.)

The Vedic God is Athma, which is without the form and attributes and ever free.

Vedic Gods, hardly have any significance in the present-day Hindu belief system. The Gods and Goddesses important to the Hindus of today are Ram, Krishna, Kali, Ganesh, Hanuman, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the respective consorts of the last three, namely, Saraswathi, Lakshmi, and Shakti. None of these deities figured prominently in the Vedic pantheon and some of them are clearly non-Vedic. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati on Astrology.

Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati's creation, the Arya Samaj, condemned practices of several different religions and communities, including such practices as idol worship, animal sacrifice, pilgrimages, priestcraft, and offerings made in temples, the castes, child marriages, and discrimination against women. He argued that all of these practices ran contrary to good sense and the wisdom of the Vedas.

Views on superstitions:~

He severely criticized practices that he considered to be superstitions, including sorcery, and astrology, which were prevalent in India at the time. Below are several quotes from his book, Sathyarth Prakash:

"They should also counsel then against all things that lead to superstition, and are opposed to true religion and science, so that they may never give credence to such imaginary things as ghosts (Bhuts) and spirits (Preta)." — Satyarth Prakash

"All alchemists, magicians, sorcerers, wizards, spiritists, etc. are cheats and all their practices should be looked upon as nothing but downright fraud. Young people should be well counseled against all these frauds, in their very childhood, so that they may not suffer through being duped by an unprincipled person." — Satyarth Prakash

On Astrology, he wrote,

when these ignorant people go to an astrologer and say " O Sir! What is wrong with this person? He replies "The sun and other stars are maleficent to him. If you were to perform a propitiatory ceremony or have magic formulas chanted, or prayers said, or specific acts of charity done, he will recover. Otherwise, I should not be surprised, even if he were to lose his life after a long period of suffering."

Inquirer – Well, Mr. Astrologer, you know, the sun and other stars are but inanimate things like this earth of ours. They can do nothing but give light, heat, etc. Do you take them for conscious being possessed of human passions, of pleasure and anger, that when offended, bring on pain and misery, and when propitiated, bestow happiness on human beings?

Astrologer – Is it not through the influence of stars, then, that some people are rich and others poor, some are rulers, whilst others are their subjects?

Inq. – No, it is all the result of their deeds….good or bad.

Ast. – Is the Science of stars untrue then?

Inq. – No, that part of it which comprises Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, etc., and which goes by the name of Astronomy is true; but the other part that treats of the influence of stars on human beings and their actions and goes by the name of Astrology is all false. — Chapter 2.2 Satyarth Prakash

He makes a clear distinction between Jyotisha Shaastra and astrology, calling astrology a fraud.

"Thereafter, they should thoroughly study the Jyotisha Shaastra – which includes Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Geography, Geology, and Astronomy in two years. They should also have practical training in these Sciences, learn the proper handling of instruments, master their mechanism, and know how to use them. But they should regard Astrology – which treats of the influence of stars and constellation on the destinies of man, of auspiciousness and inauspiciousness of time, of horoscopes, etc. – as a fraud, and never learn or teach any books on this subject. — Under "The scheme of studies" Page 73 of the English Version of Satyarth Prakash

The ‘I’ is not the cause of the appearance and disappearance because the ‘I’ itself is the appearance.+

The ‘I’ appears on its own it perishes on its own. The ‘I’ is not the cause of the appearance and disappearance because the ‘I’ itself is the appearance.

The ‘Self’ is not ‘I’, but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The one which witnesses the appearance and disappearance is not ‘I’ because the ‘I’ appears and disappears.

The one which is aware of the appearance and disappearance of ‘I’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Realize, ‘what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality and what is hidden by the ‘I’ will be revealed.

If you realize the ‘Self ‘is not the ‘I’ but the Soul then whatever is hidden by the ‘I’ will be revealed.

Realizing the Soul is not the ‘I’ but the Soul is the Self, is Self–realization.

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self.

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal.

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

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take 'I' as real because some Gurus have propagated the Self is the ‘I’. There is no need to convince such a mindset. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.

Perfect understanding and assimilation of ‘what is what’ lead to Advaitic Self-awareness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

All the accumulated knowledge accumulated from different sources becomes an obstacle in the Atmic path.+

The Advatic wisdom will dawn only when you start reasoning yourself on the base of the Soul, the Self.

The inner dialogue will start and the subconscious will start judging ‘what is truth’ and ‘what is the untruth and it starts discarding the untruth.

Till you hold your accumulated knowledge as a yardstick and try to interpret it in your own way, it is difficult to tread the Atmic path. All the accumulated knowledge accumulated from different sources becomes an obstacle in the Atmic path.

A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the stars is the seeker's own work.

Thus, it is necessary to read again and again till the subconscious starts accepting and judging the truth from the non-dualistic perspective.

The seeker must do his homework by deeper thinking and reflect on the subject umpteen times, then only he will be able to get a firm conviction. The external spoon feeding are mere signposts are to direct him towards reality, which is within the form, time, and space, but it is beyond the form, time, and space.

When the seeker independently starts thinking and reasoning then the truth will start unfolding. The inner satisfaction comes only when one gets a firm conviction of the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Upanishads All this is full / from fullness, fullness comes when fullness is taken from fullness/ fullness still remains.

Remember:~

From the dualistic perspective, people see the world in which they exist as a reality. They see their body as the body, their ego as the ego, and the world in which they exist as the world whereas a Gnani sees everything from the non-dualistic perspective.

A Gnani sees his body as the consciousness, his ego as consciousness, the world in which he exists as the consciousness.

For a Gnani, whatever is seen, known, believed, and experienced is nothing but consciousness. There is unity in diversity in Gnani's understanding whereas the ignorant people see only diversity and separation.

Thus it is necessary to learn to view and judge the worldview from the non-dualistic perspective in order to realize that form, time and space are one in essence. There is nothing to realize other than realizing that consciousness is everything. The consciousness is second to none.

When everything is nothing but consciousness then what remains is not consciousness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The Soul becomes the universe in waking (Duality) and the universe becomes the Soul in deep sleep (Nonduality).+

The Soul becomes the universe in waking (Duality) and the universe becomes the Soul in deep sleep (Nonduality).

Chandogya Upanishads: ~ “This universe comes forth from Brahman and will return to Brahman. Verily, all is Brahman. A person is what his deep desire is. It is our deepest desire in this life that shapes the life to come. So let us direct our deepest desires to realize the Self.

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

Sage Sankara said: ~A.A~ 88 - When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman (consciousness), and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman?

The ‘Self’ is not the mind. The mind is present in the form of not the world in which we exist. The world appears as the waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality). The ‘Self’ is the Soul.

The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness pervades everything and everywhere in all three states. Thus, diversity is created out of single stuff. That stuff is consciousness.

Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman because there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness. From the standpoint of the Soul, the form, time, and space are one, in essence.

In spirituality, God means the ultimate truth or Brahman. Self–realization is truth-realization. Truth- realization is God-realization.

Sage Sankara: ~VC~ if the universe be true, let it then be perceived in the state of deep sleep also. As it is not at all perceived, it must be unreal and false like dreams.

That is why Sankara's declaration: ~ “Brahman is the truth The World is Unreal everything is Truly Brahman and nothing else has any value.

In ignorance there is duality. In wisdom, there is the only nonduality. The Soul the ‘Self’ is one without the second.

The Soul is present in the form of consciousness (spirit). It is the same consciousness (Soul) manifests as the whole universe. Consciousness itself is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Consciousness is the ultimate cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused. The seeker of truth must convince himself of this truth by Soulcentric reasoning. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Do not try to know who you are? By inquiring ‘Who am ‘I’, you will never reach the ultimate end of understanding.+

Do not try to know who you are? By inquiring ‘Who am ‘I’, you will never reach the ultimate end of understanding.

‘Who am ‘I’? is only helpful in the beginning in later stages it is inadequate to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

When The ‘I’ appears along with the world in which you exist appears.

When The ‘I’ disappears along with the world in which you exist disappears.

Try to find out what this ‘I’ is, which appears and disappears. What is it that knows this appearance and disappearance of the ‘I’?

There is nothing that exists prior to consciousness. The ‘I’ cease to exist without consciousness.

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

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ “The permanent (consciousness) is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

Bhagavad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The seeker has to realize ‘what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality.

If the Self is not ‘I’ but the Self is the Soul then from the standpoint of the Soul, the  Self: ~

Where is the ‘I’?

Where is the ego?

Where is the body?

Where is the mind?

Where is the world in which you exist?

Where are the form, time, and space?

Where is the waking experience?

Where is the duality?

Where is void?

They are or have become one with the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness. The consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

The ‘I’ is present only when the mind is present. The mind is present only when the world is present. The world is present only when there is the waking experience.

A deeper self-search reveals the fact that the waking experience is not considered different from the world. The world is not considered different from the mind. The mind is not considered different from the’ I’. This truth has to be assimilated.

The ‘I’ is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. ‘I’ is not the subject. The ‘I’ is an object to the Soul, which is the formless, timeless, and spaceless subject. : ~Santthosh Kumaar

The seeker will find answers for all his doubts and confusion as he goes on reading my blogs and posting.+

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom becomes very easy to grasp when one gains a soulcentric vision of the universe.

If your intention is to preach or teach Advaita then you will never be able to grasp the Advaitic truth. Advaitic wisdom is continually shared with humanity without any expectation and helps humanity to wake up to reality. The more you share more inner grace you gain.

Swami Vivekananda says as below. Advaita encompasses everything. Since Advaita requires heavy-duty intellectualism, it had to be progressively simplified. (From 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda)

People dwelling in ignorance, but thinking themselves wise and erudite, go round and round by various blind beliefs and tortuous paths and practices, like the blind led by the blind.

Swami Vivekananda said:~ "The Vedas teach that the Soul is divine, only held in the bondage of matter; perfection will be reached when this bond will burst, and the word they use for it is, therefore, Mukthi - freedom, freedom from the bonds of imperfection, freedom from death and misery."

The truth is very simple, but it is very difficult to grasp because of ignorance. You have to only realize the world in which you exist is created out of single clay. And that single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, you and your body and the world in which you exist are nothing but consciousness because they are merely an illusion created out of consciousness. A perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is needed.

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ “Truly the dualism is the root of suffering. There is no other remedy for it than the realization that all this that we see is unreal and that the Soul, the innermost Self, is the one stainless reality, consisting of the consciousness”. 2:16

Remember:~

If one objectifies and sees a universe, then he is bound to see many things besides the Self and postulate a God, the creator. The world in which you exist rises and sets together from, and into, the Soul, the ‘Self’. If God is apart from the Soul, the Self, then God would be Self -less, that is, outside existence, that is, non-existent.

Chandogya Upanishad:~ One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantrams and meditation--all come from the Self.

The seeker must have the patience to open the blogs and posting and read. It will not only help you to clear all your cobweb of doubts and confusion.

Without reading the blogs trying to argue on your own yardstick, is not of any use. Whatever you have read, whatever you have heard and accumulated becomes a hindrance in realizing the truth, which is hidden by ignorance.

All your egocentric accumulated cocktail knowledge is not Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is soulcentric knowledge, which is not available in the spiritual supermarket.

All accumulated knowledge is mental Garbage is no use in the quest for truth. The seeker has to discard all the accumulated knowledge and start afresh.

A perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ through deeper thinking and reasoning helps to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Reading and reflecting on my blogs and postings gradually, the seekers will start assimilating and realizing ‘what is the truth’ and what the untruth is. Repeated reading of my blogs and postings makes the seeker, Soulcentric, and the inner dialogue will start and clear all the doubts and confusion.

When there are no doubts and confusion, then they have realized the truth that form, time, and space are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. There is no use in wasting time in questioning and arguing same time and effort have to be used to make the seeker more independent and without external spoon-feeding, he can reach the inner core, which is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

In the Atmic path discussion of the unimportant subject matter is a great hindrance. The path of truth is the path of verification. Nothing has to be accepted as truth without verification. Agreeing to disagree causes unnecessary friction.

Advaitic Truth is very simple but it is very difficult to grasp because of ignorance. You have to only realize the world in which you exist is created out of single clay. And that single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, you and your body and the world in which you exist are nothing but consciousness because they are merely an illusion created out of consciousness. A perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is needed.

A Gnani can point at the sky, but the seeing of the star is the seeker's own work.

It is necessary to reflect on the same truth again and again till it becomes reality. One needs to constantly reflect on the subject until he gets a firm conviction of what is what.

Words of wisdom are needed until one gets a firm conviction of ‘what is what’. People need to read and hear the words of wisdom to think, reason, reflect deeply, and reach the ultimate end of understanding. Words of wisdom are needed until one gets a firm conviction of ‘what is what’. People need to read and hear the words of wisdom to think, reason, reflect deeply, and reach the ultimate end of understanding. :~Santthosh Kumaar