Sage Sankara:~Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be realized.+

 

The belief system 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. Religion is based on the false self (ego) and false experience (world) thus; all religion-based beliefs are a falsehood.

Religious Gods are based on belief. Belief is not God. Religious God cannot be considered as a center because the Soul, the ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence. 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 the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. Religious Gods cannot be considered as a center because the Soul and the ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence.

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

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 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)

No mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, the world in which he exists as a reality. For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the mantas will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

That is why Sage Sankara: ~ “VC~.61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

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 a 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.”

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.

As indicated in ISH Upanishads: ~ “By worshipping Gods and Goddesses you will go after death to the world of Gods and Goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spend there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of Gods and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

It clearly indicates that: - If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorify the conceptual Gods,  Goddesses and Gurus go into deeper darkness. Instead spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal. 

 Remember:~

Self-knowledge cannot be attained by taking sanyasa, by the study of the scriptures and intellectual understanding, or by bookish knowledge. Therefore, there is no use in studying the scriptures and other scriptures in order to acquire non-dualistic wisdom.

That is why Bhagavan Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sage Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, the concept of God, and the scriptures.

Self-inquiry is for finding out the Self, which is hidden by the ‘I’. 

By taking sanyasa by renouncing worldly life or by becoming and a monk or by observing celibacy or by surrendering to a guru or a yogi or by indulging in religious rituals or by good karma, it is not possible to get Self-realization.

There is only one Reality to be known, the same for all seekers, but the ways to it, are hidden by the ‘I’. Self-discovery is the only way, towards the Advaitic reality without any religious doctrines, which will help the seekers to unfold the mystery of the illusion in which we all are searching for the truth of our true existence.

The ‘Self is not you. The ‘Self’ is not in the world, in which you exist. The ‘Self’ is the cause of the world in which you exist and it itself is causeless. The ‘Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

The ‘Self ‘is nothing to do with the world in which you exist because the ‘Self’ is the fullness of consciousness without the division of the form, time, and space. The ‘Self’ is the ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. The ‘Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

The eternal truth is hidden within the universe (mind) and it is without the universe (mind). Direct knowledge of the ‘Self’ can be acquired by realizing the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

Self-realization is the essence of human existence. Where there is unity, one without a second; there is the world of nondual reality. The nondual truth is the ultimate truth. And ultimate truth itself is God in truth. : ~Santthosh Kumaar