Path of wisdom is easier without the accumulate knowledge and there is no need to renounce the worldly life and take sanyasa to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana

Religion was introduced for the mass mind set which was unable to grasp higher truth and bereft of the old creed. So for them new religion may be concocted to suit their temperament and capacity.

 Plunging into the mind and seeing the whole world in it mentally and grasping the fact that ,all the diversity is created and sustained by the soul,which is present in the form of consciousness  and finally dissolves as the soul or  consciousness. Therefore, there is no second thing other then the soul  or consciousness in the experience of diversity(universe or waking) . Thus the unity in diversity is possible only by perfect understanding,assimilation and realization of 'what is what'.

 Sage Sri 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

 The physical based  spiritual  journey such as yoga and religion, paths and theories are for those who are incapable of performing the mental journey. Individual happiness is sought by religion, whereas Truth seeks universal happiness. 

Religion is a means whereby one keeps society within a certain order. Those however who refuse to wait for the next world but want comfort here and now, are likely to follow the atheism.

In the past religion was encouraged by   the rich and the rulers because of the fear atheism because it may lead the masses to attack them and to rebel against established order of property and cause unrest in society. The poor are promised better life in the next world. Yet religion is needed for the masses for without it they might arise and rebel and become cause of concern: there would be no settled order, no stable peaceful society.

The Kings of the past with the help of the sages had invented the religion and idea of the individualized  God and injected it on people because they can give the people an opiate and keep them better under control.

Science has been opening the eyes of the people and exposed many myths of religious claim; that is why religion, with its fables instead of fact, its myth of a next-world heaven instead of making a heaven of this practical world, the religionists are making the world hell in order to reach the paradise by causing the terror attacks in the name of god and religion.  

West will gradually follow the path of the east,   and imitate the east, and vice versa, which will result in the decay of all religion. The eastern religion like all religions cannot produce enduring good results; only the universal truth can do that.  Therefore, universal truth is necessary to eradicate the unrest of the world caused in the name of religion and god. 

The word "I” used in the eastern scriptures is not the individual me or 'I' without the body  as one imagines, but the formless soul, the innermost  self. Since everyone thinks the ‘I’ is self only the body is not self and base their theory and understanding on base of ‘I’ as self. It is very difficult for them to accept the fact that the ‘I’ itself is not the self.  If this is understood the truth pursuit becomes easier.   

The ritual worship of statues are only for mental children not for the seekers of truth. Religion renders ethical services to mankind.

There is no need to criticize religion, yoga etc. They are helpful in someway for those who is not on the pursuit of truth, but one has to understand the fact that they are no the means to self realization. "Know the Truth through deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning is the only means to acquire non dual wisdom.”

  The very fact that religions differ proves that each religion is a man made.  Many in the West are giving up religion. That is inevitable owing to the decay of religious organizations. But their mistake is to rest satisfied with such negative inner life and not to aspire to something higher than religion after giving it up because their lean towards materialistic life.

Religion is a matter which must be left to individual feelings, not to intelligence.  Religions keep mass mindset within moral bounds; without their help there would have been no hope for mankind. That is, religions prevent the masses from becoming even more beastly than they already are.  The people cannot give up religious ideas in one day. It will have to be a gradual process by making them aware of the universal truth. 

The credulous and unintelligent masses must have a religion but those who bestow serious seekers of truth need none. 

As per the Indian religion the three "Ashrams" or stages in life were originally intended for three grades of intelligence thus:

v  Religion: low intellects had to do 'karmas' works, ritual actions, chanting of mantras and indulging in bajans and prayers etc.

v  Middle intellects:  Yoga: taking yellow robes, going to caves, ashrams etc.

v  High intellects: Philosophy: who wanted truth are concerned with no external rites or sanyas but depend solely on intelligent inquiry for their path.

In India, in the past the male birth is regarded as superior because a father of the male child can more easily renounce home and become a Sanyassin than a woman who is tied down by the care of her children.

 "Jesus said:-"Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all." (Gospel of Thomas 2)

 "The Kingdom of God is inside you and all around you, Not in a mansion of wood and stone.  Split a piece of wood and God is there, Lift a stone and you will find God." (Gospel of Thomas)

 Sri, Sankara's commentary to Brahma Sutras (Chap.3.4.50) shows that:-  The Gnani "should pass through life", not run away from life and should take a middle course between seeking worldly honor and worldly abasement. 

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana  can be attained by any house holder without disturbing his family life.  Path of wisdom is easier without the accumulate knowledge and there is no need to renounce the worldly life  and take sanyasa to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  Only it needs no distractions and more concentration. it is better to have been married status  and lead the normal pleasures of life, and thus to have learn to evaluate sex at its proper worth instead of hankering always after sex so that the mind may pass on undisturbed and become more receptive to grasp and realize the non dual truth.

The Upanishads declare:- 

Mundaka Upanishad 1:2:8 “Remaining in the fold of ignorance and thinking “we are extremely wise and learned,” the fools with boastful nature ramble about like the blind led by the blind alone.”

 
Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:3  “The weak and timid cannot realize the Self. Self-Realization is not possible through intellect or hearing spiritual discourse. One who welcomes God in every activity, through a thorough controlled and disciplined life, to him also the Soul is revealed

Katha Upanishad 1:2:23 The Soul cannot be realized through hearing 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 holy place has one become pure. Inner purity is possible when one remains in constant touch with the Soul. Constant Soul-Consciousness is the 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 own self one gains power and through wisdom one gains immortality. 

Kena Upanishad 2:5  If here one knows it, then there is truth, and if here one knows it not, there is a great loss. Hence, seeing the Real in all beings, wise men become immortal on departing from this world.

Sage Sri, Sankara' gave religious, ritual or dogmatic instruction to the mass but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd. 

A permanent view of world as unreal can come only after soul centric reasoning; such knowledge cannot change. Were the seeker who is sufficiently sharpness he could grasp the unreal nature of the world by soul-centric reasoning alone.  To know whole truth, one must know the whole universe, otherwise he gets only half-truth. 

Renouncing the worldly life and accepting sanyasa or monk-hood means incapacity to think deeper, an impotency to inquire and reason. 

People speak of getting rid of conditioning or samskara but they themselves are unaware of the fact that, the universe in which they exist is product of the inborn samskara or conditioning.  The ignorance is cause of the inborn samskara or conditioning which present as ‘I’ or ‘I AM’. 

The real Moksha or freedom is   to realize the fact that ‘I’ consciousness is mere physical awareness. Physical awareness is not self-awareness. The self –awareness is when the formless soul or consciousness remains aware of its own non-dual   true nature