Holding religion and yoga as the source of Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana leads to all sorts of confusions.

It is no use arguing Buddha is wrong or Sri Sankara is right, but where we are going wrong in our understanding and realization of  the non-dual or Advaitic  truth, propagated by the great sages of the truth.  


Some say, that without the sunyavada, Advaita philosophy could not have come into existence; Because Advaita starts from where sunyavada ends.  That is why they say it is extension of Buddhism.  If Advaita existed prior to Buddha, he would not have advocated sunyavada at all because Advaita is final and ultimate truth. 

Since the Buddhist and Vedic  scriptures have been passed down by hearing. They were written down only relatively late. So one wouldn’t know whether to rely on the times they give. Also, a lot depends on the translation. Each 'Shloka' or sutta is open to many layers of interpretation. 

Most  people will not show interest acquiring Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.   Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana  is for those who found the path of religion, path of yoga and all theoretical philosophy and scriptural studies inadequate and useless to  quench their inner thirst.

  

People are searching for remedies for their problems of practical life within the practical world.  Path of love is very valuable in practical world. A Gnani follows path of love in practical world and he loves the whole humanity but he inwardly he is fully aware of the fact that, the practical life within the practical world are part mere illusion created out of consciousness. . 

They alone in this world are endowed with the highest wisdom who are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of Atman. The ordinary man does not understand their way. [Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada]

In Brahma Sutras Sankara says that Brahman is the cause of the world, whereas in Mandukya he denies it. This is because he says that at the lower stage of understanding, the former teaching must be given, for people will get frightened as they cannot understand how the world can be without a cause, but to those in a higher stage, the truth of non-causality can be revealed.

Brahma Sutras, i.e. "Vedanta Sutras" by Badarayana, are intended for those of middling intellects, not for those who have the best brains: it is a semi-theological, semi-philosophical work; it starts with the assumption that Brahman exists.

A man who describes Sankara's philosophy as negative (because of his Neti, Neti) does not know that this is applied only to the objective world , the critic ignorantly believes that it is also applied to the formless witness of the objective world(witnessed). One must understand the fact that, the formless witness(soul) cannot be neageted , only the witnessed(objective world). 


Scriptural mastery is not wisdom.
 

 That is why That is Sri Sankara, in Bhaja Govindam says: - [Jnana Viheena Sarva Mathena Bajathi na Muktim janma Shatena] - one without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows. 

Thus it proves that wisdom is universal irrespective of any religion of faith one belongs.  Thus religion is not the means to self-knowledge.  Thus Sri, Sankara’s Advaita minus orthodoxy is true Advaita. 

Sri Sankara himself says [VC] 59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

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?

62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utter the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realisation one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman ? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

As one goes deeper in the subject one becomes aware of the fact that,  the religion, scriptures and concept of god and the universe  is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because universe is mere illusion from the standpoint of ultimate truth or Brahman.


the orthodox Advaitic knowledge and theories are  meant for the mass, who are stuck with reality of the practical life and the practical world. path of wisdom is nothing to do with orthodoxy. Scriptural mastery is not wisdom.


 

Sri, Sankara himself has warned us not to use ambiguous words, and to practice semantic analysis in his book "Definition of one's own Self. [" Page 199, v.24 of "Sankara's Selected Works]

Sri, Sankara founded his Advaita Vedanta either on reason independent of sruti or on sruti confirmed by reason."   Sri, Sankara's commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad, II, 1:  This [the unreality of duality] is borne out by the Srutis ... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the object world even from pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose.

 Sri, Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture.  This may be because Sri, Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter.  He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can therefore dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. 

Non-duality does not need the support of any Scripture or Revelation like the Veda. For it is based, not upon the varying theological fancies, which are as numerous as the sands of the sea, but upon reason, the common heritage of all mankind, irrespective of colour or creed or clime.

The religion and yoga are not the means to Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana. Holding religion and yoga as the source of  Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana leads to all sorts of confusions.   There is no need to collect all these baggage of confusions, if one is seeking truth, nothing but ultimate truth or Brahman. 

The guru is necessary only in religious and yogic paths, but guru is not necessary in pursuit of truth.  Path of truth is a personal path and it is the path of verification. But in religion and yoga the verification is not allowed. Blind faith is main ingredient in belief system and yoga.   Gurudom is playing with words because maybe the meaning is floating somewhere in between the spaces of words...