The Soul is the Goal. The Soul,
which is present in the form of the consciousness, is the ultimate truth or
Brahman or God.
Religious people believe the stories of the Jesus who raised the dead and Krishna who picked a mountain as a reality but Jesus who raised the dead and Krishna who picked a mountain within the dualistic illusion. Whatever belongs to dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion.
Mythological God and Goddesses based on the belief. The belief is not God. Worshiping belief of God is superstition. The belief implies duality. From the ultimate standpoint, the duality is mere an illusion. Thus, whatever one sees, knows, believes and experiences within the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion.
Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is mere a superstition. Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progress in his spiritual advancement.
Swami Vivekananda: This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, the Soul. Self is infinite, deathless, and birthless. Because the Self is infinite Spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. Self is the entire world. Who can help you?
Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief and senseless rituals and most irrational and gives them divine outlook.
Swami Vivekananda: ~ If superstition enters, the brain is gone. Superstition is our great enemy, but bigotry is worse.
Mythological contains stories of people with 10 with seven heads, etc., which are fables, yet are taken seriously by pundits. All these stories are a reality within the dualistic illusion. The waking experience is dualistic illusion. Thus, whatever belongs to the dualistic illusion is bound to be falsehood. In reality there is no duality because there is only Oneness.
That the ancient sages had miraculous occult power and books relate stories of their feats, are fairy tales were meant for children, women and those whose minds had not developed.
When ‘Self’ is not ‘you’ than whatever you have seen, known believed and experienced as reality is bound to be an illusion. Thus, self-realization is necessary to realize your present the world in which you exist is mere an illusion.
If the present the world in which you exist is mere an illusion, then whatever you believed as a real with the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion.
The 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 other than consciousness a God.
Religious Gods are not real God. One must know God in truth.
Lord Krishna Says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know me 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 innermost ‘Self’. In reality there is no dualities, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.
Vedas and Upanishad confirm the Soul, the innermost Self, is the present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness.
RIG VEDA: ~ The Atman (Soul or Spirit) 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)
The Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)”,
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.
Even Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.
There is a clear cut idea of God in the Vedas, Upanishad and Bhagvad Gita. And also there is a clear cut idea of what not to worship as God in place of real God. Thus, it proves on Vedic perspective the Puranic Gods are not Vedic Gods.
Vedas says never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.
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That is why Sage Sri, 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.
That is why Sage Sri, 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.
Hindus assert their religion is monotheistic, even though they honour a number of Gods, including Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. Hindus claim these various Gods are all manifestations of the oneness of the universe. Hindu religious practices vary from place to place, but they frequently include yoga, physical and mental discipline to harmonize body and Soul, and ritual bathing.
Belief in multiple Gods, The worship of idols; the worship of images that are not God, The worship of sacred images, , ancestor worship, pilgrimage, priest craft, the belief in avatars or incarnations of God, the hereditary caste system on the grounds that all these lack Vedic sanction.
Hinduism indulges non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priest craft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability and child marriages. All these lack Vedic sanction therefore Hinduism is not Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.
Realizing the universe is created out of single stuff and that single stuff is the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness leads non-dualistic or Advaitic Self-awareness. Self-awareness is freedom or Moksha. Moksha is unity in diversity in the midst of duality.
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It is very difficult to talk to people about ultimate truth or Brahman because everyone thinks he knows the ultimate truth or Brahman. This I know business is dangerous. And whatever his reached conclusion is second hand stuff. Therefore, accepting accumulated knowledge without verification will lead the seekers to hallucinated realization based on the ego. One may have some flashes of truth when someone tries to indicate it through fewer words. But it takes nearer to truth not realization.