People believe that they have their religion inherited from their forefathers, therefore, why to bother to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The ultimate truth or Brahman will interest only less than 5% of people. Religion pleases people who are stuck believing their practical life within the practical world as a reality.
Religious people are at liberty to imagine whatever they like, but the only thing wrong is that they take their feelings and sentiments for reality, or when they think that whatever seems, must exist.
Everyone likes religion because it belongs to the world of sentiments and emotions. Religion changes as it appeals to different emotions. One will find at one pole the nude Sadhu is admired; at the other, the gorgeous life styled Godman is revered. Belief in religious prohibitions arises out of fear of God's punishment.
Religious truth is not the ultimate truth because it always shows a contradiction. A contradiction arises because different person's interpretations may disagree with others.
Religion is “believers Truth”; spirituality is “the universal truth.” This means a believer takes his feeling of truth whereas the seeker of truth takes his reasoned judgment, which will be the same under test everywhere in the universe.
Remember:~
Remember:~
People who argue that truth is only in their religion are vain logicians based on mere ideas, imaginations. Religions which say "If one follows the religion they will go to heaven while others “go to hell," are stories invented on the base of false Self within the false experience.
The man himself suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion. To say that one knows God exists always implies, he must also exist always. It would be correct to say at this point, he does not know about the existence of God because God's existence depends on individualized belief.
In pursuit of the truth, the seeker has to discard the religion because religion is based on the false self within the false experience.
Religions place God as diverse ideas and beliefs. Every religious believer has a different idea of God. Every man has a different idea of real. There is a need to accept and verify the facts about the religious Gods before accepting anything as God. There is in religion the element of imagination and sentiments. The ordinary man is happy because religion gives him satisfaction and pleases his taste.
Remember:~
Remember:~
Every sect and creed concoct a God to suit its own purposes. Belief in such concocted Gods is a great hindrance in the pursuit of truth. The man himself suggests that there must be a God. It is an auto-suggestion. Belief in religion weakens as the man pays more attention to the facts of his practical life within the practical world.
An honest e seeker of truth says that he has not seen God. He does not know God's capacities, what God can do, and what God cannot do. Therefore, any statement he might make about God would only be a lie. The seeker of truth does not wish to tell a lie. Therefore, he does not accept God nor deny Him; he simply refuses to make any statement about God because he wants to discover what is supposed to be God. Without verification, he does not want to accept anything as truth.
It is necessary to repeating the same truth again and again till it becomes a reality. One needs to constantly reflect on the subject until he gets a firm conviction of what is what. Words are needed until one gets a firm conviction of ‘what is what’. People need to read and to hear the words of wisdom to think deeply and reach the ultimate end.
Sage Sri, Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." (Select Works of Sage Sri, Sankara" also his commentary on Brihad)
Thus, the above passage proves that all those who were the sanyasi robes are wearing it for the sake of bread belongs to the religion; they are nothing to do with the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. There is no need to criticize and condemn the gurus, Yogis, and Swamis because they are needed for the welfare of ignorant mass in the dualistic world.
There is no need to condemn the religion, the concept of God and scriptures or indulge in criticizing the religious Gurus, but there is a need to highlight how they become a hindrance in realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.
Deeper Self-search reveals the fact that the body is not the Self. The religion is based on the body as the Self because it speaks of birth, death, and rebirth whereas the Self is birthless and deathless because it is formless, timeless and spaceless existence.
The ignorance is the cause of experiencing birth, life, death, and the world as reality. Once the ignorance is dropped then one becomes aware ‘what is the truth?‘, and what is the untruth?. :~Santthosh Kumaar
