By sticking to the Gods, which are not God in truth, you are sticking to the illusion. Sticking up to illusion means sticking to ignorance.+

Sage 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.

The beliefs in the religious ideas of God, religion, yoga are based on the false self, is nothing to do with the mental (inner) journey.   The religious, rituals, worships, prayers glorifying  God and Guru may be useful in worldly life, for those who believe in birth, life, death, and the world as reality, but they are not useful tools in realizing the ultimate truth. On the base of consciousness (Soul) as the ‘Self’, everything other than consciousness is merely an illusion.  Thus, man and his experience of the world and his  Gods based on blind faith or blind belief and religion are part and parcel of the illusion created out of consciousness. 

Mundaka Upanishad: ~ “The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy and all the arts can be called lower knowledge. The higher is that which leads to Self-realization. 

All God propagated by belief systems are nothing but imaginations.  There is nothing so absurd which men have not worshiped in religion, every imaginable face has been given to God.  If God is the creator then it is foolish to worship anything as God from his creation because the creation is apart from God. 

Every belief system has its own idea and conviction of God.  Every belief system is based on the false ‘Self’.  Therefore, whatever is based on the false ‘Self’ has to be a falsehood? Thus, the idea of God of any belief system has is mere imagination based on the false ‘Self’.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~    God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. 

Thus,   Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

God is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. According to the Vedas God neither has any neither image nor God resides in any particular idol or statue. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.

Mythological gods and Goddesses are based on belief. The belief is no God. The belief implies duality. From the ultimate standpoint, duality is merely an illusion. Thus, whatever one sees, knows, believes, and experiences within the dualistic illusion are bound to be an illusion.

Mythological stories are a  myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition.  Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement. 

All the mythological Gods are worshiped in the form of idols.  The belief system which propagated ideas of many Gods and Goddesses Bhakti is the only way to God is simply trying to lead the people to darkness with its dogma and idea of many Gods, which is apart from the ‘Self’.

Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief, and senseless rituals, and most irrational and gives them a divine outlook. Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on the myth is merely a superstition.  Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded if one has to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or real God.

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 as God other than consciousness. 

Lord Krishna Says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Se;f  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 duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

The Vedas confirm  God is Atman (Spirit), the  ‘Self’.

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 innermost ‘Self’. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of real God.

Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God there is no truth."

When Upanishad itself’ declares: ~   Sarvam khalvidam brahma ~ all this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the non-dual reality (Chandogya Upanishad). 

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.

Sage Sankara: ~"That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman or God in truth ~ that thou art."

Sage Sankara:~  VC 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 (verses-6)

Sage Sankara:~  VC 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 (verses-6)

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is nothing to do with the orthodox belief systems. Some philosophers in the past dissented from this interpretation of Vedanta philosophy, holding that the incarnated Souls were separate from the Divine Essence and only finally merged with it after the cycles of birth. 

All these theoretical philosophies are based on the imagination which is based on the false ‘Self’ (ego or you) within the false experience (waking).  :~Santthosh Kumaar 

It is necessary to repeat the same truth again and again till the Soul becomes a reality.+

Sage  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.

 There is a need for an atmosphere of free will; wherein deeper ‘Self’-search is the order of the day. The more one indulges in deeper ‘Self’-search, he learns and able to grasp the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth, which is beyond the form, time and space.

 This helps the seeker of truth to inquisitive and opens his vistas and dialogue with like-minded fellow seekers. The dialogue between the religious, yogic, and non-religious will not help to unfold the mystery of the ‘I’ which itself is the cause of ignorance.

As what is important is the truth of the existence is first and then the rest in the Atmic path.  The Seeker of truth needs to work towards, how he has to find answers to all his doubts and confusions. Most people consider the ultimate truth is a threat to their religious beliefs.

The ultimate aim of the human being is to find and realize the truth and work towards it rather than fight that one has the truth to oneself’ and other truths are wrong or inferior. Realization of the truth of one’s true existence is an important factor as mankind is caught up in the crossroads of witnessing the wars and terrorism in the name of fundamentalism.

 There are  three  kinds of aspirants:  ~  

1    1. The ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices follow the religion.

2.      Middling intellect, who desire peace and well-being follow yogic path or meditation.

3.     The most advanced seeker who seeks to know the ultimate truth follows the Atmaimc path. The Atmic path with its emphasis on the Advaitic wisdom is meant for those who wish to go beyond the form, time and space.

Only through deeper self-search do beginners and intermediates gradually become aware ‘what is what’. Only after they have realized the fact that the  ‘Self’ is not ‘I’ but the ‘Self’  is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness, are they ready for the inner journey towards the reality, which is beyond the form, time and space. 

Upanishad:~ 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)

If you are seeking the truth then you have to know the  ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness.

Sage Sankara says the world is an illusion, it includes birth, life, and death, which happens within the world.  Thus, the seeker's main aim is to mentally trace the formless substance of the illusion, which is also the witness of the illusion.

Sage Sankara indicates ~  VC- 56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means. 

58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar but are no good for Liberation.

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 that merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence, men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

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.

65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

66. Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated births and deaths.

Thus,  Sage Sankara clearly indicated that - yoga, intellectualism, scriptural mastery is not the means to self-knowledge.  But by the realization of one's identity with consciousness, which is the ultimate truth or Brahman, freedom from experiencing the illusion as reality is possible, and by no other means. 

It is necessary to repeat the same truth again and again till the Soul becomes a reality. One needs to constantly reflect on the subject until he gets a firm conviction of 'what is what'.:~Santthosh Kumaar