People think the Athma or the Soul or ‘Self’ is limited to an individual but it is not so because the Athma or the Soul or ‘Self’ pervades everywhere and everything in the universe.+*****

The world in which you exist is the product of ignorance. If there is no ignorance then the worlds in which you exist cease to exist.  Ignorance is present in the form of ‘I’. ‘I’ is not limited to the form alone because the ‘I’ is present only when the form, time, and space are present.

 The ‘I’ is absent when the form, time, and space are absent.  Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the ‘I’ itself is an illusion.

There is no point in inquiring ‘WHO AM ‘I’? WHO AM ‘I’?  ‘WHAT AM ‘I’? inquiry limited to form. It helps to expose the unreality of the ego. In later stages WHO AM ‘I’?  ‘WHAT AM ‘I’? inquiry the seekers will find it inadequate and useless to reach the ultimate end of understanding.  

Only the sincere and serious seeker will be able to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  Those who are sentimentally involved with the Gurus, yogis will remain ignorant hallucinating about the promised bliss or enlightenment.  

What is the use of getting enlightenment on the false self (ego or waking entity) within the unreal world (waking)?  It will be false enlightenment.

Self-realization is to realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the formless Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  The ‘Self’ is not within the body because it pervades everything and everywhere in all three states.   Thus limiting the self to the physical body within the illusory world will not yield the truth of the whole.

 Thus, it is necessary to realize the ‘Self’ is not the ‘I’ and ‘I’ is not the Soul, the innermost Self.  The Soul, the innermost self is the witness of the ‘I’ which appears and disappears.

Bhagvad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self.

Some Gurus and the scriptural interpreters used the word ‘I’ to the Self and mislead the Seeking world.  these Gurus think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self and the Self is within the physical body.  

Remember, the Self is not 'I' but the Self is the Soul, witness of the 'I'.  The Soul is not within the physical body but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness pervades everything and everywhere in the whole universe because the universe is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, the Self. 

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 (Gita 14.27)

The Soul is one but individuals are many. Many souls' idea is the religious idea. People believe the Soul is within the physical body but in reality, the Soul is hidden by the universe because the universe is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness.  Advaita means the Soul, the one without the second. There is no scope for the second Soul. Advaita is ekathma vada.

Sage Sankara asks his opponents "How do you know there are separate individual Souls? Have you seen the Soul of a man? You can only say that you have seen different bodies. To say more is to misuse language. Therefore, I call you liars unless you give proof, which is impossible.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe.

So, it proves the Soul is not an individual but it is the support of all that exists in this universe.

The orthodox Asvaitic who believes their experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality and believes in the existence of individual souls, are ignorant people.  From the ultimate standpoint,  the present experience of birth, life, death, and the world itself is an illusion thus, many souls are part of the dualistic illusion.   The dualistic illusion is created out of single clay and that clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

The Soul is not limited to an individual. The individuals are many but the Soul is one. The individual exists within the universe. The Soul is the cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused.

The Soul is not within the human body. The universe is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, whatever the universe contains is bound to be the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

All the Gurus propagated that the Soul is within the human body or heart this is a great mistake.

People think the Athma or the Soul or ‘Self’ is limited to an individual but it is not so because the Athma or the Soul or ‘Self’ pervades everywhere and everything in the universe.  The universe is merely an illusion created out of the Athma or the Soul or ‘Self’, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Knowledge of the single stuff is Self-knowledge of Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana

Like an ornament made from gold is Gold, that which is born out of consciousness is consciousness. Like gold is a permanent thing, in ornaments made of gold, similarly, the mind, which is in the form of the universe is born out of consciousness and is consciousness in its essence.

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that you are not the Self, the world in which you exist is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness, but the consciousness is specifically not an entity or identity or a thing within the world in which you exist. But it is the cause of the world in which you exist and it itself is uncaused.

The Soul is hidden by the world in which you exist. The nature of the Soul is the formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Thus, it is necessary to realize the world in which you exist is created out of single stuff, which is consciousness. The consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Thus, God alone is real; the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

The seeker has to realize the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal. 

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Advaitic orthodoxy accepts the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as the reality, whereas Sage Sri, Sankara declares the world is unreal Brahman alone is real.+*****

All those whose intelligence has been stolen by ignorance worship and pray to religious Gods, which are not God in truth because the religious Gods are based on blind belief. 

As indicated in ISH Upanishads: ~ “By worshipping Gods and Goddesses you will go after death to the world of Gods and Goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spend there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of Gods and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

It clearly indicates that:-If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying the conceptual Gods, Goddesses and Gurus go into deeper darkness. Instead spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal.  

Self-knowledge is knowledge of Atman. Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman.

Sage Sankara affirming the Atman, which is the ultimate truth, or Brahman or God in truth. Atman is the eternal unchanging reality and the universe is merely an illusion or Maya created out of Atman. 

Sage Sankara's Advaitic Gnana does not deal with rituals but with the knowledge of the Atman, the Self hidden by the illusion or Maya. 

Sage Sankara gives insight into the nature of the Self which Atman, which is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. 

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who follow religion and religious Gods obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know the ultimate truth or  Brahman or God in truth. Thus, the purva mimam. sa, with its emphasis on the karma kanda of the Vedas is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the Gnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such religion and religious rituals and sacrifices. 

The Advaitic orthodoxy is based on personal God whereas 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). God is above all needs and desires. God is always the Witnessing Subject. God can never become an object as God is beyond the reach of the senses. God is non-dual, one without a second. God has no other besides it. God is destitute of difference, either external or internal. God cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. God cannot be distinguished from any other than God. In God, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constituted the very essence or Svarupa of God, and not just God's attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage  Sankara is impersonal.

Advaitic orthodoxy accepts the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as the reality, whereas Sage Sankara declares the world is unreal Brahman alone is real.

Thus the experience of birth, life, death happening within the unreal world is bound to be a falsehood. Thus, religion and religious belief and its ritual based on the birth entity are bound to be a falsehood. Thus, the seeker has to realize ‘what is that is real and eternal?

Sage Sankara: ~ ‘Reality can be realized only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar. What the moon is like must be seen with one's own eyes. How can others do it for you?"~Vivekachoodamani

Advaitic Orthodoxy misinterpreted Sage Sankara and presented only the religious side of his teaching as the highest doctrine. Thus, people are misled.  The orthodoxy based on rituals and mythical Gods and Karma. Advaitic wisdom of Sage  Sankara is nothing to with Advaitic orthodoxy.

Let Advaitic wisdom annihilate ignorance (I) and reveal Soul, the Self the God in truth.  Let your ears become deaf to the untruth propagated by the religion as a reality; enable you to realize the truth hidden by the ignorance (I).  Let your eyes become blind to illusion to receive the Soul as the Self as it is in the midst of the dualistic illusion or Maya.

All the orthodox ideas were rejected by Sage Sankara. There is no need to indulge in rituals, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. There is no need to study philosophy, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman then why you indulge in studying philosophy.

Sage Sankara pokes fun at ascetics and points out that all their austerities do not cause desires to go (Altar Flowers" Page 205, v.2 P.207 v.4)

Sage Sankara pointed out those rituals could in no way bring about wisdom, much less moksha.

Sage Sankara says the rewards of the rituals are not a matter of direct realization. Advaitic wisdom is based on personal realization.

The orthodox Advaitin believes that rituals alone would lead one to higher levels of attainment. Further, the deities would reward only those entitled to perform the rituals alone. The entitlement involved the caste, creed, and other parameters.

The scriptural authority and value of rituals are part of the Advaitic orthodoxy, which is meant for ignorant people.

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sri, Sankara is nothing to do with religion, caste, rituals, worships, yoga, and other practices. Therefore an obvious disparity between Sage Sankara‘s path of Gnana and the path of Karma. Path of Gnana is meant for the advanced seeker of truth and the path of Karma is meant for the ignorant populace.

Even Sage Sri, Sankara appear and tell  the orthodox people  the path of orthodoxy is the path of ignorance they will not be able to drop their inherited samskara or conditioning, which they think is the only way to reach heaven and reap  the happy life in the next life.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10) - Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they still remain in ignorance of the Atman the real God.

As a  religious person, one performs rituals throughout his life.  The person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view the world in which he exists as a reality. However, the Soul, the Self unborn eternal hidden by the world in which he exists.  From the standpoint of the Soul, the world in which he exists is merely an illusion or Maya.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (9) - Children, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's purpose. Because these performers of karma do not know the Truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery-stricken when the fruit of their work is exhausted.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (8) - Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.

Ish Upanishad declares:~  Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide 10/11/12

The religious orthodox people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide, as it were, are doomed to enter those worlds after death.

This is a condemnation of people who do not try to attain Self-knowledge. They are, in a real sense, committing suicide, for what can be worse than being a slave to sense enjoyment, completely oblivious of the real purpose of life, which is to be one’s, own master?

Remember:~

The Soul, the ‘Self itself is the Infinite God. 

The Soul is the Self. God is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. God is the fullness of the consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space.  Therefore, there is nothing apart from it. 

God is Self-evident. God is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God because God is the very essence of the one who denies it. God is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. God is within the universe in which you exist, God is without the universe in which you exist.

God is the Supreme Being the One eternal homogeneous essence, indivisible consciousness and intelligence, which is beyond the form, time, and space. To which the Sages describe in a variety of ways through diverse words.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ ‘All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many God s. (7- Verse -20)

Only the path of wisdom leads the seeker of truth on his journey to the ultimate realization of the true nature of the Universal Essence, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19: ~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."

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 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 duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

Remember:~

Mundaka Upanishad condemns rituals:~  The Para or Higher knowledge is the knowledge of the Supreme Being while the Apara or Lower Knowledge is that of following sacrificial rites and ceremonies. (1/2/ 1 – 6)

**

Physical & mental discipline such as Karma, Mantra Yoga, and Yajna, Puja Japa Blind devotion to deity or Guru is not the tool for liberation or freedom from experiencing the dualistic illusion as a reality. It is the dualistic cult including Advaitic orthodoxy propagates these disciplines. Such disciplines and codes of conduct have no value if one is seeking ultimate truth or Brahman to get Nondualistic Self-awareness. 

Mysticism, scriptural knowledge, penance based Scholasticism are a great hindrance to Self–realization. Inherited blind belief with corresponding actions based on scriptures, worship, ritual faith that imply certain mental and physical discipline, or scripture supporting belief, faith, creed, ritual, theological knowledge personal or opinion leads to hallucinated knowledge.  All these become a great hindrance in grasping understanding, assimilating, and realizing the Advaitic or nondualistic or Advaitic truth.    

The Scriptural mastery including ancient Sastras, Tarka, and Samkhya disciplines to support Karmas & belief Bhakti Argument & interpretation with the help of logic, grammar, etc. to support beliefs, revelations, prayers, etc. Also, dogmas, theological or other based on authorities.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says: "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the 'Self' does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

That is why Sage  Sankara said:- ~ Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, does liberation come, but only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way. (1) Vivekachoodamani v 56, pg~25

Sage Sankara says:~ The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. -Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sri, Sankara says, the person who performs rituals and aspires for rewards will view himself in terms of the caste into which he is born, his age, the stage of his life, his standing in society, etc. Also, he is required to perform rituals all through his life. However, the Self has none of those attributes or tags. Hence, the person who superimposes all those attributes on the changeless, eternal Self and identifies Self with the body is confusing one for the other and is, therefore, an ignorant person. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. -Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara:~ (11.1) This ignorance (mistaking the body for Self) brings in its wake a desire for the well-being of the body, aversion for its disease or discomfort, fear of its destruction, and thus a host of miseries(anartha). This anartha is caused by projecting karthvya(“doer” sense) and bhokthavya (object) on the Atman. Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards, etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person.-Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sri, Sankara:~ (11.2) In short, a person who engages in rituals with the notion “I am an agent, doer, thinker”, according to Sage Sankara, is ignorant, as his behavior implies a distinct, separate doer/agent/knower; and an object that is to be done/achieved/known. That duality is avidya, an error that can be removed by vidya.-Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara: ~ (12) Sage Sankara affirming his belief in one eternal unchanging reality (Brahman) and the illusion of plurality, drives home the point that Upanishads deal not with rituals but with the knowledge of the Absolute (Brahma vidya) and the Upanishads give us an insight into the essential nature of the Self which is identical with the Absolute, the Brahman.-Adhyasa Bhashya 

Sage Sankara: ~ Atman, the innermost Self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body that is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise. 

Everyone’s inner work is on.  The Soul is the innermost Self. The Soul the inner Guru guides us all till we get the stillness of its Advaitic true nature. It is the Soul which is in ignorance it is the Soul that has to wakes from the sleep of ignorance.:~Santthosh Kumaar