The Vedas talk about Brahman which refers to the ultimate truth or ultimate reality.*****

The seeker of truth should not start with the idea of God. The seeker does not know whether there is God or not. There is no proof. The seeker needs proof of Gods existence.

 There is need not doubt that people saw Shiva, Jesus, etc. That they saw visions may he an undeniable fact. But the question is “Was what they saw the Truth?" They no doubt had such vision but they never stopped to inquire if their visions are true.

 The seeker has to take all the facts, and then proceed to examine and analyze, how far is it true?”

To talk of seeking God is as meaningless as saying "seeking dog". It is only a hollow word.one must know God in truth.

Dualist sages say: ~ God cannot exist without attributes. Then they are making God as an object whereas God is the subject. Attributes can only be seen in the objective world. Causality appears in the duality, but when one goes deeper into the matter even there the causality disappears.

Who else but the ‘Self’ could have imagined the objective world? Ramanuja and Madva see God as the imaginer, but where is the proof. Nobody has seen God creating. You have seen no other creator, whether God or angel.

The only ‘Self’ is left. Therefore ‘Self’ is the creator because imagining means creating. The Dvaita and Religionists talk nonsense. Has God a meaning to you? Yes. It is an idea. What is an idea? The idea is an imagination. So God has no proved existence beyond that of the idea.

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

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 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 Vedas confirms God is Atman (spirit), the innermost 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)

The Vedas talk about Brahman which refers to the ultimate truth or ultimate reality. The consciousness is the ultimate truth, therefore, the consciousness is Brahman and Brahman is God.

Vedas do not permit idol worship. All the idols are of the Puranic Gods Priests are referring to the Puranic Brahma as God they are ignorant of the God in Vedas even though they speak of Vedas.

Priests do not who understands the meaning of the Brahman, which is present in the form of the consciousness.

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 the real exists. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

Gnanis are one in millions for they have ignored the opinions of whole peoples in their independent search of truth and questioned all beliefs, all scriptures, all authorities until they could be proved to be true.*****

A Gnani is a rational thinker. A Gnani will not be so foolish as to argue with an irrational man; the latter will put great warmth of feeling into his words, whereas the other will remain cool and calm headed, not wasting his time in attempting to reason with someone who is incapable of reasoning calmly, but can only rationalize his emotions.

The Gnani will always concern about the humanity within the practical world; but same time he is fully aware of the fact that, the universe in which he exists is mere an illusion. Gnani, by means of concentration on the true ‘Self’, realizes that ancient, effulgent hidden and which dwells and pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states as its formless substance and witness.

A crowd in the public place will contain men of varying capacities to understand, of whom only one or two might be ripe for truth, therefore, a Gnani will not indulge delivering public lectures or indulge in public debate for propagating the Nondualistic or Advaitic truth; people can only lecture for giving out falsehood, the illusions that appeal to the taste of the audience.

If anyone is ripe for truth a Gnani will guide to reach the ultimate end of understanding.

Bhagavad Gita says ~ “Don't unsettle the minds of ignorant by revealing the esoteric truth."

The Gnani is neither a Sanyasi, nor swami, nor Guru, nor a yogi. He is in all stages. He is beyond form, time, and space. Gnani, having realized Atman as dwelling within impermanent states is bodiless, pervades the three states as its formless substance and witness and permanent and eternal.

Both Gnani and ignorant see the multiplicity, but Gnani does not take the differences which he sees as being real. That is the difference between them. A Gnani sees the unity behind the differences and considers the form, time and space are one in essence.

A true Gnani can never renounce anything. It is impossible. He has only renounced the ignorance. For Gnani, the world is an illusion. Viewed from the absolute there's neither birth nor life nor death, neither appearance nor disappearance, neither production nor destruction, neither bondage nor liberation. There's none who seeks for freedom nor is there any who is liberated - this is the highest truth.

A Gnani knows that there's neither unity nor plurality - the world is neither one nor many. Just as a piece of rope is mistaken for a snake, the Atman is mistaken as this diverse world. Duality is an appearance and the non-dual Atman is the real truth.

Gnanis are one in millions for they have ignored the opinions of whole peoples in their independent search of truth and questioned all beliefs, all scriptures, all authorities until they could be proved to be true.

Even the arguments that religions have been followed since time immemorial makes no difference to a Gnani because if people have believed a false thing over thousands of years, the length of time does not prove it true.

The Gnani’s position is that if enjoyment comes, he accepts it; if it does not, he keeps quiet. Even when he is taking pleasures, however, he is not deluded by them and he regards them as a passing show he knows their unreality: he does not take them seriously. Clouds do not affect the sky, although they appear to; so the pleasures do not change a Gnani because he is fully aware of the fact that the pleasure, pain and the world are one in essence and that essence is consciousness.

The Gnani will live according to circumstances. There are no prohibitions for him. He may be a cab driver or a president.

Gnanis do not perform miracles to attract attention to the truth because they are fully aware of the fact that, the universe in which they exist is mere an illusion created out of consciousness.

Even whilst in the stage of imagined experience of objects, a Gnani has his realization of the ultimate truth or Brahman. A Gnani is fully aware of the fact that, the form, time, and space are one in essence. There is no division in consciousness.

One who realizes his own Soul, as in deep sleep, is indifferent to pleasure or pain, whereas one who realizes the ultimate truth or Brahman i.e. the whole world, feels the pleasure and pain but they are transient.

 A Gnani is of no special use to the ordinary ignorant man as the latter cannot understand him nor grasp the truth propagated by him. Hence such men do not need Gnanis to teach them. Only those seekers, who have doubts and questions of the highest order, should follow Gnanis. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Make sure what God is according to the Vedas. And what happens if you worship non~Vedic Gods.*****

Make sure what God is according to the Vedas. And what happens if you worship non~Vedic Gods.

The Vedas confirms God is Atman (Spirit), the innermost Self.

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)

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 to believe and worship in place of the real God.

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

God is not physical. God is present in the form of the Spirit. The Spirit is the cause of the world and the Spirit itself is uncaused.

On the standpoint of the Spirit, the form, time, space and name are mere an illusion. The spirit alone is real and all else is an illusion. In reality, the spirit (God) matter (the world in which we exist) is one.

That is why Swami Vivekananda:~

The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods?

 Knowing this, stand up and fight! Not one step back that is the idea. ... Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the sphere! Let the whole world stand against us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards. ... Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune. You have cried to all the Gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods? ... The Gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? Die game. ... This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, my soul. You are infinite, deathless, birthless. Because you are the 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. You are the entire world. Who can help you? ~ Swami Vivekananda (Delivered In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900) -The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Lectures And Discourses/The Gita II

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 spent 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 the darkness.

In Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ It has been said that God Supreme or Supreme Spirit.

Vedas and Upanishad confirm the Soul, the innermost ‘Self', is the present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness.

And also in Yajurveda says:~

Translation 1.

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol etc.) ~[Yajurved 40:9]

Translation 2.

"Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent.~[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538]

Translation 3.

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." [Yajur Veda 40:9.]

So, Yajur Veda indicates that:-

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol etc [Yajurved 40:9]

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." [Yajur Veda 40:9.]

 When the religion of the Veda knows no idols, then why so many Gods and Goddesses with different form and name are being propagated as Vedic Gods. Why these conceptual Gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is free from form and attributes.

It indicates clearly all the Puranic Gods with form and name, and their worships and rituals were introduced by replacing in place of Vedic rituals and modified books of the code of conduct. Thus the pure Vedic the rituals have been replaced by the founders of the present day Hinduism, the reason best known to them. When the Vedic goal is self- realization all these Puranic based understanding and knowledge are a misguided direction to the seekers of truth.

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 to go into deeper darkness. Instead, spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, which is one’s prime goal. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The rituals mentioned in Karmakanda of Vedas are sought to be negated in the Jnanakanda, which is also part of the same scripture.*****

The rituals mentioned in Karmakanda of Vedas are sought to be negated in the Jnanakanda, which is also part of the same scripture. While Karmakand enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down the rules for the same, Jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules worshiper of deities as a dim-witted person no better than the beast.

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

This seems strange, the latter part of Vedas contradicting the former part. The first part deals throughout with karma while the second or concluding part is all about Jnana. Owing to differing, people have gone so far as to divide into two sections: the Vedas (that is the first part) to the mean the Karmakanda and Upanishads (Vedanta) to mean the Jnanakanda.

The rituals, which are practiced in Hinduism, are not Vedic rituals and the Puranic Gods are not Vedic Gods. Because: ~

The Vedas confirms God is Atman (spirit), the Self.

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)

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 to believe and worship in place of the real God.

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

God is not physical. God is present in the form of the Spirit. The Spirit is the cause of the world and the Spirit itself is uncaused.

On the standpoint of the Spirit, the form, time, space and name are mere an illusion. The spirit alone is real and all else is an illusion. In reality, the spirit (God) matter (the world in which we exist) is one.

The Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness (Spirit), 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 (Spirit) 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 are no dualities, no differentiation. Only Atman exists. 

Thus, it proves that all the attributed Gods are imagination because their existence is limited to the illusion because only in illusion, there is scope for imagination and diversity. The diversity is an illusion. 

The illusion is created out of a single substance, which is consciousness. Thus, consciousness alone is real and eternal. Thus, whatever is seen, known, believed and experienced as real within the illusion is bound to be a falsehood. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Katha Upanishad:~ The Soul cannot be realized through hearing a scholarly explanation of the discourses*****

The truth is beyond all philosophies. When the seeker realizes all his accumulation of knowledge from outer sources is inadequate and useless in quenching his spiritual thirst, he will start our inner (mental) journey on his own.  The journey is full of obstacles because the seeker has to drop all the accumulated dross and all the conditioning (samskaras) to cross the ocean of duality or samsara.

As one indulges in deeper Self-search he will know somewhere he is going wrong, and it is for him to overcome the entire obstacle on his own by knowing what is obstructing his realization.  The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, god, scriptures, and yogic theories and intellectual speculations and logical conclusions. Moreover, attachment to scriptures, personal God and religious code of conduct keeps one permanently in the grip of duality.

The Upanishads declare:

Katha Upanishad 1:2:23:~ The Soul cannot be realized through hearing a scholarly explanation of the discourses, not even by the intellect.

Katha Upanishad 1:3:6:~ “Through the knowledge of the Soul, God, one is pure and clean constantly.” Neither by reading the book nor by taking a bath at the holy place has one become pure. Inner purity is possible when one remains in constant touch with the Soul. Constant Soul-Consciousness is the real purity.

Kena Upanishad 2:4:~ “When it is known through every state of cognition, it is rightly known, for (by such knowledge) one attains life eternal. Through one's own 'Self'one gains power and through wisdom one gains immortality.

Kena Upanishad 2:5:~ If here one knows it, then there is the truth, and if here one knows it not, there is a great loss. Hence, seeing the Real in all beings, wise men become immortal on departing from this world.

Mundaka Upanishad 1:2:8:~ “Remaining in the fold of ignorance and thinking “we are extremely wise and learned,” the fools with boastful nature ramble about like the blind led by the blind alone.”

Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:3:~ “The weak and timid cannot realize the Self. Self-Realization is not possible through intellect or hearing spiritual discourse. One who welcomes God in every activity, through a thorough controlled and disciplined life, to him also the Soul is revealed."

Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:3:~ The Soul cannot be realized by the weak and timid.

Rig Veda: ~ “The famous utterance of Upanishad that Brahman cannot be attained by duality is in RV (5.12.2). The idea that Brahman cannot be attained by mere action or effort is in RV (8.70.3) and (5.48.5); Brahman cannot be approached by thought (RV.1.170.1 or Kena U., 1.3). (RV=RIG VEDA).

 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 spent 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 to go into deeper darkness. Instead spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal. :~ Santthosh Kumaar 

The theory of fate (Prarabdha) is meant for the ignorant one because those who accept the waking entity as the Self and waking world as reality will remain in believing in the theory of birth, death, and rebirth. *****

The theory of fate (Prarabdha) is meant for the ignorant one because those who accept the waking entity as the Self and waking world as reality will remain in believing in the theory of birth, death, and rebirth. 

 The waking entity and the waking world are a reality within the waking experience. The waking experience itself is an illusion from ultimate standpoint. 

The body being in this universe does not also exist and due to this, Prarabdha also does not exist, though the Vedas speak of Prarabdha, for the understanding of the ignorant.

The Mundaka Upanishad tells that:~

Ksheeyanthe thasya karmani thasmin drushte cha paravare, Bahuthwam than nishedartha sruthya geetham cha yath sphutam. 98

The body being in this world does not also exist and due to this, Prarabdha also does not exist, though the Vedas speak of Prarabdha, for the understanding of the ignorant.

All actions of man including Prarabdha, Perishes when one is able to see, Brahman which is in the higher and also lower, Thus tell the Vedas with clarity, *Cause and effect If fate does not get destroyed, ignorance gets never destroyed and spiritual realization never comes.

Uchyathe agnai balath chaithaththadaanatha thad vayagama, Vedantha matha hanam cha yadho jnanam ithi sruthi. 99

If the ignorant adamantly refuse to know this, Not only will they get involved in two absurdities*, But also forsake the conclusions of Vedanta, Which proceed from Veda, the true knowledge. *negation of Brahman and its realization.

Sage Sri, Sankara says in Aparoksh Anubhuti: ~

88. When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman?

89. O enlightened one; pass your time always contemplating on Atman while you are experiencing all the results of Prarabdha; for it ill becomes you to feel distressed.

90. The theory one hears of from the scripture, that Prarabdha does not lose its hold upon one even after the origination of the knowledge of Atman, is now being refuted.

91. After the origination of the knowledge of Reality, Prarabdha verily ceases to exist, inasmuch as the body and the like become non-existent; just as a dream does not exist on waking.

92. That Karma which is done in a previous life is known as Prarabdha (which produces the present life). But such Karma cannot take the place of Prarabdha (for a man of knowledge), as he has no other birth (being free from ego).

93. Just as the body in a dream is superimposed (and therefore illusory), so is also this body. How could there be any birth of the superimposed (body), and in the absence of birth (of the body) where is the room for that (i.e., Prarabdha) at all?

94. The Vedanta texts declare ignorance to be verily the material (cause) of the phenomenal world just as the earth is of a jar. That (ignorance) being destroyed, where can the universe subsist?

 95. Just as a person out of confusion perceives only the snake leaving aside the rope, so does an ignorant person see only the phenomenal world without knowing the reality?

96. The real nature of the rope being known, the appearance of the snake no longer persists; so the substratum being known, the phenomenal world disappears completely.

 97. The body also being within the phenomenal world (and therefore unreal), how could Prarabdha exist? It is, therefore, for the understanding of the ignorant alone that the Shruti speaks of Prarabdha.

98. “And all the actions of a man perish when he realizes that (Atman) which is both the higher and the lower”. Here the clear use of the plural by the Shruti is to negate Prarabdha as well.

 99. If the ignorant still arbitrarily maintain this, they will not only involve themselves into two absurdities but will also run the risk of forgoing the Vedantic conclusion. So one should accept those Shrutis alone from which proceeds true knowledge.

The above proves that the karma is a reality only on the base of false Self, where one thinks body and the universe as reality. When one becomes aware of the fact that, the true Self is formless Soul, then the karma becomes part and parcel of illusion.   My point is that, if one accepts the karma theory as reality, he will never be able to come out of the ignorance. And ignorance makes him believe the cycle of birth, life, and death or pain and pleasure as reality.  Thus the freedom which one is seeking will remain a distant dream. For the one who accepts the birth life and death as a reality, Self-knowledge is impossible.

Thus it is necessary for the seeker of truth to know the fact that, the body which is born, lives and dies is not the Self. Since he is taking the body to be the Self, he is experiencing the duality as reality.

 As Sri, Sankara says:  When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman.

 If the body is not the Atman/Self, then the karma theory has no meaning on the standpoint of the truth. Thus no second thing exists other than Ataman, therefore why to view the worldview from the standpoint of the body as Self (I) when the body (I) is the false Self, and the Soul/Atman is the true Self.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which is a part of Vedas, Declares that: -Brahman is the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.:~ Santthosh Kumaar 

The religion, concept of individualized God and scriptures are the greatest obstacle to Self-realization because they are based on false Self.*****

There is no need to attend any at satsangha or sermons of famous Guru. All satsangha and sermons belong to religion and yoga. Religion and yoga are not spirituality. Spatiality is Advaitic Gnana or wisdom.  

All these religions have produced a great many saints, prophets, and Sages. If they had been born in Hinduism, in all probability they would have been deified in the same way as the founders of several Hindu sects.

Upanishad says: ~ “The human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge and they indicate that belief in the personal Gods, yoga scriptures, worship, and rituals are not the means to Self –Knowledge, then why anyone should indulge in it. 

The religion, concept of individualized God and scriptures are the greatest obstacle to Self-realization because they are based on false Self.  The seeker of truth has to search the ultimate truth without losing himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, through deeper Self-search and assimilate and realize it.

That is why Sage Sri Sankara, indicated 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, the path of the wisdom is the only means. Then it is no use going a roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and the witness of the universe (mind).  By tracing the source of the mind or the universe one will be able to realize the Brahman.

Hinduism has an ever increasing number of Avatars as and Gurus installed as God Himself, with the support and sanction of scriptures and teachings of saints and sages.

Those Saints and Sages in the past introduced Glorifying God and Guru and rituals for the mass who have immersed themselves in the worldly life and incapable of inquiring or not ready for the pursuit of truth.

Glorifying God and Guru and rituals might also be regarded as harmful, as it might cause doubt and confusion in the minds of some seekers who strive with simple faith and earnestness to practice the discipline for Self- realization.

If one is seeking truth then this application of the theoretical philosophy is erroneous and improper. It has been instrumental in spreading sophistry and delusion in the guise of philosophy and direct realization and must be abandoned.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad declares: "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)

Isa Upanishad says: ~

Andharh tamah pravisanti ye Vidyam upasate,

tato bhuya iva te tamo ya u vidyayarh ratah.

Into blinding darkness enter those who cling to ignorance, but into still deeper darkness go those, who flirt with knowledge.  It is the promotion of nescience with the help of scholarship to justify the worship of a mortal in lieu, of God. It makes no difference whether God is conceived as clothed with attributes (saguna} or as absolute attribute-less existence (nirguna).

Sage Sri, 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 Sri, 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) VivekaChudamani v 56, pg 25

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (our true Advaitic wisdom) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but the philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita –Chap- IV-v.2)

In Gita Chap.IV where Lord Krishna says: ~ "This yoga has been lost for ages" the word yoga refers to Gnana yoga, not other yogas: the force of the word this is to point this out.

Lord Krishna describes some of the other yogas but devotes this chapter separately to Gnana yoga. So one sees even in those ancient days people did not care for Advaita; they wanted religion; hence Gnana got lost. That is why Krishna calls it "the supreme secret." Krishna points out that the yoga must see "Brahman in action."

Bhagavad Gita: "He who achieves perfection in Yoga finds the Self in time." This means that after his yoga is finished, he begins the inquiry into ultimate truth and in due course this inquiry produces the realization of the universal spirit as the result. Chap. IV

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.

There is no need for any practice to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God.  Perfect understanding assimilation of ‘what is what’ is very much necessary to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman, which is God.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar