The modern generation is more advanced and capable of acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.+

Mundaka Upanishad:~ “The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of Samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross The sea of Samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise in their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round like the blind led by the blind.

The Modern generation is more advanced and capable of acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The modern generation is more advanced and seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.

It is high time for the orthodox highly educated noble Advaitins to realize their religious-based orthodox path was meant for the ignorant in the past, therefore, it is outdated and not suited for the modern generation.

The right path for the modern generation is the path of the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara. Orthodox Advaita has nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Thus, getting stuck with the religious path is getting stuck with the dualistic illusion. Getting stuck with dualistic illusion is getting stuck with falsehood. Getting stuck with the falsehood is accepting the illusory experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality.

Thus, the people who want freedom or Moksha right here, right now, that is, in this very life and in this very world must follow the path of wisdom.

Orthodoxy is the path of ignorance because it recognizes the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality.

Stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world instead one has to spend the same time acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

One of Sage Sankara’s missions was to wean people away from the ritualistic approach advocated by Mimamsakas and to project wisdom (jnana) as the means of liberation in the light of Upanishad teachings. Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices.

As indicated in ISH Upanishads: - By worshiping 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 the darkness.

It indicates that:~ If the human goal is to acquire ‘Self’-Knowledge then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorify 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.

The orthodox lives in the prison of superstition and dogmas. The orthodox people expect their clan to follow a certain outdated religious code of conduct (Shastras) and live dogmatically following the traditional lifestyle. Orthodox people think that those who follow orthodox worship and rituals get Moksha.

There are two kinds of audiences ~ the orthodoxy ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the most advanced seekers who seek to know the ultimate truth or Brahman. Thus, orthodoxy emphasis on the Karma and Upasana is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the path of wisdom is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

The orthodox people are ordinary people. Thus, the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures are obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices. The path of karma and Upasana is for the ordinary audience.

The Orthodox path is meant for the ignorant people who have a sheepish mentality and blindly accept inherited dogmas and superstition.

From the ultimate standpoint, the belief of God itself’ is the superstition. Thus, all religious ideas of heaven, hell, sin, and karma, are merely imaginary theories meant for the ignorant people of ancient times.

That is why 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.

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 enter again this world or a lower one.

It is high time to stop judging who is right and who is wrong in this unreal world and instead spend the same time acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to realize the world (Samsara) is unreal the Brahman alone is real.

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the most advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman. 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 jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to realize the truth hidden by form, time, and space.

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)

Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the masses, but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.

Adhyasa Bhashya of Sage Sankara:~ As regards the rituals, Sage 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 (11)

Sage Sankara:~ 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 (11.1)

Sage Sankara:~ 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 (11.2)

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 (12)

Sage Sankara: ~ Atman, the ‘Self’ is verily Brahman (God in truth), 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.

So, they indicate rituals and theories are not meant for those who are searching for higher knowledge or wisdom. The path of wisdom is the only means.

All the orthodox Advaitins indulge and immerse themselves in a ritualistic-oriented lifestyle and follow the path of karma and Upasana which is meant for lower and middling intellect and not for realizing the Advaitic truth. Many chose these orthodox scholars as their Gurus. But these Gurus are good at learning the conceptual Advaita meant for those orthodox who believe their conduct-oriented lifestyle leads to Moksha (liberation). The orthodox Advaita is not the means to acquire ‘Self’ –knowledge or nondual wisdom. Those who are seeking truth have to do their homework to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is very much in tune with the essence of Vedas and Upanishad.

That is why Sage Sankara:~ VC-v6- 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

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be realized. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

Sage Sankara says:~ A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by subtle arguments.

The Soul, the Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or consciousness.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to study the Scriptures, to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~ then why indulge in studying the scriptures.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to study philosophy, to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why indulge in studying philosophy.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to indulge in rituals, to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why indulge in rituals.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to indulge in yoga, to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why indulge in yoga.

Sage Sankara says:~ the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by the illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, (Gnani)

~ then why stick to a Guru who is not a Gnani.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false leads to truth realization.

Atman is Brahman. The Atman is the Self is non-dual because there is no second thing that exists other than the Atman. Atman is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is the only true reality, and everything else, that appears as form, time, and space is merely an illusion. :~ Santthosh Kumaar