Second-hand knowledge accumulated from books or gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization leads to nondual self-awareness.

Deeper self-search reveals  the fact that, the true self is neither waking entity nor the self is dream entity, but the self is the formless  soul or Atman, which was already existed,  before all this practice or effort. And all these practices based on the false self, are a waste of time and effort and that he did not achieve anything other then hallucinated realization.


Second-hand knowledge accumulated from books or gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization leads to nondual self-awareness.

Religion needs a guru to propagate its belief system, whereas in pursuit of truth there is no need for a guru. The ultimate truth has to be ascertained by the seeker alone.  Yoga needs a guru to guide its student to practice Samadhi. 

Religion encourages the one  who can induce himself to feel convinced that he has realized the Self, or has  an admirer who believes that he has done so, then it  opens up for  him the way for the founding of a new sect based on Guru-worship. People, too, have developed curious credulousness. Often they would install an earnest seeker and devotee, or a pious saint, on the throne of God and begin to offer him worship and homage even if he protested and resisted such acts. They would lay prostrate, sing hymns, wave lights (arati) and burn incense before him, and present to him food which was to be returned by him as prasada, wash his toes and sip the wash. At times the disciple would go to the length of getting food, fruit or a betel-nut leaf chewed by him, and taking the morsel back from it.

They would place his photo in the private temples of their homes and perform all these rites and ceremonies which are usually offered to the temple-idols.  In this way there might be at present in our country scores of individuals who are worshipped as living God, with a following varying in numbers.

If one is seeking truth one has to drop all religious based dogmas and blind beliefs ritualistic baggage and move forward in their pursuit of truth.

There is need to study the scriptures. One has to self-search the truth and realize it without the scriptures. And then when he reads the scriptures he becomes aware the scriptures are also saying the same thing but everything is misinterpreted.  

 Mundaka Upanishad  :-

This Ataman cannot be attained through study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much learning. He who chooses Ataman—by him alone is Ataman attained. It is Ataman that reveals to the seeker Its true nature.-3 page70upanhsds by Nikilananda

It means the truth is beyond the scriptures and egocentric intelligence.  Thus in order to grasp, assimilate and realize the non-dualistic truth the seeker to employ soulcentric reasoning faculty.

In Vedanta sutra by Sri, Sankar  that what is accepted without proper enquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.   Seeker of truth should not believe blindly in traditional orthodox nonduality without verifying all the facts from every angle. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process.



That is why Sri, Sankara says in VivekaChudamani   :-


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


61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?


62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utters the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realization one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.


There is nothing more rational, more intelligible and more un-dogmatic insights of Sri, Sankara, is to drop all the theistic Nonduality or Advaita which is meant for those who are incapable and not receptive to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

It is like the sea water is forgetting its own impurities and is thinking that it is the pure water, which is a component of the sea water. By such thinking, the impurities are not filtered and the saltishness does not disappear. To remove the impurities, work (filtration) should be done. Then the sea water can really become the pure water. Thinking is not work. Filtration is the work.

From the angle of Ataman as self, the three states are unreal.  The man and the world are reality within the waking or dream or mind. The mind or I appear as waking and dream, and disappear as deep sleep.  The one which is aware of the three states is within, and it is apart from the three states, as its formless substance, and it is without the three states as its formless witness.  It is apart from the three states because it is not an entity or identity within the waking or dream.  The three states are mere object to the true self.

Oneness is possible only when we become aware of the fact that, the Ataman is the true self, and able to view and judge the three states, on the standpoint of Ataman as self.  The diversity (duality or illusion) is reality, only on the base of the  waking entity or ego ’ as self.

Therefore it is necessary to discover and realize the fact that, the source of the three states is Atman, and Ataman is the true self, and witness of the three states, which appear and disappear in succession.  The three states are unreal, on the standpoint of the Ataman as self; this helps the seeker to realize the fact that the world is unreal.  The world is reality only within the waking experience, but waking is as real as a dream.  Therefore the substance and the witness of the three states, which is Ataman is the true self, and real. And Atman itself is Brahman.

The scriptural authority is not the proof or yardstick to judge the truth. Therefore, never use the scriptural authority to judge the nondual truth.  The truth can be ascertained without the scriptures through deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning on the true base.