Sage Sankara Says:~ The religion is meant for ignorant people. And Advaitic wisdom is meant for the serious seekers of truth.
Sage Sankara says:~ the scriptures dealing with rituals are addressed to an ignorant person.
Those who lack the intelligence to discriminate between formless witness (subject) and three states (object) will not be able to grasp what is real and what is unreal. Both subject and object are the consciousness, not subject alone.
Ish Upanishad:~ Those people who have neglected the attainment of ‘Self’-knowledge and have thus committed suicide ~10/11/12
Those people who have neglected the attainment of ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana 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?
The Brahma Sutras together with Sage Sankara's commentary thereon do not contain higher Vedanta. They are intended for duffers.
Sage Sankara's commentary on Brahma Sutras is not on the philosophical basis, but on a religio-mystic one, with an appeal to Vedas as the final authority.
In Brahma Sutra Sage Sankara takes the position that there is another entity outside us, i.e. the wall really exists separately from the mind. This was because of Sage Sankara explains in Manduka that those who study the Sutras are religious minds, intellectual children, hence his popular viewpoint to assist them. These people are afraid to go deeper because it means being heroic enough to refuse to accept Shruti, and God's authority, in case they mean punishment by God.
Sage Sankara say:~ Keep the scriptures for children but throw them on the fire for wise seekers.
In Brahma Sutras, Sage Sankara takes for granted, assumes that a world was created: He there mixes dogmatic theology with philosophy.
That God created the world is an absolute lie; nevertheless, you will find Sage Sankara (in his commentary on Vedanta Sutras) clearly says this! He has to adapt his teachings to his audience, reserving the highest for philosophical minds.
The text of Brahma Sutras is based on religion, dogmatism, but in the commentary Sankara cleverly introduced some philosophy. If it is objected that a number of Upanishads are equally dogmatic because they also begin by assuming Brahman, but a few Upanishads do not but prove Brahman at the end of a train of proof.
The causality and creation, but these are for religious people only. Religion is only for those who are unable to understand truth beyond the form, time and space. Religion is not final. It only gives satisfaction to the populace. Self-knowledge is for the whole humanity to free them from experiencing the birth, life, death and world as reality.
People of small intelligence follow religion and believe that the world was created by God. But how do they know that He did so? When a pot is created, one can see both the pot and its maker, but not in the case of the world.
This is following the prescription prescribed by orthodoxy in the name of Sage Sankara. The orthodoxy has listed down in 5 verses, 40 steps of Sadhanas (discipline) to be followed to achieve the (only meaningful) goal of human life Moksha, liberation. Use it as an everyday as a contemplative prayer.
40 steps of Sadhanas of Advaitic Orthodoxy (meant for ignorant people):~
1. Study the scriptures (Vedas) daily.
2. Perform diligently the duties (sva dharma) ordered by the scriptures.
3. Predicate all the actions thus performed (as above) to Ishvara (IshvarArpanna Buddhi).
4. Gradually give up performance of ‘Selfish actions.
5. Filter sinful/adharmic likes and dislikes.
6. Recognize the inherent defects of material pursuits.
7. Seek moksha with consistent endeavor.
8. Get out from the bondage of activity (specified to the ones which end up entangling us).
9. Seek companionship with men of wisdom.
10. Be established in firm devotion to Ishvara and perform Upasana.
11. Gain mind control, sense control, withdrawal, forbearance, faith and focus.
12. Give up karma and Upasana when they are not required any longer for spiritual growth.
13. Seek Knowledge from a Sad guru.
14. Serve his lotus feet.
15. Ask for Brahma Vidya.
16. Listen, in depth, to the Upanishadic declarations.
17. Analyze the meanings of Upanishadic commandments.
18. Perform such analyzes by sticking to scriptures
19. Get away from logic based system (logic is good when it corroborates scripture, in the sense, don't try to substitute it)
20. Dwell upon the discriminative rationale of Shruti (basically, develop Viveka).
21. Constantly remain steeped in the fact that you are Brahman.
22. Renounce pride/vanity/arrogance
23. Give up the delusionary misconception- "I am the body."
24. Do not argue with wise men.
25. Consider hunger as a disease.
26. Treat hunger, the disease, by taking bhiksha food.
27. Beg no delicious food.
28. Live contentedly with whatever comes your way as prasadam.
29. Endure all pains of opposites- heat/cold, likes/dislikes, pleasure/pain.
30. Avoid wasteful talk.
31. Be indifferent and avoid groupism.
32. Don't get attached to either someone's love or criticism.
33. In solitude also, live joyously.
34. Quieten your mind in Ishvara.
35. Give up the delusionary misconception- "I am the body."
36. Recognize the universe as a finite projection of the ‘Self.’
37. Destroy the effects of deeds done in earlier lives (sanchit karma) through the strength of knowledge
38. Through wisdom, become detached from AgAmi karma (give up doership/enjoyership).
39. Experience and exhaust the prarabdh, fruits of past actions.
40. Thereafter, live eternally as Brahman.
Remember:~
Sage Sankara Says:~ the orthodoxy is meant for ignorant people.
Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."
~ This shows he was wearing the religious robe only for the sake of bread."
All the rituals based on the false belief of Gods will not yield any fruits, and they are meant for the ignorant populace who are unable to grasp the God beyond the form, time and space.
One of Sage Sankara’s missions was to wean people away from a 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. However, the orthodox texts that combined rituals with wisdom (jnana_karma_samucchaya) more in favor of the Mimamsaka position came into vogue, projecting Sage Sankara as the rallying force of the doctrine.
That is why Sage Sankara:~ (11) 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. In addition, 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 the ‘Self’ with the body is a 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. Sage Sankara calls this adhyasa. The scriptures dealing with rituals, rewards etc. are, therefore, he says, addressed to an ignorant person.-Adhyasa Bhashya
Sage 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
No conceptual God can exist, apart from consciousness. People are not aware of the fact that, there is no individual God can exist, apart from Soul, which is in the form of consciousness. Thus, the Soul or consciousness is the true ‘Self’. If there is no consciousness, then there is no physical body, no ego, no universe, no religion and no conceptual God. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar
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