The study of Upanishads is neither indispensable nor a prerequisite for attaining the human goal, the Moksha.+

The Advaitic wisdom does not depend upon books or upon the existence of any philosophies religion and books!  The Advaitic wisdom is hidden by the ‘I’, which is ignorance.

No books or Guru or yogi can help you to find it.  Without Guru, you can get the ‘Self’ hidden by the ‘I’.

That is why Sage Sankara says:~ There is no liberation for a person of mere book-knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense-organs, etc., which are unreal.

Scriptures are not needed in pursuit of truth. Even the Upanishads and the Advaitic Sages declare the same.

The ultimate truth has to be ascertained without the scriptures by realizing the Self is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity but the Self is a formless Soul that is present in the form of consciousness. 

In the realm of truth form, time, and space are created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Realizing the single stuff as the ultimate truth is Self-realization or truth realization. To realize this truth there is no need for the scriptures. 

The ultimate truth has to be realized first then only it is possible to know what the scriptures are saying.

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~ VC 56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by good work, nor by learning, but by the realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.

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 are 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.

Advaita is the nature of the Soul. Advaita is second to none. Advaitic wisdom is universal wisdom that reveals on its own to all the serious and sincere seekers of truth.  

Without bondage to the Guru and the scriptures by blindly believing them but think for yourself. No blind belief can save you, work out your own salvation.  

Realize the ‘Self is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul.  The Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

First, realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Mentally hold on the Soul and mentally reduce the world in which you exist as consciousness by realizing the world in which you exist is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness.  

Remember:~

Swami Vivekananda: Vedanta does not believe in the books. It denies the authority of any book over any other book. It denies emphatically any one book contains all the truths about God, Soul, the ultimate reality.

Those of you who have read Upanishads remember that again and again, “Not by reading books can we realize the Self.

Second, it finds the veneration for some particular person still more difficult to uphold. Those of you who are a student of Vedanta – Vedanta is always meant Upanishads- know that this is the only religion that does not cling to any person.

Not one man or woman has become object worship among the Vedantins. 

You see how very little room there is Vedanta for any man to stand ahead of us and for us to and worship him. Vedanta does not give you that. No book, no man to worship nothing. A still greater difficulty is about God. if you want to be democratic in this country.   It is a democratic God that Vedanta teaches.  ~ (Is Vedanta in future religion? BY Swami Vivekananda –lecture – San Francisco on April 8, 1900)

Remember:~ 

Sage  Sankara founded his Advaita Vedanta either on reason independent of Sruti or on Sruti confirmed by reason."   Sage Sankara's commentary on the Manduka Upanishad, II, 1:  This (the unreality of duality) is borne out by the Srutis ... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the object world even from pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose.

 Sage Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture.  This may be because Sage Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter.  He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need for this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore, dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. 

Some people think they have read Ashtavakra Gita and mastered the knowledge. Ashtavakra Gita was misinterpreted based on the dualistic perspective and also on the Orthodox perspective by many people and published in the past.

Interpretations of sacred texts, the force of scriptural mastery merit--none of these lead to the realization of that the Self hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Ashtavakra or any other books is not final because it has been misinterpreted by different authors based on their egocentric outlook. The Soulcentric knowledge cannot be grasped on the dualistic understanding.

Nothing must be accepted as truth without verification. What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal.

The study of Upanishad was neither indispensable nor a prerequisite for attaining the human goal, the Moksha.

All that one was required to do was to get rid of ignorance. There is no need to read books after books. You need to realize only the world in which you exist is created out single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Knowledge of that single stuff is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana itself is Advaitic Gnana.

No books can do more than help us to find it, and even without them, we can get all truth if you search the truth which is hidden by the world in which we exist. You have the love for books without bondage to them; and read the books, but do not believe blindly because it well written with the ornamental world, but think for yourself. No blind belief can save you, work out on your own to find the truth, which hidden by the form, time, and space. Think the Soul is your inner Guru - that Soul is an eternal help.

There is no need to read books to realize the truth which is hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya. 

Like a servant who carries a lamp in front of you to find your way, and you have found it, so becomes the spiritual books to that person who has realized the Truth. why should the seeker depend upon any book further?

Actual realization takes you beyond books. At a certain stage, books become a botheration.

All the books written on Advaita by eastern and western authors are based on the dualistic perspective and orthodox point of view. Thus, they do not have the Soulcentric vision of the truth.

Advaita is the nature of the Soul. There are so many books by many authors, but none will help the seeker to reach the ultimate understanding.

The wisdom is not found in scriptures or books. There are only hidden parables here and there. There is no clear-cut wisdom whatsoever in the scriptures or philosophy. Mere words ~ just a collection of words.

The wisdom is hidden within the world in which we exist. The truth is not found in the world because the world is merely an illusion created out of consciousness. The Truth is hidden within the form, time, and space, but it is beyond the form, time, and space.

Sages of truth restrained themselves parting the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana to the mass and only a selected few. It was hidden from the people who were not qualified and receptive to it.

Self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana was not written down but was imparted orally to the chosen few. Thus, religion was given to the mass and knowledge of the spirit is given only selected a few. Thus, we find traces of the knowledge of the spirit in the religious books in the form of parables.

Remember:~

The ultimate Truth should not only be known but it should be proved, verified. Advaita does not prove that there is ONE! It proves that there is no second thing. Sage  Sankara starts with no assumption whatsoever but proves every step taken, it does not even start with the assumption that Brahman exists; the discovery of the existence of Brahman comes only at the end of our inquiry and not at the beginning. The path of wisdom is a path of verification for every tenet; one needs proof, not poetry.

Some thinker started with ‘one’ substance and some with the Absolute; but where is the proof of the existence of this one or the Absolute. Hence they started with assumptions; whereas Sage Sankara starts with no assumption whatever but proved every step taken, he does not even start with the assumption that Brahman exists; the discovery of the existence of Brahman comes only at the end of Soulcentric inquiry and reasoning and not at the beginning

Accepting intuition or imagination as truth is disastrous because they are not verified the truth. A person may claim “he has seen and spoken to God of his belief and he has realized the Absolute" but he must prove it.  Similarly, those who speak of the creator of the creation (Universe) are hallucinating, for whoever could possibly have seen God creating the universe? They are merely using their imagination because they were created later.

This is the great difference between the path of wisdom and other paths no matter how similar their tenets may seem because the path of wisdom is a path of verification. There is no scope for accepting anything blindly. Most people’s tendency is to be lazy; whereas the seeker of truth wants proof because he realizes his own ideas may be false. Most of the people want their previous notions to be confirmed and unaffected.

By reading my posts & blogs often propels the reader into the thinking process. By reading the repetition of the words on this subject the inner whirling in subconscious takes place which replaces the old thoughts based on the ego by accepting the Soulcentric truth.

Remember:~ 

Perfect understanding removes all sorts of obstacles in pursuit of truth. Only through constant repetition words in my posts will make one think differently but it also creates more doubts and confusion in his subconscious and his inner urge to know the truth even more intense. And it also helps to overcome some of our conditioning, which we have inherited from parental grooming and circumstances.

Repetition of reading the words of wisdom assists a seeker to help to focus his attention from the form (world) to formless (Soul or consciousness), which is very much necessary in pursuit of truth. And repetition is an effective tool and has an effect on the subconscious mind, which is not receptive to receive new truth because it is conditioned to receive only a logical conclusion based on ego.

It takes time for the seeker to gain the perfect understanding of ‘what is the truth’ and ‘’what is untruth’. It takes time for the Soul, the Self to wake up from the sleep of ignorance, and it takes time for one realizes the truth, which is beyond form, time and space.

The nature of the Soul, the Spirit is like a state of sleep. But the sleep is unconsciousness of the objects whereas the Self-awareness is a conscious awareness of the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness in the midst of the object.

The reason, in respect of the ultimate reality, is like the impossible conception of a sleeping man trying to know what he is about, without waking up. As sleep is to waking, so is ordinary life to the state of realization.

The seeker should be aware of everything that is untrue: stick to the truth and he shall succeed, maybe slowly, but surely. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar