The Upanishad says the person worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the 'Self' does not know the truth. he is like a beast (ignorant).+

Upanishads say the person worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the 'Self' and does not know the truth. he is like a beast (ignorant).

Till you believe the religious Gods as real God and religion as finality you are not qualified to acquire Self-knowledge Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnan. Self-knowledge Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnan is the knowledge of the real God.

The study of the scriptures, rituals, yoga, karma, and love can be called lower knowledge meant for the ignorant populace. The higher knowledge is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is that which leads to Self-awareness.

The Soul is the real God. The Soul is the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. The birthless and deathless ‘Self’ is the ever-formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. ‘Self’ is infinite. 

The ‘Self’ is everlasting and changeless. The ‘Self’ is the cause and the source of the universe in which we exist and the ‘Self’ itself is uncaused.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says: ~ Brahman or God is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

The Vedas and Upanishads confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the 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 Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Vedas reveal One God but Hinduism filled with 33crores of Gods Vedas reveals God as Spirit (Atman or Brahman) and no form whereas Hindus worship God in the form of various non-Vedic idols of Gods and Goddesses are barred by Vedas.

Yajur Veda says those who worship idols in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness.

All these add-ons prove that the form and attribute-based concepts were introduced by projecting Vedic Gods in the past with a new belief system and code of conduct in the name of Vedas.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:~ "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)

The Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God in truth) 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 the Self 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 is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

The dualistic worship of "God” only for the lower minds; Advaita for the more evolved.

Dogmas and beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies are the essences of the religion, not of the spirituality. Religion has become merely a matter of external rituals and ceremonies. 

Religion hides the truth beyond form, time, and space. Until the form, time and space are present the duality is present. The duality creates the illusory prison to the Soul, the innermost Self.

Religious rites and rigid ceremonies were passed down from one generation to the next as a practice or set customs and traditions and performed automatically with blind faith. Such worship based on the belief of God does not reach God.

The Soul is God in truth. The ‘Soul' is prior to anything that exists. The Soul is the  Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. 

The Soul is self-evident It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny the Soul because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. The Soul is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs.:~Santthosh Kumaar