All religious injected dogmas and beliefs, rituals and ceremonies, can never be the essence of spirituality.+

All religious injected dogmas and beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies, can never be the essence of spirituality. Religion has become merely a matter of external rituals and ceremonies; religious life has become a prison for the Soul, the Self.

Manduka 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.

How can you worship the Absolute? That implies two ~ the worshiper and the worshiped, whereas the Absolute is nondual. One can worship his idea of the Absolute only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as a part.

The essence of Manduka Upanishad is: ~ Do not be satisfied with rituals, yoga, etc. which are good in their own way but inquire. Into what? Brahman and Atman are things you can never see. So do not inquire into them. Inquire into the world around you, which you can see. Science tells you it is passing away every second.

Everything is dying repeatedly. Where is it going? Thus, you follow up your inquiry into what you can lay hands on. How can you inquire into Atma which you cannot see? So first we deal with the known and seen, this inquiry leads up to the unknown in the end.

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.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual are meant for the ignorant populace.

Belief in God without knowing God in actuality holds the worshiper more firmly in the grip of ignorance.

All worship ceremonies and rituals performed on the base of non-Vedic Gods will not yield any fruits. Deeper self-search reveals that worship,  worshiped, and the worshiper and the world are merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

Manduka 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)

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of rituals or formal observance have long since set in.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans, or any other forms of ritual are meant for the ignorant populace. In the Atmic path, the seeker has to discard what is not needed to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Religious rites and ceremonies, yagnas and homa-havans or any other forms of rituals or formal observance have long since set in.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The scriptures dealing with rituals, and rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person.

Meher Baba: ~ When religion has become merely a matter of external rituals and ceremonies, it has become a cage for the Soul.

The blind faith and beliefs in religion are considered to be barriers to Self-realization.

Isa Upanishads indicate that: The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend the same time moving forward towards “Self’ -knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, which is the main goal.

Isa Upanishads indicate that: ~ Worshipping Gods and Goddesses and going to the world of gods after death is of no use. The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend the same time moving forward toward Self-knowledge, which is the main goal. One cannot reach the nondual destination by glorifying gods and goddesses and by doing that, one goes deeper and deeper into darkness. It surely indicates the fact that the seeker of truth has to drop worshiping god and goddess to get Self-knowledge.

So, they clearly 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.

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.

Sage  Sankara:~ (11) As regards the rituals, Sage Sankara says, that 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 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

Sage Sankara: ~ Atman, the Self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. Atman is not the body which is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise.: ~ Santthosh Kumaar