The mantra-yoga consisting of repeating the name of God (Japa) thousands of times yield nothing.+

The mantra-yoga, consisting of repeating the name of God (Japa) thousands of times yield nothing.

The mantra-yoga, consisting of repeating the name of God, or even the AUM, thousands of times yield nothing. It can appeal only to the ignorant, to those who cannot think deeper. It is a mere religious fable. The real exercise is to think of the meaning of the name or the AUM, and then only do you get something.

Mantras can do nothing. If they really had any power, why did Lord Krishna not use one to stop the Mahabharata war? All the magical power of mantras is a religious fable because religion is based on the false Self (waking or ego) and false experience (waking or world). From the standpoint of the Soul, the innermost Self,

The Visions and Samadhi are mere illusions.

That is why Sage Sankara: ~ VC- 63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

The Ish Upanishad declares:~ Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide.

Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge 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?

Mundaka Upanishad:~ The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy, and all the arts can be called lower knowledge. The highest is that which leads to Self-realization. The eye cannot see it; the mind cannot grasp it. The deathless Self has neither caste nor race, neither eyes nor ears nor hands nor feet. Sages say this Self is infinite in the great and in the small, everlasting and changeless, the source of life.

Sage Sankara says: ~ The scriptures dealing with rituals and rewards are therefore addressed to an ignorant person. Thus, the rituals are 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." Thus, it means those who are wearing a religious robe 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 form, time, and space.

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:~ VC Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together (verses-6)

The liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality by means of wealth. (Verses -7)

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman. Thus, the Purva Mimamsa, with its emphasis on the Karma Kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

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 the ritualistic attitude severely and those who advocated such practices. However, the orthodox texts that combined rituals with wisdom (jnana_karma_samucchaya), more in favour of the Mimamsaka position, came into vogue, projecting Sage Sri Sankara as the rallying force of the doctrine.

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. 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 behaviour 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 that can exist, apart from the soul, which is in the form of consciousness. Thus, the Soul or the consciousness is the innermost Self. If there is no consciousness, then there is no body, no ego, no universe, no religion, and no conceptual God. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar