Religious People think that in the age of Kaliyuga, a person gets Moksha by indulging in the ritualistic path.+

The religion blocks one from realizing God in truth because religion is based on myth whereas Spirituality is based on the truth.

God  in truth is not based on your inherited blind faith or belief. The Religions are based on personal God whereas Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). God is above all needs and desires. God is always the Witnessing Subject. God can never become an object as God is beyond the reach of the senses. God is non-dual, one without a second. God has no other beside it. God is destitute of difference, either external or internal. God cannot be described because description implies a distinction. God cannot be distinguished from any other than God. In God, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constituted the very essence or Svarupa of God, and not just God attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara  is impersonal.

The Soul, the Self is unborn and undifferentiated consciousness is God in truth. 

All God propagated by belief systems are nothing but imaginations.  There is nothing so absurd which men have not worshiped in religion, every imaginable face has been given to God.  If God is the creator then it is foolish to worship anything as God from his creation because the creation is apart from God. 

Every religion has its own idea and conviction of God.  Thus,  every belief system is based on the false Self.  Therefore, whatever is based on the false Self,  has to be a falsehood? Thus, the idea of God of any belief system has is mere imagination based on the false Self.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~     God is  Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. 

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

God is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. According to the Vedas God,  neither has any neither image nor God resides in any particular idol or statue. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.

Mythological gods and Goddesses are based on belief. The belief is no God. The belief implies duality. From the ultimate standpoint, duality is merely an illusion. Thus, whatever one sees, knows, believes, and experiences within the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion.

Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely superstition.  Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement. 

All the mythological Gods are worshiped in the form of idols.  The belief system which propagated ideas of many Gods and Goddesses Bhakti is the only way to God is simply tries to lead the people to darkness with its dogma and idea of many Gods, which is apart from the Self.

Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief, and senseless rituals, and most irrational and gives them a divine outlook. Mythological stories are myths. Whatever is based on myth is mere superstition.  Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded if one has to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or real God.

The Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, 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 which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted other than consciousness a God. 

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 dualities, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

The Vedas 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 innermost self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of real God.

Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God there is no truth."

When Upanishad itself declares: ~   Sarvam khalvidam brahma ~ all this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the non-dual reality (Chandogya Upanishad). 

Sage Sankara: ~"That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman  (God) ~ that thou art."

Sage Sri, 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)

Religious People think that in the age of Kaliyuga, a person gets Moksha or salvation from bondage in the cycle of rebirth by indulging in the ritualistic path. 

The  Ritualistic path is meant for those who were illiterate and most of the highly educated are largely illiterate in the field of spiritualism today. 

Mundaka Upanishad says: ~ 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.

When Sages themselves found rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of samsara, of birth and death and ignored them and they the Mundaka Upanishad further suggest that such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the realm of duality those who try to cross The realm of duality on these poor rafts are  Doomed to shipwreck are. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise in their own esteem, these deluded people (pundits) proud of their vain learning go round and round like the blind led by the blind.

Therefore, if one wants to acquire Atma Gnana or Brahma Gnana or Self- Knowledge or knowledge of consciousness one has to drop all ritualistic and orthodox baggage to move forward in their pursuit of truth. 

Isa Upanishads indicates 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.

Mundaka 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)

Mundaka Upanishads:~ So-called spiritual pundits and learned are called children because a child takes whatever it thinks as truth. The question never occurs to children “Is what I have seen or thought really  the truth?" (P.334 line 9)

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (our true Advaita philosophy) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but the philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into the truth and have no time for it. (Gita –Chap- IV-v.2)

Mundaka Upanishad~ The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy, and all the arts can be called lower knowledge. The higher 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.

Meher Baba said: ~   God is your innermost Self. Do not search for God outside of you.  Let these words be inscribed in your heart. Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God. God is everywhere and does everything. God is beyond us and is everything. God alone is and all else is an illusion.

Hinduism indulges non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, and child marriages. All these lack Vedic sanction therefore Hinduism is not Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

All Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practice barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at a different time, whereas the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma is ancient and has no founder.

Hinduism is not Santana Dharma or Vedic religion.  Hinduism is not a religion. Rather it is a group of religions found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different.

Hinduism is not a religion but more a way of life. The term "Hinduism" is used for labeling the entire Indian people.

To be considered an orthodox Hindu one need only accept the authority of Shruti, however, there is no universal agreement among Hindus what constitutes Shruti. Vedantins consider the Vedanta, i.e., the Upanishads as Shruti but also include the Bhagavad-Gita and Brahma Sutras as authoritative.

 For some Vaishnavas, the Bhagavata Purana is to be considered Veda. Some consider the Tantras are considered Veda. Thus, we find that there is ample scope for different philosophies and practices under the very broad umbrella of Hinduism.

Thus, to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the seeker has to realize his inherited religion is adulterated in the past and it becomes a great obstacle is realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.    

The Seekers aim is the search for the Ultimate Truth or Brahman.  The search to find the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth that in actuality never was lost, only hidden.

Upanishad aspiration is best expressed in the following sutra:~

OM Asato ma sad gaMaya , tamaso ma jyotir gaMaya , mrityor ma aamritaam gaMaya . Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

"OM Lead me from ignorance to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. Peace, Peace, Peace" (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (1/3/28)).

The belief system was coherent because they had a transcendent God as a central doctrine, whereas in the realm of truth individualized God cannot be considered as a center. After all, the Soul and the innermost Self is the center of all that exists.

First, one should not hold a God as the center of existence without verification. Both the theist and atheist are theories, nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. :~Santthosh Kumaar