Vedanta is a philosophy handed down by the Vedas, the oldest Holy Scriptures in India. It teaches that our real nature is divine. God is our innermost Being, an underlying reality in everything that exists. Truth is universal and religion is the search for Being, the search for God within us. Vedanta does not ask us to abandon religion. On the contrary, it encourages a scientific and rational approach to religion. It accepts all world religions as true and worships the great prophets, teachers and divine incarnations. It emphasizes self-effort, faith in oneself and faith in the oneness of God. It places the realization of God and the manifestation of our divinity in everyday life as the true goal of human existence. We can achieve it through methods called Yoga (union with God), that channel the energies and tendencies that we all already possess. Religious methods are a matter of experience. We each have our own problems and our own path of development. But the goal, that is, to realize the divinity within, is one for all. The ideal is to practice a harmonious balance of the four main yogas:

Bhakti Yoga is for people of a predominantly emotional nature. It teaches to develop a relationship of devotion to God, since He is love itself.

Gnana Yoga approaches spiritual enlightenment through discernment and reason, making use of the powers of the mind. It is the path of the philosopher who wants to go beyond the visible universe.

Karma Yoga advises us to know the secret of selfless action and teaches us to work towards peace of mind, using our natural desire to be productive.

Raja Yoga, the path of meditation, is the soul of all yogas. The emphasis here is on controlling the mind through concentration and meditation. Raja Yoga is also called "the psychological path of union with God".

Those who believe that these non-essentials are indispensable to attaining the ultimate goal of religion have not yet understood the basic principles of all religions; they do not know how to distinguish between what is essential and what is not; they lack the understanding that spiritual enlightenment gives. Those who understand the essentials of religion and put them into practice in daily life do not worry about the non-essentials. It is only these simple and sincere souls who reach the goal of religion by the shortest of paths. Those who understand the essentials of religion and put them into practice in daily life do not worry about the non-essentials. It is only these simple and sincere souls who reach the goal of religion by the shortest of paths. Those who understand the essentials of religion and put them into practice in daily life do not worry about the non-essentials. It is only these simple and sincere souls who reach the goal of religion by the shortest of paths.

The essential elements of religion are mainly two: self-knowledge and self-control. Self-knowledge means knowledge of the higher Self, knowledge of man's divine nature; and self-control consists in curbing the lower self, that is, our selfish nature. True knowledge comes when the lower self is mastered.

The non-essential elements of religion are like a heap of husks under which the pulp of essential truth is hidden. Where the unessentials prevail too much, there is religious corruption, superstition, and false theology, the chief object of which is to convince the ignorant masses that dogmas, doctrines, ceremonies, and rituals must be observed by all people who aspire to be. religious. On the other hand, the science of yoga, being free from dogma and ritual, is not exposed to corruption and superstition, nor does it need any theology. It's pure and simple. It welcomes all earnest and earnest souls seeking the highest truth and spiritual life; it seeks to spiritualize them, offering them the essentials of religion as their highest ideal, and teaches them how to acquire self-control and knowledge of the Supreme Being.