Just as the snake is superimposed on the rope, this world and this body are superimposed on Brahman or the Soul, the Self.+

The Soul, the Self has to be free from experiencing the duality as reality.  To overcome the duality, the waking entity has to know it itself is not the Self but the Self is the Soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states.  

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to realize ‘what is the truth’ and ‘what is untruth’ to reject the untruth by accepting the truth. 

There is no form, time, and space in the realm of Reality: Time and space are only limited to the physical realm.

Sage Sankara said:-  Just as the snake is superimposed on the rope, this world and this body are superimposed on Brahman or the Soul, the Self. 

If one gets knowledge of the rope, the illusion of the snake will vanish. Even so, if he gets knowledge of Brahman, the illusion of the body and the world will vanish.

The snake is only an idea: it disappears on inquiry but deeper self-search reveals the fact that the rope is also an idea and its reality will be exposed when wisdom dawns. There is neither snake nor the rope in reality because, from the ultimate standpoint, the duality is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

Consciousness is the root element of the universe. From consciousness, the universe comes into existence. In consciousness, the universe resides. And into consciousness, the universe is dissolved.   Consciousness is the parent of all that is there is.  Consciousness is the only the reality, and the universe to but an illusory manifestation

To say the universe is an illusion without first examining it and inquiring into its nature thoroughly is to delude oneself. This world is common to every one of us; therefore the seeker of truth must begin his inquiry with it. It is only after he has inquired into the nature of the objective world he realizes the universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is absolutely free from all the limitations of Maya.

First, the seeker must inquire into the nature of the three states to realize the three states are one in essence.  One has to observe everything in the three states because all three states are one in essence and that essence is consciousness (Soul or Atman) Atman is Brahman. The seeker should not shut his eyes to the nature of the three states, because they are a mere mirage created out of consciousness.

The waking entity innately believes in the reality of the waking world (I). This is because of ignorance.  

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the waking experience is also as false as the dream. The seeker should not believe in the Soul, without verification. He may have a belief, but he should show that it is true.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana clears all doubts.  Certainty, nothing can be hidden and can be got only from soul-centric reasoning, not from yoga.

The seeker has to take the world as it is, and inquiry is the beginning of the pursuit of truth. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is the end of ignorance. 

Every man thinks that he has no doubts, but without examining himself whether he has doubts or not and if any conflicting ideas exist he must (which is inevitable with the sense of duality) he must get over them.

Without soul-centric reasoning, direct cognition is impossible. The Advaitic sages too got at it through soul-centric Reasoning. The seeker of truth has to only rely on soul-centric Reasoning.

The one, who starts an exposition by bringing in Gods, is trying to force on others something which he believes to be real, something he has simply assumed. The seeker of truth must stick to the soul-centric reason, not the fallacy of egocentric authoritarianism.

One comes to the conviction, on the strength of deeper self-search:- that the world is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense, that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

The individual experience of birth, life, death and the world are a reality within the waking experience but the waking experience itself is merely an illusion from the standpoint of the formless witness of the three states. 

The formless witness is Soul or consciousness. And  Soul or consciousness is the Self and it is not an individual.  Holding the self as an individual is a cause of experiencing birth, life, death, and the world as reality.

The delusion that the world is endowed only with parlance, practical truth goes when one gets the direct realization of consciousness, which is the Self and ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the universe or waking does not enjoy any reality.  Consciousness alone is the ultimate truth and the perceived world is only a dependent, reality.

The perception of the world as just an appearance, like the mirage of water appearing to give an impression of water, yet known to be just an appearance, ends when the ignorance comes to an end and the Gnani no longer has the egocentric worldview because he has the soul-centric worldview. 

A Gnani uses the egocentric worldview for the practical purpose in practical life but he is fully conscious of the fact that the experience of birth, life, death, and the world are merely an illusion created out of consciousness.  

As flowing rivers disappear in the sea, losing their names and forms, so a Gnani, freed from name and form, attains the Gnana or non-dual wisdom.

Self–knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana brings unity in diversity in perfect understanding of the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth in the midst of diversity and conscious total merger of matter in the spirit.  

All names and forms within the waking experience lose their sense of reality the same way the dream experience loses its sense of reality when waking takes place.  

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana gives us the knowledge to inform us of the true nature of the ego, universe, and ultimate truth. All these three are connected in such a way that the knowledge of one without the other is incomplete.  

Gaining this comprehensive knowledge constitutes liberation, from experiencing duality (universe) as reality.

The witness is, different from the witnessed that consciousness is distinguished as not being the same; from the lifeless universe, which is in the form of the mind.   The lifeless universe has no real existence without consciousness.  Consciousness gives sentient to the insentient universe, which is in the form of the mind(I).  The universe exists as a reality from the standpoint of the matter as the Self.:~ Santthosh Kumaar