Advaitic wisdom will not dawn just by sitting quietly, observing silence, and meditating, reading books, hearing sermons, meeting gurus or yogis.+

The man who possesses the highest intellect can grasp Advaita, by merely hearing the truth mentioned and will know it

The mind is virtually the universe. The universe appears as a waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (non-duality).  Efforts should be made to understand the mind. Advaitic is wisdom is an ancient truth preserved as a secret by sages of truth. 

Kabir: ~   There is nothing but water in the Holy pools. I know, I have been swimming there. All the gods sculpted of wood or ivory can’t say a word. I know, I have been crying out to them. The Sacred Books of the East are nothing but words. I looked through their covers one day sideways. What Kabir talks of is only what he has lived through. If you have not lived through something, it is not true.

Accumulating half-baked knowledge from here and there will not lead the seeker to the ultimate end of understanding.

By just sitting quietly the mind does not become still. When one realizes:  “What is this mind (I)?”, “What is the substance of the mind?”, and ‘What is the source of the mind?”, then he will realize the mind and its substance and its source are one in essence. That essence is the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness.

Swami Vivekananda said: -~ “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, and none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own Soul.”

The mind is present in the form of the form, time, and space. The mind becomes still only when one realizes the form, the time, and space are made out of single stuff.  The knowledge of the single stuff (consciousness) is self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Thus, when the mind becomes still the Soul remains in its own awareness in the midst of the diversity (waking.)

To realize the truth beyond form, time, and space the seeker has to drop all the accumulated egocentric knowledge.   Becoming more and more Soulcentric leads the seeker towards Advaitic Self-awareness. 

We are within the illusion. Whatever we have seen, feel, known, believed, and experienced is also within the illusion. The formless substance and witness of the illusion is the Soul of the Self.

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ It is not the absence of Buddhi that can grasp Advaita, but the man who possesses the highest intellect. Brains are necessary. Such a man, by merely hearing the truth mentioned will know it. (Page~ 224).

 In Self-awareness, the substance and witness are one in essence. That essence is the Soul which is present in the form of the consciousness (Spirit).      

The dream entity and the dream world are within the dream. Similarly, you and your experience of the world are within the waking experience.  The witness of the dream is not the waking entity.  Similarly, the witness of the waking experience is not the waking entity. The Soul is the witness of the coming and going of the three states.   The three states are nothing to do with the Soul the Self because, from the standpoint of the Soul the Self,   the three states are non-existent as reality. 

Realize the self is not you, but the Soul is the self. The Soul the innermost self, witnesses you and your experience of the world. 

Advaitic wisdom will not dawn just by sitting quietly, observing silence, meditating, reading books, hearing sermons, meeting gurus or yogis, and doing pranayama, but wisdom dawns only when you realize the fact that the ‘Self’ is not you, but the ‘Self’ is the  Soul. 

The seeker has to verify the fact about his true existence through deeper self-search to realize, that the self is not the form, but the self is the formless soul (consciousness).

When he realizes the self is the soul, then he becomes aware of the fact that the practical life within the practical world is merely an illusion created out of the soul or the consciousness.

The practical life within the practical world is nothing to do with the formless Soul, the  Self. The practical knowledge within the practical world is not wisdom, but it is knowledge based on ignorance. The real wisdom is non-dual wisdom, which arises only when ignorance vanishes.

Remember:~

The experience of birth, life, death, and the world is merely an illusion. Thus,  the question of many life cycles is an imagined theory based on the false self (waking entity or ego or you) within the false experience. 

The one, which is born, lives, and dies with the unreal world, is not the self because the self is the birthless soul. It is birthless because it is ever formless.  Thus, one has to realize the self is not you, but the Self is the formless soul, which witnesses you and the world together.  

From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the experience of birth, life, death, and the world is merely an illusion. It is an illusion because the whole experience of birth, life, and death is created out of single stuff. And that single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, consciousness alone is real and all else is merely an illusion.  

The belief, actions, conduct, love, virtue, scriptural mastery, religion, rituals, and prayers which are mere theories based on the false self are great hindrances in realizing the Advaitic truth, which is the ultimate truth.

All religious theories are meant for those who believe in the practical life within the practical world as reality because they are not verified the truth of their true existence.:~Santthosh Kumaar