Ashtavakra Gita: ~ There is no other remedy for it than the realization that all this that we see is unreal.+

A  Gnani who has realized the world in which he exists as the consciousness. What is there to meditate or not to meditate, what to speak or not to speak, what to do or not to do? 

Those who give up the highest and purest Brahmic consciousness live in vain and though human, are like beasts. Having turned the visible into the invisible, one should realize everything to be consciousness itself. 

A  Gnani always dwells in nondual awareness in the midst of duality. The ever-existent Soul or the consciousness shining within the three states can be realized only through Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  

The Self indeed is this Soul which is present in the form of consciousness, not the phenomenal universe which is present in the form of the mind.

A  Gnani who has realized everything as consciousness. A  Gnani always dwells in nondual awareness in the midst of duality. 

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 — that thou art."

Sage Sankara, is one of the greatest thinkers of all time. This world owes him a deep debt of gratitude. He not only consolidated the classical values of life but also spiritual wisdom. Unfortunately, few philosophers in the world are as misunderstood and misinterpreted as Sage Sri, Sankara. Ironically, most of the harm came from his admirers and followers of the Advaitic sect because they propagated rituals as a means to attain lower knowledge which is meant for those who believed in the physical existence (universe or waking)  as reality. 

The famous peace invocation of Isa Upanishad says: ~

Om Purna- madah, purna-midam purnat-purnam-udacyate Purnaysa purna-madaya purna-meva-vasisyate

This means ~ All this is full /from fullness, fullness comes when fullness is taken from fullness/ fullness still remains.

 This belief is all-comprehensive and all-absorbing. There is nothing that is not God.

One of Sage Sankara’s missions was to wean people away from the ritualistic approach advocated by Mimamsakas and to project wisdom (jnana) as the means of liberation in the light of Upanishad teachings. 

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

Avadhuta, the one who has cast off all concerns and obligations, like the Self, is the typical teacher of wisdom. He does that in a highly unconventional manner. He has no use for social etiquette; he has risen above worldly concerns. He is not bound by sanyasi dharma either. He roams the earth freely like a child, like an intoxicated or like one possessed. He is the embodiment of detachment and spiritual wisdom.

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ Truly dualism is the root of suffering. There is no other remedy for it than the realization that all this that we see is unreal and that the Self is the one stainless reality, consisting of consciousness. 2:16

The Self is pure awareness though through ignorance Self is imagined itself to have additional attributes. By continually reflecting like this, the 'Self' dwelling place is unimagined. 2:17

For the Self,  there is neither bondage nor liberation. The illusion has lost its basis and ceased. Truly all this exists in the Self, though ultimately it does not even exist in the Self.  2:18

In Self-awareness, ignorance vanishes, and the unreal nature of the form, time, and space are exposed. 

In Self-awareness (in the midst of duality),  the body is not considered as the body, the ego is not considered as the ego the world is not considered as the world because everything is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness (Soul).  

A Gnani has realized everything is consciousness (Brahman). There is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.   

Remember:

All is consciousness.  The whole universe is consciousness. From consciousness, the universe comes. When the universe disappears, the consciousness still remains without form, time, and space.

Sage Sankara: ~ “VC~ All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman (Consciousness) which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.

Sage Sankara:~ VC~.63- "Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know the Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

After verifying through deeper inquiry if one finds the world is the reality within the illusion then he cannot again say the world is not an illusion.

If one is frightened to accept the world is an illusion (waking) then he is unfit to acquire ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Those who are stuck with the reality of the world are stuck with the reality of the individual experiences of birth, life, and death, which take place within the unreal world. Thus the pursuit of truth is for those who have the courage to accept reality as it is, that is the reality without form, time, and space.

When you finally realize the ‘‘Self’ ‘is not you but the ‘‘Self’’ is the Soul then you will realize the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Sage Sankara says:~ VC-47~ All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the non-Self.

Until you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward the ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there the universe prevails as reality.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then why you are indulging in other types of meditation.

Perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-awareness. By holding onto theories one remains in the realm of duality. 

You have to mentally go on dropping what is not the truth through deeper Self-search. Finally when you become aware of the fact that, your ego, your body, and the world are one in essence then there is Self-awareness in the midst of duality. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar