Self-realization is possible only when you realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soulm which is present in the form of consciousness.+

You are nothing to do with the ‘Self’. Self-realization is possible only when you realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Until you think the ‘Self is within you, you will never be able to realize ‘what ‘Self’ is in actuality.

Those who preached the ‘Self’ is within you propagated only half-baked knowledge.

The ‘Self’ is within the world in which you exist because the Self is not an entity or identity within the world in which you exist. The 'Self' pervades the whole world in which you exist.

The ‘Self’ is the cause of the world, in which you exist and it itself is uncaused.

The ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Without consciousness, the world, in which you exist ceases to exist. Perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-realization.

Self-realization is an impossibility without realizing the universe is an illusion because the Self is hidden by the illusory universe.

The Self is hidden by the illusory universe because the illusory universe is created out of the Self, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness alone is real and eternal.

Remember:~

There are so many Godmen and Gurus with all their accumulated knowledge will not get Self- realization.

Many are good at acrobatics with words, but their knowledge is limited to the physical Self. The inner work is in progress and the realization will happen as the conviction of formless witness grows. Everyone’s individual experiences are not the same. Some are so much immersed in materiality, religion, and duty-bound towards their family and society, and they do not have inner urge because they have accepted their present experience of birth, life, death, and the world as reality. Because of this deep-rooted conviction, they are not attracted to the path of non-dualistic or Advaitic wisdom. Some are interested intellectually in knowing the truth.

Many are interested in arguing on the base of accumulated knowledge, but they do not understand the fact that neither by arguing nor by provoking the wisdom will not dawn. The path of wisdom does not need any support from any scriptures, philosophy, and words of great people of the past because the path of wisdom is the path of verification not the path of argument. The seeker has to get all his doubts and confusion cleared by discussing. The seeker should not hold his accumulated knowledge as a yardstick. The ultimate truth or Brahman cannot be compared with any other knowledge because it is not based on form, time, and space. : ~Santthosh Kumaar

Yajurveda – chapter- 32: - God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape.+

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas in Vedas the God has been described as:~

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

Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Yajurveda says: ~ if one worships what is not the God he enters darkness: ~

Translation 1

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc.). They sink deeper in darkness than those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) -(Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2.

Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti is intent. (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3.

They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal Prakriti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the Prakriti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that: ~ They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.  (Yajurveda 40:9)

The present Hindus populace accepts the concept of God in many forms and names.

Sages of truth declare the Atman is Brahman. That is the Soul, which is in the form of consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. That is the ultimate truth is God. And the ultimate truth itself is worthy of Godhood.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman (Soul or Spirit) is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Thus, it refers to the formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the innermost self within the false experience. Thus, it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false self. Thus Atman or Soul, the Self is God.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains. There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme self in i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

Remember:~

Even in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

That is why Swami Vivekananda:~ The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these gods?

Knowing this, stand up and fight! Not one step back that is the idea. ... Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the sphere! Let the whole world stand against us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards. ... Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune. You have cried to all the gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods? ... The Gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? Die game. ... This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, my Soul. You are infinite, deathless, birthless. Because you are the infinite spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. You are the entire world. Who can help you? - Swami Vivekananda (Delivered In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900) -The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Lectures And Discourses/The Gita II

As indicated in ISH Upanishads: - By worshipping Gods and Goddesses you will go after death to the world of Gods and Goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spent there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of Gods and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

It clearly indicates that:~ If the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge then why one has to indulge in rituals and glorifying the conceptual Gods, Goddesses, and gurus to go into deeper darkness. Instead, spend that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is one’s prime goal. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

Gods based on blind faith or blind belief are not God in truth.+

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

Do not accept any other God other than the Soul. The Soul is God in truth,  Nothing is real but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Nothing matters but realize  God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone is real and eternal and all else is an illusion.:

Brahman is merely a word to indicate the ultimate truth or God in truth.  The ultimate truth itself is God in truth. 

The path of wisdom is divided into three parts:~

First:- Hearing the truth that the consciousness is the only reality and that the universe along with you is merely an illusion or Maya. 

Second:- Reasoning upon these words of wisdom of Sage Sankara from all points of view. 

Third:- Giving up all further argumentation and realizing the truth. This realization comes from being certain that consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

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

Remember:~

Religious Gods are based on blind faith or blind belief. Gods based on  blind faith or blind belief    are not God in truth

Religious God cannot be considered as the cause of the universe because the Soul, the ‘Self’ is the cause of the universe.  

Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence. God in truth is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Even The Bhagavad Gita says: ~ 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 as God other than consciousness.

Even Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is present in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Religious Gods are based on myths. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, which means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:~"He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the Self does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

No mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, the world in which he exists as a reality. For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the mantas will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

That is why Sage Sankara VC~.61_ For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

VC- v6~ 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.

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be experienced. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it, your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by subtle arguments. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar