Sage Sankara was he a Jagadguru or a Brahma Gnani.+

Sage Sankara was a Jagadguru or a Brahma Gnani. Ignorant populace consder Sage  Sankara  as Jagdguru. Sage  Sankara is Brahma Gnani for the seeking world. 

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is nothing to do with orthodox belief systems. Sage  Sankara is the only sage who has final authority on the Advaitic truth. The Advaitic truth is rational truth and scientific truth without dogma.

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is nothing to do with the orthodox belief systems. Some philosophers in the past dissented from this interpretation of Vedanta philosophy, holding that the incarnated Souls were separate from the Divine Essence and only finally merged with it after the cycles of birth. 

All these theoretical philosophies are based on the imagination based on the false self (ego or you) within the false experience (waking). 

Orthodox people argue that Sage Sankara had a Guru. Sage Sankara himself was Guru.

Yes, for Orthodox people he was Jagadguru but for the seeker of truth he was a Brahma Gnani 

The traditionally religious people are so entangled in orthodox religiosity; that it is very difficult for them to free themselves from narrow-minded prejudices and dogmas and superstitions. These educated orthodox people are more ignorant than illiterate. They strongly stuck to their inherited orthodox baggage meant for the ignorant populace. Even though their own sage has said that orthodoxy is meant for the ignorant populace they ignore and they are like blind led by another blind to follow the inherited blind belief. 

Even Swami Vivekananda was Ramakrishna Paramahansa's disciple. Swami Vivekananda himself said: ~   “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own Soul.”

There are two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.  The Guru and guru paramparas are meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, there is no need to follow any parampara and follow any Guru for those who wish to realize the truth which is beyond form, time, and space. We should not mix religion with spirituality because religion is based on the ego and spirituality is based on the Soul.   Religion is concerned with its paramparas, not truth whereas spirituality is concerned only with the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. Religion is not spirituality.

Sage Sri, Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." (Select Works of Sage Sri, Sankara" also his commentary on Brihad)

Thus, the above passage proves that all those who were the sanyasin robes are wearing them for the sake of bread belong to the religion; they are nothing to do with the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. There is no need to criticize and condemn the Gurus, Yogis, and Swamis because they are needed for the welfare of the ignorant masses in the dualistic world.

So  Sage Sankara wore a Guru's robe only for the sake of the ignorant. So he was identified as Guru with parampara by religious people. For the truth seekers, Sage Sankara is a Brahma Gnani.

Sage Sankara clearly indicates in Viveka Chudamani (2) that the Knower of the Atman (A Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).  

Sage Sankara himself says, the Knower of the Atman (A Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man.

Thus, it proves that the religious gurus and yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people. 

From the Advaitic perspective, A Gnani never identifies himself as a Guru or a Yogi or someone disciple.  The one who accepts himself as a Guru or someone’s disciple is not a Gnani.

The seekers of truth need not identify Sage Sankara as a holy man or Jagadguru but a Brahma Gnani.

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~ "The man of knowledge (Gnani), though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.

All the Guru Parampara is for the religious people.  There is no need for a Guru who wants to tread the path of wisdom.

The Guru is useless so long as the ultimate truth is unknown, and Guru is equally useless when the ultimate truth or Brahman has already been known.

A Guru is needed in the religious and the yogic path.  There is no need for a Guru in to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Without an intense urge to know the truth and sharpness to grasp the truth, it is difficult to tread the path of wisdom.+*****

The path of wisdom is not for those who are not in search of the truth of their true existence.  

According to Advaita Vedanta, the Veda addresses itself to two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know Brahman. Thus, the Purva mimam.sa, with its emphasis on the Karma kanda of the Vedas, is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, the Vedanta, with its emphasis on the jnana kanda, is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures.

Orthodox people are ordinary people. Thus,  the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of rituals, sacrifices prayers. The Karma kanda of the Vedas is meant for the ordinary audience, to help lead its followers along the way.

Modern mindset is more advanced and capable of reasoning and discriminating. Thus, modern mindset is more advanced which seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.

As per the scriptures, the three "Ashrams" or stages in life were originally intended for three grades of intelligence thus:~

v          Low intellects:~ Follow Religion and have to do 'karmas' works, ritual actions, chanting of mantras and indulging in bhajans and prayers, etc.

v             Middle intellects:  Yoga: taking yellow robes, going to caves, ashrams, etc.

v             High intellects: wisdom who wanted the truth is concerned with no external rites no prayers or sanyasa but depend solely on the Soulcentric reasoning for their path.

Thus, the seeker has to choose his path,  according to his choice.  Without intense urge to know the truth and sharpness to grasp the truth, it is difficult to tread the path of wisdom never mix different path with each other and make cocktail because it leads to all sorts of doubts and confusion. 

 The seeker of truth should be beware of everything that is untrue: stick to the truth and he shall succeed, maybe slowly, but surely.

The Soul, the Self, is the witness. The Soul is prior to anything that exists. The three states (witnessed) are merely an illusion from the standpoint of the Soul, the innermost Self. The Soul is the subject and the three states are an object to the formless subject. In Self-awareness,  the subject and object are one in essence. That essence is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus the consciousness alone is real and all else is merely a dualistic illusion or Maya.:~Santthosh Kumaar  

Advaita is not a philosophy. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the Self.+

Advaita is not a philosophy. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the Self.  There is no need to study any philosophy to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.  The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

All the philosophy and all the teachings on nonduality are based on the dualistic perspective. Such teachings are mere imaginary nonduality from the dualistic perspective.

That is why Sage Sankara said:~  Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many Gods as you please, observe ceremonies, and sing devotional hymns, but liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness.

That is why Buddha said: ~ Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true. 

Sage Sankara is the only sage who has final authority on the Advaitic truth. The Advaitic truth is rational truth and scientific truth without dogma.

The Advaitic orthodoxy is not the means to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  Advaitic orthodoxy is meant for the ignorant mass that is unfit to grasp the highest truth.   Thus, the Advaitic orthodoxy is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman.

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.

Sage Sankara disagrees with Buddhists who say, there is nothing - a nonentity. Sage Sankara believes there is some reality, even though things are not what they appear to be. If one knows the truth, he will know what to do to find inspiration for action.  The seeker of truth‘s subject is to know what is it that is Real.

Buddhism says: ~ all things are illusory and nothing exists.  However, Advaita avers that it is not so.  It says that the universe, of course, is illusory, but there is Brahman (Consciousness), which exists forming the very substratum of all things (illusion or universe).

People's approach is more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~ VC-63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it, and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

In Self-awareness, the Soul will be in the objectless –awareness in the midst of the duality (objects), and then the sense of duality will cease to exist as a reality.

The mind is nothing but objective existence.   The seeker has to eliminate all the objective knowledge through wisdom and then objectless knowledge will alone remain. This is the nature of the Soul, the Self.

People can only lecture by giving out falsehood, but it is waste of time delivering a public lecture by giving out the truth.   

The illusions that appeal to the taste of the audience because they are ignorant about the world in which they exist are merely an illusion, from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self.

A crowd at a venue will contain men of varying capacities to understand, of whom only one or two might be receptive to receive Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

What is the use of discussing the practical life within the practical world within the unreal world? Instead one has to find how this world is unreal (illusion).   

In the Atmic discussion, the body and the world are merely an illusion. Why discuss the practical life within the practical world, when the Self is not the body (you). :~Santthosh Kumaar

There is no need for a Guru those who wants to tread the path of wisdom.+

The Guru who pretends to be Self-realized and plays with the emotions and sentiments of the seeker is a fraud, not a Gnani.

All the Guru Parampara is for the religious people.  There is no need for a Guru who wants to tread the path of wisdom.

Even Swami Vivekananda was Ramakrishna Paramahansa's disciple.  Swami Vivekananda himself said: ~   “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own Soul.”

There are two kinds of audiences - the ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices, and the more advanced seeker who seeks to know the ultimate truth or Brahman.  The Guru and Guru paramparas are meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. However, there is no need to follow any parampara and follow any Guru for those who wish to realize the truth which is beyond form, time, and space. We should not mix religion with spirituality because religion is based on the ego and spirituality is based on the Soul.   Religion is concerned with its paramparas, not truth whereas spirituality is concerned only with the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. Religion is not spirituality.

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." (Select Works of Sage Sri, Sankara" also his commentary on Brihad)

Thus, the above passage proves that all those who were the sanyasin robes are wearing them for the sake of bread belong to the religion; they are nothing to do with the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. There is no need to criticize and condemn the Gurus, Yogis, and Swamis because they are needed for the welfare of the ignorant masses in the dualistic world.

Sage Sankara in Viveka Chudamani (2), states that the Knower of the Atman (i.e., a Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

It means the Gurus, Swamis, and Yogis who identify themselves as holy people are not Gnanis. Those who are seeking truth need not follow any Guru or any teaching.

The one who thinks of himself as a Guru and the one who thinks of himself as a chela (disciple) will not be able to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because both of them accepted themselves as the body. And all their understanding, practices, and knowledge are based on the false self (ego or you).  Therefore, the Guru –Shisya concept is a great obstacle in the pursuit of truth.   

A Gnai never accepts himself as a Guru or accepts anyone as his disciple because he was fully immersed in the Soul, the  Self, which is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. There was no division in his consciousness even though he was in the midst of division or duality.   

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~ "The man of knowledge (Gnani), though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.

Upanishads:~ Fools dwelling in darkness, but thinking they wise and erudite, go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind. (Upanishads Nikilanada - Ch II-5 P-14)

No one can teach anybody. Wisdom is hidden within the world in which you exist.  A Gnani can only show the way that much is the work of a Gnani. 

A Gnani only guides the seekers to apply their own reason and realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. When the seeker learns to view and judge and reason the three states on the base of the Soul, the truth will start unfolding on its own. 

First, the seeker may find it difficult to use soulcentric reason but gradually it will become easy. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

If God is a creator then why worship his creation?+

Religion can never make you know God. Only an intense urge to know what God is supposed to be in truth can make you realize God.  The Soul, the ‘Self is the Infinite God. Check yourself what God suppose to be according to your own scriptures.  According to Vedas,  you will suffer if you worship non-Vedic Gods. 

Religion propagates the creator and the creation theory hence people are forced to admit it.

People think that there must be a creator of this universe. If one thinks the Self is ‘I’   then there is a creator, but if one thinks the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness, then there is no second thing that exists other than the consciousness.

If one objectifies and sees a universe, then he is bound to see many things besides himself and postulate a God, the creator.

You, your body, and the world in which you exist rise and set together from, and into, the Soul or the consciousness.

If God is apart from the Soul, the ‘Self’, then God would be selfless, that is, outside existence, that is, non-existent. 

No one has seen God creating the world. No one can claim that it was the first Knower of the first created things.  How was that first ‘known’ substance generated?

There got to be at the very beginning of the creation, someone or other who was the very first knower of the creation.  There cannot be something ‘known’ in the absence of a ‘knower.’ 

If at all we said that there was a ‘Seen’ or ‘known’ substance produced at the beginning of creation, you may legitimately question us about its origin.  But that has never been our argument.  We are consistent in our assertion that there has been no legitimate cause behind anything ‘seen’ at the beginning of creation or even later on at any time.  Hence there is no- thing ‘seen.’  Because there has been no- thing seen, the consciousness is forever without bondage.  Consciousness cannot be captured in words.

People are stuck believing in the creator and the creation theory thus they are stuck to the reality of the world in which they exist. Gods with form, name, and attributes are mere imagination based on the false Self. God is not a belief that you worship because the Soul itself is God in truth.

People are unaware of the fact that God in truth is not that which they believe and worship. whatever people believe and worship is not God in reality. Blind devotion to blind belief leads to hallucination.

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.

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

Bhagavad Gita Chapter: ~ “All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many Gods. (7- Verse -20)

Ishopanishad:~"They are steeped in ignorance and sunk into the greatest depth of misery who worships the matter, instead of the All-Pervading God and those who worship things born of matter like trees, animals, man, etc. are sunk deeper in misery."

Kena Upanishad 2-5 mentions that God can be realized in one life. If you do not realize in one life, you are a great loser.

It is necessary to realize what God is supposed to be to realize God in truth.

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage  Sankara is impersonal

The God you see and meet and in your vision is not God in truth but a hallucination. How can you see and meet God without knowing what God is in actuality? Praying and meditating on God without knowing what God really is, leads to hallucination.    The world in which you exist hides God. Thus, Self-realization is necessary to realize ‘what God is in actuality.  

The Soul, the ‘Self is the Infinite God. 

The Soul is the Self. God in truth is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. God is the fullness of the consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space.  Therefore, there is nothing apart from it. 

God in truth is Self-evident. God in truth is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God in truth because God in truth is the very essence of the one who denies it. God in truth is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. God in truth is within the universe in which you exist, God is without the universe in which you exist.

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the Self.

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

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

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

People, who worship the belief of God, are hallucinating that they become one with such God.

Vedas itself declares: May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman? Thus, to know the real God Self-realization is necessary. Self-realization is God-realization. Self-realization itself is real worship.

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)

How can you worship God? That implies two ~ the worshipper and the worshiped, whereas God is nondual. One can worship his idea of God only or realize his unity with it when he can’t worship it as apart.

When Upanishads and Vedas declare that, “God is in the form of the Athma, and God is indeed Athma itself” then why accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.

God is the Supreme Being the One eternal homogeneous essence, indivisible consciousness, and intelligence, which is beyond form, time, and space. To which the Sages describe in a variety of ways through diverse words.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ ‘All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many Gods. (7- Verse -20)

Only the path of wisdom leads the seeker of truth on his journey to the ultimate realization of the true nature of the Universal Essence, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God in truth) 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.

Lord Krishna Says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Self in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God. 

The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the innermost Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

It is difficult for people to believe the truth of their own religion because they have sentimentally and emotionally involved in it and they refuse to accept anything else other than their inherited beliefs.  

If God is a creator then why worship his creation?

The religion including Orthodox Advaita is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because they worship idols, human worship, and symbol worship and indulge in non-Vedic rituals barred by Vedas. 

That is what Yajurveda says: ~   not to worship the things which are part of the falsehood. 

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 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 (Yajurved 40:9)

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.)

The religion of the Veda knows no idols:

Max Müller says: ~ "The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods."

Therefore, there was no individual God or temples and worships in Vedic religion, which existed prior to Buddhism.  Thus, the individualized Gods and temples must have been built later on, when the warships of the idol were introduced.  Thus, the Vedic religion which existed in the past was free from idol and nature worship and idol worshiping rituals. 

Thus, the present day’s worship of individual Gods, created things, nature, and humans are against Vedic teachings, and it looks like it has been fabricated and introduced by priestcraft. Since it has passed on from one generation to the next

It is impossible to find and realize the truth via religion and scriptural study. Even Upanishads confirm this.:~Santthosh Kumaar   

There is no purpose of life because the Self’ is not you, but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is birthless and deathless.+

From the non-dualistic perspective, there is no purpose in life because the Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is birthless and deathless because the ‘Self’ is the ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence whereas you are bound by the birth, lie, death, and the world.

If the ‘Self' is not you then the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion. If the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion then the purpose of life is a reality only within the dualistic illusion. There is no purpose of any sort because there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. then the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion. I

f the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion then the purpose of life is a reality only within the dualistic illusion. There is no purpose of any sort because there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Only on the dualistic perspective, there is a purpose of life because the experience of birth, life, death, and the world is considered as reality. But the duality is merely an illusion from the non-dualistic perspective.

It is erroneous to mix practical life and the practical world in the pursuit of truth. The ups and downs of the practical life within the practical world are nothing to do with the Soul, the Self.

In Self-awareness, nothing disappears on the dawn of wisdom, but the unreal nature of the waking is exposed in the midst of the duality. One sees his body as the consciousness, his ego as the consciousness, and the world as the consciousness. Thus, there is a unity in diversity in his understanding. 

In Self-awareness, the unknown restlessness disappears. Self-awareness brings stillness of the mind in the midst of action or duality.

Thus, searching the truth within illusion with the illusory Self, within the illusory world is bound to be an illusion. The illusion is created and sustained and finally dissolves as the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Since there is no second thing other than the Soul or the consciousness; the consciousness itself is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Advaitin sage and Maya:~

The King of the Hoysalas was a dualist and was greatly incensed at the doctrine taught Advaitin Sage that everything here below is an illusion. He wanted to teach the exponent of this doctrine a lesson. So he invited the then Advaitin sage to his palace. That Advaitin sage went there and stoutly maintained that everything in this world was an illusion. The king had arranged to let loose an infuriated elephant against, Advaitin Sage. The beast rushed at Advaitin Sage who took to a precipitate flight to save himself.

'Oh, Venerable Sir,' shouted the king, 'why do you run so fast seeing that the elephant is only an illusion?'

'Oh, king,' said Advaitin Sage in the course of his flight, 'my running too is an illusion. Everything in this world is an illusion.

Remember:~

Similarly, the practical life within the practical world is merely an illusion. All our hopes and desires or pleasure and pain are a reality within the illusion. We all are searching for truth within the illusion, not being aware of the fact that the illusion is created out of single stuff which is the Soul or consciousness. 

The Soul is the innermost Self. When the waking entity realizes it is not the Self in the midst of the waking experience it enters the nondual Self-awareness, which is free from form, time, and space.

A Gnani is fully aware of ‘what is the truth’ and ‘what is untruth’. A Gnani e is fully aware of the fact that the experiences the pleasure and pain of the waking experience is merely an illusion because the waking experience itself is an illusion.

Thus, life within the waking experience will go on, on its own. It is nothing to do with the Soul, the Self. The waking or dream is merely an object to the formless witness. The Soul is the Self. The Soul is the witness. The Soul the witness is nothing to do with the three states because it is the witness of the coming and going of the three states or illusion.

When you are part and parcel of the illusion then it is foolish to question what is the purpose of the illusion because whatever belongs to the illusion is bound to be an illusion. the illusion hides the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

Remember: 

The life of a dream is a reality with the dream.  The dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. Similarly, the waking becomes unreal when you realize the ‘Self is not you but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

If the waking is unreal then your experience of birth, life, death, and the world within the waking experience also is unreal (illusion). 

The question is based on the waking entity (you or ego). Whatever is based on the waking entity (ego) is based on the dualistic perspective.

You have to learn to view the worldview from the non-dualistic perspective then only you will be able to have the Soulcentric view of the worldview. 

In Advaitic  Self-awareness, the ego is not considered as ego, even though the ego is present, the body is not considered as a body even though the body is present, the world which confronts him is not considered as world even though the world is present, the duality ceases even though the duality is present, because of wisdom everything is considered as consciousness. Thus there is conscious oneness.

Only in ignorance, the world in which we exist is an illusion created out of the Soul, the Self. 

Remember:~

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.

People's approach is more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. In fact, our mental and intellectual conditions determine the world, observed and experienced. The commoner viewing the world will see differently from a Gnani viewing the same world. Each one interprets the world that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego, therefore, experiences the birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas a Gnani sees everything as consciousness and he is fully aware of the fact that, there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul or consciousness. Thus, all the egocentric knowledge has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

The world in which we exist is nothing but an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The whole universe is nothing but the Soul. Therefore, there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

It is not as if something that was not consciousness suddenly becomes consciousness. Rather, "knowing the truth” means a removal of the ignorance about one's own existence as the consciousness. Thus, to "know the truth” is to "be consciousness."

The consciousness is ever-present. Without consciousness, the world, in which you exist ceases to exist. Consciousness is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny consciousness because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. Consciousness is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Consciousness is everything. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar