There is no need to condemn Gurus, but there is need highlight how they become an obstacle in realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.+

The Saints and Gurus belong to the religion and yogic path it is nothing to with the Gnanic path. Saints and Gurus were meant for the welfare of the society to maintain love, harmony, and guidance to the ignorant populace.     

Most of the Saints and Gurus of the past are mostly social reformers, thus they are more concerned with the humanism rather than the truth. Their contribution is very valuable to the populace within the practical world.  Thus, humanism is part and parcel of the universe, which is an illusion from the Advaitic perspective.  

Many Gurus glorified the ‘I’ in the past. People got emotionally stuck with their Gurus worshipping them as Gods and got entangled with studying the life and happenings of their Guru when their Gurus were alive. They forgot their main goal of discovering the truth of their true existence.  This following Gurudom trend is still continuing.

Yoga Vasistha says: ~ Self-knowledge or knowledge of truth is not had by resorting to a Guru (preceptor) nor by the study of scripture, nor by good works: it is attained only by means of inquiry inspired by the company of wise (Gnani). One’s inner light alone is the means, naught else. When this inner light is kept alive, it is not affected by the darkness of inertia. 

There is no need to condemn Gurus, but there is a need to highlight how they become an obstacle in realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Swami Vivekananda 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.”

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 to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

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 truth beyond the form, time, and space. The Gurudom is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. The Atmic path is meant for those who wish to go beyond the domain of the form, time,  and space  

Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the mass but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence, the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus, they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd. 

The Atmic path is straight. One travels from the ignorance to wisdom by perfect understanding of ‘what is what’. 

The search for the truth of our true existence ends in the discovery of the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’.   When the form, time, and space are created out of single stuff then there is no division in consciousness.  The Soul is the fullness of consciousness without the division of the form, time,  and space.

It is erroneous to identify the Soul, the innermost Self as 'I' or 'I AM' because the Soul, the Self is not 'I' or I AM’. The Soul, the  ‘Self’  is that witness of the 'I'.

The ‘I’ is not the expression of the fullness of consciousness.

 The ‘I’ is the cause of the division within consciousness.

The ‘I’ is ignorance.

The ‘I’ is the cause of experiencing the dualistic illusion as a reality.

The ‘I’ is the cause of the experience of birth death and the world.

The ‘I’ is the cause of the form, time, and space.

The ‘I’ is the cause of the universe.

The ‘I’ is the cause of the three states.

The ‘I’ is the cause of the mind.

Remember:~ 

Without The ‘I’ is the fullness of consciousness.

 Without The ‘I’ there is no division within consciousness.

Without the ‘I’ there is no ignorance.

Without the ‘I’ there is no dualistic illusion.

Without the ‘I’ there is no experience of the birth death and the world.

Without the ‘I’ is there is no form, time, and space.

Without The ‘I’ there is no universe.

Without the ‘I’ there are no three states.

The ‘I’ is the cause of the mind.

People try all kinds of paths and practices in order to get ‘Self’-realization. Realizing the ‘‘Self’ ‘is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is ‘Self’-realization'. Consciousness is the cause of the world in which you exist and it itself is uncaused.

Consciousness is pure, flawless and full, beyond the form, time, and space. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Consciousness is beyond all limitations of form, time, and space. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Ish Upanishads says: ~ People no wonder they grope in the dark, they must seek Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.+

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 in truth.  The Soul, the ‘Self is the Infinite God.  

Religion is the path of ignorance.  And ignorant worship mechanically performs the prescribed sacrifices without any thought as to why they are doing them.   

That is why Ish Upanishads says: ~ “Such people no wonder they grope in the dark.” They are doomed unless someday the truth dawns on them that to save themselves they must seek Self-knowledge.

Dogmas and beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies are the essences of the religion, not of spirituality. Religion has become merely a matter of external rituals and ceremonies. Religion hides the truth beyond form, time, and space.  Until the form, time and space are present the duality is present. The duality creates the illusory prison to the Soul, the innermost ‘Self’.

Religious rites and rigid ceremonies were passed down from one generation to the next as a practice or set customs and tradition and performed automatically with blind faith. Such worship based on the belief of God does not reach God.

Religious believers claim that happiness and sorrow are felt through our sense organs. Eating drinking and making merry are a reality. The above experiences will appear false to a Gnani because he is fully aware of the fact that, all three states are merely an illusion.  

People think God is somewhere, up there, monitoring every act of the people, guiding the lost, and uplifting the poor. God is the one who punishes the evil and rewards the benevolent.

Some people even claim of seeing them in stone idols or some conceptual belief, in inanimate or living things. Is it our faith that makes us believe that there is some supreme power above us or is it a reality, can never be answered.  Until this conviction is there one is in the grip of the dualistic illusion. The dualistic illusion keeps one in ignorance of our true existence.  Therefore, there is a need to verify the fact that the ‘Self ‘, is not you but it is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

 When you become aware of the fact that, the ‘Self’ is the Soul, then you realize the fact that whatever is known, seen, believed, and experienced on the base of the false self is an illusion.

You are the false self within the false experience.  You are not the Self because you are the birth entity whereas the Soul, the innermost Self is birthless and deathless.  The Soul is birthless and deathless because it is the ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

From the standpoint of the Soul, the innermost Self, you and your experience of the world and your religion and your religious God and your accumulated knowledge is a falsehood because the waking experience is merely an illusion.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ 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. 

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)

The truth-seeker has to reject the devotional path if he wants to realize the truth beyond form, time, and space. The path of Bhakti is for the ignorant populace.

The Vedas talk about Brahman which refers to the ultimate truth or ultimate reality. The consciousness is the ultimate truth, therefore, the consciousness is Brahman and Brahman is God.

Vedas do not permit idol worship. All the idols are of the Puranic Gods priests are referring to the Puranic Brahma as God they are ignorant of the God in Vedas even though they speak of Vedas.

Priests do not understand the meaning of the Brahman, which is present in the form of consciousness.

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."

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

Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)”,

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.  From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved.   The Spirit is the parent of all that is there is.

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

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)

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.

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 innermost 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. 

If God is the formless Spirit, then how does man know God created the world? There is no proof.  

If man had seen God creating the world, he could admit it, but how could he have seen God before he came into existence? (i.e. were created). :~ Santthosh Kumaar 

Dogmas and beliefs, rituals and ceremonies are the essences of the religion, not of the spirituality.+

Dogmas and beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies are the essences of the religion, not of the spirituality. Religion has become merely a matter of external rituals and ceremonies. Religion hides the truth beyond form, time, and space.  Until the form, time and space are present the duality is present. The duality creates the illusory prison to the Soul, the ‘Self’.

Religious rites and rigid ceremonies were passed down from one generation to the next as a practice or set customs and tradition and performed automatically with blind faith. Such worship based on the belief of God does not reach God in truth.

Everyone’s inner work is on. Until a man is ripe to receive Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, he will not be able to understand what I am saying. 

Even they may find it difficult in the first as they go on reading and reflecting repeatedly the post their subconscious will start dropping the dualistic egocentric knowledge and start accepting the Soul-centric Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

Grasping the truth depends on the spiritual maturity of the seeker. My mission is to share knowledge by inspiring the serious and sincere seekers of truth and diverting their attention towards the inward reality. 

As their urge is at the seed level and As they go on reading the words of wisdom it will start growing. ’

It takes time for the seeker to gain the perfect understanding of ‘what is the truth?’ and ‘’what is untruth? It takes time for the Soul, the innermost Self to wake up from the sleep of ignorance, and it takes time for one to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. 

The seeker must have: ~  

An intense urge to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space

Receptive to receive the truth

Sharpness to grasp the truth  

Courage to accept the truth and reject the untruth

Patience

Humility

Non- argumentive

Ready to reflect the truth repeatedly

Drop all the accumulated knowledge

All the above things are very much necessary to tread the Atmic path.    The Guru is needed only in religious and yogic paths.  In the Atmic path, there is no need for the Guru.  There is no need to stick to any Guru or any teaching.

A Gnani will never accept himself as Guru nor does he claim himself as a Gnani.   One who accepts himself as Guru does not know the truth. When one inquires into the nature of the mind then the truth will start revealing on its own.

That is why Swami Vivekananda said:~ “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but  the soul.”

Bhagavan Buddha said:~ Do not believe spiritual teaching just because:-

1.   It is repeatedly recited

2. It is written in a scripture

3. It was handed from Guru to disciple

4. Everyone around you believes it

5. It has supernatural qualities

6. It fits my beliefs anyway

7. It sounds rational to me

8. It is taught by a respectable person

9. It was said to be the truth by the teacher

10. One must defend it or fight for it.

However, only when it agrees with your experience and reason, and when it is conducive to the good and gain of oneself and all others, then one should accept the teachings, and live up to them." 

You have the firm conviction that you are an individual separate from the world and the world that existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward. Until this conviction is their views, judgment and reasoning are based on an individual whereas the ‘Self’ is not an individual because it is the ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.  If the ‘Self’ is not you then it is erroneous to judge the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. The Self is prior to the world in which you exist.  :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Rig Veda clearly declares the God is Atman and never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.+

The religion of the Veda knows no idols. All the idols worshipped as Gods are non-Vedic Gods. If idols are of the non-Vedic Gods then why so many Gods and Goddesses with different forms and names are being propagated as Vedic Gods. Why these conceptual Gods are introduced when the Vedic concept of God is free from form and attributes.

Sage Sankara: ~ VC-  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 (verses-6)

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)

God and Goddesses worshipped in India today are non-Vedic Gods.   Such Gods and Goddesses cease to exist without the dualistic illusion. Whatever belongs to the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion.

Rig Veda clearly declares that God is Atman and never accepts another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman.   Then why worship any other God in place of the Atman, the real God.

 Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness (Spirit),  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 (Spirit) 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.

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

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.

Yajurveda says God is Supreme Spirit has no 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. Therefore, why worship the Gods when they cease to exist without the dualistic illusion.

This clearly indicates Vedic God is Atman, the innermost Self.   Thu, s Self-realization is God-realization. Self-realization is itself real worship.

Sage Sankara says: ~ Ataman is Brahman. Thus, the Soul the innermost ‘Self’ is God. Therefore,    all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false Self.  Thus, there are adulteration and add-ons in the past, which has to be bifurcated if one wants pure Vedic essence.  

Yajurveda says they sink deeper in darkness those who worship what is not God: ~ 

Yajurveda

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 than 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.)

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

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

Vedas itself says: 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.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Why you are struggling to get a Guru when Sage Sankara says a Gnani wears no signs.+

There is no need for a Guru to know that you and your Guru and the world in which you exist are created out of single stuff and that single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness.  Knowledge of that single stuff is the self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  Gnana is given neither from outside nor from another person. There is no need to follow anyone. There is no need to practice anything. A perfect understanding and assimilation of ‘what is what’, leads to the realization of the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space. 

Sage Sankara says:~  “On Gnani wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life…his signs are not manifesting, nor his behavior."  When the knower of Brahman wears no signs -- it means A Gnani does not identify himself as a Swami, Guru, or Yogi. 

The one who identifies himself as Swami, Guru, or Yogi is not a Gnani. A Gnani never identifies himself as a swami, Guru, pundit, or yogi. Swami, Guru, Pundit, or Yogi belongs to the religious and yogic path. The religious and yogic paths are not the Atmic path.

~ If you are searching for truth then why you are struggling to get a Guru when Sage  Sankara says a Gnani wears no signs whereas the Gurus and yogis are identifying themselves with the symbols.  Why do you waste time indulging in glorifying and worshipping the Gurus, which is meant for the ignorant populace? 

Sage Sankara says: ~ 'There is no need to study the Scriptures, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~ Then why do you indulge in studying the scriptures.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to study philosophy, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why do you indulge in studying philosophy.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to indulge rituals, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why do you indulge in rituals.

Sage Sankara says: ~ there is no need to indulge in yoga, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman

~then why do you indulge in yoga.

Sage Sankara says the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by the illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, (Gnani)

~ then why you are sticking a Guru who is not a Gnani.

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 another type of meditation.

Yoga Vasistha says: ~ Self-knowledge or knowledge of truth is not had by resorting to a Guru (preceptor) nor by the study of scripture, nor by good works: it is attained only by means of inquiry inspired by the company of wise (Gnani). One’s inner light alone is the means, naught else. When this inner light is kept alive, it is not affected by the darkness of inertia. 

There is no need to condemn Gurus, but there is a need to highlight how they become an obstacle to realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Swami Vivekananda 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.”

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 to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

The real Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is the soulcentric knowledge.+

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “Advaita encompasses everything. Since Advaita requires heavy-duty intellectualism, it had to be progressively simplified.

Those that want to prove the existence of the witness; it is only in its presence, for it is awareness, that proof can be given. It is a precondition without which one cannot talk of proof. How can one prove it then? The fact that they are proving is proof of witness. The moment one thinks everything seen in the dream is consciousness then the whole experience is lit up in a flash.

The Soul, the Self is the witness. The Soul, the witness is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny the Soul because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. The Soul is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is everything. Thus, the Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Sage Sankara repeatedly pointed out that if one puts his hand in fire it is the universal experience that the fire is hot to the touch and that even if a man says it is cold, the fact of heat remains. Is this not the scientific method that seeks to base itself also on facts of realization, not what men say? 

Sage Sankara says:~ VC-162-  “There is no liberation for a person of mere book-knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense-organs, etc., which are unreal.

Without bondage to the Guru and the scriptures by blindly believing them but think for yourself. No blind belief can save you, work out your own salvation.  

Realize the ‘Self is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul.  The Soul is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God.

First, realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. Mentally hold on to the Soul and mentally reduce the world in which you exist as consciousness by realizing the world in which you exist is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness. 

The seeker of truth comes

First: hearing the truth--that the Atman is the only reality and that everything else is an illusion.

Second: reasoning upon this philosophy from all points of view.

Third: giving up all further argumentation and realizing the truth.

This realization comes from being certain that Brahman is real and everything else is unreal. 

The Soul which is present in the form of consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Thus everything is God nothing but God. 

 The Soul, the Self is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is the root element of the universe. From the consciousness, the universe comes into existence. In consciousness, the universe resides. And into the consciousness, the universe is dissolved.   Consciousness is the parent of all that is there is.

All the Gurus of the east and the west are based on the dualistic perspective. The dualistic knowledge is egocentric knowledge. All egocentric Advaita or nonduality is based on imagination. All imagined Advaita is will not help to cross the domain of form, time, and space.

The egocentric knowledge keeps the Soul in the intoxication of the ‘I’. The ‘I’ hides the whole truth.  The Gurus and the teachers of the nonduality of the east and west are stuck up with their own accepted truth gathered from here and there and  Their egoic attitude blocks than from realizing the Advaita hidden by the dvaita, which is present in the form of the ‘I’.

Mundaka Upanishads: ~ So-called spiritual pundits and learned are called children because a child takes whatever it thinks as truth. The question never occurs to children “Is what I have seen or thought really the truth?" (P.334 line 9) 

Scriptures are not needed in pursuit of truth. Even the Upanishads and the sages of truth declare the same.

The ultimate truth has to be ascertained without the scriptures by realizing the Self is neither the waking entity not the dream entity but the Self is formless Soul which is present in the form of consciousness. In the realm of the truth, form, time, and space are created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Realizing the single stuff as ultimate truth is Self-realization or truth realization. To realize this truth, there is no need for scriptures. 

The ultimate truth has to be realized first then only it is possible to know what the scriptures are saying.

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~ VC 56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by good work, nor by learning, but by the realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.

58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar but are no good for Liberation.

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence, men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

The real Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara is soulcentric knowledge.  The Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is soulcentric knowledge that destroys ignorance.

Advaita is universal. Advaita is not for sale. Do not buy Advaita from the spiritual supermarket. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the innermost Self. The world in which you exist is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Knowledge of the single stuff is Advaitic wisdom.

Advaitic truth is very simple, but it is very difficult to realize because you have accumulated mental garbage from different sources in the name of Advaita. Until you discard all the accumulated knowledge you will never be able to realize the Advaitic truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space. 

The Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the 'Self' shines on its own awareness when wisdom dawns. 

The Advaita is the Soul is the cause and the support of all that exists as the world in which we exist. Advaita is the nature of God, the  Self. 

The Advaita is present in the form of consciousness. Advaita is the root element of the universe. From the Advaita, the universe comes into existence. In the Advaita, the universe resides. And into the Advaita, the universe is dissolved. The Advaita is the parent of all that is there is. :~Santthosh Kumaar