This is your bondage that you are stuck up to the ‘I-centric' Gurus and their teachings. ‘I-centric' teachings are lower knowledge meant for lower stages.+

This is your bondage that you are stuck up to the ‘I-centric'  Gurus and their teachings. ‘I-centric' teachings are lower knowledge meant for lower stages.

The seeker has to ignore these ‘I-centric' teaching and search for higher knowledge. ... Such teachings are unsafe rafts for crossing the ocean of ignorance. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross the ocean of the ignorance on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise in their own esteem, these deluded people proud of their vain learning go round and round like the blind led by the blind.

The Soul, the innermost Self is verily Brahman (God), being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Awareness. The Soul is not the ‘I’ which is non-existence itself. Realization of this truth is called Self- Knowledge by the Sages of truth.

There is nothing exist prior to consciousness. The ‘I’ cease to exist without consciousness. The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ ‘The permanent (consciousness) is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole.

Bhagvad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16

First, you must make sure the ‘I’ itself is illusory because the ‘I’ is not permanent.

The seeker has to find for himself the truth of his true existence and to come to a fuller and deeper understanding and realization of the truth, which is hidden by the illusory form, time, and space.

The purpose quest for truth is to first find out what is the untruth to realize the truth and discard the untruth.

Do not try to get rid of the ego you will never succeed in getting rid of the ego. Think in a different direction. The ego exists only in the domain of the form, time, and space.

The form, time, and space exist only when the mind exists.

The mind exists only when the universe exists.

The universe appears only when the waking appears.

The waking appears only when the ‘I’ appears.

Remember:~

The ‘I’ disappears in deep sleep.

There is no form, time, and space when ‘I’ disappears.

There is no mind when ‘I’ disappears.

There is no universe when the ‘I’ disappears.

There is no waking when the ‘I’ disappears.

Remember:~

‘I’ appears means the duality appears.

The duality appears means there is the division of form, time and space.

If there is division in the form of time and space means there is diversity in the unity.

Remember ~

When ‘I’ disappears there is nonduality.

Nonduality is the fullness of consciousness without the division of form, time, and space.

The fullness of consciousness means unity in diversity.

Unity in diversity in consciousness is Advaita.

Consciously becoming aware of the Soul in the midst of diversity (waking) is Self- awareness or Brahmic awareness.

If you desire Self-realization, but you still say "I,” and if you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, you are not a wise seeker. You are simply ignorant. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

A clear-cut understanding and realization of a ‘what is what’ is Awakening.+

Awakening is nothing but a complete, perfect understanding, assimilation, and realization of what is what.

A clear-cut understanding and realization of a ‘what is what’ is awakening. Reality is not to be achieved; it is there as it is.

After this perfect understanding, assimilation, and realization, nothing is required.

And we expect "awakening" to be some great, mysterious happening! "Reality is not to be achieved; it is there” as it is, as unchangeable existence hidden by the changeable illusion.

Spiritual awakening happens when the Soul, the ‘Self’ remains in its own awareness. Spiritual Awakening does not involve losing your practical life within the practical world but only exposes the unreal nature of the world in which you exist.

There is no need to fear losing the world in which you exist. In ‘Self’-awareness the illusory bondage of form, time, and space becomes an illusion in the midst of the form, time, and space.

Nothing is lost. People think if they accept the world as an illusion they are going to lose (things, homes, jobs, careers, family, friends, etc.).

The Dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place. The waking becomes unreal when Advaitic wisdom dawns. Advaitic wisdom dawns, when the Soul, the  ‘Self’ remains in its own awareness.

Spiritual awakening when the seeker has a full and firm conviction of ‘what is the truth?’ and ‘what is ‘what is untruth?’

Remember:~

It is for the seeker to go on his own and remove all the obstacles, which is blocking the realization of the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space

The greatest hindrance is mixing religion, God, scriptures, and yogic theories. Moreover, attachment to scriptures, personal God, and religious code of conduct keep one permanently in the grip of the dualistic illusion.

Embark on the journey of the truth; it frees the Soul from the illusion of 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, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Self-inquiry is to realize the ‘Self’ is not ‘I’ but the ‘self is the ‘I-LESS Soul’, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Remember: ~

You are not the ‘Self.

You are bound by form, time, and space.

You are bound by the experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

You are never free because the world in which you exist is the product of ignorance.

It is not you who is in ignorance but it is the Soul, which is in ignorance of its own true nature.

When the Soul wakes up from its sleep of ignorance and remains in its own awareness the world in which you exist becomes one with Soul-awareness.

When ignorance vanishes through wisdom then the world in which you exist never again prevails as a reality.

The world in which you exist is created out of single clay. That single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The Soul is the Self. The Soul is not ‘I’. The Soul is the witness of the ‘I’ which appears and disappears.

The Soul is the only permanent thing and the ‘I’ is merely an illusion. If you do not understand this truth you will never be able to cross the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion.

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes.

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ “The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self.

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal.

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ “If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take as real because some Gurus have propagated the Self is the ‘I’. is no need to convince such mindsets. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.

Advaita is the true nature of existence. The ‘I’ hides the Advaitic reality. Realize the ‘I’ is merely an illusion created out of consciousness, which is Advaita. 

Consciousness is Advaita because it is second to none. The world in which you exist is the dvaita (duality) is merely an illusion created out of consciousness, which is Advaita. The Advaita (non-duality) is real and eternal the dvaita (duality) is merely an illusion.

Holding ‘I’ as the ‘Self’ is the cause of ignorance. Realize the ‘I’ is merely an illusion. Stop identifying the Self as ‘I’ or ‘I AM’. Till you identify the Self as ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ the Soul will remain in the cage of ignorance. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

To love God you must know what God supposed to be in actuality. The religious Gods are merely belief not God in actuality.+

To love God you must know what God is supposed to be in actuality. The religious Gods are based on blind belief not God in actuality.

Meher Baba said: ~ To love God as he ought to be loved, we must live for God and die for God, knowing that the goal of life is to know God and find him as our own Self.

To realize God is to attain liberation from the bondage of illusion.

Live only to find and realize your true identity with your Beloved God.

The energy which is expended in mere thinking, talking, or writing is like steam that escapes through the whistle of a railway engine …

That is why the sages have always insisted on practice rather than theory. This applies particularly to those who want to know and realize God.

~ It means one has to know and realize the Soul the ‘Self ‘ is God and identify it as the real ‘Self’ to find liberation from the bondage of the illusory experience of the birth, life, death, and the world (duality).

The goal of our life is to find and realize our identity with God, which is the Soul, the Self.

Realize God in truth.

Religious Gods are based on blind faith or blind belief. Blind belief-based Gods are not God in truth. Religious God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul the Self’ is the center of all that exists. 

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.

Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit, and they that worship God must worship God 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.

There is no God but God. There is no God because the world in which we exist is merely an illusion created out of God, the Spirit. Call it by any name God is universal. God belongs to the whole of humanity. Religion creates separation God is unity in diversity. 

God is one which the cause of the whole world in which humanity exists. there is no God but God means the world in which we exist is an illusion the GOD is the cause of the world is real and eternal. God alone is real and all else is an illusion. There is a second thing that exists other than the Spirit, the God thus, God is Advaita.

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.

God with form, name, and attributes does not find any support from the Vedas.

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 besides 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 constituted the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman, and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage  Sankara is impersonal.

Even  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 in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Even 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)

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says:~ "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) 

Remember:~ 

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is the fairest flower of wisdom in the world. Sage  Sankara says 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.

Advaita is not philosophy. Advaita is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. The nature of God is Advaita. 

All the teaching propagated by some gurus are adulterated with theories, tradition, and religions are not Advaitic wisdom. Advaita Gnana is Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (Advaitic wisdom) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but the philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita –Chap- IV-v.2)

In Advaitic reality, there is neither God nor Goddess but only consciousness. Consciousness is God in truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The Advaitic wisdom is hidden by Sage Sankara has to be discovered by the seekers.+

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).

Sage Sankara:~ 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)

The Advaitic wisdom is hidden by Sage Sankara has to be discovered by the seekers. 

That is why Sage Sankara: ~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.

Therefore the seeker should personally strive by all the means to be free from the bondage of experiencing the dualistic illusion as a reality.

In fact, Sage Sankara states a paradox- the world is and is not. It is neither real nor unreal. It leads us to recognize the existence of Maya (illusion). He thinks that the world is illusory from one perspective and from the second it is nothing but Brahman(God), Itself in manifestation. This apparent world is Maya and has its basis in Brahman, the Eternal. It looks as real. It has names and forms and actually, it is not real In the light of true knowledge, it disappears and Self-alone shines as real. However, Sage Sankara's Mayavada has not been accepted by many preachers and philosophers.

When Sage Sankara says clearly, the universe is not real. He says that Brahman and Atman are one. The ultimate and the Absolute Truth is the Self, which is one though appearing as many in different individuals. The individual has no reality. Only the Soul, the innermost  Self is Real; the rest, mental and physical are but passing appearances, then it indicates the form (waking or duality or mind) is unreal and the formless soul (consciousness or soul) is real.  Therefore, only Atman is real because there is no second thing that exists other than Atman, which is in the form of consciousness.

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.

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

All sect-based beliefs are dualistic and unphilosophical nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. In spirituality the ultimate truth is God. Thus, the Advaitic orthodoxy is a sect is nothing to do with the Advaitic wisdom of the Sage Sri, Sankara. Advaitic orthodox sect is meant for the ignorant populace. 

A scholar is proud that he has accumulated so much knowledge; Gnani is humble that he knows no more.

Sage Sankara:~ 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.

Remember:~

Freedom means freedom from ignorance. It is not you who is seeking freedom. It is the Soul, the Self which seeks freedom from ignorance.

Shun the ignorance which is present in the form ‘I’ and thinks the ignorance is like poison.

Turn your attention to the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Free the Soul, the Self from the illusory prison of the form, time, and space.

When you realize the ‘Self is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul automatically the world in which you exist losses its luster of the reality.

Remember: you are the false self within the dualistic illusion, which is present in the form of the ‘I’. without the ‘I’ you, and the world in which you exist ceases to exist. So do not limit the ‘I’ to an individual because ‘Self is not ‘I’ because the ‘I’ is a whole dualistic illusion.

If you are not the ‘Self’ but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, then how can you say ‘I AM THAT’ when the Self is not you but the Soul.

Perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-realization. Holding ‘I-centric’ gurus and their teaching as final blocks Self-realization.

If you are the seeker of truth, then you must accept only the truth, not the ‘I-centric or you-centric knowledge, which is half-baked knowledge. The ‘I-centric or ‘you-centric’ is not Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

The ‘I’ hides the reality of existence. The nature of existence is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. There is no ‘I’ in reality. The ‘I’ is merely an illusion. Whatever belongs to the ‘I’ is an illusion.

The ‘I’ is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. ‘I’ is not the subject. The ‘I’ is an object to the Soul, which is the formless, timeless, and spaceless subject.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16

If the ‘I’ is an illusion, then the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then three states, are bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the form, time, and space are bound to be an illusion.

If I’ is an illusion then the individual experience of birth, life, death is bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion, then the words and thoughts are bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion, then the duality is bound to be an illusion.

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. The ‘I’ itself is ignorance. The ‘I’ itself is a dualistic illusion.

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal.

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10: ~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," if you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, you are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take as real because some Gurus have propagated the Self is the ‘I’. is no need to convince such a mindset. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.

That is why Sage Sankara says:~ VC-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.

People refuse to accept anything other than their Gurus words. For them, their Gurus words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.

Such a mindset is not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Athma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth.

Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara has dynamic, direct, universal appeal.: ~ Santthosh Kumaar

Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara;s Advaitic wisdom is not ‘I-centric’ knowledge but the knowledge of the true existence.+

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

Advaitic wisdom is not any type of teaching or philosophy. Advaitic wisdom Sage  Sankara is not ‘I-centric’ knowledge but the knowledge of true existence. Advaita is the nature of the Soul, the ‘Self’ which is present in the form of consciousness. Advaita is the ultimate reality, Brahman, or GOD.

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.

We have to discard orthodox Advaita prescription in order to discover pure Advaitic essence.

Sage Sankara says: ~ V.63 ~ "Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know 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.

Sage Sankara says in the commentary on the Vedanta sutra that what is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.

Seeker of truth should not believe blindly in Orthodox Advaita without verifying all the facts from every angle. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process.

Sage Sankara: ~ “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.

The universe is the product of ignorance. The ignorance is present in the form of the ‘I’.

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 that 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.

Remember:~ 

Perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads to Self-awareness. By holding on to 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. 

Remember 

India is the ancient land, where wisdom made its home India whose soil has been trodden by the feet of the greatest sages of truth like Bhagavan Buddha, Sage  Sankara, and Sage Goudpada.

India is the fountainhead of Advaitic wisdom. Advaitic wisdom is brighter, greater which unfolds the mystery of the universe, which contains the whole of humanity.

The goal of the truth-seeker is to acquire Self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is inherent in every seeker of truth. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana does not come from outside, it is hidden within the world in which we exist.

Advaitic wisdom cannot be acquired by the study of the scriptures and intellectual understanding or by bookish knowledge. Therefore, there is no use in studying the scriptures and philosophy in order to acquire the Advaitic wisdom. That is why Bhagavan  Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sage Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion, the concept of God, and the scriptures. : ~Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara was identified as Guru with parampara by religious people. For the truth seekers, Sage Sankara was Sage of universal order or Brahma Gnani. +

As regards bodily and sensual activity, there is no difference between the Gnani and the ignorant man. You cannot distinguish former from latter because he does not permit such distinctions to appear. Only pretenders show such external works or claims.

People think a Gnani is the one sitting idle, remote from worldly concerns but such idea of sitting idle, remote from worldly concerns is for the yogic idea is nothing to do with a Gnani.

Gnani acts and works in the world as others. You ought not to judge Gnanis by conventional or supernatural morality.

Whilst misunderstanding the doctrine, people must not know that the Gnani differs from them or various troubles will arise. So he tries to be one with them. Moreover, it encourages seekers to believe that attainment is not so difficult after all.

Even friends and family members of a Gnani will not know him as the Gnani. Due to ignorance, people will not be able to recognize a Gnani. Outwardly the Gnani behaves as an ordinary person behaves.  A Gnani talks and jokes like others, but he is not understood as he really is. People may regard him as an exceptional person, but only a few can recognize him as a Gnani

Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."

So he 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 was  Sage of universal order or   Brahma Gnani.

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

A Gnani wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior."

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

Sage Sankara “Sometimes Gnani appears to be a Fool, sometimes a wise man. Sometimes he seems splendid as a king, sometimes feeble-minded. Sometimes he is calm and silent. Sometimes he draws men to him. Sometimes people honor him greatly, sometimes they insult him. Sometimes they ignore him.

An ignorant observation is based on a dualistic (matter or body or ego) perspective, whereas a Gnanis judgment is based on the nondualistic (Soul or Spirit or consciousness) perspective. 

A Gnani is one who sees the three states in equanimity because he is fully aware of the fact that all the three states are merely an illusion created out of the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. A Gnani sees everything as consciousness, even though he is in the midst of diversity.   

A Gnani sees only unity in diversity, just like a goldsmith estimating the gold in various items of jewelry sees only gold. When one identifies the Self with the form then only the form, time and space are present. But when one transcends form, time, and space the duality never remains as a reality.

A Gnani says everything exists (illusion) but everything is created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.   Everything rises from the Soul or consciousness and subsides as the Soul, the consciousness. Thus, the whole diversity has no relevance, from the standpoint of the Soul as the Self.

Everything (universe or illusion or matter) is the Soul or consciousness realizing the three states are created out of consciousness.

Awareness is the nature of the Soul, the consciousness because there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.   Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

Remember:~ 

The Gnani will neither talk too volubly like shallow persons nor keep complete silence.  He will talk as much as is necessary but no more.

Silence really means keep quiet in controversial discussions because one does not know what anyone has in his mind and without semantic analysis, it is all useless, so silence is better.

In pursuit of truth, silence means thinking constantly of the formless as against the universe. Word and thought always imply duality, the object, whereas the subject, formless witness, or consciousness is beyond both words and thought.

The physical silence practiced by yogis is a sign of their ignorance because they are thinking of tongue and lips, i.e. body, and not of the formless witness, which is consciousness. However, it is useful to those who are not seeking truth as a discipline. The yogic silence was intended only for the ignorant, who are unfit for the path of wisdom.

Consciousness is wrapped in the meaning of words. Semantics aim at clarifying meanings but AUM ultimately shows you that all words are futile because they cannot express the ultimate nature of anything: Nondualistic  Silence alone does this.

There is no need to renounce the worldly life and take sannyasa or monkhood in order to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana the practical life is nothing to do with the innermost self. One must lead normal lives, striving for excellence in his practical life, and inwardly strive to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Never mix up both and trying to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman because when one realizes the truth the form, time and space are merely an illusion. That is the practical life within the practical world is merely an illusion. 

As one advances within through perfect understanding, assimilating the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana and beholds truth within him, he realizes the waking experience is illusory play.

The Soul or Consciousness is the witness that experiences the action, the actor, and the world of separate things. It is like a light that illuminates everything in a theatre, revealing the master of ceremonies, the guests, and the dancers with complete impartiality. Even when they all depart, the light shines to reveal their absence.

What is not consciousness (formless) in the experience of diversity (waking)?  The waking and the dream cease to exist without consciousness.  The seeker, seeking and his destination all are one in essence.

Sage Sankara says ~ "The knower of Brahman wears no signs and also  asks in effect "Tell us what you know, show it, and let us examine it under the mental microscope." 

It means we must bring notions and beliefs out of vagueness into clearness. It also criticizes the mystics who claim superior knowledge but who cannot communicate it for purposes of verification.

Sage Sankara:~ On Gnani: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life,…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior." : ~Santthosh Kumaar