Since people think the ‘I’ as the self, it becomes difficult to grasp and assimilate and realize the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth.

Many people are not even aware what is consciousness; though knowing of it, many do not comprehend. Only few expound the knowledge of consciousness and very rare assimilate and realize it.  It is all because of their inherited religious and social background and grooming.

 There is a need to dismantle the inherited physical structure mentally to overcome the duality. The whole physical structure is built on the foundation of the ‘I’. Since people  think the ‘I’ as the self, it becomes difficult to grasp and assimilate and realize the non-dualistic or  Advaitic  truth.

The ‘I’, appears and disappears as mind (waking or dream) is impermanent, hence it is not the self. The formless knower of the ‘I’ (waking or dream) is the true self. Since people think whatever is propagated by the guru or yogi  or sages of the past as ultimate truth and blindly accept it as truth, without verifying the validity of their  teaching. This blind acceptance becomes a big hindrance in pursuit of truth. If one is seeking truth, one has to verify the validity of any claim through inquiry, analysis and reasoning on the true base, and accept only un -contradictable truth.

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. 

’I’ is not Self and Self is not 'I '. 'I ' is bound by form, time and space. Without the form, time and space 'I' cease to exist. Holding 'I’ as Self one remains in clutches of duality. When there is duality than there is ignorance. Ignorance is cause of experiencing the duality (illusion) as reality. The one who identifies the Self as 'I', will not be able to cross the threshold of duality. There is no point in saying 'I ' this or 'I AM THAT' because the 'self' is that which witnesses the 'I ' and the world together without the physical apparatus.

Gnana when taught by an unqualified person is not easily comprehended, because it is diversely regarded by disputants. But when it is taught by him who has become one with Atman  there can remain no more doubt about It. Atman is subtler than the subtlest and not to be known through argument.

Self- Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana  cannot be attained by  egocentric reasoning .  One has to attain Self- Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana  right now in this very life not in next world or next life.

Gnani, by means of concentration on the formless soul, the innermost self  realizes that ancient, effulgent hidden and which dwells and pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states as its formless substance and witness.

The knowing the 'Self'  is not born; it does not die. It has not sprung from anything; nothing has sprung from It. Birth- less, eternal, everlasting and ancient, it is not killed when the body is killed or when the world disappears.  If the murderer thinks he kills and if the killed man thinks he is killed, neither of these apprehends aright. The Self kills not, nor is it killed.

Atman exists in smaller than the small, greater than the great, and is hidden within the three states as their  formless substance and witness. A man who is free from viewing and judging the worldview on the base of ‘I’ beholds the Self through awareness  and becomes free from experiencing the duality as reality.

Gnani, having realized Atman as dwelling within impermanent states is bodiless, pervades the three states as its formless substance and witness and permanent and eternal.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana cannot be acquired by the study of the scriptures, or by intelligence, or by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals its own form.

He who has not rectified his reasoning  base from the ‘I’(form or ego) base to  'I-LESS" (formless or soul) base  and  who does not have the intense urge to know the non-dualistic or Advaitic  truth and who is not tranquil and subdued and whose mind is not receptive , cannot acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. It is realized only through soul-centric reasoning. 

The seeker has to have courage to accept the truth and reject the untruth. Most people will not be able to subscribe to path of truth because they sentimentally and emotionally involved with their inherited belief system and even if one does he has to overcome all his doubts confusion and despair.  These are problem for the seekers who are from religious back ground because of their conditioning and they are made to accept their blind belief as truth and their interest or insight is not deep. 

It becomes difficult for the orthodox cult to accept anything else as truth other than their accepted belief, which they hold as truth. Although all religious followers are participants alike in the spiritual endeavor of the world, overzealous   followers of each religion are not prepared to accord equal status to other faiths and assert the superiority of their own. Thus universal brother hood is total impossibility because it is difficult to accept anything other than their inherited belief system.        

Intense inner longing to know the ultimate truth will guide the seeker, he needs no other guide. People who think by worshiping their gurus as God in human form in order to get self-realization are unaware of the fact that, accepting someone as guru and himself as disciple is greatest obstacle in the path of truth. The person who accepts himself as guru is not a Gnani, because he has already accepted self as body whereas the self is not the body. The person who accepts himself as disciple of some guru also considers his self as body thus; it becomes a great hindrance in path of truth.