The religious idea of salvation is the ultimate motivation for all religious practice but spiritual salvation is real salvation, and it comes only through Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana.

The seeker can never rest on his oars. He has to proceed constantly -- 'to strive, to seek, to find and not yield. Deeper self-search helps to remove the obstacle which blocking from realization of the  soul, the innermost self. 

Leading a life in   strict accordance with moral and ethical codes confers a great satisfaction in practical life within the practical world but it leads to into spiritual inactivity and stagnation. The religious idea of salvation is the ultimate motivation for all religious practice but  spiritual salvation is  real salvation, and it  comes only through  Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

The religious orthodox  will not be able to grasp, understand, assimilate and realize the non-dualistic or Advaitic  truth, because they are egocentric. The religious orthodox  rejects  all talks of illusion. The realist believes in a vast universe of material things, there are an infinite number of finite conscious souls inhabiting material bodies and there is a God. They are incapable of grasping non-dualistic  awareness because of their awareness is limited to physicality. And they take their physical experience as reality without verifying the fact that, the self is not physical. If  their reason is based on the physical self  then they will not be able to realize the non-dualistic or Advaitic  truth.

In addition they follow the path of devotion to the imaginary entity as god and love for the imagined God. Devotion demands distinction between the devotee and the Deity. Thus the duality prevails. Till  the duality is there is no reality because duality hides the reality. Thus, they will remain believing the false self (waking entity)as real self and false experience(waking)  as reality and get in the bondage of birth, life, death and the world and permanently remain in the prison of ignorance believing the ignorance as reality.

Religious realists  hold that,  the  universe of souls and material objects, the very universe one can see through see with himself as he turns his gaze inwards, is actually the body of the God. Just as the human soul is the animator and the controller of its body, so the God is the animator and the controller of the illusory  universe. God penetrates every atom of it; he is inseparable from it. Furthermore, there is no other reality anywhere besides this all-pervading God.

For realist the souls and things are essentially different from God, not just apparent, and they will always be different. As realist think god is immeasurably raised above all possibility of anyone being equal or superior to God. God besides pervading all, love all. God delights in attracting souls to Himself. God’s mercy extends to all cast down to the lowliest. All one has to do is to surrender his will to the god. And sooner or later every soul will—in the end no soul will want to resist his free grace. Thus realist believes in universal salvation. This belief is consistent with their view that all soul start with the same spiritual apparatus. None is privileged when brought forth into manifestation. What differentiates one from another is choices each makes, their respective actions, over the course of many lives. And just as they all start out the same, they end up the same when finally from the cycle of birth and death. They think no soul is superior to another.

All these religious realist theories based on the false self (ego) considering the false experience (waking) as reality. All these theories are good for the mass mindset that is incapable of verifying the validity of their own existence.

Deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning revel the fact that, the self is not physical but the self is the formless soul, which is in the form of consciousness. Therefore, on the base of the soul (consciousness) as self the physical existence [mind] is a mere mirage created out of consciousness. Thus consciousness alone is real and alleles are mere mirage.

  
Thus, by accepting himself as devotee of a deity or disciple of some guru one has accepted himself as an individual separate from the world. By accepting himself as an individual he remains ignorant of the reality, which is hidden within the mind which appears as waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (non-duality). The one which is aware of the appearance and disappearance of the mind is not the form but it is formless. The formless knower is consciousness. The consciousness is the formless substance and the witness of the mind (I).

One who has immersed in the intoxication of ignorance has to overcome the intoxication of illusion by seeking truth directly by inquiring into the nature of the mind and learn the truth of the soul, which is in the form of consciousness.

  
The ignorance is the source of duality. And duality is the cause of illusion. Illusion is cause of experiencing unreality as reality. Therefore, one has to eradicate the ignorance completely through knowledge of true self, which is consciousness. To freedom there is no entrance except nondualistic or Advaitic  wisdom.

Devotion and yoga are based on the false self [ego] therefore they are not the means to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The ignorance lifts only on the rise of non-dual wisdom. It is impossible to cross the threshold of duality without the knowledge of the soul, which is in the form of consciousness. Nondualistic or Advaitic  wisdom means the full and firm realization beyond all doubts, confusions, change, contradictions.

Neither by regulating the breath nor by deeds, nor by glorifying god or gurus, nor scriptural studies one gets non-dual wisdom, because all of them are based on the ego. Whatever is related to ego is ignorance

The non-dual wisdom originates when one starts identifying his - self with the consciousness by realizing the fact that, the self is not physical. And when the focus of attention of the self turns on itself, then the three states are mere mirage created out of the consciousness. There is no second thing exists other than consciousness.

One should not accept anything as truth without verification.

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.

A Gnani keeps on explaining again and again tirelessly , patiently from various angles adapted to the level of understanding of the seeker. 

The objective of spiritual advancement is to free from physical -consciousness.

The objective of spiritual advancement is to free from physical -consciousness. If the seeker has great things to his credit, which he has claimed as his, his ego fastens itself upon these achievements and constitutes a formidable hindrance to realization of the non-dual truth.


It is, therefore, most necessary for the seeker to keep free from the idea authorship of doer ship because self is not physical but it is formless. This does not mean to keep clear of all activity through fear of developing this form of the ego. He may have to take to the life of action to wear out the ego that he has developed. So he is caught up in the dilemma that if he keeps inactive he does nothing towards breaking through the prison of his ego-life, and if he takes to a life of action, he is faced with the possibility of his ego being transferred to these new acts.


Treading the spiritual path is not like riding a saddled horse. It requires the utmost attention since the path affords no halting places or room for expansion of the physical -life. He who enters the path can neither remain where he is nor afford to lose his balance, but is like one who attempts to walk on the edge of a sword.


The seeker must realize the fact that, he and his experience of the world are part and parcel of the illusion and the formless substance and witness of the illusion is the spirit, which is the true self. The spirit is real and all else is mere illusion.


By learning to reason on the base of the soul as self, he will be able to overcome all the obstacle, doubts and confusion in pursuit of truth.


The beginning of spiritual advancement is conditioned by the quest for that goal for which seeker strives for. it may take a long time before he arrives at the mountain top of truth-realization; and the path is beset by pitfalls and precipices. Those who attempt to reach this mountain top have to climb, and even one who has succeeded in scaling great heights may by a slight mistake fall from them. Therefore, the seeker is never safe unless he has the help and guidance to overcome all the obstacles. Seeker has to safeguards himself from a possible fall, and leads himself to the goal.


The seeker carries with him the conditionings, which he has inherited and accumulated in the past, and in the intensity of his spiritual longing he remains ineffective for the time being. But when there is a slackening of spiritual effort, the conditioning gather fresh strength, and arraying themselves in a new formation constitutes formidable obstacles to spiritual advancement.