The true nature of things is to be known personally, through the eye of clear illumination, and not through a sage: what the moon exactly is, is to be known with one's own eyes; can others make him know it?

In most of the spiritual group or discussion forums, there are no discussions on the subject matter, but most of the people indulge in making point or getting their point across to be heard and making observations from their own limited viewpoint from their accumulated knowledge based on the false self.

By getting rid of Ignorance one can acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.   But he has got none but himself to remove his ignorance.

One may find solution for his worldly problems by others, but self-knowledge has to be acquired none but one's own self.

Sri, Sankara says in (VC) :-

54. The true nature of things is to be known personally, through the eye of clear illumination, and not through a sage: what the moon exactly is, is to be known with one's own eyes; can others make him know it?

55. Who but one's own self can get rid of the bondage caused by the fetters of Ignorance, desire, action and the like, aye even in a hundred crore of cycles ?

405. The Shrutis themselves declare that this dualistic universe is but a delusion from the standpoint of Absolute Truth. This is also experienced in the state of dreamless sleep.

407. This apparent universe has its root in the mind, and never persists after the mind is annihilated. Therefore dissolve the mind by concentrating it on the Supreme Self, which is thy inmost Essence.

First the seeker has to realize his inherited religious conditioning [samskaras] is greatest obstacle in self-realization. 

The ultimate truth is one without the second, the one is not in the sense half or two, but the one that remain forever One, without the second.  The consciousness is all pervading; there is no place where consciousness is not.

Consciousness is in everyone, consciousness is in everything. Consciousness is one behind many. Consciousness alone is. It means the universe is the visible form of consciousness. Formless and colourless is consciousness’s creative and impulsive imagination to know itself as omnipresent, infinite and eternal. Consciousness in turn is  invisible form of the universe. 

 

When Sri,Sankara says the world is illusion, it includes birth, life and death, which happens within the world. Thus seekers main aim is to mentally trace the formless substance of the illusion, which is also the witness of the illusion. The formless substance and witness of the illusion (universe) is the Atman, and this Atman itself is Brahman. This Brahman cannot be attained by indulging in egocentric religious orthodoxies. The knower of Brahman is Brahmin not the Brahmin who indulges in priest craft, which leads one to utter darkness as per Yajur Veda.

Brahmin is the one who has realized the Brahman or Gnani  [ultimate truth] and helps fellow seekers towards inner path. The one who knows Brahman knows his body and his experience of the world are mere illusion and also he knows his body and his experience of the world are also as Atman [consciousness], which is Brahman. Thus, the priest craft which are crafted on the body based theories will lead one to hallucinated moksha. But real moksha or freedom is possible only through non-dual wisdom.

Thus it is necessary to follow the path of Brahman not the path of the priest- craft. Only by dropping all the accumulated priest crafted baggage, one has to move forward to reach the Advaitic or  non-dual destination in lesser time and effort.

Consciousness is not different from mind or physical existence(man+world). The substance and witness of the mind or physical existence  is consciousness.  The consciousness is the true self and when one limits the consciousness to the physical entity, it becomes ego and ego is the cause of experiencing the duality as reality. Ego is the cause of the ignorance of formless non-dual nature of the consciousness.  Prior to experience of duality or mind, there is only consciousness. The ego is part of the experience of duality.  The consciousness can remain with or without the experience of duality but ego ceases to exist without the experience of duality  or mind. The mind is fully dependent on consciousness, whereas the consciousness is independent.   Therefore there is need to understand what is mind and what is substance of the mind in order to assimilate the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.