Nothing is needed other than perfect understanding of what is what is needed.

Swami Vivekananda:- BY LOVING ALL BEINGS AS THE TEMPLES OF GOD. HE RESIDES WITHIN THEM. THUS, WITH THAT INTENSE LOVE WILL COME KNOWLEDGE, AND IGNORANCE WILL DISAPPEAR, THE BONDS WILL BREAK, AND THE SOUL WILL BE FREE.

The soul is also sexless; we cannot say of the Atman that it is a man or a woman. Sex belongs to the body alone. All such ideas, therefore, as man or woman, are a delusion when spoken with regard to the Self, and are only proper when spoken of the body. So are the ideas of age. It never ages; the ancient One is always the same. How did It come down to earth? There is but one answer to that in our scriptures. Ignorance is the cause of all this bondage. It is through ignorance that we have become bound; knowledge will cure it by taking us to the other side. How will that knowledge come? Through love, Bhakti; by the worship of God, by loving all beings as the temples of God. He resides within them. Thus, with that intense love will come knowledge, and ignorance will disappear, the bonds will break, and the soul will be free. - The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 3/Lectures from Colombo to Almora/Vedantism

“Self” is neither the male nor female. It is formless permanent and eternal and apart.  It is apart because “Self “is not an entity or identity within the waking or dream. Thus the individual experiences within the waking experience are as real as dream.  If one has sex in dream and dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place, similarly when one realizes the true self is not physical the waking also becomes unreal. The dream is parallel waking experience.  And waking experience is parallel dream.  If one views and judges and concludes the truth on the base of birth entity, with name, then   he will remain in intellectuality, which is limited to physicality.   The sex is nothing to do with self, which is in the form of spirit. The self is present in all the three states as its formless substance and witness, whereas the physical self is present only in waking or dream, not in deep sleep.  Thus the one which is aware of all the three states is not physical but the spirit, which is apart and eternal. 

The ignorance is the cause of experiencing all sorrow and calamities as reality. Thus eradicating the ignorance completely is necessary. And this is possible only through Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.   Thus, there is no other road to freedom other than Gnana.  There is no other entrance other than except Gnana.  The ignorance will vanish only when the non-dual wisdom dawns. 

 Sri Sankara, in Bhaja Govindam says: - [Jnana Viheena Sarva Mathena Bajathi na Muktim janma Shatena] - one without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows. 

Thus it proves that religion is not the means to self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

A Gnani never considers himself as a Gnani. A Gnani do not consider himself as wise and others are less wise. No one is wise or less wise in in pursuit of truth. The inner revolution starts within and ends within. Gnani is neither a scriptural scholar nor he is a philosopher.  Gnani neither a teacher nor he has any teaching.  He silently works and helps the fellow seekers inspiring them guiding them towards inner reality in his own way. The scholar will remain as scholars and philosophers will remain as philosophers and intellectual remains as intellectuals arguing on their point of view. I am not propagating any philosophy because philosophy is nothing to do with pursuit of truth.  

Gnani respects all the sages of truth of the past. Sharing the knowledge is his only mission.  Inspiring the serious and sincere seekers of truth and divert their attention towards the inward reality is very much necessary.  Seekers should not hold any teacher or teaching or wise men as a yardstick and indulge in argument instead try to list out the doubts and confusion arises from that teaching or declaration and try to find answer independently on their own, which opens the inner dialogue, and the inner discrimination will start on its own in subconscious, and then the truth will start revealing on its own without intellectual spoon feeding. It is not my advice but it is my humble suggestion because the advice comes from the ego and suggestion comes from the inner core of the existence.  

There is no need to follow anyone. If one wants Brahman follow the inner guru not Hinduism.  If one wants ultimate truth follow Christ within not Christianity.  If one wants Nirvana follow Buddha not Buddhism.  By glorifying the form and name of the sages will not yield truth. Deeper self-search is needed in order to realize what is what. It is not the man who has to get self-realization but it is the self that has to realize it is not the man and the world but it is consciousness. Thus it is the self, which has urge for freedom from this illusory prison called universe or mind.  

The universe will not vanish, when wisdom dawns, only the ignorance disappears and unreal nature of the universe or mind or waking is exposed, same way as the unreal nature of the dream exposed when waking takes place. The wisdom dawns in the midst of duality because in reality there is no duality. 

Nothing is needed other than perfect understanding of what is what is needed.