There is no need to go to the mountains in search of the truth***

Unity is here and now, always has been and always will be. So long as one is ignorant of this truth, he will not see unity only he sees diversity.

The  Self” is neither five elements, nor any of the organs individually, nor all the elements or organs together as a whole. The body and universe exist within the waking or dream. Thus, the body and the universe are limited to the waking or dream.  The Soul, the 'Self is within the waking or dream as their formless substance and it is without the waking or the  dream as their formless witness.  If is within because the waking or dream is a merely an illusion created out of the self, which is in the form of  the consciousness. Thus, the  forms and the names within waking or dream have no value because the waking or dreams are a mere mirage created out of the consciousness.  The waking or dreams are impermanent whereas the formless substance and witness of the waking or dream are permanent.

The Soul, the innermost self ‘is   beyond the three states  because it is neither the waking entity nor it is the dream entity.  The Soul, the 'Self' exists  in its formless nondual true nature  in deep sleep without the limitation of the sense of form, time and space.  The self is attributeless, a nondual entity which alone prevails when all the three states are negated mentally. 

There is no need to go to  the mountains in search of  the truth. There is no need to meet any gurus. There is no need to renounce family life. There is no need to  study the scriptures. There is no need for glorifying the gurus.  There is a need to spend the fortune to please the gurus.  Going to mountains, searching for the guru, renouncing the family life, studying the scriptures ,glorifying the personal Gods and Gurus are the greatest obstacle in  the path of   self-realization.

One need not be a monk , a  sanyasi  or swami to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Religious orthodoxy, scriptural mastery are not a qualification to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Monkhood and sanyasa is a   great obstacle in the pursuit of truth. 

Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatara belongs to religious paths. The religious path is the path meant for ignorant who blindly accept their experience the birth,life,death and the world as reality because  the universe is the product of ignorance.

When wisdom dawns  then the unreal nature of the universe is exposed. Thus, whatever experiences take place within the universe is bound to be a falsehood. Therefore,  the  Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatars nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because they are based on the false self (ego or the waking entity) and false experience (waking). Path of wisdom is only for those who are seriously in search ultimate truth or Brahman. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana is the mother of all knowledge thus it is not accumulated knowledge.

Sage Sri, Sankara:~ VC 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 VC)

It is clear that liberation cannot be the result of good works, for Sruti itself declares that there is no hope for immortality by means of wealth.  (Verses -7 VC)

Actions help to purify the mind, but they do not, by themselves, contribute to the attainment of Reality. The attainment of the Reality brought about only by Self-Inquiry and not in the least by even ten million acts. (11 VC)

The fear and sorrow created by the delusory serpent in the rope can be ended only after fully ascertaining the truth of the rope through steady and balanced thinking. (12 VC )

Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us the knowledge about our own Self.  The firm experience of the nature of the Self is seen to proceed from inquiry along the lines of the salutary advice  of the wise. (13VC)

Ultimate success in spiritual endeavors depends chiefly upon the qualifications of the seeker.  Auxiliary conveniences such as time And place all have a place indeed, but they are essentially secondary. (14VC)

He alone is considered qualified to enquire after the supreme Reality, who has discrimination, detachment, qualities of Calmness etc., and a burning desire for liberation. The four-fold qualifications (verses 17 VC)

Great sages have spoken of four qualifications for attainment which, when present, succeed in the realization of Brahman and In the absence of which the goal is not attained. (18 VC)

(While enumerating the qualifications), first, we count the ability to discriminate between the Real and the unreal; next comes a spirit of detachment from the enjoyment of the fruits of actions here and  hereafter; after that is the groups of six virtues beginning with  Calmness; and the last is undoubtedly an intense desire for  liberation.(19 VC)

A firm conviction that Brahman alone is Real and the phenomenal World is unreal is known as discrimination between the Real and The unreal. (20 VC)

They have crossed the dreadful ocean of (embodied) existence through their own efforts and without any (personal) motives; they help others to cross it. (37VC)

The ignorant thinks that  the 'Self' is the waking entity (ego) and perceives the world without being aware of the fact that, the three states are mere illusory experience created out of consciousness. Thus, they try to judge the truth on the false entity (waking entity or ego) within the false experience (waking). Until one makes sure of the true self, it is erroneous to judge and conclude the ultimate truth on mere intellectualism.  Thus, one has to make sure of the fact that,    the self is neither the waking entity nor self is  the dream entity but the self is formless soul or consciousness, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states without the physical apparatus.

A Gnani has a firm conviction that  the “Self” is definitely neither the waking entity nor the dream entity because the waking and dream both are illusory.  The true self is formless soul or   consciousness. Consciousness is    the existence and knowledge.

Illusion’s "concealing power" merely means that when one looks at an ice block he thinks only of the ice block. But a Gnani will think of the substance of the ice block too.   That is a wise man has the knowledge of the substance plus of the ice block. Similarly, a Gnani has the knowledge of the universe and its formless substance also. The consciousness is concealed because of ignorance. 

As a man,  one is not aware of the fact that, his body, ego and his experience of the world are merely an illusion  created out of consciousness. When one becomes aware of the fact that, the universe is an illusion  then there is no body,  no ego, and no world than there is only the formless soul or   consciousness, which is the innermost self.  

One has to get firm conviction that, the Self is definitely not the waking entity because the waking experience itself is an illusion. The self is the formless substance and the witness of the three states.  The formless substance and witness is the soul or consciousness. The soul or consciousness is the innermost self.  The innermost self is without change, without any form, without any blemish, and without any decay, without disease, beyond all comprehension, beyond any change and consciousness is all pervading.

The soul, the  innermost self is without properties and without any activity; the self is permanent, forever free and imperishable.

The Soul or the consciousness is the subject. All the three states are an object to the formless subject.  And the three states are but transient experience.  The witness of the three states, is Soul, the Self.  The  Soul, the witness, is unaffected by the individual experiences happening within the waking or the  dream because it can never be lost or lose anything in itself. Thus,  nothing is lost or gained because everything is consciousness.  Therefore,  a Gnani sees only the consciousness in everything and everywhere in all the three states.  Thus, for Gnani there is no second thing exists other than the  consciousness.