By sticking up to your religion, caste, religious Gods and Gurus it is not possible to transcend from the dualistic illusion to nondualistic reality.+

Sage Sankara: ~ “VC~ All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman (Consciousness) which is absolutely free from all the limitations of Maya.

Sage Sankara:~  Brahman is real; the world is illusory - Vivekachudamani

When you finally realize the ‘‘Self’ ‘is not you but the ‘‘Self’’ is the Soul then you will realize the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Sage Sankara: ~ VC~.63: "Without knowing and examining the universe, one can’t know the Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, in something detrimental to our spiritual progress. 

Until you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward the ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there the universe prevails as reality.

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then why you are indulging in other types of meditation. 

Perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads Self-awareness.   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. The consciousness is concealed because of ignorance. As a man, one is not aware 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 then there is only the formless, timeless, and spaceless Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.

All is consciousness.  The whole universe is consciousness. From consciousness, the universe comes. When the universe disappears,  consciousness still remains without form, time, and space.

Sage Sankara: ~ “VC~ All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman (Consciousness) which is absolutely free from all the limitations of Maya.

When you finally realize the Self ‘is not you but the Self is the Soul then you will realize the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Sage Sankara says:~ VC-47 All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the non-self.

Until you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward the ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there the universe prevails as reality. 

Till you realize the whole universe is an illusion you will not be able to realize the Self hidden by the illusory universe.

In fact, Sage Sankara states a paradox- the world is and is not. It is neither real nor unreal. It leads us to recognize the existence of Maya (illusion). He thinks that the world is illusory from one perspective and from the second it is nothing but Brahman(God), Itself in manifestation. This apparent world is Maya and has its basis in Brahman, the Eternal. It looks as real. It has names and forms and actually, it is not real In the light of true knowledge, it disappears and Self-alone shines as real. However, Sage Sankara's Mayavada has not been accepted by many preachers and philosophers.

When Sage Sankara says clearly, the universe is not real. He says that Brahman and Atman are one. The ultimate and the Absolute Truth is the Self, which is one though appearing as many in different individuals. The individual has no reality. Only the Soul, the  Self is Real; the rest, mental and physical are but passing appearances, then it indicates the form (waking or duality or mind) is unreal and the invisible Soul (consciousness) is real.  Therefore, only Atman is real because there is no second thing that exists other than Atman, which is in the form of consciousness.

Remember:~ 

You and the world in which you exist is the dualistic illusion or Maya. Your religion, your religious God your physical guru also belongs to the dualistic illusion or Maya.

The ‘Self is not you but the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. The Soul, the Self is hidden by the dualistic illusion.  It is hidden because the dualistic illusion is created out of the Soul, the Self.

By sticking up to your religion, caste, religious Gods and Gurus it is not possible to transcend from the dualistic illusion to nondualistic reality.  Thus, it is necessary to realize all the contents of the dualistic illusion or Maya is nothing but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

People are sentimentally and emotionally sticking up to their religion, religious God, religious rituals, and religious code of conduct and physical Gurus will not be able to transcend from dualistic illusion to nondualistic reality. 

Remember: ~ You are not you but the consciousness; your body is not the body but the consciousness, the world in which you exist is not the world but consciousness. 

Everything that is known, seen, believed, and experienced by you is nothing but consciousness then what else remains, which is not consciousness. There is nothing else to realize other than to realize that consciousness alone is, everything else is merely an illusion created out of consciousness. 

The Advaitic wisdom dawns by realizing everything is consciousness. There is no room for the duality in reality. Perfect understanding and assimilation of ‘what is what’ lead to Advaitic awareness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar