You have to study the book of the universe carefully and find and realize God hidden by it.+

All your accumulated knowledge is egocentric garbage. All the egocentric meditation will not lead you to a soulcentric reality.

By visiting gurus and their ashrams, ignorance will not vanish. Attending sathsanga and retreat nothing is gained. 

All the religious scriptures and holy books are irrelevant -- God's greatest book is just in front of you.

That is why Sage Sankara says you must first know what is before you. If you cannot know that, what else can you know or understand? If you give up the external world in your inquiry, you cannot get the whole truth. 

You have to study the book of the universe carefully and find and realize God hidden by it. 

All religions claim that their books are not man-made? Hindus claim that the Vedas are Aporsheya: not made by man but revealed by God himself; and Sanskrit is the divine language, not human.

All religions have the same type of claim. Muslims say the Koran has descended from God, and so with Jews and Christians. Everybody is trying to claim that their book is the sacred book and nobody bothers to look at the real divine book.

This is what the real Veda, the real Koran, the real Bible is. This is the book, and all other books are man-made. Only this universe is the book that is authored by God because God is hidden by the universe. 

The universe is the real Veda, the real Koran, the real Bible.  The universe is the book, and all other books are man-made.

Only when you open the book of the universe the God hidden in the book will be revealed.  When you finish reading the book of the universe then the universe will become an illusion and God alone prevails as the ultimate reality.

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, something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress. 

Remember:~ 

You are also part of the divine book of the universe! And whatever you have seen, known, believed, and experienced as an individual is part of it. 

 What is there to discuss argue and exchange opinions? If one is seeking truth there is no need to discuss no need to argue but read and think and reason deeply the truth will start revealing on its own. Be an independent thinker. Do not accept anything without verification the seeker should not argue and waste his time. The argument will not yield the truth. 

Only the intellectuals argue to exhibit their intellectual wealth. The intellectual argument is based on ego. The egocentric intellectuality is limited to form, time, and space.

The truth you are seeking is based on the Soul. The Soul is beyond the form, time, and space. Thus, what is the use of egocentric argument in the soulcentric discussion? 

That is why Bhagavan Buddha said: ~ Believe nothing because a wise man said it, Believe nothing because it is generally held. Believe nothing because it is written. Believe nothing because it is said to be divine. Believe nothing because someone else said it. But believe only what you, yourself judge to be true

Advaitic Wisdom consists in knowing the truth, that everything (mind or physical existence) is consciousness.

Freedom (ultimate truth) is always there yet one does not know it. But those whose reason is turned away from physicality and who have attained the serenity of the Soul or consciousness, the Self, are quite near to realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

Ashtavakra: ~ Diamonds are not many; only pebbles and rocks are so common. A single diamond is enough. 

Sage Sankara says:~ VC- 58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar but are no good for Liberation.

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest that merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

Without the scriptures, the seeker has to think rationally and realize the truth. 

Remember:~ 

Intellectuals argue, if everything is consciousness, how can one give up anything? Can you give up anything? These types of questions are speculation based on the waking entity (ego), which is the false self within the false experience.

Without knowing the ‘Self is not the form but the ‘Self’ is formless it is impossible to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space. 

All their speculation is limited to the domain of form, time, and space whereas the truth is beyond form, time, and space. They are incapable of understanding and assimilating truth, which is the ever-formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. they refuse to verify and they want the truth on their own terms.

The experience he went through was real to him; though that may not be real from the absolute point of view.

Sage Sankara makes a distinction between the dualistic view and the non-dualistic view of the universe.  

Advaitic wisdom is independent of religion and yoga, which are egocentric. Sage Sankara himself the Saguna Brahman or a personal God is only a part of the dualistic illusion or Maya and the Nirguna Brahman is the only reality and has nothing to do with religion.  

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. A Gnani views the universe (practical life within the practical world) differently from the ignorant view of the same universe (practical life within the practical world). Each one of them interprets the universe he sees in terms of his existing knowledge.   The Gnani sees his body, his ego, and his experience of the world as merely an illusion created out of consciousness whereas the ignorant sees his body as body, his ego as ego, and his experience of the world as world. 

Thus experiencing the birth, life, death, and the world within the dualistic illusion or Maya with the illusory Self has to be an illusion.

The illusion is created and sustained and finally dissolves as  Soul or consciousness, which is the Self. Since there is no second thing other than the Soul or consciousness.  The Soul or consciousness itself is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.  

The one who has realized this truth for this illusion is a passing show because he is fully aware of the fact that his body, his ego, and his experience of the world are consciousness.

The practical people's approach is more practical, and they are stuck with the reality of the practical life within the practical world, they take it as real whereas Gnani has the firm conviction that:-

Soul or Consciousness is the witness that experiences the action, the actor, and the world of separate things. It is like a light that illuminates everything in a theatre, revealing the master of ceremonies, the guests, and the dancers with complete impartiality. Even when they all depart, the light shines to reveal their absence.

What is not the consciousness (formless) in the experience of diversity (universe or waking)?  The waking and the dream cease to exist without consciousness. The seeker, seeking and his destination all are one in essence.:~Santthosh Kumaar