Even the Vedas indicate that the Self is consciousness:~Prajnanam Brahma: - Consciousness is the ultimate reality (Rig Veda).+

Self-realization is not just a matter of literal or intellectual understanding but is something that is to be grasped and realized by the individual in his/her own personal realization.

Yogic practices will not help in acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Yogic practices help only in repertory stages to be calm, to have patience and humility, and to keep away unwanted thoughts. 

Yoga is not the means to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because yoga is based on the chakras, which are within the body whereas the Soul, the Self has no chakras. After all, it is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Remember:~

The ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ is the intoxication of illusion. Until and unless one comes out of this intoxication Self-realization is impossible. It is not ‘I AM THAT’ it is ‘SELF IS THAT’ because ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ is not the self.

'I' or 'I AM'  is not the true self. “ I” or “I AM” is merely an illusion. The self is not “I” or “I AM” but the self is the formless witness or knower of “I” or “I AM”. Clinging to 'I' or 'I AM' as the 'Self' leads to hallucination.

People are not ready to investigate and verify deeply to know the facts. They are sentimentally involved with the teacher and teaching and get stuck. They think they are Self-realized because they know “I AM THAT”.

The mind is consciousness, and consciousness is mind. The three states are absorbed in consciousness.

Even the Vedas indicate that the Self is consciousness:~

v Tat tvam asi:~Thou art That -“Self is that” (Sam Veda). 

v Prajnanam Brahma: - Consciousness is the ultimate reality (Rig Veda).

v Ayam Aatma Brahma:~ The Self is the ultimate truth (Atharva Veda).

v Aham Brahma Asmi:~Self is the ultimate reality (Yajur Veda).

People have the notion that the more and more they gratify their senses to attain worldly pleasures, the happier they will be is not true at all, because they think the physical Self is the real Self, therefore they are unaware of the fact that the Self is not physical but consciousness. Consciousness can stay with or without the  ’I’.

Remember:~

The practice of yoga is not recommended for seekers by Sages of Truth. 

The seeker has to be equipped with the requisite qualities such as patience, humility, the ability to focus one's concentration extremely, an ability to discriminate between the Real and the non-real, and an intense urge for liberation.

It is important to remember that Moksha is not a result of ritualistic practice. Rituals are of the religion and personal Gods based on the false self within the false experience.  

Ritualistic practices are meant for the ignorant populace who are incapable of grasping the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.  

The truth is hidden within the dualistic illusion. Ignorance is the cause of experiencing the dualistic illusion as a reality. 

Remember:~

The Orthodox people are more enslaved than others because they live in a self-imposed prison. A householder may have a little freedom, but the Gurus, Yogis Saints are more stuck with their own idea of truth than others. 

Orthodoxies are just blind followers of tradition. They cannot move freely, they cannot sit freely, they cannot live freely.

Many people pretend they are Self-realized just by being orthodox one cannot get Gnana. Yogi practices Samadhi he will not get rid of ignorance. Everyone has their own idea of Gnana.

The most important thing is that neither society nor politics nor any religion have anything to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman.  

Self-knowledge helps the seeker transcend emotion, transcending form, time, and space. Perhaps this is why the Atmic path, has not had much impact.

The path of wisdom is the inner (mental) journey. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana and Advaitic wisdom are one and the same thing. 

Without an intense urge, it is difficult to tread this path. Self-realization is not experienced because the ‘Self’ is not you but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

The Soul, the ‘Self’ cannot be experienced because it is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is prior to any experience. The experience is possible only in dualistic illusion. The world in which you exist is a dualistic illusion. 

Consciousness is the cause of the dualistic illusion and it, itself is uncaused. Consciousness is the only real thing within the dualistic illusion. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Advaitic truth is not for synthesis – it is an uncontradictable truth and it is the ultimate truth. The Advaitic truth is just as it is, without any artifice or coloring.

The knower of Advaitic truth is not concerned about the listener, he does not care whether his listener will understand or not. The pure expression of truth comes from the source of his existence.

From the standpoint of the Soul, the ‘Self’: ~

There is nothing to accept,

Nothing to reject,

Nothing to hold on to,

Nothing to let go of,

Nothing to grasp,

Nothing to spurn,

Nothing to embrace,

Nothing to relinquish,

Nothing to dissolve

Because the Soul is free from the illusory form, time, and space. Only within the dualistic illusion, is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness caught up in the illusory experience of form, time, and space. This is the truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar