The universe is nothing but an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.+

Sage Sankara: ~ VC~.63: "Without knowing and examining the external world, 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.

After verifying through deeper inquiry if one finds the world is the reality within the illusion then he cannot again say the world is not an illusion.

If one is frightened to accept the world as an illusion (waking) then he is unfit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Those who are stuck with the reality of the world are stuck with the reality of the individual experiences of birth, life, and death, which take place within the unreal world. 

The pursuit of truth is for those who have the courage to accept reality as it is, that is the reality without form, time, and space.

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: ~  '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 human thought.

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 ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there the universe prevails as reality.

The universe is nothing but an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The form, time, and space are nothing but an illusion.

Thus, whatever the universe contains is nothing but an illusion.

The individual experience of birth, life, and death within the universe is nothing but an illusion.

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~ “Brahman is the truth The World is Unreal everything is Truly Brahman, and nothing else has any value.

Sage  Sankara: ~VC~ if the universe is true, let it then be perceived in the state of deep sleep also. As it is not at all perceived, it must be unreal and false like dreams.

Sage Sankara: ~. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

Ashtavakra Gita: ~ “The universe rises from the Soul, the Self like bubbles from the sea. Thus, know the Self to be One and in this way enter into the state of dissolution."

The sun, the moon, the stars, planets shine because of the Soul or Spirit. The Soul shines and all things else shine as a result. Everything in the universe reflects but that light of the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. Merely knowing the truth is not enough to escape from the tangle of illusion.

The mind is in the form of the universe. From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the universe is merely an illusion. The illusion arises from ignorance. Enlightenment comes with detachment from the illusion by realizing the experience of the form, time and space are one in essence. 

Remember:~

The world in which we exist is nothing but an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The whole universe is nothing but the Soul. Therefore, there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

It is not as if something that was not consciousness suddenly becomes consciousness. Rather, "knowing the truth” means the removal of the ignorance about one's own existence as consciousness. Thus, to "know the truth” is to "be  consciousness."

Advaitin Sage and Maya:~

  

The King of the Hoysalas was a dualist and was greatly incensed at the doctrine taught by Advaitin Sage that everything here below is an illusion. He wanted to teach the exponent of this doctrine a lesson. So he invited the then Advaitin Sage to his palace. That Advaitin sage went there and stoutly maintained that everything in this world was an illusion. The king had arranged to let loose an infuriated elephant against, Advaitin sage. The beast rushed at Advaitin sage who took to a precipitate flight to save himself.

'Oh, Venerable Sir,' shouted the king, 'why do you run so fast seeing that the elephant is only an illusion?'

'Oh, king,' said Advaitin sage in the course of his flight, 'my running too is an illusion. Everything in this world is an illusion.’

Similarly, the practical life within the practical world is merely an illusion. A Gnani is fully aware of ‘what is the truth?’ and ‘what is untruth?’. A Gnani e is fully aware of the fact that the experiences the pleasure and pain within the waking experience are merely an illusion because the waking experience itself is an illusion.

Thus, life within the waking experience will go on, on its own.  It has nothing to do with the Soul, the Self.  The waking or dream is merely an object to the formless witness. The Soul is the Self. The Soul is the witness. 

The Soul the witness has nothing to do with the three states because it is a mere witness of the coming and going of the three states or illusion.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar