Do not compare Sage Sankara’s wisdom with dualistic Saints and Gurus wisdom or any other wisdom even with the Advaitic orthodoxy, which is also dualistic.+

Sage Sankara restrained himself from parting the Advaitic wisdom to the ignorant populace and he shared it with a selected few who were capable of grasping it.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana was hidden from the people who were not qualified and receptive to it. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana was not written down but was imparted orally to the chosen few. 

Thus, religion was given to the ignorant populace, and the knowledge of the Spirit or God in truth was given to only a selected few. Thus, we find traces of the knowledge of the Spirit in religious books in the form of parables. 

The path of wisdom attracts only those who are in search of truth and they appreciate it greatly.   The ignorant are not spiritually mature enough to receive Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  The ignorant indulge in argument provocation and personal attack, which hinders their own realization of the ultimate truth or Brahman.  

Do not compare Sage  Sankara’s wisdom with dualistic Saints and Guru's wisdom or any other wisdom even with the Advaitic orthodoxy, which is also dualistic.

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 human thought.

The universe is the product of ignorance. Ignorance is present in the form of the ‘I’.

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 not-Self.

Remember:~

Until you think you are an individual separate from the world and world that 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.

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 to Self-awareness. By holding on to theories one remains in the realm of duality. You have to mentally go on dropping what is not the truth through deeper self-search. 

Finally when you become aware of the fact that, your ego, your body, and the world are one in essence then there is Self-awareness in the midst of duality. 

Sage  Sankara says: ~ V.63 ~ "Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know 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.

In Advaitic  Self-awareness, the ego is not considered as ego, even though the ego is present, the body is not considered as a body even though the body is present, the world which confronts him is not considered as world even though the world is present, the duality ceases even though the duality is present, because of wisdom everything is considered as consciousness. Thus there is conscious oneness.

Only in ignorance, the world in which we exist is an illusion created out of the Soul, the ‘Self’. 

The universe is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense, that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

People's approach is more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. In fact, our mental and intellectual conditions determine the world, observed and experienced. The commoner viewing the world will see differently from a Gnani viewing the same world. Each one interprets the world that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego and, therefore, experiences birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas a Gnani sees everything as consciousness and he is fully aware of the fact that, there is no second thing exists other than the Soul or consciousness. 

Thus, all the egocentric (religious) adulteration has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is hidden by ignorance.

Remember:~

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.

The Soul, the 'Self' reveals‘ what is real’ and ‘what is unreal” when the seeker is receptive and ready.

It takes time for the seeker to gain the perfect understanding of ‘what is the truth’ and ‘’what is untruth’. It takes time for the Soul, the Self to wake up from the sleep of ignorance, and it takes time for one to realize the truth, which is hidden by the illusory form, time, and space. 

Sage  Sankara says:~ VC-162-  “There is no liberation for a person of mere book-knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense-organs, etc., which are unreal.

First, realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Mentally hold on to the Soul and mentally reduce the world in which you exist as consciousness by realizing the world in which you exist is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness. 

Swami Vivekananda: ~Jñāna Yoga is divided into three parts. First: hearing the truth--that the Atman is the only reality and that everything else is Maya. Second: reasoning upon this philosophy from all points of view. Third: giving up all further argumentation and realizing the truth. This realization comes from being certain that Brahman is real and everything else is unreal. 

Sage Sankara: ~ VC In the dream state, even though there is no contact with the outside world, the Soul alone projects the entire dream universe of enjoyer, enjoyment, etc. Similarly, the waking state is no different. All this world of pluralistic phenomena is an illusory projection. 

Chandogya Upanishad: ~ One who meditates upon and realizes the 'Self' discovers that everything in the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantrams and meditation--all come from the Self.

Sage Goudpada: ~ “To establish the truth of Non-duality by sheer reasoning alone. He begins by defining "What is real?" "What is unreal?" etc, because that is the right way to discuss or teach. People must first know what they are talking about. (Manduka Karika)

The consciousness is the only reality in which the universe exists, to which the universe belongs; from which the universe has emerged, which is the cause of the universe and which itself is uncaused.  Thus, the universe is nothing but consciousness. 

Remember:~  

There are two kinds of audiences: ~ 

1. The ordinary ones who desire the transitory heaven and other pleasures obtained as a result of ritual sacrifices. 

2. The most advanced seeker who seeks to know the truth beyond form, time, and space. 

The Advaitic orthodoxy is meant for the first audience, to help lead its followers along the way. The path of wisdom with its emphasis on Advaitic wisdom is meant for those who wish to go beyond such transient pleasures. 

Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom has nothing to do with religion religious Gods and the scriptures. 

Sage Sankara: ~ “Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us the knowledge of our own Self. The firm conviction of the nature of the Self is seen to proceed from inquiry along the lines of the salutary advice of the wise. 

Sage Sankara said:~” Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many Gods as you please, observe ceremonies, and sing devotional hymns, but liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness. Fortunate is the one who does not lose themselves in the orthodoxy. Fortunate is the man who does not lose himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, but goes straight to and realizes the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space, realizing that form, time, and space are created out of single clay and that singles clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness. Knowledge of the single clay is Advaita. 

Upanishad says ~ “The human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge and they indicate that belief in the personal Gods, yoga scriptures, worship, and rituals are not the means to Self –Knowledge, then why anyone should indulge in it. The religion, concept of individualized god and scriptures are the greatest obstacle to realizing non-dual truth or Self-realization because they are based on false self. The seeker of truth has to search for the ultimate truth without losing himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, through deeper Self-search, and assimilate and realize it. 

That is why Sage Sankara says: ~ “One without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows. (Bhaja Govindam) 

Thus, the path of wisdom is the only means. Then it is no use going a roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and the witness of the universe (mind). By tracing the source of the mind or the universe, one will be able to realize the Brahman.  

Yoga Vasistha says: ~ “Self-knowledge or knowledge of truth is not had by resorting to a Guru (preceptor) nor by the study of scripture, nor by good works: it is attained only through inquiry inspired by the company of wise (Gnani). One’s inner light alone is the means, naught else. When this inner light is kept alive, it is not affected by the darkness of inertia.  

Sage Sankara himself has warned us not to use ambiguous words and to practice semantic analysis in his book "Definition of one's own Self. (" Page 199, v.24 of "Sankara's Selected Works) 

Sage  Sankara: - Loud speech, the profusion of words, and skilfulness in expounding scriptures are merely for the enjoyment of the learned. They do not lead to liberation."

Perfectly tame your own self by knowing ‘what is the truth’ and ‘what is the truth’ to have a mental yardstick to discard the untruth. Sage Sankara says the seeker must know what is truth to realize what is the untruth. 

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “Oneness is the Secret of Everything”. 

Nothing is needed for acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana other than perfect understanding, assimilation, and realization of ‘what is what.” : ~ Santthosh Kumaar