There is no higher or lower goal within the dualistic illusion (universe). There is only one goal, Self-Realization.+

Ish Upanishad declares: ~ “ Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide.  

Those people who have neglected the attainment of Self-knowledge and have thus committed suicide, as it were, are doomed to enter those worlds after death. This is a condemnation of people who do not try to attain Self-knowledge. They are, in a real sense, committing suicide, for what can be worse than being a slave to sense enjoyment, completely oblivious of the real purpose of life, which is to be one’s, own master?

There is no higher or lower goal within the dualistic illusion (universe). There is only one goal, Self-Realization."

Self-Realization is to realize the experience of the birth, life, death, and the world is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, the innermost Self. The ignorance is the cause of experiencing birth, life, death, and the world as a reality. Without ignorance, the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness alone prevails as the ultimate reality or Brahman.

If the Soul is free from ignorance then it is free from experiencing the dualistic illusion as a reality.

The dream becomes unreal when the waking takes palace. Similarly, the waking (the world in which we exist) becomes unreal when Soul, the 'Self 'wakes up from its sleep of ignorance. the Soul wakes up from its sleep of ignorance when you have the firm conviction that the ‘Self is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul.

There is no meaning of life from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self because the world, in which you exist, is merely an illusion created out the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The one which is born, live and dies is not the Self.

You are bound by birth, life, and death so you are not the ‘Self’ because the ‘Self is the Soul, which is birthless and deathless because it is the ever formless, timeless and spaceless existence.

Only the false self  (you) thinks there is a meaning of life within the dualistic illusion because of the ignorance. Without the Soul the world in which we exist ceases to exist. 

The Soul, which is the cause of the dualistic illusion (the world in which we exist) and it itself is uncaused. The Soul is the only reality which is the basis of our illusory existence in which we experience our birth, life, death, and the world as a reality.

The birth, life, death, and the world are part of the waking experience, which is an illusion from the standpoint of the true Self (consciousness). 

It is no use of saying that, we are not born, we do not die because we all were born and we all are going to die. However, the birth, life, death, and the world are part of the illusion, which comes and goes as waking experience. The formless substance and witness of the three states is real, which is our true identity. The Self which is in the form of consciousness has no birth and death.

When there is no scope for two in reality. Only on the dualistic perspective, there is meaning in life. On the nondualistic perspective life is meaningless. 

Remember:~ 

The essence of Mundaka is: Do not be satisfied with rituals, yoga, etc. which are good in their own way, but inquire. Into what? Brahman and Atman are things you can never see. So do not inquire into them. Inquire into the world around you, which you can see. Science tells you it is passing away every second. Everything is dying repeatedly. Where is it going? Thus, you follow up your inquiry into what you can lay hands on. How can you inquire into Atma which you cannot see? So first we deal with the known and seen, this inquiry leads up to the unknown in the end.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (8)- Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (9) - Children, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life's purpose. Because these performers of karma do not know the Truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery-stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted.

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (10)- Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.

Ishopanishad:~  "They are steeped in ignorance and sunk into the greatest depth of misery who worships the matter, instead of the All-Pervading God and those who worship things born of matter like trees, animals, man, etc. are sunk deeper in misery."

Ish Upanishads:~

MANTRA 10

Vidya and Avidya both are hindrances to Self-knowledge, but Vidya is even worse than Avidya. The word Vidya is used here in a special sense; here it means worshipping Gods and Goddesses. By worshipping Gods and Goddesses you will go after death to the world of Gods and Goddesses. But will that help you? The time you spend there is wasted because if you were not there you could have spent that time moving forward towards Self-knowledge, which is your goal. In the world of Gods and Goddesses, you cannot do that, and thus you go deeper and deeper into darkness.

Avidya is Karma and therefore a hindrance. You perform Avidya - i.e., you perform Agnihotra and other sacrifices. This is a roundabout way of purifying the mind, and it is also groping in the dark. But it may not have as heavy a toll on your time and energy as the other.

Remember 

There is no need to study Advaita or Buddhism or indulge in yogic practice.  There is practice as such only a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is very much necessary.

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.

Sage Sankara says: ~ VC 56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by good work, nor by learning, but by the realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.

As we keep digging deeper and deeper, the truth will shines as pure awareness in the midst of the duality (waking).

The Soul, the ‘Self’ is your ultimate teacher. It is only your inner teacher that will walk with you to the goal, for the Soul is the goal.

Millions are searching for truth but one in million will realize it. You are one from that million because you have the intense urge to realize the ultimate truth. 

When the seeker is ready, the guidance comes on its own.  An earnest desire to grow and a sense of deep commitment are the hallmarks of one who aspires to be a seeker. 

When at the core of one’s being a person comes to realize he/she needs to seek a path for coming out of one’s unconscious and conditioned life, mysteriously the guidance appears to guide and shows the way.

Remember:~

Read repeatedly my postings and blogs and reflect and reason deeply which helps you to create a mental yardstick in your subconscious to discriminate between ‘what is the truth? And what is the untruth? 

When the subconscious is receptive and ready then it will start rejecting the untruth and finally then the Soul, the 'Self’ alone will prevail as the ultimate truth or Brahman or God.

There is no practice as such, but perfect understanding is needed to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atman Gnana.

A deeper Self-search reveals the fact that the Self is not physical, but the Self is formless Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Therefore, all the accumulated knowledge, experiences, and understanding based on the ego are falsehood because the ego is the false Self, within the false experience (waking).

The ‘Self’ is not you. You are the ego. The ego is the waking entity. Thus, whatever is based on the waking entity is bound to be falsehood because the waking experience itself is a falsehood. All the Gurus and their teachings limit the ‘Self’ as individuality. Thus, they yield only half-truth.

There is a need to realize the three states, which come and go, are merely an illusion. All three states are made of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Knowledge of the single stuff is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar