Today, the Advaitic wisdom is demeaned, distorted and reduced by measuring it through a religious framework.+

The Advaitic wisdom is both in its formless and manifest aspects. But today, the Advaitic wisdom is demeaned, distorted, and reduced by measuring it through a religious framework.

Only in ignorance, the universe in which we exist is an illusion created out of the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

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

People's approach is more practical, and they are stuck with the reality of the universe; 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 universe, observed and experienced. The commoner viewing the universe will see it 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; therefore, he experiences the birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas a Gnani sees everything as consciousness, and he is fully aware that there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul or consciousness. 

Thus, all the egocentric knowledge has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

The universe is an egocentric aspect of reality; the Soul is the ultimate reality, which is hidden by the universe.  The Soul is the cause of the universe, and it, itself is uncaused. From the standpoint of the invisible  Soul, the universe is merely an illusion. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar