It is very much necessary to know 'what is what' to unfold the truth hidden by the Maya.+

Unless you realize what is this Maya it is very difficult to realize the Advaitic truth. It is very much necessary to know 'what is what'  to unfold the truth hidden by the Maya.  

MAYA or ILLUSION.\

The ‘I’ hides the reality of existence. The nature of existence is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. There is no ‘I’ in reality. The ‘I’ is merely a Maya or an illusion. Whatever belongs to the ‘I’ is merely an illusion.

The ‘I’ is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. ‘I’ is not the subject. The ‘I’ is an object to the Soul, which is the formless, timeless, and spaceless subject.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then three states, are bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the form, time, and space are bound to be an illusion.

If 'I’ is an illusion then the individual experience of birth, life, and death is bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the words and thoughts are bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the duality is bound to be an illusion.

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure of the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes in order to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self. 

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal.

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take as real because some Gurus have propagated the Self is the ‘I’. is no need to convince such mindsets. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.

That is why Sage Sankara says: - VC-65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it, and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

People refuse to accept anything other than their Guru's words. For them, their Guru's words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.

Such a mindset is not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth. 

Remember:~ 

Sage Sankara says the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by the Maya or illusion, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, (Gnani).

First, know ‘what is the truth’ and ‘what is untruth’ for sure. Without realizing what untruth truth is, it is difficult to know what truth is.

Unless you realize what is this Maya it is very difficult to realize the Advaitic truth. You and your world are within the dualistic illusion or Maya.  Your experience of birth, life, death, and the world is within the dualistic illusion or Maya. Whatever is to happen within the dualistic illusion or Maya is a reality within the dualistic illusion or Maya.

 Till ignorance is there the dualistic illusion thrives. The ‘I’ is the dualistic illusion or Maya. ‘I’ appears as the universe in waking or dream and disappears as the Soul in deep sleep.

It is the Soul that appeared as the universe in the waking or dream (duality) and disappeared as itself in deep sleep (non-duality).   The Soul is the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.  

The Soul or the consciousness is like a movie screen and the dualistic illusion or Maya is like the movie, which appears on the screen in waking or dream (duality)  and the screen remains without the dualistic illusion or Maya in deep sleep (non-duality).  

The full movie of the dualistic illusion or Maya from the beginningless beginning to the endless end is being projected continually.

Within the illusion, one may die at any moment. The dualistic illusory life has no guarantee because no one can know for certain what will happen the very next moment. Except for the Soul, the Self, which is God, everything is an illusion.

This practical life within the practical world is meaningless because it is happening within the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Thus, it is to realize Soul, the only God is real and the world in which we exist is merely an illusion created out of God, which is present in the form of the Spirit. 

All is consciousness. The whole universe is consciousness. From consciousness, the universe comes. When the universe disappears, the consciousness still remains without form, time, and space.

 Till 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 a reality. Until the universe prevails as a reality religion thrives. 

Remember: ~

One who is born, lives, and dies in the world is not the Self.  One who is born lives and dies in the world is the dualistic illusion. The dualistic illusion hides the Soul, the Self because the dualistic illusion is created out of the Soul, the Self.

Perfect understanding ‘what is what’ leads to nondualistic or Advaitic Self-awareness in the midst of the dualistic illusion or Maya.

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

When the sky, clouds, and the world in which you exist are made of single clay then there is no second thing that exists, other than that clay. That clay is the Soul, which is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Reality is hidden by the unreality. The world in which we exist hides the truth.  Whatever belongs to you is unreal. The words and thoughts belong to you, not to the Soul, which is the ‘Self.

Whatever has a name and form and attributes and whatever belongs to form, time and space is an illusion. The illusion hides the Spirit, which is God.  The illusion and Spirit are one in essence.  Spirit, God alone is real and eternal. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar