Sage Sankara said: The Soul, the Self is Brahman—that is, the Soul is ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.+

The seeker has to find out what is it that becomes duality (waking or dream) and nonduality (deep sleep) to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

As the seeker indulges in deeper Self-search he becomes aware that which becomes dual and nondual is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

Once one becomes aware of it, then he becomes aware that duality is merely an illusion created out of nondual stuff. That essence is consciousness. Everything is consciousness. 

No second thing exists other than consciousness. Thus form, time, and space are merely an illusion created out of consciousness. If form, time, and space are one in essence then the duality has no value.  

The intellectuality is limited to the physical existence (waking). The Advaitic wisdom is beyond intellectuality.  The seeker has to learn to view and judge the three states on the base of the Soul, the Self, which is the witness of the three states.

From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, there is neither doer nor doing.  A Gnani treats the waking experience as merely an illusion and views and judges from the standpoint of the Soul, the Self.  

A Gnani is fully aware that the experience of diversity (waking) is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.  Hence, there is no second thing other than consciousness.

People, who expound non-duality or Advaitic on the base of the ego or waking entity and try to explain it, are mere scholars, not Gnanis. Thus, a perfect understanding and assimilation are required for Self-realization.  

Whatever they have read heard and accumulated as truth has to be verified through Soulcentric reasoning. Nothing has to be accepted as truth without verification

There is neither guru nor disciple nor teaching because everything is the Soul, the Self, or consciousness. 

That is why Sage Sankara said: The Soul, the Self is Brahman—that is, the Soul is ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Remember:~

The ultimate truth has to be realized first then only it is possible to know what the scriptures are saying. I do not require any scriptures.

I quote Scriptural citations and also citations of the sages of truth only after deeper verifying a reality and proving the truth, to point out that the scriptures teach the same thing. If one quotes them before having demonstrated the truth, then it is scholasticism.

Scriptures are not needed in the pursuit of truth. Even the Upanishads and the sage of truth declare the scriptures are needed to acquire  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. 

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

Sage Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture.  This may be because Sage Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter.  He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can therefore dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Non-Dualism by pure reason. 

Sage Sankara gave out what was of most use to the greatest number of people. Therefore, in the commentaries on the Upanishads, such as the famous Mundaka, he gave the highest non-dual message of the identity of Atman and Brahman, revitalizing the philosophy and practice of Advaita, while in the commentaries on the Brahma sutra, he gave lower teaching, positing both higher and lower Maya and higher and lower Brahman (Ishvara) to explain creation for those of lesser intellects until they were ready for the highest truth.

Sage Sankara gave religious, ritual, and dogmatic instruction to the masses, but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.

Even Sage Sankara says: ~ What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress. 

The seeker of truth should not believe blindly in traditional orthodox nonduality without verifying all the facts from every angle. One has to reflect through reasoning over and over again without getting tired of the process. (Commentary on Vedanta sutra)

Advaitic orthodoxy is the path meant for ignorant people. The Advaitic orthodoxy is not a means to acquire  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  

Advaitic orthodoxy is meant for the ignorant mass that is unfit to grasp the highest truth.   Thus the Advaitic orthodoxy has nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman.

 Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana helps to a raft upon which one crosses a swift river to get to the other side; once one is on the far shore; there is no longer any need to carry the raft. The far shore is Moksha or Freedom, and it is also said that when one arrives, one can see quite clearly that there was never any river at all.

 The scriptures, theories, and teachings based on the ego are not the yardstick. Using them as a yardstick to understand and assimilate the truth will lead one towards a pursuit of arguments. 

The seeker of truth has to discover on his own, the truth of his true existence by inquiring “What is the mind?” and “What is the substance of the mind?” “What is the source of the mind?” and move forward.  

 The ultimate truth is one without the second, the one is not in the sense of half or two, but the one that remains forever One, without the second.  The consciousness is all-pervading. There is no place where consciousness is not.

Sage Sankara:~VC~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal gods be propitiated yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the  Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not  even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together (verses-6)

The ultimate truth has to be ascertained without the scriptures, by realizing the  Self is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity but the  Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

In the realm of truth form, time, and space are created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness. Realizing the single stuff as the ultimate truth is  Self-realization or truth realization. To realize this truth there is no need for the scriptures.

Scriptures are being added from time to time. This process will go on. There is the final authority among them? One contradicts the other: duality reigns supreme.

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana cannot be attained by the study of the scriptures and intellectual understanding or by bookish knowledge.  Therefore, there is no use in studying the scriptures and other scriptures to acquire the Advaitic wisdom.  

That is why Bhagavan Buddha rejected the scriptures, and even Sage Sankara indicated that the ultimate truth lies beyond religion,  Gods based on blind belief and scriptures.

Scriptures mastery, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth or Brahman. The ultimate truth is revealed in the clear understanding and realization of ‘what is truth and ‘what is untruth.  

When one realizes the untruth (universe) is created out of a single stuff, Self-awareness rises in the midst of duality exposing the unreal nature of the form, time, and space

There is only one Reality to be known, the same for all seekers, but the ways to it, are hidden by the religion. 

Self-discovery is the only way, toward a non-dual Absolute without any religious doctrines, which will help the seekers to unfold the mystery of the illusion in which we all are searching for the truth of the true existence.

One must go beyond form, time, and space. The theistic tradition has been kept alive by the orthodoxy. The orthodoxy is the path of ignorance because it is based on ignorance.  

The orthodoxy has nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. Thus it is not the path of ultimate truth or Brahman. 

People who are stuck to orthodoxy never will be able to cross the prison of duality. Without crossing the prison of duality Self-awareness is an impossibility.  

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana is necessary to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.:~Santthosh Kumaar