If one wants to acquire Atma Jnana or Brahma Gnana or Self- Knowledge or knowledge of consciousness one has to drop all ritualistic and orthodox baggage to move forward in their pursuit of truth

One finds lots of differences between orthodox  Advaitic preaching and practice. There is a need to bifurcate religion, the concept of god and scriptures from Advaitic philosophy to assimilate the essence of Advaita.   

Sri, Sankara says in Brahma Sutras: that Brahman is the cause of the world, whereas in Mandukya he denies it. This is because he says that at the lower stage of understanding, the former teaching must be given, for people will get frightened as they cannot understand how the world can be without a cause, but to those in a higher stage, the truth of non-causality can be revealed.

Sri, 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)

Sri, Sankara founded his Advaita Vedanta either on reason independent of sruti or on sruti confirmed by reason."   Sri, Sankara's commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad, II, 1:  This [the unreality of duality] is borne out by the Srutis ... But it is possible also to show the unreality of the object world even from pure reasoning, and this second chapter is undertaken for that purpose.

 Sri, Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture.  This may be because Sri, 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. 

Sri, Sankara, in debates with Buddhists and others who did not recognize the authority of the Vedas, had been obliged to prove the truth of the Advaita by means of reason alone.  Mandukya Upanishad, a scripture which appealed to reason to the exclusion of Revelation. 

Nonduality does not need the support of any Scripture or Revelation like the Veda. For it is based, not upon the varying theological fancies, which are as numerous as the sands of the sea, but upon reason, the common heritage of all mankind, irrespective of colour or creed or clime.

Thus, self-knowledge is meant only for those who have intense urge, and courage to accept the truth with humility and reject the untruth. Since people start comparing with their scriptural knowledge, it becomes impossible to assimilate and realize the non-dual truth.   Therefore, there is no need to convince anyone other than our own-selves to get the firm conviction. 

In pursuit of truth seeker has to use his reason in order to have knowledge and understanding.  First one must become aware of the fact that, ‘I’ is not the self and realize the fact that holding ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ as self is obstruction his realization.    This is possible only when one becomes aware of the fact that ‘I’ is not limited to the body but to the whole world confronting him.

Seekers only goal is to remove all the obstacles which his blocking his realization.  Thus whatever blocks his realization has to be mentally discarded to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.    Orthodox or theist Nonduality is no means to self-realization.

That is why Sri, Sankara says :- VC-61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?

62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utters the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realization one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

64. Without killing one’s enemies, and possessing oneself of the splendor of the entire surrounding region, one cannot claim to be an emperor by merely saying, ‘I am an emperor’.

Thus Sage Sri, Sankara clearly suggests a direct realization of truth is not possible through punditry or orthodoxy.  Why to follow the traditional path, which does not yield any fruit.  Therefore, Seeker of truth has to take the direct path and avoid losing precious time and effort loosing himself in philosophical studies and traditional path.

When Sage  Sri,Sankara declares:-  the world is a myth and Brahman alone is real then why worships the  guru and gods of this  unreal world .  That is why Veda bars such worships and people who indulge in such activities will suffer and sink into darkness.  And Upanishads says self-realization is the human goal. Therefore, one has to strive only for self-realization or truth realization.      

 When the self is formless there is no need for Pada Pooja (feet worship) of Advaitin gurus to get freedom. A guru, who preaches conduct as the means to freedom, believes in birth, life death and the world as reality, whereas the Advitic sage Sri, Sankara declares the world as unreal.  Therefore, how actions performed in unreal world can get Moksha or freedom. Therefore there is need to know the fact that, the self is not physical in order to understand and assimilate and realize the truth beyond physicality.

 That is why Gaudapada says that: - The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.

Thus Goudapada suggest that the religious paths and worship of the guru and conceptual god are lower and middling intellect.  But in this modern world people are sharp enough to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Thus people who want higher truth then it is high time to discard the lower knowledge and move ahead to realize the ultimate truth, which is Brahman or God.  

They alone in this world are endowed with the highest wisdom who are firm in their conviction of the sameness and birthlessness of Ataman. The ordinary man does not understand their way. (Chapter IV — Alatasanti Prakarana 95-P-188 in Upanishads by Nikilanada)

Therefore, if one is seeking truth he has to know the fact that, the self is neither waking entity nor self is dream entity   but self  is the  formless soul , or  consciousness. 

That is why Sage Sri, Sankara says in :- VC65. 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.

66. Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated births and deaths.

Most people who write books on Nonduality are borrowing ideas from punditry have commercial interest to sell their books or ideas. They have not expounded anything new other than    presenting the eastern concepts to suit the western seekers in ornamental words.  

Authoritative and orthodox egoic attitude is out-dated and not suit for the modern mind-sets who are capable of thinking using their own reason.  It is no use of arguing with people who live in self-imposed orthodox prison and who impose their false inherited baggage to the next generation.   It is high time for the orthodox cult to wake up and indulge is self-search their belief to realize the non-dualistic truth expounded by the great sage scientists, Sri, Sankara and Goudpada.  

Mundaka Upanishad says:-  The rituals and the sacrifices described in the Vedas deal with lower knowledge. The sages ignored these rituals and went in search of higher knowledge. ... Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross The sea of samsara on these poor rafts. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round Like the blind led by the blind.

When sages themselves found rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing The sea of samsara, of birth and death and ignored them and they the Mundaka Upanishad further suggest that, such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing the realm of duality those who try to cross The realm of duality on these poor rafts are  Doomed to shipwreck are. Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise in their own esteem, these deluded people [pundits] proud of their vain learning go round and round like the blind led by the blind.

 Therefore, if one wants to acquire Atma Jnana or   Brahma Gnana or Self- Knowledge or knowledge of consciousness one has to drop all ritualistic and the orthodox baggage to move forward in their pursuit of truth.