The path of religion, the path of yoga and path of wisdom is meant for different classes of people. Mixing up with one another is like mixing oil in water.

People read so many scriptures and indulge in tedious meditation. Finally they come to know that the true self is consciousness(Atman or  Brahman) that was already present in him even before reading scriptures and before doing the meditation. Meditation is not wisdom because it is practiced on the base of false self within the false experience. 

Man and his experience of the world cannot exist without waking experience. Whatever we are discussing, we are discussing  within the waking experience, which is mere illusion from ultimate standpoint.  Thus whatever is known, seen, believed and experienced as a person is bound to be falsehood.

The path of religion, the path of yoga and path of wisdom is meant for different classes of people. Mixing up with one another is like mixing oil in water.

Sage Sri, Sankara says in VivekaChudamani :- 

56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realization of one's identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means. 

58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

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.

63. Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman ? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

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’.

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.

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.

67. The question that thou hast asked today is excellent, approved by those versed in the Scriptures, aphoristic, pregnant with meaning and fit to be known by the seekers after Liberation.

For Gnani, who is aware of the fact that the self is not physical but self is consciousness, there is no illusion, even though; he is in the midst of illusion, because he is fully aware of the fact that, all the three states are consciousness.  Therefore he is conscious of consciousness in the midst of the illusion. 

The language of the duality, invented by the within the duality, for use in the dualistic world, when used to describe non-duality, produces these apparent contradictions, because there no apparatus in non-duality, because noting exist other than the soul, which is in the form of consciousness.

Non duality is the state of oneness of existence and there is no scope in its philosophy for anything like non-existence.

Sage Sri, Gaudapada’s rational exposition of Advaita: - that whatever is seen, whether external or internal, whether by the ordinary persons or yogis, is unreal.

The essence of Mandukya's is: Do not be satisfied with rituals, yoga etc. which are good in their own way, but inquire. Inquire into the nature of the mind. ? Brahman and Atman are things one can never see. So seeker should not inquire into them.  He has to inquire into the world around him, which he can see. The analysis   tells him it is passing away every second. Everything is dying repeatedly. Where is it going? Thus he follows up his investigation into what he can lay hands on. How can he inquire into Atman which he cannot see? So first he must deal with the known and seen, this inquiry leads up to the unknown in the end. 

Individual must find the truth on his own way and should verify everything, even his own accumulated knowledge, from inherited religion. The path of truth is a path of rationality there is no place for blind faith and dogmas. 

The approach of rational self-inquiry is more scientific and it also enables the aspirant of truth to acquire self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.