One must lead normal lives, striving for excellence in his practical life and inwardly strive to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

A Gnani will neither talk too volubly like shallow persons nor keep complete silence.  He will talk as much as is necessary but no more.

Silence  really means keep quiet in controversial discussions because one  do not know what anyone has in his mind and without semantic analysis it is all useless, so silence is better.

In pursuit of truth silence means thinking constantly of the formless as against universe. Word and thought always imply duality, the object, whereas the subject, formless witness or consciousness is beyond both word and thought.

The physical silence practiced by yogis, is a sign of their ignorance, because they are thinking of tongue and lips, i.e. body and not of the formless witness, which consciousness. However it is useful to those who are not seeking truth as a discipline. Yogic silence was intended only for the ignorant, who are unfit for path of wisdom.

Consciousness is wrapped in the meaning of words. Semantics aim at clarifying meanings but AUM ultimately shows you that all words are futile because they cannot express the ultimate nature of anything: Silence alone does this.

There is no need to renounce the worldly life and take sanyasa or monkhood in order to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  The practical life is nothing to do with the innermost self. One must lead normal lives, striving for excellence in his practical life and inwardly strive to acquire Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Never mix up both and trying to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman because when one realizes the truth the form, time and space are mere illusion. That is the practical life within the practical world is mere illusion.  

As one advances within through perfect understanding, assimilating the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana and beholds truth within him, he realizes the waking experience is illusory play.

Formless soul Consciousness is the witness that experiences the action, the actor, and the world of separate things. It is like a light that illuminates everything in a theatre, revealing the master of ceremonies, the guests, and the dancers with complete impartiality. Even when they all depart, the light shines to reveal their absence.

What is not consciousness (formless) in the experience of diversity (waking)?  The waking and the dream cease to exist without consciousness.  The seeker, seeking and his destination   all are one in essence.

Sage Sri Sankara's commentary:-

Page 489: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs.  Page 500 asks in effect "Tell us what you know, show it, and let us examine it under the mental microscope." It means we must bring notions and beliefs out of vagueness into clearness. It also criticizes the mystics who claim superior knowledge but who cannot communicate it for purposes of verification.

On page 482: On Gnani: "The knower of Brahman wears no signs. Gives up the insignia of a monk's life,…his signs are not manifest, nor his behavior." 

A Gnani never considers himself as a Gnani. A Gnani do not consider himself as wise and others are less wise. No one is wise or less wise in in pursuit of truth. The inner revolution starts within and ends within. Gnani is neither a scriptural scholar nor he is a philosopher.  

Gnani neither a teacher nor he has any teaching.  He silently works and helps the fellow seekers inspiring them guiding them towards inner reality in his own way. The scholar will remain as scholars and philosophers will remain as philosophers and intellectual remains as intellectuals arguing on their point of view. I am not propagating any philosophy because philosophy is nothing to do with pursuit of truth. 

Gnani respects all the sages of truth of the past. Sharing the knowledge is his only mission.  Inspiring the serious and sincere seekers of truth and divert their attention towards the inward reality is very much necessary.  Seekers should not hold any teacher or teaching or wise men as a yardstick and indulge in argument instead try to list out the doubts and confusion arises from that teaching or declaration and try to find answer independently on their own, which opens the inner dialogue, and the inner discrimination will start on its own in subconscious, and then the truth will start revealing on its own without intellectual spoon feeding. It is not my advice but it is my humble suggestion because the advice comes from the ego and suggestion comes from the inner core of the existence. 

There is no need to follow anyone. If one wants Brahman follow the inner guru not Hinduism.  If one wants ultimate truth follow Christ within not Christianity.  If one wants Nirvana follow Buddha not Buddhism.  By glorifying the form and name of the sages will not yield truth. Deeper self-search is needed in order to realize what is what. It is not the man who has to get self-realization but it is the self that has to realize it is not the man and the world but it is consciousness. Thus it is the self, which has urge for freedom from this illusory prison called universe or mind. 

The universe will not vanish, when wisdom dawns, only the ignorance disappears and unreal nature of the universe or mind or waking is exposed, same way as the unreal nature of the dream exposed when waking takes place. The wisdom dawns in the midst of duality because in reality there is no duality.

Nothing is needed other than perfect understanding of what is what is needed.