Mundaka Upanishad:~ . He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman.+

Mundaka Upanishad:~ As rivers flow into the sea and in so doing lose name and form, so even the wise man, freed from name and form, attains the Supreme Being, the Self-luminous, the Infinite. He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman. ~ 3.2.8-

It is not who has to be free. It is the Soul, the Self has to become free from the illusory universe in which you exist. Perfect understanding of 'what is what' leads to liberation from the illusory reality.

If people have believed religious propagated myth thing over thousands of years, the length of time does not prove it true.

Adyatma is nothing to do with religious sects or creeds and religious beliefs or any philosophy or thinkers teaching. Adyatma is pure spirituality. Knowledge of Atma is Adyatma. Advaita is Adyatma. 

Adyatma is the knowledge of the truth beyond form, time, and space. Bifurcate religion, yoga, and theoretical philosophy and base the truth on the Athma it is Adyathma.

Adyatma is based on the ultimate truth which is based on the Atman or Spirit, which is the Self.

Sage Sankara's Advaitic wisdom is pure spirituality or Adyathma.

Sage Sankara clearly says:~ Neither studying philosophy nor by worship as many gods nor observe ceremonies nor by singing devotional hymns nor by uttering mantra nor by mastering the scriptures liberation comes without realizing the Oneness.

Advaitic wisdom is not found in scriptures or books. There are only hidden parables here and there. There is no clear-cut wisdom whatsoever in this. Mere words ~ just a collection of words. Wisdom is hidden within the world in which we exist. The truth is not found in the world because the world is merely an illusion created out of consciousness. The Truth is beyond form, time, and space.

Katha Upanishad 1:2:23 The Soul cannot be realized through hearing a scholarly explanation of the discourses, not even by the intellect.

Sage Goudpada: ~ To establish the truth of Non-duality by sheer reasoning alone. He begins by defining "What is real?" "What is unreal?" etc, because that is the right way to discuss or teach. People must first know what they are talking about. (Manduka Karika)

Mundaka Upanishad:~ The study of the Vedas, linguistics, Rituals, astronomy, and all the arts Can be called lower knowledge. The higher is that which leads to Self-realization. The eye cannot see it; the mind cannot grasp it. The deathless 'Self' has neither caste nor race, neither eyes nor ears nor hands nor feet. Sages say this Self is infinite in the great and in the small, everlasting and changeless, the source of life.

All these selected quotes from the scriptures are helpful to think deeply nothing more.

Remember:~

Ashtavakra:~There is no wisdom whatsoever in the scriptures-just a collection of words.

I only highlighted scriptural insights which point to the ultimate reality. what is not helpful in the pursuit of truth has to be discarded. 

 

The seeker should not bother about finding the meaning of what is written in the scriptures.

Do not indulge in arguing from your own standpoint holding your accumulated knowledge as a yardstick that is pointless. 

Instead, read, reason, and reflect on the subject, which is the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara to get rid of ignorance. 

Remember:~

In pursuit of truth, the ultimate truth has to be proved, not assumed. Pundits who take scriptures for granted are not Gnanis.

Pundits teach that all is yourself, but none of them can show that this is so, none has analyzed it scientifically, and none can prove it. Rational proof is needed so that one arrives at knowing truth i.e. wisdom; punditry is dogma, parrotism, repetition of what they read in scripture. Scriptures are not yardsticks and the scriptural truth is not proof. Pundits take scripters as an authority. Authoritarianism merely assumes as true what another says, but what has yet to be proved.

Pundits have to test the truth in this world, not in the next world. There is no proof other than blind belief based on the scriptures, belief is not the truth. So, doctrines are not the means to realize the truth. There is no need to follow them in order to acquire self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana.

Doubts and Confusions arise when the seeker finds the scripters and yoga are inadequate or useless to quench his spiritual thirst. Disappointments in religion or yoga or even science imply error or ignorance. Seeker reaches a stage whether he is right?" Where is the certainty that he is proceeding on right lines?" 

Thus, the doubts arise and the inquiring spirit comes and impels to search elsewhere for truth where it will not be possible even to have doubt. The test is therefore in the experience. And only in non-duality, where there are no two to argue about views or to have the difference of opinion can such doubtlessness be possible. Belief depends upon unstable bases whereas certainty depends on the proof.

Seeker of truth has to get rid of his doubts through deeper self-search on his own, to realize the fact that, the 'Self' is not the form but the ' Self' is formless. Thus, his analysis and reasoning have to be based on the formless (Soul), not on the form(ego). 

By simply going on believing and accepting whatever is said by the punditry will not lead one towards the path of wisdom. All the doubt has to be got rid of "by the sword of Self - Knowledge." The scriptures, yoga is not necessary if one follows the inner (formless) path. Religion and yoga are not the means to the path of wisdom. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar