The idea of being a separate and independent entity called "me" is the reason why one thinks that some effort and action is required for Self Realization. In reality, the Self is already Realized. You know you are, right now and right here. Yet, this simple fact is ignored by almost all seekers since they have invested so heavily in the idea of a separate entity. They strongly believe that some form of tapas or ritualistic action or path would have to be followed to experience the state of the Self. The concept of time is an essential element in the concept of karma. On careful analysis of one's own True Nature, it becomes evident that time is but a concept.
Come to think of it, if that Real State of Self is to be experienced at some point in the future through some path, it should exist now as much as it should in the future. The fact that you say you cannot experience the Self now would amount to saying that the Self is non-existent at one time and existent at another time. Since the Real State should be present at all times (the past, present and future), the very idea of the Self not being experienced now but at some point in the future would negate Its Reality. A state which comes at one point of time and goes away at another point of time cannot be the Final or Real State since that would not be eternal and unchanging. However blissful the state may be, it cannot be Eternal if it is only experienced intermittently or at some point of time. The Real and Eternal State of the Self just IS. It always IS. There is no question of coming and going for the Self. The very thought that the natural state of the Self has been lost and therefore will be found through tapas is false.
So, you may ask, what must the seeker do in that case? We come back to square one as to 'who is the seeker who wants to know the Self?'. It is not a question of knowing the Self. On the contrary, it is a question of knowing the real identity of the seeker, the "me". The seeker has only to establish the falsehood of being a seeker. Through careful inquiry and discrimination of the Real from the false, the seeker must realize that he/she is a non-entity. The Self which is self shining will be self evident, as soon as the false "me" is removed.
As Ramana Maharshi once said, "After understanding theoretically that the Self is non-dual, and after staggering again and again in one's efforts to attain the practical experience of the real Self, when finally one's mental efforts subside, the knowledge which then shines in the heart is the nature of that Reality."
