The Upanishads portray liberation as the direct realization that the innermost Self (ātman) is not separate from the ultimate reality, Brahman. This realization is not merely conceptual but an immediate, experiential knowledge that dissolves ignorance (avidyā) and with it the bondage of suffering and rebirth. Knowledge (jñāna) is thus presented as the primary means: one listens to the teachings (śravaṇa), reflects upon them (manana), and then abides in deep contemplation (nididhyāsana) until the truth becomes unmistakably evident. The great statements such as “Tat tvam asi” (“That thou art”) and “Aham Brahmāsmi” (“I am Brahman”) encapsulate this non-dual insight and serve as focal points for contemplation.

For such knowledge to take root, the seeker is expected to undergo a thorough inner preparation. The texts highlight discrimination between the real and the unreal (viveka), dispassion toward fleeting pleasures (vairāgya), and a disciplined mind and senses as essential qualifications. Ethical virtues—truthfulness, self-control, non-injury, austerity, and charity—are praised as supports that purify the mind and make it receptive to higher understanding. Renunciation is emphasized primarily as an inner detachment from the fruits of action and from possessiveness, even when outward life continues in the realm of duties and relationships.

Meditation and contemplative practice occupy a central place in this path. The seeker turns attention inward, withdrawing from the tyranny of the senses and the restlessness of thought, and dwells steadily on the Self as pure awareness. Practices such as meditation on Om and sustained reflection on the nature of consciousness refine attention and stabilize insight. Through such contemplative absorption, the apparent boundary between individual consciousness and universal consciousness is seen as illusory, and the Self is recognized as ever-free, untouched by change.

When this realization dawns, the Upanishads describe a transformed mode of living. The knower of Brahman is serene, free from compulsive desire, and no longer shaken by pleasure and pain. Actions may continue, but they no longer bind, because the sense of being a limited, separate doer has fallen away. Liberation, therefore, is not a journey to another realm but the clear recognition, here and now, that the true Self was always identical with Brahman, the one reality underlying all appearances.