Everything is Self.

Sage Dattatreya continued:

Thus pure intelligence,
free from objective knowledge,
has been proved to exist;
it can be felt on many occasions in ordinary life.
However,
it goes undetected because people are
in the meshes of Maya and not conversant with it.
Alertness alone will reveal it.
Why say so much about it?
The long and short of it is this.
Objective knowledge is gained by the mind;
the mind cannot be objectified. Still it follows that there must be mind even in the absence of objects.
Such pure mind entirely divested of all objective knowledge (or thoughts) is pure intelligence. Awareness is its nature.
Therefore it is always realised, for no other knower beside itself can ever be admitted.

Do you think,
O Bhargava,
that the Self is not aware when objects are seen?
If not aware, the Self cannot be.
If the Self is not, how can you raise this question!
Can you seek any good for yourself if the Self be a myth like a flower in the sky?
How can I establish the Self for you? Consider and tell me.
Or do you mean to say that there is ordinarily an awareness of the Self but it cannot be particularised?
If so, know it to be the unending awareness which is perpetually existing.
That is your Self.
The Self is free from particulars.
How strange that knowing it, you are
still ignorant!

At the time of cognising an object, the pure
intellect assumes its shape and manifests as such. Of itself it is pure and has no form. Objective knowledge is thus a particularised section of pure intelligence.
The SELF IS EVER-SHINING, UNPARTICULARIZED, UNBLEMISHED, ORDINARY EXISTENCE
— SELF-AWARE AND SELF-SUFFICIENT.

Second-hand knowledge of the Self gathered from books or Gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied to himself;
direct Realisation alone will do that. Therefore, follow my advice and realise yourself, turning the mind inward.

– Tripura Rahasya.
Excerpt from Chapter XVIII