Who am ‘I’? - inquiry is not Self-inquiry because it is not philosophic inquiry but it is Mystic inquiry. Self-inquiry is to realize the 'Self', which is hidden by the 'I'.+

People have the child mentality or slavish mentality and accept statements as merely because they are uttered by famous Gurus. They lack the scientific method of inquiry.

Self-inquiry is finding out the ‘Self’ which is hidden by the illusory world, in which we exist.  

By inquiring ‘Who am I?’, the ignorance will not vanish because the ‘I’ itself is illusory. 

Sage Sankara says: ~ ‘What is accepted without proper inquiry will not lead to the final Goal. (Commentary on Vedanta Sutra)

The chief purpose of analyzing the external world is to discover that it is part of the ultimate reality and thus to enable us to carry on with activity from the highest possible viewpoint; where people fail to make this analysis, as with so many religious-minded seekers, they fail to do anything worthwhile in the material world. 

Sage Sankara says: ~ “The exercise in discrimination between real and unreal and renunciation of the false is real meditation, then why you are indulging in other types of meditation. 

To effect this discrimination, we need intelligence much sharper than the average, whereas too much religion and not a little mysticism drug this intelligence. The highest state is to be the “All”--not to shut your eyes to the world and to go off into the deep sleep of trance.

Swami Vivekananda says: Advaita encompasses everything. Since Advaita requires heavy-duty intellectualism, it had to be progressively simplified. (From 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda)

Nothing is to be given up. If you omit anything, if you ignore any knowledge, then you are not a Gnani. All must be known; if you give up the world, what and how can you understand it?

Weak minds cannot take a comprehensive view and so decry what they cannot understand.

The seeker need not get an aversion to the existence, as do the ascetics and yogis; on the contrary, the seeker should go on living in the world, acting, working, etc. he should accept the practical life but realize the practical life within the world is merely an illusion because the world in which he exists is merely an illusion.

There is no need to give up anything but to know the world is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The mental renunciation of ignorance is higher than the renunciation of the earthly desire.

The whole of life has to be resolutely weighed, and accurately, observed in search of truth. 

The seeker must inquire:~ 

What is this ‘I’? 

What is this universe?

Hence inquiry is a necessary foundation. Hence too, the Yogi who looks only inside and ignores the world throws away part of the materials needed to find the truth hidden by the ‘I’. 

Without knowing the nature of the universe, it is impossible to know the truth. What is the use of trying to find your inner self before you understand the world that confronts you? 

This world that confronts you is nothing but an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in consciousness.

Look at everything in nature because everything is consciousness. Do not avoid them, do not shut your eyes to the world that confronts you; do not shut yourself away from the world which is nothing but consciousness.

The dulled mindset tells you to be non-observant and to withdraw: keen powers of observation are desirable and will help, not hinder your pursuit of truth.

The seeker must take experiences as they come to him, he should not run away from the world in ascetic fear or shyness of them. To say they are an illusion (Maya) without first examining them and inquiring into them thoroughly is to delude him.

This world is common to all of us, therefore the seeker must begin our inquiry with it and not flee. It is only after you have inquired into the nature of the objective world, that he should inquire into who is the knower. 

If, however, he inquires into the knower before the inquiry into the universe, then it is mere mysticism. ‘What is this universe?’ - must precede ‘What is this I?’ -  in pursuit of truth.

If one doesn’t see objects, it does not mean he has Advaitic Gnana. Whoever looks at objects alone, at the external world, is wholly ignorant. But he, who looks at both the outside and inside, inquires; he is led towards Advaitic Gnana.

“Who am I? -  is useful in the first stage to show the illusoriness of ego and thus help the seeker to realize the illusoriness of the form. This prepares him to consider the higher question: What is this universe? , the truth about which cannot be learned by those attached to their ego, with its prejudices against idealism, etc.

Those mystics who ask "Who am I?" may succeed in finding the common factor in all ‘I’s, the I-ness but they have to come back afterward to the world. Their task is incomplete. They do not know the world is consciousness or Brahman.

It is a defect to make "Who Am l?"- inquiry is not a philosophical interrogation.  The scientific inquiry is to realize: What is the world?

Who am ‘I’? - inquiry is not Self-inquiry because it is not philosophic inquiry but it is Mystic inquiry. Self-inquiry is to realize the 'Self', which is hidden by the 'I'. 

Spiritualistic inquiry is to inquire: ~

What is this ‘I’?  

What is this universe?

What is the whole?

After having examined the seeker will realize there is no difference between the universe and the ‘I’ because the ‘I’ itself is the universe. The universe ceases to exist without the ‘I’.

Egocentric Reason tells you what is good and what is bad, what should be followed, and what is left alone.

Soulcentric Reason tells you what is real and what is unreal, what should be followed, and what is left alone.

Pursue this quest until your questions are answered until your problems in understanding the reality hidden by ignorance and your doubts will be solved. : ~Santthosh Kumaar