Sage Sri, Sankara"s Advaitic wisdom exposes the oneness hidden by the dualistic illusion.+*****

Sage Sri, Sankara does not believe in books. Sage Sri, Sankara denies the authority of any book over any other book. He denies emphatically any one book contains all the truths about Brahman or God, Soul, the ultimate reality.

It is impossible to realize the Self through bookish knowledge. A feeling of profound respect for physical Guru is still more difficult to uphold. If you are seeking truth know must not cling to any physical Guru or his teaching. 

Sage Sri, Sankara himself had often said that his philosophy was based on Sruti, or revealed scripture. This may be because Sage Sri, Sankara addressed the ordinary man, who finds security in the idea of causality and thus, in the idea of God—and Revelation is indispensable to prove the latter. He believed that those of superior intelligence, have no need of this idea of divine causality, and can, therefore, dispense with Sruti and arrive at the truth of Advaita by pure reason.

Sage Sri, Sankara says: - VC-47   All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the not-Self.

Sage Sri, Sankara says: - VC-162-  There is no liberation for a person of mere book-knowledge, howsoever well-read in the philosophy of Vedanta, so long as one does not give up the false identification with the body, sense-organs, etc., which are unreal.

Tripura Rahasya: ~ Second-hand knowledge of the Self-gathered from books or Gurus can never emancipate a man until its truth is rightly investigated and applied; only direct realization will do that. Realize yourself, turning the mind inward. (18: 89):

Sage Sri, Sankara says you need study philosophy to realize the 'Self' hidden by the dualistic illusion.

Sage Sri, Sankara"s Advaitic wisdom exposes the oneness hidden by the dualistic illusion.   The Soul the 'Self' pervades in everything and everywhere in the universe, which is the dualistic illusion.  There are many ling creatures but there is only one Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The nature of the Soul, the Self is oneness. The Oneness is Advaita. 

How can you talk about the Soul when the whole dualistic illusion (universe) is created out of single clay? The single clay is the Soul, the Self of the whole dualistic illusion.

Sage Sri, Sankara asks his opponents "How do you know there are separate individual Souls? Have you seen the Soul of a man? You can only say that you have seen different bodies. To say more is to misuse language. Therefore, I call you liars unless you give proof, which is impossible.

The universe is verily consciousness. Without realizing ‘this truth is impossible to get Self- realization.  The universe is not different from the Mind because the universe itself is mind.  The mind is not different from the Soul because the mind is the dualistic illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, the universe is nothing but consciousness. The universe is unreal because it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness.

It is impossible for any human being to challenge successfully the Advaitic position, as Sage Sri, Sankara says.

Remember:~

Even Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material (Gita 14.27)

Bhagavad Gita itself says the all-pervading consciousness is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material.

Religious God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul and the innermost ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, it means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman  (Spirit) is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

 The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the innermost Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there is. 

To come to a more precise understanding of what non-duality is or might mean, we must return to the original linguistic and philosophic backgrounds from which the word has been translated into English.

 If we limit a probe of the meaning of non-duality to Hindu Sanskrit literature, we find that the most frequently used term is “Advaita.

Advaita” is not a religious concept.  Advaita is the nature of the existence hidden by the form, time and space.   The seeker has to attempt to rule out from the start a false understanding of reality by perfect understanding of ‘what is what’.

The Advaita is hidden by the dvaita. Advaita is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Dvaita is the universe.

Advaita is basically a denial; it is literally the negation of the dvaita.  That means whatever remains by negating the dvaita (universe) by realizing the universe is created out of single clay and that clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness, the hidden truth by dvaita uncovered.  The consciousness is the cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused.

Thus, the path of wisdom is the only means. Then it is no use going a roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and the witness of the universe (mind).  By tracing the source of the mind or the universe one will be able to realize the Brahman. 

Remember:~ 

Oneness is the nature of the Soul, the Self.  Oneness means Advaita or nonduality. When the universe appears the duality appears. When there is duality then there is no Oneness. When there is Oneness there is no duality. 

By saying I and you are one the Oneness will not arise.

There is no Oneness in the realm of ignorance.

There is no Oneness when ‘I’ is present. 

There is no Oneness when the mind is present.

There is no Oneness when the dualistic illusion is present.

There is no Oneness when the universe is present.

There is no Oneness when the waking or dream is present.

There is no Oneness when the individual experience of the birth, life, death and the world is present. 

There is consciousness Oneness in the midst of the dualistic illusion when Advaitic wisdom dawns.

Remember:~

All is consciousness.  The whole universe is consciousness. From consciousness, the universe comes. When universe disappears, the consciousness still remains without form, time and space.

Sage Sri Sankara: ~ “VC- All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman (Consciousness) which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.

Sage Sri, Sankara:~ VC~.63-"Without knowing and examining the external world, one can’t know the Truth, as the idea that the external world exists, won't go. It can go only by an inquiry into the nature of the external world.

After verifying through deeper inquiry if one finds the world is the reality within the illusion then he cannot again say the world is not an illusion.

If one is frightened to accept the world is an illusion (waking) then he is unfit to acquire ‘Self’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Those who stuck with the reality of the world are stuck with the reality of the individual experiences of birth, life, and death, which takes place within the unreal world. Thus the pursuit of truth is for those who have the courage to accept the reality as it is, that is the reality without form, time and space.

When you finally realize the 'Self’ is not you but the ‘‘Self’’ is the Soul then you will realize the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Sage Sri, Sankara says:~ VC-47 All the effects of ignorance, root, and branch, are burnt down by the fire of knowledge, which arises from discrimination between these two—the Self and the non-Self.

Till you think you are an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward the ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there the universe prevails as reality.

Sage Sri, 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.

Perfect understanding and realization of ‘what is what’ leads Self-awareness. By holding onto theories one remains in the realm of duality. You have to mentally go on dropping what is not the truth through deeper Self-search. Finally when you become aware of the fact that, your ego, your body, and the world are one in essence then there is Self-awareness in the midst of duality. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

A Gnani is not a religious person. The religious person is not qualified to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.+

A Gnani is not a religious person. The religious person is not qualified to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because the religion is based on faith, not the truth. The religion propagates ignorance, not the truth hidden by ignorance.

How religious man can get Gnana? He has not even taken the first step to knowing what God supposed to be in actuality.  He believes in heaven and hell as if he has personally been there on a conducted tour.

Religious man blindly prays without even knowing what God supposed to be according to his own scriptures.

Know God in truth

Religious Gods are based on blind belief. Belief is not God.  Religious God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul the  ‘Self’ is the center of all that exists. Without the Soul the world in which you exist ceases to exist, it means the religious God is dependent on the Soul for his existence. God in truth is only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Even The Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material.  (14.27).

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness. 

Even Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God in truth) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Even Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad declares: "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from him does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

 A religious man prays -- to the mythical Gods of his belief.  Mythical Gods are not God in truth.   There is a tremendous difference between prayer and Gnana.

Swami Vivekananda: ~ “The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods, and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods?

Knowing this, stand up and fight! Not one step back that is the idea. ... Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the sphere! Let the whole world stand against us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards. ... Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune. You have cried to all the Gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The masses in India cry to sixty million Gods and still die like dogs. Where are these Gods? ... The Gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? Die game. ... This bending the knee to superstitions, this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, my Soul. You are infinite, deathless, birthless. Because you are the infinite spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. ... Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. You are the entire world. Who can help you? - Swami Vivekananda  (Delivered In San Francisco, on May 28, 1900) -The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Lectures And Discourses/The Gita II

Prayer is directed towards a mythological God, a fiction. Prayer is always directed outward. Gnana is an inward journey, not to some fiction but the reality hidden by the ignorance. Enlightenment happens when the Soul, the 'Self' wakes up from its sleep of ignorance.

Religious people are busy praying and worshipping to a God of their belief, thinking God is somewhere, up there, monitoring every act of the people, guiding the lost and uplifting the poor. God is the one who punishes the evil and rewards the benevolent.

Some people even claim of seeing them in stone idols or some conceptual belief, in inanimate or living things. Is it our faith that makes us believe that there is some supreme power above us or is it a reality, can never be answered.  

Till this conviction is there one is in the grip of the dualistic illusion (I). The dualistic illusion keeps one in the ignorance of the Self.  Therefore, there is a need to realize the fact that, the Self is not ‘I’ but it is the formless Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Sage Sankara: ~   VC Neither sacred baths nor any amount of charity nor even Hundreds of pranayamas* can give us the knowledge about our own Self.  The firm experience of the nature of the Self is seen to proceed from inquiry along the lines of the salutary advice of the wise. (13)

 God is divine, only held in the bondage of the ignorance (matter); perfection will be reached when this bond will burst, and the word they use for it is, therefore, freedom, freedom from the bonds of imperfection, freedom from ignorance.

No prayers or mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the prayers and mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, the world in which he exists as a reality.  For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the mantas will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time and space.

That is why Sage  Sankara VC~.61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?

VC-  v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not  even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~A sickness is not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman (God).” Brahman must be realized. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

When one becomes aware of the fact that the Soul is the Self, then he realizes the fact that whatever known, seen, believed and experienced on the base of the ‘I’ is an illusion.

If you search for the ‘Self’  then you will find only the Soul.  If you search for truth then you will find only the Soul. If you search for God then you will find only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

Thus, the Soul is the Goal.  The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

Remember:~ 

Sage Sankara clearly indicates in Viveka Chudamani (2) that the Knower of the Atman (A Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).

So, Sage Sankara clearly indicates A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man" then why to hold Gurus and Yogis who identify themselves as holy men.

A Gnani never identifies himself as a Guru or a Yogi or someone disciple. The one who accepts himself as a Guru or someone’s disciple is not a Gnani.

Ashtavakra Samhita: ~ "The man of knowledge (Gnani), though living like an ordinary man, is contrary to him and only those like him understand his state.

In Self-awareness, ignorance vanishes and the unreal nature of the form, time and space are exposed.

In Self-awareness (in the midst of duality), the body is not considered as the body, the ego is not considered as ego the world is not considered as the world because everything is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is consciousness (Soul

A Gnani has realized everything is consciousness (Brahman). For a Gnani, there is no second thing exists other than the consciousness. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

If you are seeking truth then do not blindly believe in any Guru. Think for yourself. No blind belief can save you, work out your own salvation.+

Gurudom belongs to religion and yoga, not spirituality. If you are seeking truth then you have to tread the path alone.

Yoga Vasistha says: ~ Self-knowledge or knowledge of truth is not had by resorting to a Guru (preceptor) nor by the study of scripture, nor by good works: it is attained only through inquiry inspired by the company of wise (Gnani). One’s inner light alone is the means, naught else. When this inner light is kept alive, it is not affected by the darkness of inertia. 

There is no need to condemn Gurus, but there is a need to highlight how they become an obstacle in realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Yoga Vasistha:~ "Teachers, interpretations of sacred texts, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth which is revealed in the clear reflection of the heart, engendered from contact with the good."

Upanishads:~ Fools dwelling in darkness, but thinking they wise and erudite, go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind. (Upanishads Nikilanada - Ch II-5 P-14)

The seeker has to overcome all the obstacles in pursuit of truth on his own.  There are so many scholars who mastered philosophy.  It is impossible to acquire Self-knowledge by studying Vedas and theoretical philosophy. Because their preaching is based on spirit and practices are based on ego or waking entity.

It is very difficult to talk to people about the ultimate truth or Brahman because everyone thinks he knows the ultimate truth or Brahman. This- I know business is dangerous.  And whatever his reached conclusion is second-hand stuff.  Therefore, accepting accumulated knowledge without verification will lead the seekers to hallucinated realization based on the ego.  

One may have some flashes of truth when someone tries to indicate it through fewer words. But it takes nearer to truth, not realization. 

If you are seeking truth then do not blindly believe in any Guru. Think for yourself. No blind belief can save you, work out your own salvation. Have only one idea of the ‘Self’ that is an eternal help.   Advaitic Gnana is given neither from outside nor from another person.

Remember:~

Swami Vivekananda said: - “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own Soul.”

The Guru is useless so long as the ultimate truth is unknown, and the Guru is equally useless when the ultimate truth or Brahman has already been known.

Guru is needed in the religious and the yogic path.  There is no need for a Guru to acquire Self-knowledge.

How do you know the guru you follow has realized the truth?  How do you know the guru’s teaching is the ultimate truth?

Katha Upanishad: ~ This Atman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, nor by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals Its own form. (Ch-II -23-P-20)

Thus, those who have taken the path of wisdom are chosen ones.  The chosen one will get the grace of the Soul, the inner Guru. The path of wisdom is the Soulcentric path, whereas all other paths are egocentric.  All egocentric paths lead to hallucination.

The  Soul, the inner 'Self 'reveals‘ what is real’ and ‘what is unreal” when the seeker is receptive and ready.

Sages of truth restrained themselves from the Self-knowledge, Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana to the masses and only a selected few. It was hidden from the ignorant populace which was not qualified and receptive to it. 

Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana was not written down but was imparted orally to the chosen few. Thus, religion was given to the ignorant populace, and knowledge of the Spirit was given to only a selected few. Thus we find traces of the knowledge of the spirit in the religious books in the form of parables.

People believe that a Guru or mystic or priest has so many followers and therefore there must be some truth in their teaching, which is a common fallacy accepted by the masses due to their inherited conditioning. It proves only an ignorant can find a number of greater ignorant to follow him. 

Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatars belong to religious paths. Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatars have nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman. Guru, Swami, Yogi, Sadhu, and Avatars are based on the false Self (ego), and false experience (waking).

To acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana there is no Guru required. The seeker has to grow from the inside out. None can teach him none can make him spiritual. There is no other teacher but his own Soul.

 In the path of truth, there is no need to follow anyone. The one who calls himself a Guru and the one who calls himself some Guru’s disciple will never be able to cross the threshold of duality.

All these experiences as a father, son, Guru, and pupil along with the world in which they all exist were one and the same consciousness appearing differently. All these distinctions disappear when one realizes the ultimate truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara has dynamic, direct, universal appeal.+

Swami Vivekananda aptly described Sage Sankara’s Advaita as the fairest flower of philosophy that any country in any age has produced.

The Advaitic truth is a rational or scientific truth declared by Bhagwan Buddha and Sage Sankara centuries back, but unfortunately, the original essence of the rational Advaita is lost mainly, because of orthodox adulteration and add-ons, which are based on the ego (waking entity), which is the false self within the false experience (waking).

The seeker has to first indulge in deeper self-search without scriptures and understand assimilate the Advaitic truth, which leads to self-awareness. Thus, soulcentric thinking, reasoning, and judgment are very much necessary in pursuit of truth.

The non-dual Atman is realized when the individual self (jiva) is awakened from its ignorance. Atman is unborn, dreamless, sleepless, and motionless and is beyond duality. It is cognition at its purest. It is Brahman- Ayam Atma Brahma, this Atma is that Brahma; Thus epitomizing the core of Upanishad teachings.

Sage Sankara ’says:~ "Kuruthe Ganga sahar gamanam Vratha paripal mathva dhanam. Gyana Vihine.Sarva Mathene.”

Advaitic Gnana is common to all religions. There is nothing like One Gnana for a Hindu and another for a Christian.

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara can be summed up in the following statement:-

Brahma Satyam, jaganmithya, jivobrahmaivanaparah: - Brahman alone is real; the world is non-real and the individual Self is essentially not-different from Brahman.

This is the quintessence of Sage Sankara’s metaphysics.

The consciousness is the one single reality or Brahman. The individual self is a reality within the duality. There is no individual in the realm of the nondual reality.

Sage Sankara says:~ One alone exists, and the rest is all superimposition on that One, due to ignorance.

Through a systematic inquiry into the nature of the mind, which is present in the form of the universe, one arrives at the position that the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

The Soul, the Self is constant and, therefore, real, while the phenomena constituting the universe is constantly changing and, therefore, unreal. The final conclusion is that the form, time, and space or the universe are one in essence. That essence is consciousness. Thus, no second thing exists other than consciousness.

The seeker of truth has to take into account all three states of our existence, which is waking, dream, and deep sleep ~ in waking or dream one experiences duality, and in deep sleep, there is only non-duality. In order to obtain a complete picture of our existential reality, we need to include evidence from all three states. This is the phenomenology of consciousness.

Consciousness is one only, without a second. One experience the manifold universe ignorance ~ led illusion “covers" the One and "projects" the Many. The illusion is the veil on consciousness. In truth, only One, non-dual Reality is all there is. The consciousness is all-pervasive. It is intrinsically Real, self-effulgent, infinite, undifferentiated Pure.

When the Soul, the  Self, wakes up to its own formless nondual true nature, the ignorance ceases and the illusion, which is present in the form duality never again experienced as reality.

The show of the illusory duality, however, continues, as before. Only our identification with a particular actor's role is gone forever because the self is in its own awareness.

Self-awareness is Brahmic Bliss! This state is already ours always in deep sleep in a "general" way. When the Self-Knowledge dawns then one is awake to it in a "special" way in the midst of duality.

Atman=Brahman or the Self, capture the essence of the immanent (Self) and the transcendent (Brahman) Reality. Humanity has not yet conceived a more lofty conception of its position in the universe.

Advaita only means the negation of duality. The soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman. The consciousness is the cause of the origin, maintenance, and withdrawal of the universe is Advaita (i.e. non-dual), it means that the consciousness transcends all conceptions, positive and negative. Nothing positive can ever be imagined or said about it.

The consciousness is existence absolute, awareness absolute. Existence absolute means that consciousness is not unreal or non-existent. And it is not the unconsciousness. Nothing positive can be stated about consciousness.

Remember:~ 

Many people quote Advaita without understanding it really in its highest aspect. Say to one who calls himself an Advaitin but whose knowledge of Advaita is based on dualistic or orthodox perspective belongs to the Advaitic sect their knowledge is limited to the domain of the form, time, and space.

The orthodox people are unable to digest the Advaitic wisdom because they strongly believe, their individual experience of the birth, life, death, and the world and rebirth and personal Gods with attributes as a reality whereas Sage Sri, Sankara says the world is an illusion.

 The seeker has to prepare himself to learn and reason on the nondualistic perspective to unfold the mystery hidden by the universe.

A number of Upanishads are equally dogmatic and self-contradictory because they also begin by assuming Brahman(God). Few Upanishads prove Brahman at the end of a train of proof but still, they are very confusing and vague.

Sage  Sankara said: " Talk as much philosophy as you like, worship as many Gods as you please, observe ceremonies and sing devotional hymns, but liberation will never come, even after a hundred aeons, without realizing the Oneness.

"Who am I?" this question was boldly taken up by the great Advaitic Sage   Sankara who wrote commentaries on some of the spiritual treatises are known as the Upanishads, which form the latter part of the Vedas, the Holy Scriptures.

Sage Sankara addressed the scholars, philosophers, and monks of his day.

The deep inquiry into the nature of the ‘I’ ’ and free the Soul from the illusory bondage of the ‘I’. The ‘Who Am ‘I’, inquiry, is for the beginners to expose the unreal nature of the ‘I’.

"Who am I?” inquiry has no dynamic, direct, universal appeal it is just a starter in the Atmic Path.

The Self-inquiry is to know ‘what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality. It is erroneous to limit the ‘I’ is within the body. Thinking the ‘I’ is within the body and inquiring ‘Who Am ‘I’ will not help to unfold the mystery of the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ hides the reality of existence. The nature of existence is the formless, timeless and spaceless existence. There is no ‘I’ in reality. The ‘I’ is merely an illusion. Whatever belongs to the ‘I’ is merely an illusion.

The ‘I’ is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. ‘I’ is not the subject. The ‘I’ is an object to the Soul, which is the formless, timeless and spaceless subject.

Remember:~

Bhagavad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the world in which you exist is bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then three states, are bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the form, time, and space are bound to be an illusion.

If I’ is an illusion then the individual experience of the birth, life, death is bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the words and thoughts are bound to be an illusion.

If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the duality is bound to be an illusion.

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes in order to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space

That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self.

People think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self. The seeker has to understand the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal.

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.

People are stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, which they take it as real because some Gurus have propagated the Self is the ‘I’. is no need to convince such mindsets. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.

That is why Sage Sankara says:~ VC-65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

People refuse to accept anything other than their Guru's words. For them, their Gurus words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.

Such mindsets are not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth.

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage  Sankara has dynamic, direct, universal appeal. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar