Why you are saying I AM THAT when the Self is not you but the Self is the Soul hidden by the ‘I’.+

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

You are nothing to do with the Soul, the Self. The world in which you exist is nothing to do with the Soul, the Self.

The one which is born, lives, and dies in this world is ‘you’. The Self is not you but the Self is the Soul because the Soul is unborn eternal.  You and the world in which you exist is limited to the domain of the form, time and space.  

From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the form, time and space are merely an illusion. If the form, time and space are an illusion then the ‘I’ is an illusion. If the ‘I’ is an illusion then the universe is merely an illusion. If the universe is an illusion then the experience of birth, life, and death is merely an illusion.

The Soul, the 'Self' hidden by the illusion. It is hidden by the illusion because the Soul is the cause of the illusion and it itself is uncaused.  

Perfect understanding of ‘what is what is needed to realize the truth, which is hidden by the ‘I’.

What is the use of finding out ‘who you are?’ It is an undeniable fact that you are the birth entity born in this world.

You think you are an individual separate from the world.  You think the world existed prior to you and you are born in it but you are unaware of the fact that you and your experience of birth, life, death, and the world are a reality within the dualistic illusion or Maya. The dualistic illusion or Maya is present in the form of the ‘I’.

Why you are saying I AM THAT when the Self is not you but the Self is the Soul hidden by the ‘I’.

You are saying I AM THAT within the world in which you exist. The world in which you exist is the dualistic illusion or Maya.  What is the use of saying I AM THAT within the dualistic illusion or Maya?

The dualistic illusion or Maya hides the Self.  Realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The dualistic illusion or Maya is present in the form of the ‘I’.  The ‘I’ appears and disappears. The ‘Self is not the ‘I’. The Soul, the ‘Self’ is always present is hidden by the ‘I’.

Remember:~ 

Sage  Sankara says:~   A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by perverse arguments.

Sage Sankara:~  VC  - "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. 

Sage 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.

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 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.

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