For a Gnani the 'I' is nonexistence as reality.+

If the 'I' is real let it then be perceived in the state of deep sleep also. As it is not at all perceived, it is unreal.  The 'I' exists only in waking or dream. For a Gnani the 'I' is nonexistent as reality. 

The ‘I’ is neither real nor unreal.  The ‘I’ is the dualistic illusion or Maya.  A Gnani has realized that the world is illusory from one perspective and from the second it is nothing but Brahman or God, itself in manifestation.

This apparent ‘I’ is the dualistic illusion or Maya and has its basis in Brahman, the Eternal. It looks as real. It consists of form, time, and space, it is not real.  In the light of Advaitic wisdom, its falsity is exposed and the Soul, the ‘Self’ alone shines as real in the midst of the dualistic illusion or Maya (I).

The Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara reveals both the real and the unreal nature of existence.

The ‘I’  is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense, that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

People's approach is more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the ‘I’, they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.

The look of an object will depend upon the medium through which the observer views it. In fact, our mental and intellectual conditions determine the ‘I’, observed, and experienced. The commoner viewing the ‘I’ will see differently from a Gnani viewing the same ‘I’. Each one interprets the ‘I’  that they see in terms of their existing knowledge. The commoner sees everything based on the ego, therefore, experiences birth, life, death, and the world as a reality, whereas a Gnani sees everything as the consciousness and he is fully aware of the fact that, there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul or the consciousness.

Thus, all egocentric knowledge has to be bifurcated to realize the ultimate truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

Remember

The consciousness is Brahman.

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 Maya.

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: ~ VC~.63-"Without knowing and examining the universe, 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 says: ~ “What is accepted without a proper inquiry will not lead a person to the final goal. On the contrary, such acceptance will result only in evil, something which is detrimental to our spiritual progress.

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.

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

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

When Sage Sankara says clearly, the universe is not real. He says that Brahman and Atman are one. The ultimate and Absolute Truth is the Self, which is one, though appearing as the universe. The individual within the universe has no reality because the ‘I’ itself has appeared as the universe. When the ‘I’ itself is an illusion the universe is bound to be an illusion.

Only the Soul, the  Self is Real; the rest is an illusion. Atman is  Brahman because there is no second thing that exists other than Atman.

A Gnani sees the 'Self' hidden by the dualistic illusion or Maya (I)  as it is in the midst of the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Remember:~

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God in truth) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). God is above all needs and desires. God is always the Witnessing Subject. God can never become an object as God is beyond the reach of the senses. God is non-dual, one without a second. God has no other besides it. God is destitute of difference, either external or internal. God cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. God cannot be distinguished from any other than God. In God, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constituted the very essence or Svarupa of God, and not just God's attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.

Sage Sankara: ~VC~ If the universe is true, let it then be perceived in the state of deep sleep also. As it is not at all perceived, it must be unreal and false like dreams.

The seeker has to find out: ~

‘What is it that appears as the waking?’

“What is it that appears as a dream?’

‘What is it that  remains without waking or dream in deep sleep?’

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that whatever appears and disappears is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The witness of the appearance and disappearance of the three states also the Soul. All three states are created out of single clay. And that single clay is the consciousness. in reality, the witness (Soul) and the witnessed (three states) are one in essence. 

The knowledge of the single stuff is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana o Atma Gnana.  Thus a perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ is needed to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.   :~Santthosh Kumaar

The Self is not yourself. Yourself is the ego. The real Self is the Soul hidden by the 'I'.+

The Self is not yourself. Yourself is the ego. The real Self is the Soul hidden by the 'I'. The 'I' is present in the form of the universe. The universe is the dualistic illusion or Maya.

Mistaking the Self as yourself is a great error. All the 'I-centric Gurus and their teachings hold the Self as yourself, therefore, they are inadequate and useless to unfold the mystery of the 'I'.

The Self is not within you because the Self is not the body. If the Self is not you, then why do you think the Self is within you. 

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that you and the world are within the Soul the Self. Perfect understanding and assimilation lead to Advaitic Self-awareness.

Remember:~

When the Soul, the Self, stabilizes in its own awareness then it will transcend the illusion of form, time, and space revealing its formless, timeless, and spaceless true nature. 

You are stuck to the ‘I’ by saying ‘I AM THAT’.  The ‘Self’ is not an individual to identify the ‘Self’ as ‘I AM.  How can you identify the ‘Self as ‘I AM’ when the ‘Self’ is a genderless existence.

People say Aham Brahmasmi -- I am God, I am Brahman. I AM THAT’ but when Brahman is, how can "I" remain? Only Brahman remains, not the  I.  

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 Soul, which is 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 as real because some Gurus have propagated the Self is the ‘I’. There is no need to convince such a mindset that refuses to accept other than their accepted truth. 

The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth. The truth is hidden by the ‘I’ but it is without the ‘I’.

Some Gurus in the past glorified the ‘I’ without verifying what this ‘I’ is an actuality. And followers of that ‘I’ based teaching Got stuck with the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ is present only when the mind is present.

The mind is present only when the universe is present.

The universe is present only when the waking is present.

If the ‘I’ is absent then the mind, the universe, and the waking are absent.

~ It means the ‘I’, the mind, the universe, and the waking, are one and the same thing.

This is very important for the seeker to know to realize the ‘I’ itself is ignorance to overcome the ignorance they have to discard ‘I’.

Then why use the word ‘I’ for the ‘Self’ when ‘I’  is the cause of ignorance.

The Soul, the Self is God in truth.  It is not “I AM GOD, but it’s correct to say ‘the SELF IS GOD, because the Self is not the  ‘I’ or ’I AM”.

That is why Buddha said: ~ 

Do not believe spiritual teaching just because: ~

1. It is repeatedly recited,

2. It is written in the scriptures

3. It was handed from Guru to a disciple,

4. Everyone around you believes it,

5. It has supernatural qualities,

6. It fits my beliefs anyway,

7. It sounds rational to me,

8. It is taught by a respectable person,

9. It was said to be the truth by the teacher,

10. One must defend it or fight for it.

No second thing existed prior to the appearance of the ‘I’ and ‘I’ never exists now and also ‘I’ never exists in the future.    The ‘I’, which appears and disappears is merely an illusion.

Let you be clear on one thing. The ‘I’ is merely a dualistic illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. But in reality, ‘I’ neither exists in the past nor exists now, nor going to exist in the future. 

Whatever existed in the past and whatever exists now and whatever is going to exist in the future is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

Whatever has appeared as ‘I’ is nothing but consciousness? The ‘I’ has no value because it is merely an illusion.

If you search for the truth then you will find only the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. If you search for the Soul then you will find only the truth, which is hidden by the 'I'.  : ~Santthosh Kumaar

Sage Sankara has declared the Advaitic truth 1200 years back. Do not struggle to search for the truth.+

Your quest is over. There is no need to search for the truth, you only have to realize it.  The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

To search for this truth there is no need to struggle. To understand, assimilate and realize this truth you have to drop all your accumulated knowledge and stick to the truth. The truth is the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness.

By realizing no second thing exists other than consciousness because the world in which you exists is nothing but consciousness.

There is no need to read books, there is no need to indulge in arguments, and there is no need to indulge in yoga to get Self-realization.

You have to only realize the ‘‘Self’’ is not you and ‘‘Self’ is not within your body because the ‘‘Self’’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness pervades all three states. All three states are created out of consciousness. For anything to exist consciousness is required.

Remember:~

Sage  Sankara declared the Advaitic truth 1200 years back. Do not struggle to search for the truth.

Sage Sankara does not want you to struggle he wants you to realize the truth right here in this very life not in the next world and next life.

Bhagavan Buddha: ~ There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way... and not starting.

All so-called spiritual paths are useless unless it causes us to seek the truth of our true existence. All controversies about creation, the nature of the universe, evolution, the purpose of God, etc., are useless in the Atmic path.

Start now do not give up until you realize it. If you are searching for truth then you are the chosen one. 

Praise Sage Sankara and embark on the journey of the truth; the Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sankara frees the Soul, the Self from the prison of ignorance.

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, which is present in the form of the consciousness.

Thus, you, your experience of birth, life, death, and the world are merely an illusion created out of consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

You are not the witness because the ‘Self' is not you. The Self is the Soul, which witnesses the world, in which you exist. The world is merely an illusion thus, you are part of the illusion.

Sage Sankara says:~ Atman is Brahman. The Atman alone is real. He declared this Advaitic truth, which is the ultimate truth to the whole world, many centuries back.

Thus, the Atman which is present in the form of consciousness is real and eternal, the world in which we exist is merely an illusion. : ~

Manduka Upanishad:~ All indeed is, this Brahman; This Atman is Brahman. (verse-2)

While Brahman lies behind the sum total of the objective universe, some human minds boggle at any attempt to explain it with only the tools provided by reason. 

Brahman is beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, and beyond imagination. Indeed, the highest idea is that Brahman is beyond both existence and non-existence, transcending and including time, causation, and space, and thus can never be known in the same material sense as one traditionally 'understands' a given concept or object.

Imagine a person who is blind from birth and has not seen anything. Is it possible for us to explain to him the meaning of the color red? Is any amount of thinking or reasoning on his part ever going to make him understand the sensation of the color red? In a similar fashion, the idea of Brahman cannot be explained or understood through material reasoning or any form of human communication. Brahman is like the color red; those who can sense it cannot explain or argue with those who have never sensed it.

Chandogya Upanishad: - One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos-- energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation--all come from the Self.

To realize the ultimate truth or Brahman is the prime goal. All the scriptures indicate that Atman is Brahman, and Brahman is the ultimate truth. Therefore the Soul, which is in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth. Thus, realizing the ultimate truth is the prime goal. :~Santthosh Kumaar

Lord Krishna says: ~ "This yoga has been lost for ages" the word yoga refers to Gnana yoga, not other yogas: the force of the word this is to point this out.+

Sage  Sankara said:~ Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, does liberation come, but only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way. (1) Vivekachoodamani v 56, pg. 25

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (our true Advaitic wisdom) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but the philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita –Chap- IV-v.2) 

In Gita Chap.IV where Lord Krishna says: ~ "This yoga has been lost for ages" The word yoga refers to Gnana yoga, not other yogas: the force of the word this is to point this out. 

Lord Krishna describes some of the other yogas but devotes this chapter separately to Gnana Yoga. So one sees even in those ancient days people did not care for Advaita; they wanted religion; hence, Gnana got lost. That is why Krishna calls it "the supreme secret." Krishna points out that yoga must see "Brahman in action." 

Gita Chap.IV: "He who achieves perfection in Yoga finds the Self in time." This means that after his yoga is finished, he begins the inquiry into ultimate truth, and in due course, this inquiry produces the realization of the universal Spirit as the result. 

Thus, the yogi when he finds yoga is inadequate and useless to realize the 'Self' must drop yoga and take up the path of Gnana. 

Swami Vivekananda: ~ ‘Jñāna Yoga is divided into three parts. First: hearing the truth--that the Atman is the only reality and that everything else is Maya. Second: reasoning upon this philosophy from all points of view. Third: giving up all further argumentation and realizing the truth. This realization comes from being certain that Brahman is real and everything else is unreal.

Sage Sankara says:~ Yoga is not the means of liberation (page 132-133 - Commentary on Brhadaranyakopanishad.

In Sutra Bashya and Manduka:~The Samadhi and sleep are identical. 

Brihad Upanishad: does not advocate Samadhi.

Sage Sankara in the commentary to "Brahma Sutras:- " "The highest beatitude is not to be attained by Yoga." (Sacred Books of East Series page 298 Vol.1.) he also says Samadhi is the same as sleep (p.312) ---this indicates that yoga is not the means to Self-realization. And yogic Samadhi is not nondual Self-awareness. 

Panchadasi: - The impossibility of yoga arrives at a successful end to its practices. (P.509 v, 109)

Bhagavan Buddha gave up his austerities of yoga as impossible and useless. (Page.70/71 "Buddhism in Translation” by Warren)

Bhagavan Buddha got enlightenment only after he gave up Yoga. Unless one exercises his reason--there is no chance of getting the truth. 

There is no need for any practice to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Perfect understanding assimilation of ‘what is what’ is very much necessary to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.

Remember:~ 

Yoga does not yield truth, because it ignores the objective world.  Yoga has its place rather than its value and its value is for a certain type of mindset.  One cannot live without the physical world; it is the basis of his life, so it must be the starting point of his inquiry. Things, not imaginations, must be the seeker’s material.

Yogi shuts his eyes against the world and then has the temerity to declare that he knows the world to be Brahman! Because he has not inquired into it, he knows nothing.

Yoga helps the yogi by giving him the feeling that the world, which confronts him is not worth bothering about, it detaches him from the world; it makes him treat the world as a dream, i.e. an idea. It does the same to his ego to some extent, because he becomes indifferent to what happens to him. But the great secret is that this is only feeling, he feels these things only but does not know that the world is an idea. Such knowledge can come only after deeper self-search and in no other way. That is why yogi cannot be Gnani.

Sage Sankara says:~ Yoga is not the means of liberation (page 132-133 - Commentary on Brihadaranyakopanishad

Yoga can yield the only duality because everything that one can do or practice becomes a vanishing 'known.' It yields relative truth based on imagination, which is true from the physical viewpoint of view, not non-dual truth, which is the ultimate reality.

It is the difference between feeling and knowledge. The feeling of the yogi that the world is unreal may change in the future because all emotions are liable to change; and the fact is that yogis do change, as when they indulge in accumulating wealth they lose their sense of world unreality though previously they felt it.

 A permanent view of the world as unreal can come only after Soulcentric reasoning; such knowledge cannot change. Were the yogi of sufficiently sharp intellect he could discover the ideality of the world by Soulcentric reasoning alone and then it would not be necessary for him to have gone through yoga practice at all; that is why the yoga is for dull or middling intellects.

To realize the truth of the whole, one must know the world, that confronts him, otherwise, he gets half-truth. The seeker of truth should not run away from the external world means incapacity to think. Thus, it is necessary to know the nature of the world in which he exists.

The ultimate truth is attainable by perfect understanding, assimilation, and realization of ‘what is what’.  The perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ leads to Advaitic Self-awareness.  : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

The one which has the illusion and the one without the illusion is the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of the consciousness.+

Q:~ NY: Please can you explain who is it that has to have a perfect understanding of what is what if the i is illusory? And who gets the conviction about the consciousness?

Santthosh Kumaar:~ The one which has the illusion and the one without the illusion is the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

In reality, the ‘I’ cease to exist. Limiting ‘I’ to an individual and trying to find out ‘Who am I?’ - will not reveal the ‘Self’ hidden by the ‘I’. 

When the ‘Self’ is not an individual but the Soul the ‘Self’ is not an individual then what is the use of asking to whom is the illusion.  

To who is the illusion? Who gets the thoughts, such question arises only to those who think the Self is within the human heart. 

Instead of finding fault first realize what the Self is in actuality. Amazingly an honest introspection will reveal that all fault lies with “you” and “your "own perceptions and attitudes. 

If there is an error in understanding what 'Self' is in actuality it is in “you".  Correcting this and changing to a Soulcentric attitude will change your perception and then the Soul; the 'Self' will reveal its formless, timeless and spaceless true nature.  

First Mundaka - Chapter 2 (8) - Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind. 

Question and questioner and argument and arguer belong to the dualistic illusion or Maya (I). 

Who am I? - is not Self-inquiry.  Self-inquiry is finding out the ‘Self’ which is hidden by the ‘I’. The ‘I’ itself is ignorance. Ignorance is the cause of the dualistic illusion or Maya or universe. 

By inquiring ‘Who am I?’-  the ignorance will not vanish. Without getting rid of ignorance, the Advaitic wisdom will not dawn. Without the Advaitic wisdom, it is not possible to realize the truth, which is hidden by the dualistic illusion. 

Remember: ~The ‘I’ is the universe. Without the ‘I’ the universe ceases to exist.  The Soul, the ‘Self’ and the universe are one in essence because the universe is nothing but an illusion created out of the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

This universe is only the veil of ignorance on the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. The Self is not you but the Soul, which is hidden by the universe (I).  

The Soul is hidden by the universe because the universe merely a dualistic illusion or Maya created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

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 Maya. 

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. 

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 a reality. Until the universe prevails as a reality the religion thrives.  

Remember:~ The ‘Self’ noting permanent and the ‘I’, is impermanent.   The ‘I’, which appears and disappears is not the Self. The Self is hidden by the ‘I’.  the ‘I’ is perishable whereas the Self is imperishable. 

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

Why are you struggling to find out who you are? You will never find the answer if you get stuck to the ‘I’. 

Find out ‘what is this ‘I’, which appears and disappears. What is that is aware of the coming and going of the ‘I’? 

Without realizing ‘What is this ‘I’?- you will never be able to realize the mystery of the ‘I’. The ‘I’ is the most intoxicating stuff. Those who use the word ‘I’ for the ‘Self ‘will never be able to cross the threshold of the dualistic illusion. 

The ‘I’ based teachings will not transport the seeker to the ultimate end of understanding. 

The ‘I’ is the cage for the Soul. ‘I’ is the cause of ignorance. Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is the only weapon to get rid of ignorance. 

The ‘I’ based teachings will not transport the seeker to the ultimate end of understanding. Perfect understanding of ‘what is this ‘I’ leads to the realization of the truth beyond the form, time, and space. 

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. 

Remember:~

It is 'you' who is born in this world. It is you who is living in this world. And it is you who is going to die in this world in the future. Your birth, life, death and the world in which you exist is nothing to do with the Self because the Self is not you but the Soul, the unborn eternal. 

The Soul, the Self is hidden by the world in which you exist. It is hidden because the world in which you exist is merely a dualistic illusion or Maya created out of the Soul, the Self, which is present in the form of consciousness. Without consciousness, you and the world in which you exist cease to exist. 

Whatever you have seen, known, believed and experienced within this illusory world is nothing but an illusion created out of consciousness. 

Consciousness is ever-present. Without consciousness, the world, in which you exist ceases to exist.   The consciousness is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny consciousness, because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. Consciousness is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Consciousness is everything. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

Whatever you have seen, known, believed and experienced as a person within the waking experience is bound to be an illusion created out of consciousness.  Thus, the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness alone, is real and eternal. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar