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