Without the ‘I’, the ego, body and the world cease to exist.+

The ‘I’ is the cause of the bondage of the illusory form, time and space.  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana frees the Soul from the cage of the ‘I’, which is an illusion.

Atman (Soul) is the 'Self’. ‘I’ is not Atman. There is a need to know what is this ‘I’ before indulging in the pursuit of truth. 

Dualist sages including many sages and thinkers could not distinguish between ‘I’ and ‘formless witness.’ They hold ‘I’ as the witness. Their highest was the Jiva. One is so much attached to the 'I' that he does not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again one is unable to detach the ‘I’ from the real witness.

The dualist object: - If everything else is false then the statement I am   Brahman is itself false, the but when one says nonduality is false, there must be awareness, and consciousness, behind the very statement. You will also go, die. One has to rely upon that which is permanent. 

The Soul, the s witness of the ‘I’ alone is permanent. Anything that one says is a witnessed (waking), but there is the formless witness (consciousness) there before any statement could be made.

They mean the body by “I", but it is the Soul formless witness of the ‘I’.  The Soul is the real Self.  Theists dualists did not, or could not analyze further than ‘I’   on this point because they thought the ‘I’ is within the body and the ‘I’ without the body as the ‘Self’. 

The ‘I’ is the cause of the bondage of the illusory form, time and space.  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana frees the Soul from the cage of the ‘I’, which is an illusion.

It is foolish to say by getting rid of the ego the wisdom dawns.  It is impossible to get rid of the ego.  You are the ego.  The ego, body and the world appear together and disappear together.  It is impossible to get rid of the ego alone.

The ego, body and the world together are the’ I’.

Without the ‘I’, the ego, body and the world cease to exist.

Remember:~

The ‘Self is not the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ itself is the illusory bondage because the ‘I’ itself is the cause of ignorance.

Only in ignorance, the Soul is bound by the illusory experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

In reality,   there is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

If the Soul is free from the ‘I’ then it is free from ignorance.

If the Soul is free from the ‘I’ then it is free from the dualistic illusion or Maya.

The Soul is free from the dualistic illusion then it is in its own awareness.

The ‘I’ is the cause of the bondage of the illusory form, time and space.  Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana frees the Soul from the cage of the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion or Maya. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar