Whatever appears as the illusory universe is consciousness and whatever is the cause of the illusory universe is also consciousness.+

The universe appears as a waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality)

What is ‘I’? What is the mind? What is the universe? What is waking or dream? What is duality? What is the dualistic illusion?

A deeper self-search reveals the fact that they all are one and the same thing in ignorance we identify them differently.

Without the ‘I’, there is no mind.

Without the mind, there is no universe.

Without the universe, there is no waking or dream.

Without waking or dream, there is no individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

What is the Soul? What is consciousness? What is awareness? They all are one and the same thing.

Remember:~

Whatever appears as the illusory universe is consciousness and whatever is the cause of the illusory universe is also consciousness. There is no second thing that exists other than the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness. 

It is foolish to limit the consciousness to the individual and think the consciousness is limited to physicality. 

Consciousness appears as ‘I’ in waking or dream and ‘I’ disappears as consciousness in deep sleep. 

That is the Soul appears as the universe in waking or dream and the universe disappears as the Soul in deep sleep. 

That is the dualistic illusion appears as a waking or dream and disappears as the non-dualistic reality in deep sleep. 

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is Seer and also Seen (I). 

The Seen is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. From the ultimate standpoint, the illusion has no value because the Seer and the Seen are one in essence. 

The ‘I’ appears on its own it perishes on its own. The ‘I’ is not the cause of the appearance and disappearance because the ‘I’ itself is the appearance. The ‘Self’ is not ‘I’, but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

The one which witnesses the appearance and disappearance is not ‘I’ because the ‘I’ appears and disappears. 

The one which is aware of the appearance and disappearance as ‘I’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

Realize, ‘what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality and what is hidden by the ‘I’ will be revealed. 

If you realize the ‘Self ‘is not the ‘I’ but the Soul then whatever is hidden by the ‘I’ will be revealed. 

Realizing the Soul is not the ‘I’ but the Soul is the Self, is Self –realization. 

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, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

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 'I' as real because some Gurus have propagated the Self as the ‘I’. There is no need to convince such a mindset. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth. 

Perfect understanding and assimilation of ‘what is what’ lead to Advaitic Self-awareness.:~ Santthosh Kumaar