If the ‘I’ is an illusion, then it is no use of inquiring ‘Who Am I? +

Make sure the Self is not ‘I’. If the  Self is not  ‘I’  then whatever you have seen, known, believed, and experienced as an individual is bound to be a falsehood.

If the Self is not ‘I’ then there is no other ‘I’ because the ‘I’ exist only in the domain of duality. The Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The nature of the Soul is ‘I’-less. The ‘I’ is an illusory nature of the Soul, the Self’. The ‘I’ appears and disappears.

Thus holding the  Self as ‘I’ and trying to assimilate Advaitic truth is trying to drain the ocean drop by drop.

What is this “I”? The ‘I’ is the mind. The body and the world together are the mind. If the mind is present then only you and your experience of the world are present. If the mind is not present, then you and your world cease to exist.

The mind is present in the form of the universe. The universe appears as waking or dream(duality) and disappears as deep sleep (non-duality).

If the ‘I’ is an illusion,  then it is no use of inquiring ‘Who Am I?. Till one holds the Self as  ‘I’  the Soul, the Self is caught up in the prison of duality.  

Sage Sankara:~  VC-63- "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.

A deeper self-search reveals the fact that by inquiring - Who Am I?  wisdom will not dawn. Who Am I?  inquiry is only for beginners and it is inadequate and useless in the later stages.

That is why Sage Sankara: ~  VC-61- For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?

VC-  v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together.

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

Until one gets convinced that the Self is not  ‘I’,  he will remain in ignorance of the formless  Soul, the Self. 

If Self is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence, then the individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world is bound to be an illusion because the 'I' exists only in the domain of the form, time, and space. 

It is necessary to know and realize the fact that the Self is not the form, but it is formless before indulging in the inner (mental) journey.

Remember: ~

Without realizing ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness Self-realization is an impossibility. The world in which you exist hides the ‘Self’,

All the Gurus in the past misguided the seeking world by propagation the Self within the physical body.

Remember, the ‘Self is not within the body but the ‘Self’ is hidden by the world in which you exist.  

 

The ego, thoughts, and the world in which we exist are created out of single clay.  That single clay is the consciousness.   Knowledge of the single clay is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gina or Atma Gnana.

The world in which we exist is the product of ignorance. When ignorance vanishes then the unreal nature of the world in which we exist is exposed.

When the unreal nature of the world in which we exist is exposed than the ego, thoughts, and whatever is seen, known, believed, and experienced within the unreal world is bound to be an illusion. 

It is necessary to realize the one which is born, lives, and dies, is not the ‘Self’ because the ‘Self is the birthless and deathless. The ‘Self’ is birthless and deathless because it is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Only when you 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 consciousness.  

Thus everything is consciousness, which is real and eternal.  Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.  The world in which you exist is nothing to do with the Soul, the ‘Self’  because the world in which you exist is merely an illusion. :~ Santthosh Kumaar