Sage Sankara: ~ Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras and medicines to such a one? +

Make sure ‘I’ is not the Self. If the  ‘I’ is not the Self 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 the 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 ‘I’. The ‘I’ appears and disappears.

Thus, holding the ‘I’ as the Self 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 there, then only you and your experience of the world are there. If the mind is not there, then you and your mind cease to exist.

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

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

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 ‘I’ is not the Self, he will remain in ignorance of the formless soul, the Self. If the Self is formless, then the experience of birth, life, death, and the world is bound to be an illusion. Therefore, 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.

The Self- inquiry is not the set of questions but clearing all the doubts and confusion through deeper reasoning on his own.   

There is no scope argument in pursuit of truth because it is a personal journey that starts with the illusion (waking) and ends in realizing the truth. 

Thus, the arguments based on the false Self will not lead one toward the non-dualistic goal. The seeker of truth has to share assimilation of knowledge and help and inspire fellow seekers and divert their attention from outer to inwardness.

   
The inquiry is to know and realize:~ 

v  With what one knows himself and his experience of the world?

v How he and his experience of the world have come into existence and with what? 

Until one becomes aware of that,  that, which is responsible for him to function as a person and perceive the world, he will not become aware of the fact that the true  Self is the formless, timeless, and spaceless identity. 

It cannot be called anything and it cannot be approached because it exists prior to waking or dream. And prior to the appearance of waking and dream, there is nothingness or emptiness.  That emptiness or nothingness itself is the Soul or Spirit, which is the formless substance and the witness of the three states.

Without this formless substance which is in the form of consciousness, nothing can exist. The Soul, the innermost Self is the center of physical existence.  When the center is aware of the objects (waking or dream) it becomes the mind or the ‘I’.  When the center is aware of its formless non-dual true nature, it is Soul, the innermost Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.:~Santthosh Kumaar