The ‘Self’ is not within you, but the ‘Self’ is hidden in the world in which you exist.+

The ‘Self’ is not within you, but the ‘Self’ is hidden in the world in which you exist. The one which is born lives and dies is not the ‘Self’ because the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which the ever formless, timeless and spaceless existence.

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is nothing to do with you the world in which you exist.  From the Standpoint of the Soul, the Self, the world in which you exist is merely an illusion.

The ‘Self’ is not within you because the ‘self’ is not the body.   If the ‘Self’ is not you,   then why you think the Self is within you. Deeper Self-search reveals the fact that you and the world are within the Soul, the Self.  a perfect understanding and assimilation lead to Self-realization.

Till you think he is an individual separate from this world you will remain in the realm of dualistic illusion.  The dualistic illusion is the product of ignorance.  When the Advaitic wisdom dawns, then the ignorance vanishes. When the ignorance vanishes, then the duality never remains as a reality.  

First, the seeker has to know ‘what is the subject’ and ‘what is the object’.  Deeper Self-search reveals the fact that”:  the world in which we exist is an object to the formless subject. The formless subject is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Deeper verification reveals the fact that the object and the subject are one in essence. That essence is consciousness.  Thus, object only an illusion created out of the formless subject.  The subject alone is real exists eternal. 

Remember 

The Soul is the ‘Self’. The ‘I’ is not the Soul. Holding the 'I' as the ‘Self’ is holding the falsehood as a reality. There is a need to know what is ‘I’ before indulging in the pursuit of truth.

Dualist sages including many sages and thinkers could not distinguish between ‘I’ and ‘’’Self’’’. They hold 'I' as the 'Self'. Their highest was the Jiva. They are so much attached to the 'I' that they do not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again they are unable to detach the ‘I’ from the Real Self.

The dualist object: - If everything else is false then the statement I am Brahman is itself false, the but when one says non-duality is false, there must be the awareness, the consciousness, behind the very statement. You will also go, die. One has to rely upon that which is permanent. The formless 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 as  “I", but it is the formless witness which is the real Self’. 

Remember:~ 

Theists dualists did not, or could not analyze further than ‘I’ on this point because they thought the ‘I’ without the body as ‘Self’.

WHAT IS ‘I’?

The ‘I’ disappears as deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is impermanent and illusory.

There is really no ‘I’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of the mind. And the mind is in the form of the universe. The universe appears as the waking or dream. The ‘I’ or mind or universe or waking or dream dies disappears as deep sleep.

One that appears as ‘I’ or the mind or universe or waking or dream is nothing but consciousness and it disappears as deep sleep is also consciousness. In deep sleep,  it is in its formless nondual true nature. The one, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states, is also consciousness. Thus, the witness and the witnessed are one, in essence.

Thus, the universe is a reality on the base of the ego. You are the ego. The ego is the false ‘Self’ within the false experience (waking).

The universe is unreal on the base of the Soul, the Self.  The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. The seeker gradually will grasp and realize the unreal nature of the universe (‘I’ or mind).

Individuality is illusory because the ‘Self’ is not an individual because ‘Self’ is formless and it pervades in everything and everywhere in all the three states.

Dualist’ sages have written big volumes about the soul. Yet they are quite ignorant of the fact that the ‘I’ about which they write itself’ comes and goes and has no permanent existence, is only an idea after all.

What is it that appears as the ‘I’ and disappears as the ‘I-less? It is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Do not make the mistake of holding the ‘I’ as the Self because it is not permanent. ‘I’ disappears and becomes ‘I’-less.

 ‘I’ is an illusion and the ‘I-LESS’ is real and eternal. The ‘I-LESS ‘appears as ‘I’ and ‘I ’‘disappears as I-LESS.

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

The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole.

The Gurus and yogis 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. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar