You will not be able to realize the truth by inquiring ‘WHO AM ‘I’? without inquiring into the nature of the universe.+

You will not be able to realize the truth by inquiring ‘WHO AM ‘I’?  Without inquiring into the nature of the universe, it is impossible to unfold the mystery of your existence.    

You must know ‘What is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality.  

You must realize the ‘Self is not ‘I’ and drop all ‘I’ based teachings that are meant for beginners.  Advanced seekers, they are inadequate and useless to unfold the mystery of the ‘I’.

Sage Sankara says: ~   63-  Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

Sage Sankara says:~   A buried treasure is not uncovered by merely uttering the words: “Come forth.” You must follow the right directions, dig, remove the stones and earth from above it, and then make it,  your own. In the same way, the pure truth of the Atman, which is buried under Maya and the effects of Maya, can be reached by meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual disciplines but never by subtle arguments.

Sage Sankara goes on to say: ~ A sickness of not cured by saying the word “medicine.” You must take the medicine. Liberation does not come by merely saying the word “Brahman.” Brahman must be realized. Until you allow this apparent universe to dissolve from your consciousness until you have realized Brahman, how can you find liberation just by saying the word Brahman? The result is merely noise. Until a man has destroyed his enemies and taken possession of the splendor and wealth of the kingdom, he cannot become a king by simply saying “I am a king.”

The ‘Self is not ‘I’.  The Soul is the ‘Self’.  It is not correct to identify ‘I’ as Brahman because the Soul is Brahman. When Brahman is, how can "I" remain? Only Brahman remains, not the ‘.  From the standpoint of the Soul, the  Self it is erroneous to use the word ‘I’ for the Self, because ‘I’ represents form, time, and space whereas the Soul, the  Self is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. 

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

To understand the false nature of the ‘I’, Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary. 

The Self is not ‘I’, but the Self is the Soul which is the witness of the ‘I’. Holding the Self  ‘I' leads to hallucination based on the imagination.

Those who are stuck with the ‘I’ based teaching never be able to cross the domain of form, time, and space. The ‘I’ is an illusion, which appears and disappears.

Realize the ‘Self’ is not you. Do not struggle by practicing this and that to know the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

 The ‘Self is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is the cause of the world in which you exist and it itself is causeless.

Consciousness is within the world in which you exist, but it is without the world in which you exist. Consciousness can remain with or without the world in which you exist. :~Santthosh Kumaar