Without realizing what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality you will never be able to get rid of the ignorance.+

By just thinking that you are this or that the ignorance will not vanish.  When the ‘Self ‘ is not you but you are the birth entity then what is the use of saying I AM THIS or ‘I AM THAT’.

If you get stuck to the idea of saying ‘I AM THIS’ or ‘I AM THAT’ without realizing what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality then you will never be able to get rid of the ignorance. 

The seeker has to come out of his mental junkyard of accumulated knowledge by realizing the ‘I’ based teachings will not help him to unfold the mystery of the ‘I’.

There is nothing that exists prior to consciousness. The ‘I’ cease to exist without consciousness. The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the ultimate truth or Brahman.

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

The Bhagavad Gita says: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).

When Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.

The consciousness is ever-present. Without consciousness, the world, in which you exist ceases to exist. Consciousness is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny consciousness because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. Consciousness is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Consciousness is everything. Thus, consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

Remember:~ 

The ‘Self’ is not the body.

The ‘Self’ is not within the body.

You are not the ‘Self'.

You are bound by form, time, and space.

You are bound by the experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

You are never free because the world in which you exist is the product of ignorance.

The world in which you exist is created out of single clay. That single clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The Soul is the  Self. The Soul is not ‘I’. The Soul is the witness of the ‘I’ which appears and disappears.

The Soul is the only permanent thing and the ‘I’ is merely an illusion. If you do not understand this truth you will never be able to cross the ‘I’, which is the dualistic illusion.

The seeker has to make sure what is this ‘I’ supposed to be? The seeker has to make sure the unreal nature of the ‘I’ which comes and goes.

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

That is why Sage Sankara says: - VC-65. As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the Self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.

People refuse to accept anything other than their Gurus words. For them, their Gurus words are the ultimate truth. They do not accept anything else other than their accepted truth. There is no need to convince such a mindset.

Such a mindset is not fit to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. The seekers of truth accept only the truth nothing but the uncontradictable truth. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar