The ‘I’ is not the Soul but the ‘I’ is an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.
People whose intelligence has been stolen by holding the ‘I’ as the ‘Self’ will never be able to realize the reality, which is beyond form, time, and space. The Self is not ‘I’ but the ‘I’ is not the Soul. The Soul is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. the ‘I’ exists only in the domain of form, time, and space.
Katha Upanishad says ~ Fools dwelling in darkness, but thinking themselves wise and erudite, go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind. (Ch~ II-5 P-14)
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 'I' as real because some Gurus have propagated the Self is the ‘I’. There is no need to convince such a mindset. The seeker of truth accepts only the truth nothing but the truth.
Those who indulge in a perverted argument from their own standpoint and opinion are not seeking the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space. They just want to exhibit their accumulated knowledge accumulated from here and there. They think what they know is the ultimate truth.
They think whatever they propagate is the ultimate truth. The question never occurs to them, “Is what I know is really the truth.
The ultimate reality is not an experience but existence itself. The Soul itself is existence. The Soul is the fullness of consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space.
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.
Bhagavad Gita: ~ “You must first see the ‘I’ as illusory before you see others as illusory. ~ CH.2 v.16
That is why Bhagavad Gita: ~ “The permanent (consciousness) is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)
The ‘I’ hides the reality of the whole.
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 other than consciousness a God.
The Soul, which is present in the form of 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.:~Santthosh Kumaar