The individuals are many but the Soul is one.+

Q:~ Ambika P Mishra It is stated, "so long 'one' does not give up false identification with body-mind complex, he cannot realize the SELF"

Who is this 'one'?

This 'one' is the EGO.

EGO discovers itself to become the SELF.

How this EGO came into being?

What is the source of 'IGNORANCE'?

Is the source of IGNORANCE, the CONSCIOUSNESS, the SELF?

Is IGNORANCE beginningless like the SELF?

If yes; does it lead, mean to DUALITY?

***

Santthosh Kumaar: ~ “Suppose if you had asked the same question to me in a dream, the dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place. Similarly, the waking becomes unreal when wisdom dawns. The wisdom dawns when you realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self the world in which you exist is merely an illusion. Thus, all the happening within the illusion is bound to be an illusion. Until ignorance is there, the world in which you exist prevails as a reality.

When ignorance vanishes through Advaitic wisdom then the world in which you exist and which you think as reality becomes an illusion.

Thus, whatever you have seen, known, believed and experienced as a person within the waking experience is bound to be an illusion created out of consciousness. Thus, the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness alone, is real and eternal.

The Soul is not limited to an individual. The individuals are many but the Soul is one. The individual exists within the universe. The Soul is the cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused.
Remember:~

The Soul is not within the human body. The universe is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, whatever universe contains is bound to be the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The dream world, the dream people appeared together and disappeared together. Similarly, the waking world and waking people appeared together and disappears together.

The dream is created out of single stuff and that stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The same way the waking experience also created out a single stuff. And that single stuff is the consciousness.

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is the cause of the three states and it itself is uncaused. The many soul theories are religious and yogic fable based on the false self(ego) and false experience (waking).

Knowledge of the single stuff is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

Do not accept any other God other than the Soul. The Soul is God in truth,  Nothing is real but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Nothing matters but realize  God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone is real and eternal and all else is an illusion.

Brahman is merely a word to indicate the ultimate truth or God in truth.  The ultimate truth itself is God in truth.  

Like an ornament made from gold is Gold, which is born out of consciousness is consciousness. Like gold is the permanent thing, in ornaments made of gold, similarly, the mind, which is in the form of the universe is born out of consciousness, is consciousness in its essence.

Deeper Self-search reveals the fact that, you are not the Self, the world in which you exist is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, but consciousness is specifically not an entity or identity or a thing within the world in which you exist. But it is the cause of the world in which you exist and it itself is uncaused.

The Soul is hidden within the world in which you exist. The nature of the Soul is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Thus, it is necessary to realize the world in which you exist is created out of single stuff, which is consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. Thus, God in truth alone is real; the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

It takes time for the seeker to gain the perfect understanding of ‘what is truth’ and ‘’what is untruth’. It takes time for the Soul, the Self to wake up from the sleep of ignorance, and it takes time for one realizes the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space. :~ Santthosh Kumaar

If God is creator then it is foolish to worship anything as God from Gods creation because the creation is apart from the God.+

All God propagated by belief systems are nothing but imaginations.  There is nothing so absurd which men have not worshiped in religion, every imaginable face has been given to God.  If God is the creator then it is foolish to worship anything as God from his creation because the creation is apart from God.   

Religion can never make you know God. Only an intense urge to know what God is supposed to be in truth can make you realize God.  The Soul, the ‘Self is the Infinite God.  

Every belief system has its own idea and conviction of God.  Thus, every belief system is based on the false ‘Self’.  Therefore, whatever is based on the false ‘Self’ has to be a falsehood? Thus, the idea of God of any belief system has been mere imagination based on the false ‘Self’.

The famous peace invocation of Isa Upanishad says: ~

Om Purna- madah, purna-midam purnat-purnam-udacyate Purnaysa purna-madaya purna-meva-vasisyate

This means ~ All this is full /from fullness, fullness comes when fullness is taken from fullness/ fullness still remains.

This belief is all-comprehensive and all-absorbing. There is nothing that is not God.

One of Sage Sankara’s missions was to wean people away from the ritualistic approach advocated by Mimamsakas and to project wisdom (jnana) as the means of liberation in the light of Upanishad teachings. Sage Sankara criticized severely the ritualistic attitude and those who advocated such practices. However, the texts that combined rituals with wisdom (jnana_karma_samucchaya) more in favor of the Mimamsaka position came into vogue, projecting Sankara as the rallying force of the doctrine.

Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~    God is Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus,   Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

The Soul, the ‘Self is the Infinite God.  

The Soul is the Self. God is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. God is the fullness of the consciousness without the illusory division of form, time, and space.  Therefore, there is nothing apart from it.   

God is Self-evident. God is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny God because God is the very essence of the one who denies it. God is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. God is within the universe in which you exist, God is without the universe in which you exist. 

God is a formless, timeless, and spaceless existence. According to the Vedas God neither has any neither image nor God resides in any particular idol or statue. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.

Mythological gods and goddesses are based on belief. The belief is no God. The belief implies duality. From the ultimate standpoint, duality is merely an illusion. Thus, whatever one sees, knows, believes, and experiences within the dualistic illusion is bound to be an illusion. Mythological Gods are not Vedic Gods. 

Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition.  Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded as one progresses in his spiritual advancement. 

All the mythological Gods are worshiped in the form of idols.  The belief system which propagated ideas of many Gods and Goddesses Bhakti is the only way to God is simply trying to lead the people to darkness with its dogma and idea of many Gods, which is apart from the ‘Self’.

Mythology breeds superstition, blind belief, senseless rituals, and the most irrational and gives them a divine outlook. Mythological stories are a myth. Whatever is based on myth is merely a superstition.  Mythology was introduced in the past for the ignorant masses. It has to be discarded if one has to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or real God.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ ‘All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many God s. (7- Verse -20)

Only the path of wisdom leads the seeker of truth on his journey to the ultimate realization of the true nature of the Universal Essence, which is the Soul. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: 7: 19:~ "Such a man who has attained true knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the knowledge of Atman, worships ‘Self’ as~ Atman (God) alone exists~ everything is Atman, there exists nothing except Atman. Such a man is extremely rare."

Bhagavad Gita: ~ 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. 

Lord Krishna Says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Self in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.

The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. The God in truth is only Atman, the innermost ‘Self’.   In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman exists.

The Vedas confirm God is Atman (spirit), the ‘Self’.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the ‘Self’. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and God is Atman, then why believe and worship in place of real God.

Brihad Upanishad: ~ “If you think there is another entity, whether man or God there is no truth."

When Upanishad itself declares: ~   Sarvam khalvidam brahma ~ all this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the non-dual reality (Chandogya Upanishad). 

Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman (God) is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second. It has no other beside it. It is destitute of difference, either external or internal. Brahman cannot be described because the description implies a distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than It. In Brahman, there is not a distinction between substance and attribute. Sat-Chit-Ananda constitutes the very essence or Svarupa of Brahman and not just Its attributes. The Nirguna Brahman of Sage Sankara is impersonal.

Sage Sankara: ~"That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman  (God) ~ that thou art."

Sage Sankara:~  VC 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 (verses-6)

Sage Sankara’s wisdom is nothing to do with the orthodox belief systems. Some philosophers in the past dissented from this interpretation of Vedanta philosophy, holding that the incarnated Souls were separate from the Divine Essence and only finally merged with it after the cycles of birth. 

All these theoretical philosophies are based on the imagination based on the false ‘Self’ (ego or you) within the false experience (waking).  :~Santthosh Kumaar 

It is time; the humanity has to become fanatics of the truth to bring the universal brotherhood and universal peace.+

India is the ancient land, where wisdom made its home India whose soil has been trodden by the feet of the greatest sages of truth like Bhagavan Buddha, Sage Sankara, and Sage Goudpada.

India is the fountainhead of Advaitic wisdom. Advaitic wisdom is brighter, greater which unfolds the mystery of the universe, which contains the whole of humanity.

Today humanity needs universal brotherhood and peace for the whole of humanity to live with love and harmony not to indulge in the bloodbath in the name of protecting religion and its religious Gods.

The goal of every human being is to realize God in truth. The truth is inherent in every seeker of truth. The truth does not come from outside, it is hidden within the world by which we exist. Thus, humanity has to wake up and seek the truth.

Tattireya Upanishad: ~ “The Self in man and in the sun is one. Those who understand this see through the world and go beyond the various sheaths of being to realize the unity of life. 

The path of Knowledge is nothing to do with Japa or the repetition of a mantra. All the Japa and Japa or mantras based on mythical God will not yield fruits.

If you sow neem seed and expect mango to grow on the neem tree is a  hallucination. You must sow only mango seed to get a mango tree to get mangos from the mango tree.

Similarly,  you must know what God is supposed to be in actuality and sow the right seed in your subconscious in order to realize real God.  

Gradually one becomes aware of God in truth by getting rid of the ignorance and will be able to establish the Soul, the real God in the subconscious.  

All the forms and attributes based on gods are a myth. Worshipping such Gods barred by Vedas.

God in truth is not tasty and it is a bitter pill to swallow. Religion made its God tasty with its mythical toppings. Every region has created its own myth and propagated its own GOD to the ignorant populace. Religion is the cause of the separation of humanity. Today humanity is facing wars, violence, terrorism, in the name of religious God and religion.

Democracy and religion will not go hand in hand. Democracy has its own code of conduct and religion has its own. So there is always conflict. Religion is outdated to suit modern society.

Until and unless the whole of humanity is made aware what God is in truth is the truth of the existence not what we believe and worship.

God in truth is not religious. God is universal and belongs to the whole of humanity. All Gods of the beliefs are mere imaginary.

Bible says: ~ “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)”,

The Spirit is the root element of the universe. The Spirit is present in the form of the Soul, the innermost Self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness. From the Spirit, the universe comes into existence. In the Spirit, the universe resides. And into the Spirit, the universe is dissolved. The Spirit is the parent of all that is there is.

 Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ It has been said that God Supreme or Supreme Spirit.

Vedas and Upanishad confirm the Soul, the innermost Self, is present in the form of the Spirit or the consciousness.

Even Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Even Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: ~ Brahman (God) is in the form of the Athma, and it is indeed Athma itself.

Even 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.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad declares: "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from him does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)

It is time; humanity has to become fanatics of the truth to bring universal brotherhood and universal peace. The truth is the only thing that can cure all myths propagated by the belief system, which has become the cause of concern for humanity. :~Santthosh Kumaar 

Buddhism has not proved the truth of Nonduality. Buddha pointed out unreality of world but he told people they were foolish to cling to it. +

Buddhism has not proved the truth of Nonduality. Buddha pointed out the unreality of the world but he told people they were foolish to cling to it. But he stopped there. He came nearest to Advaita in speech but not to Advaita fully.

Sage Sankara disagrees with Buddhists who say, there is nothing - a nonentity. Sage  Sankara believes there is some reality, even though things are not what they appear to be. If one knows the truth, he will know what to do to find inspiration for action.  The seeker of truth‘s subject is to know what is it that is Real.

Buddhism says: all things are illusory and nothing exists.  However, Advaita avers that it is not so.  It says that the universe,  of course, is illusory, but there is Brahman (consciousness), that exists forming the very substratum of all things (illusion or universe).

Only when we independently search for the truth without religion and its doctrine then we will be able to realize the truth beyond form, time, and space.

There is no need to study neither Advaita nor Vedas nor Buddhism to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. It is no use going roundabout way; trace the Brahman.

Sage Sankara said: ~ Neither by the practice of yoga nor philosophy, nor by good works nor by learning, does liberation come, but only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way. (1) Vivekachoodamani v 56, pg 25

Advaita is the next step higher than Buddhism because it gives the missing reason, viz. unity, non-difference from others, and because it explains that it used the concept of removing the sufferings of others, of lifting them up to happiness, only as we use one thorn to pick out another, afterwards throw both away. Similarly, Advaita discards both concepts of misery and happiness in the ultimate standpoint of non-duality, which is indescribable.

Buddhists say that a thing exists only for a moment, and if that thing has still got some of the substance from which it was produced, how then can they deny that its cause is continuing in the effect; hence its existence is more than a moment. Vedanta is concerned with whether it is one and the same thing which has come into being or has it come out of nothing.

Even in Buddhism: - Buddhist teaching has itself become a kind of interactive and Self-evolving process, much like its idea of pratityasamutpada. However, the end goal is still Nirvana, which is an experience ultimately beyond all concepts and language, even beyond the Buddhist teachings. In the end, even the attachment to the Dharma, the Buddhist teaching, must be dropped like all other attachments. The tradition compares the teaching to a raft upon which one crosses a swift river to get to the other side; once one is on the far shore; there is no longer any need to carry the raft. The far shore is Nirvana, and it is also said that when one arrives, one can see quite clearly that there was never any river at all.

Dalai Lama said:~  Buddhism need not be the best religion though it is most scientific and religion and inquisitive. But Buddhism has no answer to certain questions like the existence of Atama [Soul] and rebirth.   Dali Lama said that as an individual he believes in rebirth as he had come across a few cases of rebirth.  Modern science, Dalai Lama hoped would unearth the mystery behind the rebirth. (In DH –dec-212009-Gulbarga). 

Remember:~ 

Critics say Sage Sankara and Sage Goudpada borrowed their ideas from Buddhism. But in Manduka (page 281) these two declare they are not Buddhists, only a number of their ideas agree with those of Buddhism, whilst they point out their difference of view from Sunyavada Buddhists and Vijnanavadins. Thus, Sage Sankara, and Sage  Goudpada both agree and disagree with Buddhists.

Sunyavadins say there is nothing, neither matter nor mind: they are nihilists. How do they know the mind ceases to exist? Where is the proof? When you know everything is mind, both the changing forms and the underlying substances how can you posit its real change into nothingness? Mind, Brahman always remains really itself because of its nature. We see change every minute but by an inquiry into the nature of change and cause, we see that it is only when we imagine that there is cause and change.

The distinction between Sage Sankara's Advaita, and Vijnanavadin Buddhism is that the former is mentalism i.e. mind is the real, whereas the latter is idealism, i.e. ideas are real. We follow the former.

Buddhism did not graduate its teaching to suit people of varying grades; hence its failure to affect society in Asia.

Bhagavan Buddha's teachings that all life is misery belongs to the relative standpoint only. For you cannot form any idea of misery without contrasting it with its opposite, happiness. The two will always go together. Buddha taught the goal of cessation of misery, i.e. peace, but took care not to discuss the ultimate standpoint for then he would have had to go above the heads of the people and tell them that misery itself was only an idea, that peace even was an idea (for it contrasted with peacelessness). That the doctrine he gave out was a limited one, is evident because he inculcated compassion. Why should a Buddhist sage practice pity? There is no reason for it. Advaita is the next step higher than Buddhism because it gives the missing reason, viz. unity, non-difference from others, and because it explains that it used the concept of removing the sufferings of others, of lifting them up to happiness, only as we use one thorn to pick out another, afterwards throw both away. Similarly, Advaita discards both concepts of misery and happiness in the ultimate standpoint of non-duality, which is indescribable.

Buddhists say that a thing exists only for a moment, and if that thing has still got some of the substance from which it was produced how then can they deny that its cause is continuing in the effect; hence its existence is more than a moment. Vedanta is concerned with whether it is one and the same thing which has come into being or has it come out of nothing.

Even the Sunyavada ultimate of the "void" is really a breath, and therefore an imagination and not truth.

Bhagavan Buddha as a constructive worker committed an error in failing to give the masses a religion, something tangible they could grasp something materialistic, if symbolic that their limited intellect could take hold of, in addition to his ethics and philosophy.

Sage Sankara gave religion; such as rituals, worship, etc.--to the ignorant masses, as well as Advaitic wisdom to serious and sincere seekers who were receptive.  

Bhagavan Buddha gave as the central feature of his doctrine the great law of Karma in order to reiterate its ethical meaning. He did more good in this to uplift the people than the ritualists.

Zen has failed to influence the Japanese in practicing Zen, whether it is because Zen Buddhism has degenerated into religion instead of philosophy.

Tibetan and Chinese Buddhists who say that there are many Buddhas living in spirit bodies and helping our earth from the spiritual world are still in the sphere of religious illusion, not the ultimate truth. Their statements are wrong. Every sage realizes that the only way to help mankind is to come down amongst them, for which he must necessarily take on flesh-body. When people are suffering how can he relieve their suffering unless he appears amongst them? When people are suffering how can he feed them from an unseen world whether their struggle is for material bread or for spiritual truth? No! He must be here actually in the flesh. It is impossible to help them in any other way and all talk of Shiva living on Mount Kailas in spiritual body or Buddha in Nirmanakaya, invisible body belongs to the realm of delusion or Self-deception.:~Santthosh Kumaar 

Unless you realize the Self as the Soul, you are all blinded by the dualistic illusion.+

When you realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul then whatever is based on you bound to be an illusion created out of consciousness.  The world in which you exist is a reality on the base of the ego (you). 

The world in which you exist is an illusion on the base of the Soul, the  Self. Unless you realize the Self as the Soul, you are all blinded by the dualistic illusion.

If the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul is the Self then: ~    

Where are you?

Where is your ego?

Where is your body?

Where is the world in which you exist?

Where is the duality, where is void; or despair in taintless Soul, the   Self?

They are or have become one with consciousness. 

Everything is, created out of single stuff. And that single stuff is the consciousness then there is no room for any doubt and confusion. Knowledge of the single stuff is Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

Consciousness is the root element of the universe. Consciousness is present in the form of the Soul, the Self.  From the Soul, the universe comes into existence. In the Soul, the universe resides. And into the Soul, the universe is dissolved.   The Soul is the parent of all that is there is. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar 

The seeker has to get rid of the ignorance, which is present in the form of ‘I’, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.+

The ‘I’ is ignorance. Till one holds the ‘I’ as the Self, it is impossible to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  Thus,   the seeker has to get rid of the ignorance, which is present in the form of ‘I’, in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. 

People who think, the “I” in everyone and everything is the Self, without realizing the ‘I’ is not the Self.

The ‘I’ is not within you, but you exist within the ‘I’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of the world in which you exist.

The ‘I’ disappears as deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is impermanent and illusory because ‘I’ is physical awareness. Physical awareness is not Self-awareness. ‘I-less awareness is Self-awareness.

It is erroneous to identify the Soul the innermost Self as 'I' or 'I AM' because the Soul the innermost Self is not 'I' or I AM’. The Soul the innermost Self, is the witness of the 'I'.

To understand the false nature of the ‘I’, the 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 ‘I as the 'Self' leads to hallucination based on the imagination.

Remember:~

What is the use of saying ‘I AM THAT’- without knowing what the ‘Self’ is in actuality? Without knowing the truth of the Self, without realizing the truth of the world in which you exist it is impossible to realize the truth beyond the form, time, and space. By a mere utterance of the word ‘I AM THAT', the truth will not be revealed.

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the Self is not you, but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. If the ‘Self’ is not you then what is the use of you saying ‘I AM THIS ‘or 'I AM THAT' because you are the false self within the dualistic illusion.

When the Soul wakes up from its sleep of ignorance the world in which you exist is merely an illusion. When the Soul remains in its own awareness, the world in which you exist becomes one with the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

If the ‘I’ is there, then only the mind is present. If the mind is there, then only the universe is present. And the universe is present only when the waking or the dream is present.

One sees differences between things because of ignorance; all these differences would vanish when one gets wisdom and the various thoughts arise because one considers the ‘I’ as the Self.

Holding the ‘Self as ‘I’ blocks you from realizing the Self, which is free from the form, time, and space.

Remember:~

First, make sure the Self is not ‘I’. 

Make sure what this ‘I’ is supposed to be in actuality. 

The ‘I’ is ignorance.

The ‘I’ is the duality.

The ‘I’ is form, time, and space.

The ‘I’ is the universe.

The ‘I’ is waking.

The ‘I’ is the dream.

The ‘I’ is the illusion.

The ‘I’ is the experience of birth, life, death, and the world.

Remember:~

Without the ‘I’ there is no ignorance.

Without the ‘I’ there is no duality.

Without the ‘I’ there is no form, time, and space.

Without the ‘I’ there is no universe.

Without the ‘I’ there is no waking.

Without the ‘I’ there is no dream.

Without the ‘I’ there is no illusion.

Without the ‘I’ there is no experience of birth, life, death, and the world. 

There is something that exists prior to the appearance of the ‘I’. The ‘I’ appears along with the world in which you exist. The Soul, the Self, exists prior to the appearance of the ‘I’ and it prevails even after the disappearance of the ‘I’.

The ‘I’ or the world in which you exist is merely an illusory appearance created out of the Soul which is present in the form of consciousness.  

Thus, the ‘I’ is an illusion and impermanent. The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is permanent and eternal.  

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

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self.    

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ “If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," if you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, then you are not a wise man or a seeker”. You are simply a man who suffers. 

Intellectual answers to various questions remain in the domain of form, time, and space. The answers may satisfy one intellectually within the scope of the form, time, and space. The truth is beyond form, time, and space.

The path of wisdom is the Soulcentric path. Thus, egocentric intellectualism is nothing to do with the truth which is beyond form, time, and space. All accumulated dross leads to hallucination. :~Santthosh Kumaar