The transient ‘I’ comes and goes then why you hold the ‘Self’ as the ‘I’, instead know ‘what is this ‘I’? How this ‘I’ is an illusion.*****

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

When the Bhagvad Gita itself says only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes then why you hold the ‘Self’ as the ‘I’, instead know ‘what is this ‘I’? How this ‘I’ is an illusion.

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

Soul, the  ‘Self’ has no childhood, youth and old age because it is ever unborn.   You are bound by childhood, youth and old age, so you are not the ‘Self’. if you are not the ‘Self’ then what is the use of inquiring ‘WHO AM ‘I’? . Self-inquiry is realize   the ‘Self’ which is not ‘I’ but ‘Self , ‘ is  the Soul, which witnesses the ‘I’.

It is impossible to get rid of any conditioning without getting rid of the inborn samskara or conditioning.   ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ is the inborn samskara or conditioning. ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ is the mother of all conditioning. Because of this inborn conditioning, one thinks he is an individual separate from the world and the world existed prior to him and he is born in it afterwards. Until this inborn conditioning is present one is in the grip of duality and he experiences the birth, life, death and the world as reality.  This inborn conditioning makes one experience the illusory duality as reality.

Once the seeker accepts the fact that, the Self is neither the ‘I’, nor the body then realizes the fact that, the consciousness is the true Self, and he establishes himself in that conviction.  Once this conviction is established the then the waking experience is absolutely non-existent as A reality.

It is very difficult for those who strongly believe the ‘I’, as Self, to realize the truth. Most of the spiritual paths hold the ‘I’, as the Self and spin their imagination on the base of ‘I’, which leads them to hallucination.  People mistake that Self as “I” whereas the gross bodies are many. So the ‘I’ cannot be Self.

Why you hold the ‘Self’ as ‘I’, which is impermanent. Holding the ‘Self’ as the ‘I’, itself is an error. 

The Self is not you.  If Self is not an individual then what is the use of saying ‘I AM THAT’ which limits the Self to an individual. The Self, is the Soul which is present in the form of the consciousness.  The consciousness pervades everything everywhere in all the three states.  

By saying I AM THAT’ within the unreal world is not Self-realization. By realizing ‘I AM’ is not the Self, but the Self is the witness of the ‘I’ leads to nondualistic Self-awareness.

 ‘I’ –awareness is not Self-awareness. ‘I’- awareness is an illusion. Self-awareness is ‘I’-less awareness.   ‘I’-less awareness alone will overcome the illusion. Ignorance is the cause of experiencing the illusion as a reality. : ~Santthosh Kumaar