The ‘I’ hides the Soul, which is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God.+

The ultimate truth or God can be realized only when he realizes the ‘Self’ hidden by the ‘I’.  The ‘Self the Spirit’ is God, not the ‘I’. Only those who realize the Spirit as the ‘Self’ is a real Gnani.   

When reality appears this ignorance which one thinks as reality becomes unreal. 

Like an ornament made from gold is Gold, that which is born out of the Spirit (God in truth) is Spirit. Like gold is a permanent thing, in ornaments made of gold, similarly, the universe is born out of the Spirit, which is Spirit in its essence. 

Only through Advaitic wisdom, it is possible to realize the God hidden by the veil of ignorance.  Ignorant people take God for granted without realizing what God is in actuality.   Realization of what God is necessary to become real.

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

Sage Sri, Goudapada’s rational exposition of Advaita:~  Whatever is seen, whether external or internal, whether by the ordinary persons or yogis, is unreal. 

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 the consciousness.  Thus, the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness alone, is real and eternal. 

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:~

Whatever appears as a dualistic illusion or Maya is consciousness and whatever is the cause of the dualistic illusion is also consciousness. There is no second thing that exists other than the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

It is foolish to limit the consciousness to the individual and think consciousness is limited to physicality.

Consciousness appears as ‘I’ in waking or dream and ‘I’ disappears as consciousness in deep sleep. 

That is the Soul appears as the universe in waking or dream and the universe disappears as the Soul in deep sleep.

That is the dualistic illusion appears as waking or dream and disappears as the nondualistic reality in deep sleep.

The Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is Seer and also Seen (I). The Seen is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

From the ultimate standpoint, the illusion has no value because the Seer and the Seen are one in essence.

The ‘I’ appears on its own it perishes on its own. The ‘I’ is not the cause of the appearance and disappearance because the ‘I’ itself is the appearance. 

The ‘Self’ is not ‘I’, but the ‘Self’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The one which witnesses the appearance and disappearance is not ‘I’ because the ‘I’ appears and disappears.

The one which is aware of the appearance and disappearance of ‘I’ is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Realize, ‘what is this ‘I’ supposed to be in actuality’ and what is hidden by the ‘I’ will be revealed.

If you realize the ‘Self ‘is not the ‘I’ but the Soul then whatever is hidden by the ‘I’ will be revealed.

Realizing the Soul is not the ‘I’ but the Soul is the Self, is Self–realization.

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

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, which is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. 

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 as real because some Gurus have propagated that 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.

Perfect understanding and assimilation of ‘what is what’ lead to Advaitic Self-awareness.:~ Santthosh Kumaar