The main reason people identify the Self with the waking entity (ego) is their ignorance of the Real Self.+

People who wait for something to happen automatically will not be able to cross the threshold of dualistic illusion or Maya.

Self-realization depends on the seeker. The seeker cannot decide who is a Gnani? and who is Agnani (ignorant)?- without acquiring Advaitic Gnana.

If someone has acquired Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana and shares his acquired knowledge with others you cannot say that there is nothing for them to do.

Everyone has to discover a fresh for himself by verifying all the facts. Each one has to grasp assimilate and realize it until he gets a firm conviction of the ultimate truth or Brahman.

Even though the Self is something other than this waking entity (ego), the majority of people still identify themselves with the ego.

The main reason people identify the Self with the waking entity (ego) is their ignorance of the Real Self.

Whosoever identifies the Self with this bundle of bones and flesh is caught up in the grip of duality. Now the question arises:- If the Self is not this waking entity, then what is that Self? The real self is not the waking entity, but the formless soul, which witnesses the waking entity and waking world together.

The scriptures declare that the Self is the Soul, the innermost self. The Soul is present in the form of consciousness or Spirit —the three states are merely an illusion created out of the consciousness. That's all. : ~Santthosh Kumaar