By inquiring Who is that you? noting is gained. The inquirer himself is the ego. Without the ego, you do not exist.+

 By inquiring Who is that? Nothing is gained. The inquirer himself is the ego. Without the ego, you do not exist. The Self is not you because you are the ego.

The Self is not you, but the Self is the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. The Invisible Soul is the cause of the whole universe.

Remember:~

Sage Sankara: ~ “VC~ All this universe, which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman (Consciousness), which is absolutely free from all the limitations of Maya.

You appeared along with the universe, and you will disappear along with the universe. No use to know who you are? - Instead, inquire into the nature of the universe.

Self-realization arises only when you realize the Self is not you, but the Self is the invisible Soul hidden by the illusory universe.

The experience of birth and death is a reality within the illusory universe or Maya. The illusory universe is created out of consciousness.

You are born along with the universe, and you are going to die along with the universe.

Prior to birth, there was only consciousness, and after death, consciousness alone prevails as eternal existence.

The illusory universe, along with you, seems to be real until ignorance dominates and its unreality is exposed.

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

The invisible Soul is not within the human body. The universe is created out of a single stuff. That single stuff is the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Thus, whatever the universe contains is bound to be the invisible Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

The seeker has to drop all his egocentric accumulated knowledge, and only then he is fit to grasp Self-knowledge.

The invisible Soul, the Self, is not an individual, but you are an individual. It is erroneous to identify the invisible Soul, the Self as I or You, when the invisible Soul pervades everything and everywhere in the whole universe.

Remember: ~

You are not separate from the ego because you are the ego. Without the ego, you and the world in which you exist cease to exist. In the awareness of the ego, the world in which you exist is a reality.

In the awareness of the ego, your individual experience of birth, life, death, and the world is experienced as a reality.

In the awareness of the ego, form, time, and space prevail as a reality.

In the awareness of the ego, the dualistic illusion, or Maya, prevails as reality.

In the awareness of the ego, the three states prevail as reality.

In the awareness of the ego, the ‘I’ prevails as a reality.

If ‘I’ prevails as reality, the ignorance prevails as reality.

Self-knowledge or Advaitic wisdom is necessary to get rid of ignorance.

Without Self-awareness, the universe prevails as reality. Self-awareness means the conscious awareness of the invisible Soul hidden by the ‘I’. In Self-awareness, the reality of the universe fades away.

Sage Sankara says:~ Liberation comes only through the realization that Atman and Brahman are one in no other way. (1) Vivekachoodamani v 56, pg 25:~ :~ Santthosh Kmaar