It is necessary to know 'What is 'I'? in order to realize, the innermost Self is not 'I' .

'Self is not  You(I) .  Until you hold ‘I’ as self  you are holding falsehood  as reality. One has to get rid of the ‘I’,which  is the physical shackle.  It is necessary to know 'What is 'I'? in order to realize, the innermost  Self is not  'I' . 

The 'I' IS :-  

·         ‘I’ is ignorance.

·         ‘I’ is illusion.

·         ‘I’ is duality

·         ‘I’ is universe.

·         ‘I’ is waking.

·         ‘I’ is dream.

·         ‘I’ is mind

What is ‘I’? The ‘I’ disappears in deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is illusory.

There is really no ‘I’. It dies in deep sleep. But the notion of its unreality will gradually grasped by the receptive seekers. Individuality is illusory.

One is ignorant of the fact that the ‘I’ is present mind. Mind is present in the form of universe. The one that comes and goes as waking dream and has no permanent existence, is only a mirage after all.

The ‘I ‘or mind or universe, waking or dream, duality are one and the same thing. Since, ‘I’ is identified as self all the confusion. And taking ‘I’ or ‘I AM’   as self is the cause of confusion. Taking ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ as self is blocking the realization of ultimate truth.  The ‘I’ or universe is an object to the formless subject. Thus it is necessary to include the universe in the inquiry to realize the unreal nature of the ‘I’ or universe.  

When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be consciousness, which is the inner most self and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is the self. 

Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve. 

Dualist or realists could not distinguish between ‘I’ and ‘formless witness.’  They take ‘I’ as self or witness. Their highest is to say ‘I AM THAT’ without verification. They are so much attached to the 'I' that they do not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again one is unable to detach the ‘I’ from the Real witness, which is ever formless.

The dualist object: - If everything else is false than   the statement I am   Brahman is itself false, the but when one says non-duality is false, there must be the awareness, consciousness, behind the very statement. You will also go, die. One has to rely upon that which is permanent.  Formless witness of the ‘I’ alone is permanent. Anything that one says is a witnessed (waking), but there is the formless witness (consciousness) there before any statement could be made.

Dualist or realists approach is more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world(I) , they take it as real.

The dualist or realists   are unaware on what standpoint the world is real and on what standpoint the world is unreal. 

The world is real because it is a manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense, that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself. Thus from the ultimate stand point the world is unreal. Therefore whatever seen, known, believed and experienced as person within the practical world is bound to be unreal from ultimate stand point because of their impermanence. And the formless substance and witness of the mind or universe is real and eternal.