Self is not 'I'. If self is not the 'I' than what is the self without the 'I'?

 Yoga Vasishtha :- "Teachers, interpretations of sacred texts, the force of religious merit--none of these lead to the realization of that Ultimate Truth which is revealed in the clear reflection of the heart, engendered from contact with the good."

Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness, is the innermost self. Consciousness is the witness that experiences the action, the actor, and the world of separate things. It is like a light that illuminates everything in a theatre, revealing the master of ceremonies, the guests, and the dancers with complete impartiality. Even when they all depart, the light shines to reveal their absence.

What is not consciousness (formless) in the experience of diversity [waking or universe]?  The waking and the dream cease to exist without consciousness.  The seeker, seeking and his destination   all are one in essence.

There is only need to realize the whole universe in which we exist is created out of consciousness (soul or Atman), the innermost self.  On the standpoint innermost self, the universe is mere illusion created out of consciousness.  Thus on the ultimate standpoint no second thing exists other than consciousness. Thus consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman or God

 Self is not 'I'.  If self is not the 'I'  than   what is the self without the 'I'? Self is  the  formless soul,which is present in the form of consciousness.  Consciousness.

 The earliest ancient sages used the word ‘I’ to the witness of the three states not to the ego as moderns use it and think the ‘I’ without the body is self. The seeker has to understand the fact that the fact that ‘i’ is not the self but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true self, which is eternal. 

 People speak of getting rid of conditioning or samskara but they themselves are unaware of the fact that, the universe in which they exist is product of the inborn samskara or conditioning.  The ignorance is cause of the inborn samskara or conditioning which present as ‘I’ or ‘I AM’. 

  

The real Moksha or freedom is   to realize the fact that ‘I’ consciousness is mere physical awareness. Physical awareness is not self-awareness. The self –awareness is when the formless soul or consciousness remains aware of its own non-dual   true nature.

'I AM' is not Self . Self is not 'I AM'. 'I AM' is bound by form, time and space. Without the form, time and space 'I AM' cease to exist. Holding ' I Am as Self one remains in clutches of duality. When there is duality than there is ignorance. Ignorance is cause of experiencing the duality (illusion) as reality. The person who identifies Self as 'I AM' will not be able to cross the threshold of duality. There is no point in saying 'I AM' this or 'I AM THAT' because the 'self' is that which witness the 'I AM' and the world together without the physical apparatus

The earliest ancient sages used the word ‘I’ to the witness of the three states not to the ego as moderns use it and think the ‘I’ without the body is self. The seeker has to understand the fact that the fact that ‘i’ is not the self but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true self, which is eternal. 

People think that the ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’ is something different from the mind. They believe that the mind is really two. This is the confusion among religionists and intellectuals. If ‘Soul’ has any meaning, if ‘spirit’ has any meaning, so long as one thinks of them, they are merely ideas. Soul or Atman is the highest. Soul is present in the form of consciousness.  Consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman because the whole universe is created out of consciousness.

Consciousness is the substance and witness of the duality.  The duality is present in the form of mind. Mind is present in the form of universe. The universe appears as waking or dream and diapers as deep sleep. The one which is aware of the coming and going of the three states is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity but the formless soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  When the soul becomes aware of its formless non-dual true nature in the midst of duality it is called self –awareness. It is foolish to limit the consciousness only to duality because the consciousness pervades all the three states

By mistaking the self to be physical, one is mistaking the nature of consciousness as well. Consciousness is “the power of all powers, but thinking the physical body to be the self, one has created unconsciously the physical prison out of consciousness. When one becomes aware of the fact that, the whole physical prison created out of consciousness, the ignorance vanishes the consciousness alone prevails as eternal existence.   
 

When the self is not the form but it is formless, then how can one accept himself   to be the servants or slaves of any god men or conceptual God?  If one accepts the idea of god or god men to be the god, then he is accepting the self to be physical. By accepting the self as physical he is accepting the illusion as reality.  By accepting the illusion as reality one is accepting the illusory birth, life, death and the world as reality.   
 

All the god oriented theories are based on the false physical self.  Holding the god as the base of existence becomes a greatest obstacle in pursuit of truth.

 The mind which contains the whole universe with it perceiver is apart from the consciousness, which is ever formless.  Consciousness is the source in which the mind rises and sets. The waking, dream, and deep sleep states take place within the consciousness. The experience of birth and death likewise take place within the consciousness. The birth, life death and the world are within the mind but the consciousness is without the mind. When consciousness prevails without the mind it is non-dual reality. 

Consciousness can never be destroyed, but it resolves back to its formless non-dual true nature. Nothing is beyond or higher than the consciousness. – Mind and the soul [consciousness] are essentially one, as are the ocean and the waves. As long as illusion exists the separation exists. As long as separation exists duality will prevail as reality. So long the ignorance prevail, the birth, life, death and the world will remain as reality. But when one awaken into reality, all the reality of illusion cease forever. 

Neither by Yoga, nor by scriptural studies, nor by action, nor by learning, but by the realization of one's identity with consciousness is freedom possible, and by no other means.

Lectures consisting of a shower of ornamental words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures or intellectual theories, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for freedom.

The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.