Without knowing the true self-mere saying, we are not born, we do not die is not the knowledge, which has come from depth, it is mere bookish knowledge.

One cannot say it is truth (like ice cannot exist by itself without the support of water) nor it can be said that, it is untruth [since ice is], neither one can say it is both truth and untruth.  Similarly one cannot say it is same as Atman nor one can say it is different from Atman nor one can say it same and different from Atman, One cannot say it has parts [from the point of its substantive] nor one can say it does not have parts (from the point of superimposed), nor one can say that it has no parts and have parts - It is of the nature of indescribable, on the standpoint of ‘I’ as self.  To understand the truth the seeking mind has to view and judge on the standpoint of Atman as self. Then only everything becomes clear. Being in dualistic reality and viewing and judging on the dualist stand point, will lead only to logical and theoretical understanding.

      Does inert have consciousness?

The inert itself is consciousness or Atman. Atman can prevail, with or without the illusion, which has been superimposed on it.The Atman is the knower - since the physical conditioning within illusion hides the existence of inert creates the ignorance of the truth.  Thus, the seeker has to realize the fact that, all this experience of ‘duality ' is nothing but Atman and - there is nothing whatsoever - other than Atman, the true self,  and ultimate truth.

An intense desire for truth -realization is itself the way to it. The Lord is The Self in Advaita. Therefore   one need not accept anything other than the self, which is consciousness. Thus consciousness alone is ultimate truth or Brahman that is free from falsehood.

Advaita(non-duality) and dwith(duality) is  state of  the self. It is not some intellectual theory. Religious based Advaitins believe the Atman (soul) is Brahman; and the world is illusion. Religious dwitins believes the body as self, and they believe world is reality, and they believe in creator and creation theory.   In India Advaita and Dwaith is mere a religious tradition, which they inherited from their ancestors. No one questions their validity, because it is considered blasphemy to question any guru and god-men or pundits.

 People who are attached to their religious  code of conduct and trying to preach Advaita , that is mixing the individual life, and concept of god, and all mixed up hotchpotch  religious doctrine and feed the seeking minds, are themselves not aware of the fact that,  the individuality,  and the worldly life is part of the illusion.

Buddha must have verified religion, Vedas and concept of god and found them inadequate and useless in pursuit of truth and rejected them and he got enlightened without the aid of religion, Vedas and concept of god. 

 After studying and going through all the rigorous training from the religious scholars in Theosophical Society, J.K was confused about all these, and when he started verifying with deeper introspection, he found everything was priest-crafted hotchpotch ideologies. Thus, he refused to become the world guru, rejected it, and walked out and condemned the priest craft.  

In Advaith they accept karma theory.  If they accept the karma theory, one will not be able to reach the non-dual destination. If one accepts karma theory then it is impossible to treat the world as illusion. All the pundits’ explanation of karma theory carries no weight on realm of truth because if karma is accepted they are accepting the false self (ego or waking entity) as true self and false experience (universe or waking) as reality.

The birth, life and death are part of the waking experience, which is mere illusion on the standpoint of the true self.  It is no use of saying that, we are not born, we do not die because, because we all were born and we all are going to die. However, the birth, life and death are part of the illusion, which comes and goes as waking experience.  The formless witness of the three states is real, which is our identity has no birth and death. That is why self-knowledge is nothing to do with the religious based Advaita, which is based on Vedas. 

  A Gnani will never say we are not born; we are not going to die.   Only to the mediocre who nod their head, he will say this to inspire them to think of the formless true identity, which is birth less, deathless.   Thus, it is wrong to say we are not born and we do not die by limiting the self to the physical entity.  If one limits the self to the physical entity alone, one gets only half-truth.  The consciousness, which is the true self, pervades all the three states, as their formless substance and witness.  The formless substance and witness, which is our true self (true identity). Without knowing the true self-mere saying, we are not born, we do not die is not the knowledge, which has come from depth, it is mere bookish knowledge.