Consciously becoming aware of the formless non dual nature of the self[soul] in the midst of the waking experience is non-dualistic or Advaitic wisdom.

Self  is  that which is  aware of the three states  it  is not the physical body that is aware of the three states. The physical body and the world are within the waking  or dream. Man sees the world within the waking experience. The soul,which is in the form of consciousness  is  formless witness is that which sees the three states, which comes and goes in succession.

One should not mistake the ego which sees the world within the waking or dream as the witness . The witness is that which sees the three states which comes and goes without the physical apparatus. By  holding  the ego or waking entity as a witness  is the cause of confusion, ignorance.  Seeker has to mentally  separate the formless witness[soul]  from the  three states by realizing the witness is neither the waking entity nor the witness  is dream entity but the witness  is the formless soul or consciousness. only through   perfect understanding  one can mentally grasp the existence of the formless witness,which is within the three states but its is apart from the three states. it is within the three states as their formless substance and it is apart form the three states as their formless witness.  Anyone can know that the ego is not the Witness  but the soul  is the  witness if they indulge in deeper self-search. 

The waking ego dies daily in dream, dream ego dies when one wakes up. Waking and dream ego disappear in  deep sleep. There is change identities between waking and dream. One may be  a president or peasant  in waking or dream  but in deep sleep there is no identity nor the experience of the world exist.

In sleep, the Ego of waking or dream  is dead too; thus, ego changes constantly, and yet one mistake it for a reality. That which perceives the ego is the unborn, the unchanging reality, however. One can see forms and names  only in the waking or dream , never in the deep sleep.

The one which witnesses the three states is  within the three state as its formless substance and it is apart form the three states as their   formless witness.  It is apart because it is not an entity or identity within the waking and dream, because it is formless. Thus, the soul/self is not limited to the physical entity, but it pervades all the three states, as  their  formless substance and witness.

All the three states  reduces itself finally to  soul or consciousness.  Soul or Consciousness is the one thing which prevails eternally with or without the duality.

v  What is ‘I’?

 ‘I’ not the self, but ‘I’ is the mind. the mind is in the form of universe . the universe appears as  whole waking or dream experience, therefore ‘I’ is an object. Seen or  known  thus it is not the subject which is the soul or consciousness the innermost self.

 Whatever is of the seen ,known,  experienced  as a person of the world  is the not real.  Ego is the false self within the false experience . Therefore  whatever is based on the ego is bound to be falsehood.

Religion or yoga and all the paths and practices are  based on the ego  or waking entity which is the false self . God is reality only on the base of ego as self. To realize the non dual truth one has to go  beyond form,time and space .  

 Religionists does not want to give up  the ego base because their belief of god will vanish. intellectuals does not want to give up ego because their intellectual accumulated knowledge losses its value.  yogis does not  want give up their ego because they cannot practice their samadhi without the ego. All yogic  breath control mind control and all their practices are based on the ego,which is the false self within the false experience. thus what is the use of practicing anything on the base of  false self within the false experience.  thus it is necessary  realize the fact that the self is neither the waking entity nor the self is dream entity but the self is that witnesses the three states ,which comes and goes without the physical apparatus. 

The self remains in its formless non dual true nature   unconsciously during deep sleep. Consciously becoming aware of the formless non dual nature of the self[soul]  in the midst of the waking experience  is  non-dualistic  or Advaitic  wisdom.

Physical body is what one knows, what he  perceive; perceiver is distinct: physical body and the world  are a part of the waking or dream. Soul is  not an experience. Soul  or consciousness is the formless witness of the  dual and non dual experience, which appear and disappear as three states.

The answer to the query “What is ‘Self ’?"  Self is the soul, not the 'I' or  mind.   Soul is  pure knowing.” Only in  experience of duality[waking or dream]  there is doubt  and confusion because everything in experience of duality [waking or dream]  is based on ego which is the false self.

So long as one thinks there is a second thing to be obtained, he  can never be happy because the duality is always there. The Gnani, on the other hand, regards nothing as different that is as a second thing, and therefore escapes this unhappiness.

Proof that no separate self exists in each person is that he cannot measure the height and width of each self, cannot determine therefore where it begins or ends. For they do not truly exist, hence cannot be located. Individuality is therefore only an inference.

One  can take a tape and measure the body,  but it is impossible to measure each man's mind , because it is not  and organ or a thing or entity. soul  is formless consciousness   and pervades  in everything  and everywhere in all the three states as its formless substance and witness.

 Soul or consciousness  knows changes is  itself be changeless. At no time can it be shown that the soul or consciousness  [knower]has ever changed. One  may say that the doer and enjoyer is the ego, but the ego is part of the waking or dream. waking or dream   disappears as deep sleep. Only the Formless Witness remains.

The soul or witness  of the three states , uncuttable, indestructible because it is formless. It is infinite because it cannot say where it begins or ends. It is immortal, because no one has  ever seen it die. The self is eternal. One may be attached to ego and say constantly, "I am so and so " but he is unaware of the fact that he and his world exist only in waking or dream.  Where does the waking or dream  have to go eventually? It  vanishes as deep  sleep.

No intellectuals  in world have reached the understanding the Formless Witness or seer, is the Witness or looker-on. Intellectuals  based it all on the I as self.  ultimate truth on the contrary is based  it on that, which sees the 'I'  [Mind or universe].

That which perceives, is aware of the three states, the three states  must be its antithesis that is impersonal. When it mention or talk of three states , he is in waking experience , whereas the Witness is not within  the three states as an entity or identity   because Witness is not in the realm of seen.

The soul or consciousness   is the substance of the mind[mind or universe ]. The ‘Seer’ or Soul  that sees  three state is the real ‘self ’. Because ‘I’ exist only in waking or dream. ‘I’ cease to exist without the waking or dream.