You are bound by form, time and space whereas the soul, the innermost self is ever free from form, time and space

Your thoughts and feelings are nothing to do with the Soul, the innermost self because ‘you are not the Self.  The one which is born, lives and dies is not the Self. The self is birthless and deathless because it is formless. You are bound by form, time and space whereas the soul, the innermost self is ever free from form, time and space.   You have the firm conviction that you are an individual separate from the world and you think the world existed prior to you and you are born in it afterwards.  Till this conviction is deep rooted  in your subconscious you will never be able to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.   

Till you hold ‘I’ as self, you will never be able to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  You are the waking entity (ego).  You are the false self (ego) within the false experience (waking). The dream entity and dream world are reality within the dream. Similarly the waking entity and waking world are reality within the waking.  The dream become unreal when waking takes place. Similarly the waking becomes unreal when waking entity becomes aware of the fact that, it itself is not the self.  If the waking entity is not the self than the waking experience is bound to be falsehood.  You are part of the waking experience thus you are part of the illusion. 

Just because you believe in some spiritual teaching because they hold ‘I’ as self:- 

1.      It is repeatedly recited,
2. It is written in a scripture,
3. It was handed from guru to disciple,
4. Everyone around you believes it,
5. It has supernatural qualities,
6. It fits my beliefs anyway,
7. It sounds rational to me,
8. It is taught by a respectable person,
9. It was said to be the truth by the teacher,
10. One must defend it or fight for it.

  

 But you are unaware of the fact that ‘I’ itself is not the self. 'I’ is cause of the ignorance. Getting rid of the ignorance is very much necessary in pursuit of truth.   

Non-dualistic truth is supreme truth; all dualistic systems hold false self [ego] as real self and false experience [universe or waking] as reality.  Non- dualistic wisdom is culmination of all systems including theistic non-duality.   The true non-dualist will not quarrel and argue with any theoretical philosophy because he is fully aware of the fact that, this orthodox theistic non-dualistic scholars or pundits like Dualist sages could not distinguish between ‘I’ and ‘formless witness.’ The 'I' was the witness. Their highest was the Jiva. One is so much attached to the 'I' that he do not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again one is unable to detach the ‘I’ from the Real witness.  

There is need to study the scriptures. One has to self-search the truth and realize it without the scriptures. And then when he reads the scriptures he becomes aware the scriptures are also saying the same thing but everything is misinterpreted.  

Thus holding the ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ as self and trying to assimilate the Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana  will not yield any fruit.  Thus deeper verification is very much necessary to drop the ‘I’ or ‘I AM THAT – declared by the sages in the past which are useful only in lower stages.    

That is why BUDDHA SAID: - Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true. 

You are unaware of the fact that ‘I’ itself is not the self.  ‘I’ is an object to the formless soul, the innermost self, which is the subject. 

Self is nothing to do with you and your world. Self is not limited to waking entity and waking world because it pervades all the three states.  You disappear along with your world when waking disappears.  The one which witnesses the coming and going of the three states is not you but the formless soul or consciousness. The formless soul or consciousness is the substance and witness of the three states. The formless substance and witness of the three states are one in essence. Without the formless soul or consciousness, the three states are non-existent.  Therefore, the formless soul or consciousness is the innermost self.  On the standpoint of the formless soul, the innermost self, the three states cease to exist as reality. Thus you are part of the illusion. Thus identifying the self as ‘I AM THIS OR ‘I AM THAT’, without becoming mentally aware of the existence of the formless witness of the three states it is impossible to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.