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 the 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.
The ‘I’ hides the truth of the whole. The realization of ultimate truth or Brahman is possible only when the seeker inquiries into the nature of the ‘I ’. The ‘I’ is present in the form of the Mind. The Mind is present in the form of the universe and the universe appears as waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep (nonduality). The one which appears as the duality and disappears as nonduality is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness.
Do not try to know who you are? By inquiring ‘Who am ‘I’, you will never reach the ultimate end of understanding. ‘Who am ‘I’? is only helpful in the beginning on later stages, it is inadequate to realize the truth, which is beyond the form, time, and space.
Try to find out what is this ‘I’ which appears and disappears. What is it that knows this appearance and disappearance of the ‘I ’?
That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10: ~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "mine," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I ’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers.
