People think the Athma or the Soul or ‘Self’ is limited to an individual but it is not so because the Athma or the Soul or ‘Self’ pervades everywhere and everything in the universe.+*****

The world in which you exist is the product of ignorance. If there is no ignorance then the worlds in which you exist cease to exist.  Ignorance is present in the form of ‘I’. ‘I’ is not limited to the form alone because the ‘I’ is present only when the form, time, and space are present.

 The ‘I’ is absent when the form, time, and space are absent.  Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the ‘I’ itself is an illusion.

There is no point in inquiring ‘WHO AM ‘I’? WHO AM ‘I’?  ‘WHAT AM ‘I’? inquiry limited to form. It helps to expose the unreality of the ego. In later stages WHO AM ‘I’?  ‘WHAT AM ‘I’? inquiry the seekers will find it inadequate and useless to reach the ultimate end of understanding.  

Only the sincere and serious seeker will be able to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.  Those who are sentimentally involved with the Gurus, yogis will remain ignorant hallucinating about the promised bliss or enlightenment.  

What is the use of getting enlightenment on the false self (ego or waking entity) within the unreal world (waking)?  It will be false enlightenment.

Self-realization is to realize the ‘Self’ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the formless Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  The ‘Self’ is not within the body because it pervades everything and everywhere in all three states.   Thus limiting the self to the physical body within the illusory world will not yield the truth of the whole.

 Thus, it is necessary to realize the ‘Self’ is not the ‘I’ and ‘I’ is not the Soul, the innermost Self.  The Soul, the innermost self is the witness of the ‘I’ which appears and disappears.

Bhagvad Gita: ~ The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)

The ‘I’ hides the Soul, the Self.

Some Gurus and the scriptural interpreters used the word ‘I’ to the Self and mislead the Seeking world.  these Gurus think the ‘I’ without the body is the Self and the Self is within the physical body.  

Remember, the Self is not 'I' but the Self is the Soul, witness of the 'I'.  The Soul is not within the physical body but the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness pervades everything and everywhere in the whole universe because the universe is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, the Self. 

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahmano hi pratisthaham Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material (Gita 14.27)

The Soul is one but individuals are many. Many souls' idea is the religious idea. People believe the Soul is within the physical body but in reality, the Soul is hidden by the universe because the universe is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness.  Advaita means the Soul, the one without the second. There is no scope for the second Soul. Advaita is ekathma vada.

Sage Sankara asks his opponents "How do you know there are separate individual Souls? Have you seen the Soul of a man? You can only say that you have seen different bodies. To say more is to misuse language. Therefore, I call you liars unless you give proof, which is impossible.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe.

So, it proves the Soul is not an individual but it is the support of all that exists in this universe.

The orthodox Asvaitic who believes their experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality and believes in the existence of individual souls, are ignorant people.  From the ultimate standpoint,  the present experience of birth, life, death, and the world itself is an illusion thus, many souls are part of the dualistic illusion.   The dualistic illusion is created out of single clay and that clay is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. 

The Soul is not limited to an individual. The individuals are many but the Soul is one. The individual exists within the universe. The Soul is the cause of the universe and it itself is uncaused.

The Soul is not within the human body. The universe is created out of single stuff. That single stuff is the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness. Thus, whatever the universe contains is bound to be the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.

All the Gurus propagated that the Soul is within the human body or heart this is a great mistake.

People think the Athma or the Soul or ‘Self’ is limited to an individual but it is not so because the Athma or the Soul or ‘Self’ pervades everywhere and everything in the universe.  The universe is merely an illusion created out of the Athma or the Soul or ‘Self’, which is present in the form of consciousness.

Knowledge of the single stuff is Self-knowledge of Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana

Like an ornament made from gold is Gold, that which is born out of consciousness is consciousness. Like gold is a permanent thing, in ornaments made of gold, similarly, the mind, which is in the form of the universe is born out of consciousness and is consciousness in its essence.

Deeper self-search reveals the fact that you are not the Self, the world in which you exist is the Soul, which is present in the form of the consciousness, but the consciousness is specifically not an entity or identity or a thing within the world in which you exist. But it is the cause of the world in which you exist and it itself is uncaused.

The Soul is hidden by the world in which you exist. The nature of the Soul is the formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.

Thus, it is necessary to realize the world in which you exist is created out of single stuff, which is consciousness. The consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. Thus, God alone is real; the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of consciousness.

The seeker has to realize the fact that ‘I’ is not the Self, but the witness of the ‘I’ is the true Self, which is eternal. 

That is why Ashtavakra Gita 16:10:~ If you desire liberation, but you still say "I," If you feel the ‘Self’ is the ‘I’, You are not a wise man or a seeker. You are simply a man who suffers. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar