Sage Sri, Sankara introduced Who AM I? for the beginners. As the seeker progresses in his quest for the truth he has to discard and go deeper to reach the ultimate realization.+

Who am I? - is not Self-inquiry. The ‘Self-inquiry’ is finding out the ‘Self’ which is hidden by the ‘I’.

The Advaitic wisdom will not dawn by adopting ‘Who AM ‘I’? teachings because they are based on individuality. The individual exists with the illusory universe or Maya. ‘Who AM ‘I’?  teachings will not yield the truth hidden by the illusory universe or Maya. The illusory universe or Maya is a product of ignorance.

Sage Sri Sankara: ~ “VC~ All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman (Consciousness) which is absolutely free from all the limitations of Maya.

All the ‘I-centric’ Gurus propagate that 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.

Remember:~

Sage Sri, Sankara introduced Who AM I? for the beginners. As the seeker progresses in his quest for the truth he has to discard and go deeper to reach the ultimate realization.

WHO AM ‘I’? AND ‘I AM THAT’ is only for a lower stage where one gives up externally in order to expose the false nature of the ego, which is not the full truth. To get ultimate truth one has to inquire into the nature of the mind, which is in the form of the universe.

Inquiring into the nature of the mind or the universe is higher. Thus, ‘WHO AM ‘I’? is not complete wisdom, and the journey is incomplete.

The ‘WHO AM ‘I’?’ inquiry is good at the starting point of the pursuit of truth but later stages it created lots of confusion. 

When the Self is genderless then it is not He/She. Therefore, using the word ‘I AM’ for the ‘Self’ is erroneous. Deeper self-search reveals the fact that the self is not the ‘I’, therefore ‘WHO AM I? will not help to unfold the truth beyond the form, time, and space.

Not by listening to the sermons of the pundits, nor by the study of the scriptures, not by meritorious deeds, nor by any other means can one attain Self-awareness, which is attainable only through association with the Gnanis and the clear quest of the Self.

People from all over the world come to India to get guidance from Gurus and their teaching and get stuck up emotionally with their chosen Guru and end up by glorifying the Gurus and their teaching. So, they forget their quest of truth. So, their quest is incomplete hanging to the Gurus and their teaching.

After studying their Gurus teaching many become Gurus and start propagating what they know as the ultimate truth.

Many write books on Advaita. But such books are based on the borrowed knowledge from here and there. Such knowledge is not Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

All accumulated knowledge is of no use in the path of wisdom. 

Without realizing “What is the truth, it is impossible to realize “What is untruth?” Without realizing what is truth and what is the untruth, it is impossible to assimilate the Self –Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Thus, one must know with full and firm conviction what truth is.

Fortunate are the one who does not lose themselves in the ‘I-centric’ Gurus and their teachings. Fortunate is the man who does not lose himself in glorifying and worshipping Gurus and personal Gods but goes straight to the source from where the ‘I’ arise.

First, one has to mentally detach the ‘I’ from the Soul, the Self. The Soul is the formless witness is unaffected by coming and going, of the ‘I’.

Remember: ~

Advaitic wisdom of Sage Sri, Sankara reveals both the real and the unreal nature of the existence.

The world is both real and unreal. It is real, because, it is the manifestation of consciousness, but is unreal, in the sense, that it is not absolute and eternal like consciousness itself.

People's approach is more practical, and they stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.  .: ~ Santthosh Kumaar