v Tat tvam asi: -Thou art That “Self is that”.+

The ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ is the intoxication of illusion. Until and unless one comes out of this intoxication, Self-realization is impossible. It is not ‘I AM THAT’, it is ‘SELF IS THAT’ because ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ is not the Self

'I' or 'I AM' is not the real Self. 'I' or 'I AM' is merely an illusion. The Self is not 'I' or' I AM', but the Self is the formless witness of 'I' or 'I AM'. Clinging to 'or ' I AM' as the Self leads to hallucination.

People are not ready to investigate and verify deeply to know the facts. They are sentimentally involved with the teacher and teaching and get stuck. They think they are Self-realized because they know “I AM THAT”.

The mind is consciousness, and consciousness is mind. The three states are absorbed in consciousness.

Even the Vedas indicate that the Self is consciousness:-

v Tat tvam asi: -Thou art That:- "The Self is that” (Sam Veda).

v Prajnanam Brahma: - Consciousness is the ultimate reality (Rig Veda).

v Ayam Aatma Brahma: -The Self is the ultimate truth (Atharva Veda).

v Aham Brahma Asmi: -Self is the ultimate reality (Yajur Veda).

People have the notion that the more and more they gratify their senses for attaining worldly pleasures, the happier they will be is not true at all, because they think the physical self is the real Self, therefore, they are unaware that the Self is not physical, but the Self is the Soul or consciousness. Consciousness can stay with or without the mind or ’I:~ Santthosh Kumaar