Your views and judgment are based on the dualistic perspective, therefore, you hold the present experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality. If the ‘Self is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul then the experience of birth, life, death, and the world is merely an illusion.
Only if anyone learns to view and judge on the non-dualistic perspective, he will know what a Gnani is saying. The dualistic based discussion will never reach anywhere because it is based on the false self (ego) within the false experience (waking).
A Gnani's judgment is based on the non-dualistic perspective his views are different from an ignorant person. who is based on the dualistic perspective.
The realists who say this world is real:
A person, who stamped his foot on the ground to refute to show the world, is real, ignore that in a dream he would do exactly the same--stamp his dream foot on the ground and assert it to be real.
When you finally realize the ‘Self ‘ is not you but the ‘Self’ is the Soul then you will realize the world in which you exist is merely an illusion created out of the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.
Thus, you, your experience birth, life, death, and the world merely an illusion created out of the consciousness, the consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.
The world is both real and unreal. It is real because it is a 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 are stuck with the reality of the world, they take it as real. That is why all the confusion.
In Self-awareness-- the witness and witnessed are one in essence. That essence is consciousness. There is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.
Thus, whatever you have seen, known, believed, and experienced as a person is a reality within the waking experience (duality) but waking experience (duality) itself is merely an illusion created out of consciousness. :~ Santthosh Kumaar
