You have learnt so much
And read a thousand books.
Have you ever read your Self?
You have gone to mosque and temple.
Have you ever visited your soul?
You are busy fighting Satan.
Have you ever fought your
Ill intentions?
You have reached into the skies,
But have you reached
What's in your heart?

~ Bulleh Shah

Exactly as a shadow appears when light is intercepted by the body, so does the person arise when pure self- awareness is obstructed by the "I-am-the-body" idea.

And as the shadow changes shape and position according to the lay of the land, so does the person appear to rejoice and suffer, rest and toil, find and lose according to the pattern of destiny.

When the body is no more, the person disappears completely without return, only the witness remains and the Great Unknown.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

"I-am" Parabrahman.
"I-am" the absolute reality.
Never was I born.
Never can I die.
I am not the body nor the mind nor the doer.
"I-am" pure consciousness, all-pervading.
Fire cannot burn me.
Water cannot drown me.
No harm can ever come to me.
For I am not what I appear to be.
How wonderful this is.
You should spend all of your spare time thinking of these things.

~ Robert Adams

There will be periods of frustration; there will be periods of doubt. Your worldly involvements would hamper your Sadhana (practice) and an atmosphere of defeat would prevail. But, come what may, just throw everything aside, don't bother about anything and continue your abidance in the 'I am' with all earnestness. The 'I am' would test your endurance, but a moment would come when it will be pleased with you, become your friend and release its stranglehold on you, and reveal all the secrets.

NISARGADATTA

Consciousness and unconsciousness are two aspects of one life. They co-exist. To know the world you forget the self - to know the self you forget the world. What is world after all? A collection of memories. Cling to one thing that matters, hold on to 'I am' and let go all else. This is sadhana. In realization there is nothing to hold on to and nothing to forget. Everything is known, nothing is remembered.

~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

Stay without ambition, without the least desire, exposed, vulnerable, unprotected, uncertain and alone, completely open to and welcoming life as it happens, without the selfish conviction that all must yield you pleasure or profit, material or so-called spiritual.

~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

When there is no "I" there is no karma. 

Sri Ramana Maharshi