I am that...

This is the prime austerity of Advaita Vedanta. To negate everything that is perceivable. The first is to discriminate the real and unreal. The projected world is unreal because its perceived by the senses, the truth might be different. By denying the external world, one enters into the internal world where every object of the external is present in a subtle form, as thoughts. The thoughts has two parts, one the object, the other is subject. The object varies, but the subject or consciousness remains the same always. This consciousness is the truth or the reality. Negating everything means negating the objects of the thoughts and reaching the consciousness, the substratum. But, this approach is a step by step process. Though seems tough, but actually is quite easy. Practice is the only way to master it.
Look at your surroundings. What do you see? The external world. Everything here has a beginning or a birth. The one which has a beginning or a birth will off course meet its end or death. Truth is eternal, it has neither birth or death. It exists in time and beyond time. So, what we see, the name and form in the external world is not true. So, we deny them. This denial doesn't mean stop dwelling with them, its to dwell or use them knowing them as unreal, something which will not remain after a given time. After we deny the external world, we see the internal world which starts from our mind. The objects which the senses brings to our notice are being stored here subtly. Everything present outside are also present here, but, not as a gross object, but, subtly, as a thought or Vritti in vedantic terms. Because the external objects are not real, thus the objects present in the mind in the subtle form are also not true. We have to negate them, how?
Like, when we think, there are many things that comes to our thought. But we choose from them, the best one and keep them. This is very near to discrimination or vichar in the vedanta. Similarly, we have to discriminate, what among these thoughts or further which object among them are the real or the true one? We see, that not a single object present here is true because they are just the subtle presentations of the gross object present outside. Then what is the reality? The thoughts can be divided into two parts- the object and the subject. The objects are what we had already discussed, now, what is the subject? The Subject is the consciousness or the awareness that make us feel the existence of these objects. My hunger is a thought,precisely and object, but, with it, there also is a consciousness or awareness of hunger. This consciousness is not hunger but it brings hunger to my notice. Similar are all the phenomenon of other thoughts. The subject brings everything to our consciousness because it is that consciousness or awareness. Because the objects has their modifications and variation but the subject ceases to vary or modify, thus, this subject is the truth or the reality. This is called negation, or neti neti in Vedanta. Neti neti means not this, not this. Na iti, na iti. When we understand this phenomenon, we start to concentrate more on the subject rather than spending time on the various object. The subject because is unchangable, is the abode of peace. Silence, or we can say- supreme silence. This silence or stillness enables us to see, feel and identify ourself with the ever unchangable eternal existence. We realize that we are that, not the body, or the mind or ego but we are this infinite consciousness. The realization of infinity gives us the taste of freedom, freedom from finiteness. Freedom brings bliss. But, everything happens when we identify ourselves with the consciousness. Utmost desire is the only way to know this. The first line of the Vedanta Sutra--- Athata Brahmajiyansa, now the quest( question) for truth has begun. May we all know who we are. This is the only solution to any given problem. Soham, Soham Soham.