“The ‘Self’, which is jñāna [knowledge or Consciousness], is the only reality. Consciousness manifesting as multiplicity—that is, the mind, whose root, the ego, is Consciousness perceiving the one as many—is ajñāna [ignorance]. Even that ignorance, which is unreal, exists only as the ‘Self’, which is [real] Consciousness. All the various ornaments are unreal; tell me, do they exist in any other way than as gold, which is real? [In other words: although the ego or mind—that false Consciousness perceiving itself as a multitude of phenomena—constitutes ignorance and is unreal, the real substance appearing in that form is nothing other than the ‘Self’—true knowledge or pure Consciousness; therefore, what truly exists is neither the ego nor the mind, but solely the ‘Self’].”
Michael James (teachings of Ramana Maharshi)