A person may enunciate the formula, Aham - Brahmasmi correctly, etymology may be perfect, but when he is ignorant of the ‘world’, unaware of ‘I’; and completely in the dark about ‘Brahman’, can he ever taste the rare joy of a Jnani? It is not mastery of words and their meaning that count; it is awareness, experience - these are the fundamentals.

Mud alone is real. The pot - consciousness is born of ignorance regarding mud; mud is the basis, the substance of the pot. How can a pot exist without mud? How can effect exist apart from the cause? The world appears as multiplicity only to the ignorant: To a Jnani, Brahman alone, Brahman upon which all else is superimposed, exists. The Atma alone is cognised by him; there is nothing else. That is the Adwaithic experience. (Prema Vahini, p. 24)