why humans feel "I"

According to Sri T.N. Sethumathavan on chapter 7 verse 2-6 of Bhagwad Gita, Answer as moderated and summarized by member -

Bried Answer -

God created three cosmic entities and energies viz. Lower entity called APARA PRAKRUTHI ie physical world of inert matter ,visible or invisible ,Higher entity called PARA PRAKRUTHI is Consciousness which is eternal and dynamic and third is himself as Jeevatma. All the creation has the three ingredients of which the first two are of varying proportions. The objective of creation might be that Jeevatma to identify with PARA PRAKRUTHI and accordingly use APARA PRAKRUTHI and attain Moksha. But in the process, if Jeevatma ignores PARA PRAKRUTHI and start using APARA PRAKRUTHI , it will lead to EGO and feeling of I by which Jeevatma forgets the truth of its belonging to GOD and falsely identified separately by I and looses its spiritual permanent happiness and becomes temporary inert nature and takes all sufferings of matter.

Elaborate answer

These type of questions requires minimum understanding about creation and creator as first step. Knowledge of God and experiencing God are two different aspects and God is the cause of the appearance of the universe and all things in it. He is the essence, substance and substratum of everything, whether visible or invisible.

CREATION

The word Creation, only refers to the manifestation of something which was potentially, manifestly existent. Nothing in the creation is non existent. The unmanifest matter later may becomes manifest, which means it is available for transaction. An analogy is that of butter which is known to be preexisting in manifested form in milk will become manifested as butter on churning the milk. The Lord proceeds to explain his manifestations as the universe and the power behind it. He speaks of these manifestations as His lower and higher Prakriti. It is to say that both prakriti existed in causal form before creation and manifestation and combination of these two ingredients causes things to be born and function.

APARA PRAKRUTHI

lower Prakriti called APARA Prakrit is eight folds and made up of the five elements Earth, water, fire, air, ether and mind, ego and intellect. The matter is the source of all forms of energy and is referred as Beejam or Maya. Also it will be always changing from one form to other and its state is temporary. It needs no further explanation.

PARA PRAKRUTHI

But the other HIGHER Prakruthi needs elaborate explanation. The Self has, besides elements of APARA Prakrit , equipments of a higher nature which are Pure Consciousness or Awareness i.e. PARA Prakrit.The higher Prakriti called PARA Prakrit is having several names like Vignana , Consciousness or Awareness .Its cosmic energy levels are much much higher than APARA PRAKRUTHI. It never changes and permanent in nature. It is this spiritual aspect in everybody that makes it possible for the body, mind ,intellect and ego which are inert matters to function as if they are very cognizant and intelligent. The spiritual factor is the entity with whose contact the body equipment works and without which it becomes dull and insentient. Without this spiritual spark ,man will be no more than a stone, and he will not be able to experience the world outside or within him. The world of objects, the world of feelings and the world of ideas that we experience constitute in their totality the Jagat or universe which is supported by the principle of consciousness. Consciousness is non-material entity . It does not come under matter and therefore it does not come within time and space. This means that as consciousness is beyond time and space it has to be eternal which implies that before the creation, consciousness also existed.

ATMA

In addition to the above two PRAKRUTHIES , there is a third entity , God himself resides within all creation as JEEVATMA. At the Micro level i.e., with reference to an individual, it is given the name of Atma. The very same at the Macro level is called Brahman. Therefore Atma and Brahman are synonymous meaning the same thing .

Once the individual understands the distinction between matter and Atma , he will know that the cause of all our sufferings is due to Atma identifying with matter. When Atma is detached from all its identifications with matter, it rediscovers for itself its own essential nature as Perfection and Bliss Absolute.

EGO

The Atma identifying with matter or apara Prakrit is called ego. This is also called super imposition on the Truth through ignorance. It is apara Prakrit by which the atma gets bound with EGO. It is the ego that rediscovers itself to be nothing other than the spirit or para Prakrit that presides over the matter. The process of such rediscovery of truth by EGO is very interesting. Let us understand the entire process of formation of EGO and rediscovery of truth.

PROCESS OF FEELING OF I

The five elements of matter are represented by the sense-organs by which the individual lives and gathers experiences in the world of sense objects. The sense organs are the channels through which the information stimuli reaches the mind. The impulses received in the mind are classified and systematized as knowledge by the intellect. Mind also memorizes the large amount of data about the matter. However, there may be differences in perception and efficiency of conduct of entire process among the individuals that lead to another quality referred as Intellectuality among humans and humans are classified with clever, intelligent, genius , innocent ,foolish etc. These assimilations bring another quality EGO among humans and during all these assimilations the spirit falsely identifies the body with the ego and the sense of I' or My' is produced.

BOTH PRAKRITI ARE ESSENTIAL

The above mentioned higher and lower natures together cause the manifestation of the world of plurality. If there is no matter, the latent dynamic energy of the Spirit will not have a field for its expression. The matter by itself is dormant and it cannot function unless the Spirit is there to activate it, to enliven it. An example of this principle is electricity and the bulb. The bulb is the inert matter and the electricity is the dynamic spirit. It is obvious that one is of no use without the other. When the spirit functions through the five layers of the matter it finds a place to express itself.

CONCLUSON

The combination of the higher and lower natures (Prakrit) is the womb of all beings i.e., these two are the cause for the origin of all creatures or manifestation. The lower nature manifests itself as the material body and the higher nature as the enlivening soul, the experiencer.

Thanks for reading,
with great regards'

apvsn

Hare Krishna apvsn. Please accept my humble obeisance's. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Thanks for your interest in sharing on the school of Bhakti forum. However this is not the correct philosophy of Bhakti yoga as was thought by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. 

"God created three cosmic entities and energies viz. Lower entity called APARA PRAKRUTHI ie physical world of inert matter ,visible or invisible ,Higher entity called PARA PRAKRUTHI is Consciousness which is eternal and dynamic and third is himself as Jeevatma" I have noticed in your answer that you say that God is himself the Jiva( individual soul), however this is not supported by the Acarya's who have preserved and passed on the Krishna conscious philosophy over time and also this is not supported on the basis of sastrical evidence. I would encourage you to read the following text from the Bhagavad-gita as Srila Prabhupada elaborates thoroughly on this matter and also provides evidence on the basis of the scriptures.

Chapter 15: The Yoga of the Supreme Person