This is akin to asking which comes first – day or night. They both come after each other. The truth is you are verily brahman at this moment, here and now, but you have not entirely outgrown all your desires.

brahma satyaṃ jagat mityā, jīvo brahmaiva nāparaḥ – brahman is the only truth, the world is unreal, and there is ultimately no difference between brahman and individual Self. Nevertheless, you still run after the deluding desires that are enticing you. The reflections that you imagine to be real are the cause for all the desires and you engage in pursuing them. But knowing that you are brahman will dissolve all your desires into that knowledge. Therefore, you are indeed that brahman.

This awareness will empower you to understand this illusory world. jagat mityā means that the world appears to be real, but it is not. The knowledge will peel away all the desires off you and what remains of you is that brahman alone. When you say ‘I want Peace’, remove the ego – ‘I’, and the desire – ‘want’—what remains is Peace.

You are brahman as you are; however, the layers of ignorance – āvarana has to be unveiled. This veil projects everything around you as real and the knowledge of the Self is covered. Once you realise that it is all just a reflection in the mirror and not real, only then can you be sure that the veil of ignorance has dropped. All your desires peel away and brahman shines. So, both are two sides of the same coin — realising brahman is equal to being desireless and vice versa.