To discover one s reality and to dwell in that Divine peace, one need not give up the world and take to asceticism. (SSS Vol.3)

To get rid of the wheel of birth and death, awareness of the undying unborn Atma which is one s Reality is the only method available to man. (SSS Vol.12)

The object of every rule and ceremonials to be observed by pilgrims and Sadhakas (spiritual aspirants) prescribed by the saints and seers of this land was to bring the realisation of the atma, as one s Reality, a few steps nearer. For, the atma in the individual is the atma in all; Shivoham is the Truth; and the Truth alone can make man free and full of Bliss. (SSS Vol.12)

Know that nothing can exist or happen without being willed by God. Egoism and envy are blinding men from this Truth. Bhakti (devotion) is defined as the awareness of the Lord being one s Reality (Swa swarupa anusandhanam). The ego prevents the awareness of this fact. Utilise the time allotted to you in attempts to acquire the awareness and live in that ecstasy. (SSS Vol.18)

Awareness of one’s own true reality is the proper meaning of existence. The awareness of one’s reality lies in the realisation that one is not the body, the mind or the senses. True realisation lies in understanding the fact that man is based on a transcendental principle that goes beyond

the boundaries of matter. (SSB 1996, p. 2)

When the thirst for liberation and the revelation of one’s reality is acute, a strange and mysterious force in Nature will begin operating. When the soil is ready, the seed appears from somewhere! The spiritual Guru will be alerted and the thirst will get quenched. The receiving individual has developed the power to attract the giver of illumination. That power is strong and full. Therefore, naturally the splendour that can confer the illumination will get ready to bless. (SSVahini, p. 117)

The Bharatiya Spiritual Stream has been declaring, over and over again, that adoring God in the human form is the highest duty of man. Unless God incarnates as man, man can never hope to see God or listen to His voice. Of course, man may picture God in various other forms, but he can never approximate to the genuine form of God. However, much one may try, man cannot picture God in any form except the human.

‘Koham? Who am I?’ ‘Why this feeling in me, that I am the doer?’ ‘What is the nature of consciousness that I am the enjoyer?’ ‘Why be born, and die at last?’ ‘How did I deserve this life?’ ‘Can I be liberated from this Samsara, this series of entrances and exits.’ The attempt to discover answers to these questions is what the Rishis of old designated as tapas.When the intellect of the individual ripens into this steady inquiry, he enters the path of tapas.

This is the first step. As soon as man has ascended this step, the Shastras or the collective wisdom of seekers enshrined in sacred texts, welcome him. The Sruti, or the Vedas, directs him to ‘listen, ruminate, and practise’ the axiomatic counsel of the sages. They assure him that he will attain the goal of release, and free himself from the delusive fascination for the visible world, portrayed for him by his own mind.

The Divine alone can be the guide, the companion and counsellor on this lone journey of man. Those styled gurus cannot help or rescue. The Srutis advise man to approach gurus who are ‘Shrotriya’ and ‘Brahma Nishthas’. They warn man against resorting to other. What does Shrotriya mean? It means a person who is unquestioningly loyal to the Srutis or Vedas and who adheres to the rules prescribed and the limits imposed therein, without the slightest deviation. Brahma Nishtha means a person who is established in Brahma-Consciousness. He has no doubt to pester him, no diversion to distract him. For, he has won steady faith in the Atma. He is unconcerned with the material world. He sees all worlds as Brahma, as the manifestation of the Brahma Principle. His activities and movement are in consonance with this awareness. His vision encompasses all of Time; he knows the past, the present and the future. He is beyond all characterisation; the three (modes) do not affect him. He has his being in the One and Only - the Atma. He is unaffected by distinctions and differences, dualities and disparities. He is perpetually in ananda. (SSVahini, pp. 117-119)

The scripture (shastra) establishes that Brahman (the Cosmic Self) is the basis on which all else is imposed and that one s reality is Bliss itself. (Sutra Vahini, p. 4)

Faith is all important. Faith in one’s Reality being the Atma—that is the real Vidya. (V Vahini, p. 48)