... two possibilities exist for the attainment of liberation. The first is: treading the path indicated by the master, the seeker gradually reaches the goal of liberation. The second is self-knowledge literally drops into one's lap, as it were, and there is instant enlightenment.
(p. 204)
One who is wise and who is capable of enquiring into the nature of truth should approach a good and learned person and study the scripture. This teacher should be free from craving for pleasure and he should also have had direct experience of the truth; and with his help, one should study the scripture and by the practice of the great yoga, one can reach the supreme state.
(p. 195)
The instruction of a disciple by a preceptor is but a tradition: the cause of enlightenment is but the purity of the disciple's consciousness...
Paraphrased: Vasishtha tells the story of a miser who lost a copper coin in a forest, and then searched for it day after day. As others became aware of his search, they gathered to watch him and taunt him. However at the end of the three days, he found a precious stone!
Even so, in the case of the preceptor's instruction, the disciple looks for something, but obtains something else! Brahman is beyond the mind and the senses; it cannot be known through someone else's instruction. Yet without the instruction of the preceptor it is not known either... One seeks something and obtains something else!
(pp. 434-5)
Self-knowledge or knowledge of truth is not had by resorting to a guru (preceptor) nor by the study of scripture, nor by good works: it is attained only by means of enquiry inspired by the company of wise and holy men. One's inner light alone is the means, naught else.
(p. 209)
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