All that I can tell you about the spiritual disciplines have been told often before; the human capacity, nature, and talents are all ancient possessions and so the advice regarding how to use them is also ancient. The only new thing is the directions in which these talents are wasted, and the way one is playing false to one’s own nature. Man is essentially an animal, endowed with viveka (Discrimination). That is why one is not content with the satisfaction of mere animal needs. One feels some void, some deep discontent and some unslaked thirst, for man is a child of Immortality and so feels that death is not and should not be the end. This viveka urges man to discover answers to the problems that haunt him: "Where did I come from, whither am I journeying, which is the journey's end?" To find answers to these questions, the intellect (buddhi) has to be kept sharp and clear.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 25, 1958.