The Upanishads by Sri Chinmoy...

Each Upanishad is the unfoldment of the Supreme Knowledge which, once spiritually attained, is never lost. The entire universe of action, according to the Upanishads, with its ephemeral means and ends, lives in the meshes of ignorance. It is the knowledge of the supreme Self that can destroy the human ignorance of millennia and inundate the earth-consciousness with the Light and Delight of the ever-transcending and ever-manifesting Beyond.
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As we have the heart, the mind, the vital, the body and the soul, so also the Upanishads have a heart, a mind, a vital, a body and a soul. The heart of the Upanishads is self-realisation, the mind of the Upanishads is self-revelation, the vital of the Upanishads is self-manifestation, the body of the Upanishads is self-transformation, and the soul of the Upanishads is self-perfection.
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What is of paramount importance right now is self-realisation. For self-realisation we need only four things. First we need the help of the scriptures, then a guide, then yogic disciplines, and finally, the Grace of God. The scriptures tell the seeker, “Awake, arise, it is high time for you to get up. Sleep no more.” The spiritual Master tells the seeker, “My child, run! Run the fastest! I am inspiring you. I have already kindled the flame of aspiration within you. Now you can run the fastest.” Yogic disciplines tell the seeker, “You are practising the spiritual life, and I am giving you the result of your practices. I have made the road clear for you. Now you can run the fastest on a road that is empty of danger.” Then something more is required, and that is God’s Grace. One may run the fastest, but one may not reach the Goal even if there is no obstacle on the way, because human beings very often get tired. Before they reach the Goal they feel that they are totally exhausted. At that time what is required is God’s Grace. Without God’s Grace one cannot complete the journey. God’s Grace tells the seeker, “Lo, the Goal is won.”
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To be sure, God’s Grace starts right from the beginning. When we study the scriptures, God’s Grace has already dawned on us. Had there been no Grace from God, we could not have launched into the spiritual path in the first place. And had there been no Grace from God, we could not have found our spiritual Master. It is out of His infinite Bounty that God brings a seeker to the Master. Then the seeker and the Master must play their respective roles. The Master will bring down God’s Compassion, but the seeker has to practise spiritual disciplines. His task is to aspire, and the Master’s task is to bring down Compassion.