In plain words
Man today grieves that he has no fit chance to attain Śānti and Ānanda; we must recognise the inner meaning of this grief. The delusion of the body keeps growing in man. There is nothing wrong in thinking, ‘The body is mine.’ But to think, ‘The body is I,’ is a great mistake. That itself is the root cause of your unrest and your discontent. However far we go on reducing the body, Manas and Buddhi, step by step, only within that span can we experience Śānti and Ānanda. Every human being knows that he is not the body. Though he knows it, attachment to the body only grows from day to day; it never lessens. But in the state of sleep, where is this attachment to the body? Where it is, he himself does not know. But he is there. Even in deep sleep man is there. But the matter of where he is also bears on this. Wherever he is in sleep, there he stays even after death. So everything has gone on springing from man's heart alone. Unable to recognise this truth, man imagines the heart to be very far away.
Man Today Lives with His Heart Shut and His Mouth Open
Today, if we are to experience Śānti, we must cut down our words, keep the mouth shut and have the heart opened. Recognising this inner meaning, the ancient ṛṣis went into the forest and went on keeping silence. But man today lives with his heart shut and his mouth open. We must shut the mouth and open the heart. Right there God dwells. Many paṇḍits and scientists, even great paṇḍits who have studied the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, unable to recognise this truth, strut about proud that they are great paṇḍits. Man reads all the śāstras, the Purāṇas and the Itihāsas. But this is only acquaintance with books; it is not seen in practice. Every step man takes today strays from Dharma.