In plain words
is the Ātma. Among all objects that are seen, as the seer, the one who sees the whole multitude of seen objects is alone the Ātma. Whoever, with the help of the sense-organs and the like, sees, hears, eats or speaks — whoever that person may be — is indeed merely a lamp-like instrument, but he is not one whose true form is the Ātma. The Ātma is not a limited seer, nor a sequential seer, nor a non-seer, nor a seer of some other kind. The intellect, though it may be like the moon, is not self-luminous. Because the sun-like Ātma is very near to it, there is a possibility of its uniting with the Ātma. Lac and wood join together neatly and adhere; but the intellect and the Ātma are not of that kind — only through spiritual practice do they come to unite. The sun too is called 'the eye of the world' only because of its proximity to other objects. The sun itself has no notion of 'I' or 'mine', nor any desire whatsoever. Simply by his presence, darkness departs, daylight and light appear, and everything shines forth — and so he has come to be called 'the illuminator'. But his luminosity carries no trace of active agency. In just the same way, one may ask how the Ātma, which has neither change nor combination, could be an agent at all — and the answer is: does a magnet possess agency, and yet how does it cause a needle that has come near it to move?
Does the Ātma exist or not? If it exists, by what means of proof is it established? To establish that the Ātma exists, there is in fact no need of any means of proof at all. For if the Ātma itself were dependent on proof and had to be established by such means, there would have to be yet another examiner to apply that proof — and who would that examiner be? Well then — he himself would be the Ātma. Some may say that the Veda alone is the proof that the Ātma exists; others may say that even the Veda cannot establish the Ātma. In simply declaring that the Ātma, however spoken of, is one and the same, the Veda may indeed serve as a valid authority — but for the Ātma, which is self-evident and self-witnessing, no Vedic proof is truly needed.
According to scriptural authority, wherever the six good qualities of enthusiasm, boldness, courage, sound judgement, strength and valour are found together, there God himself dwells in visible form. It is precisely the awakening of such qualities that constitutes the worship of Gaṇapati,