"He who seeks will find." - Gospel of Thomas Saying 94Trigger content: I believe Advaita Vedanta as well as other teachings of this nature should be reserved for mature and experienced scholars due to the complex and esoteric nature of the teachings which require a certain level of spiritual maturity. This is also why the Shach (the Sifsei Cohen), says that one must be 40 before they can learn kabbalah as it requires some level of maturity. Same goes for any text that is direct in nature. Just my two cents.Now. Journey From Many to One (Essentials of Advaita Vedanta) is one of the first books I purchased about Advaita Vedanta. It points directly to absolute Truth (One/Self) which may change your understanding of Life.It is in line with such sayings as "Tat Tvam Asi," "Om Tat Sat," or "Shivohum/Shivahum," "Aham Brahmasmi" or simply "Om/A-U-M."However, one of the shortcoming is that it fails to address why there is "Differentiation within Oneness" or "Why is Self Different or Diverse in Life". If we want to go full circle and understand the purpose of life, we must be willing to ask the question "why is there diversity" beyond the rather dreadful refrain that it is an illusion (for then we can ask the counter question: "why does the illusion of separateness exist").To find answers to this question of all questions we can turn to several other important texts. Take, for example, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad which speaks of cosmic loneliness as being the trigger of our origins. The ancient Indian cosmologist thus opted for common sense Jnana (science/self-knowledge) for elucidating the first cause of things. I would also suggest reading the Isha Upanishad.Jesus makes it similarly clear. The meaning of Life is Love. Bang. Very simple. Very true. It is why he says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples." Perhaps because HE (HE means "This One" in Latin) realized that all this is Self and that any difference exists to be able to Love and be Loved in return.I would also like to mention an overlooked yet highly significant word that Kṛṣṇa spoke of when talking about the Reason for everything; this word is "Saṅgera." It could be translated into English as "constant companionship."The physicist Wald Wassermann explains the deeper significance of the word "Saṅgera" in the following excerpt: "It is Ram Shanker Misra who stated that Brahman has no purpose in creating the world for Brahman is full of all perfections; thus the world is born out of freedom as distinguished from necessity. Unfortunately, this is erroneous for the simple reason that that which is called Brahman is Self (otherwise known as The Self, Allah, Buddha, Cosmos, Christ, God, Atman/Paramatman, Krishna, Shiva, The Tao, The Universe, et al). What it means? Self is all that is, and all that is, is Self. As such The World. The World is Self, and Self is The World. It must be first remembered that The Word, which is Self, speaks all words. Now as to the purpose of Self or that which Self calls The World. Self is always Free but wills Companionship. It is not good for One to be alone. It is not good for Self to be by itself. As such One's necessity. The necessity of Self is to be able to experience Constant Companionship. Constant Companionship can only be experienced through Constant Change. Hence why it is only partially correct to state that the only constant is change for there is only One Self in Constant Change for Constant Companionship. Hence the why of the Gospel; the Gospel of Love as pronounced by Kṛṣṇa and Jesus."This philosophy (love of wisdom/wisdom of love) is aligned with the realizations pronounced in the Spanda Karika and the often-overlooked Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam. Both nectar-like gems for the advanced seeker or Self-realized person.Following in the above understanding, Sathya Sai Baba was thus wrong in saying that the Love between a man and a woman, a parent and a child, a flower and a person is somehow inferior to the love for God for all is One and the same; all is Self.Hence:Love towards all is love towards Self. Here are some quotes from people who have touched upon the realization that the purpose of Self is Love:1) Anandamayi Ma: "The ultimate goal of spiritual practice is to realize the unity of all things. When we see beyond the illusion of separation, we realize that we are all one, and that love and compassion are the only true paths to happiness."2) Franz Rosenzweig: "All future events are merely a reproduction of the first moment of Love, giving birth to itself from an inner womb that continuously fertilizes itself. Love carries in itself its everlasting renewed beginning."3) Rabindranath Tagore: "Love is the only reality and it is not a mere sentiment, it is the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of creation."If I find some other quotes, I will definitely add them to the list.