When you try to cook a meal, you may have with you all the materials you need – rice, dal (lentils), salt, lime, spices, vegetables, etc. But unless you have fire to cook these, the dish cannot be prepared. So too, all forms of worship, contemplation, yoga or meditation are ineffective if the knowledge of one's basic Reality and Identity is not there to warm up the process. The Atma is the source and spring of all joy and peace; this has to be cognised and dwelt upon. Without this realisation, human life is an opportunity that is lost. Awareness of one’s true identity is the sign of wisdom, the lighting of the lamp which scatters darkness.(Divine Discourse, Mar 16, 1966.)