Liberation cannot be achieved except through perceiving the identity of the individual spirit with the Universal Spirit. Atman and Brahman are identical. Their essence is pure Consciousness.
-Sankara

Shanmugananda

In the beginning Love arose,
which was the primal germ cell of the mind.
The Seers, searching in their hearts with wisdom,
discovered the connection of Being in Nonbeing.
A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing.
What was described above it, what below?
Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces
thrust from below and forward move above.
-Rig Veda

Shanmugananda