There is an innate urge in every one of us to attain perfection and this urge can only cease through God-realization. Realization of God is the birthright of everyone. It is the supreme purpose of human life. The religions and philosophies of the world have come up with different methods and paths towards this one end. But among all of them, the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta has consistently appealed to thinking minds everywhere because of its universality, rationality and practicality. In addition to this supreme purpose of life, Vedanta has also another urgent and important message to the world, namely, the forging of world-unity through harmony of religions and oneness of mankind.
The Advaitic way to attainment of oneness of all animate and inanimate involves the practice of ethics, and karma yoga, bhakti yoga and jnana yoga, in that order. This practice culminates in the discovery of the spiritual unity behind the apparent diversities.
Though karma yoga as a path has always had immense potentialities in the creation of a new order of world civilization, it was Swami Vivekananda who brought out its full significance in the modern context. He did this through the two cardinal principles of awakening faith in oneself and service of human beings considering them to be manifestations of the One God. Karma yoga is the stepping stone to travel on the path of spirituality. It paves the way for the practice of other yogas and is the common basis of all of them. Performed in the right spirit, karma yoga purifies the mind and leads an aspirant towards freedom, joy and equanimity of vision. It gradually prepares one to take up the path of bhakti yoga.
Through bhakti yoga, one cultivates a definite and deep relation with his Chosen Ideal. The attainment of unswerving devotion to the Chosen Ideal is the greatest treasure cherished by a devotee of God. To progress on the path of bhakti, the company of holy men is very essential. The grace of the Divine descends through holy men. By meditating on God through an image, the bhakta outgrows image worship and realizes that the very same Being that is present in the image pervades the entire universe. This is the stage of realization of Saguna Brahman.
But the Ultimate is still farther. One has to realize Nirguna Brahman to attain the Absolute, i.e. the establishment in the identity of the individual self with the Supreme Self. This is achieved through in-depth meditation on the mahavakyas like Aham Brahmasmi and Tatvamasi, which form the central core of Vedanta.