In that text, a clear line is drawn between what might be called “knowledge about” the Self and the actual “being of” the Self. Theoretical knowledge is described as intellectual understanding gained from scriptures, teachings, and reflection—statements such as “I am not the body” or “All is the Self.” Such knowledge operates entirely within the mind, refining concepts and beliefs but leaving the basic sense of individuality intact. It is indirect, comparable to hearing that there is water somewhere without actually drinking it. This kind of understanding can serve as a preliminary orientation, a useful pointer, but it does not by itself bring about liberation or lasting transformation.

Direct experience, by contrast, is presented as an immediate, non-conceptual realization of one’s true nature as pure awareness. It is not another thought or refined belief, but the actual dissolution of the “I”-thought in its source through self-enquiry, especially the questioning “Who am I?” or “From where does this ‘I’ arise?” In this realization, the Self is not known as an object; rather, there is simple, egoless abiding as the Self. Such knowledge is said to be irreversible: just as a rope, once clearly seen, is never again taken for a snake, so doubt and ignorance cannot return once this recognition has occurred. The sense of being a separate individual falls away, revealing an effortless and natural state of abiding peace.

The text therefore treats theoretical understanding as a kind of map—valuable insofar as it directs attention toward enquiry, but inherently limited because it remains within thought. Direct experience is likened to actually arriving at the destination the map points to, or to drinking the water rather than merely thinking about it. Theoretical knowledge can be forgotten, argued about, or maintained only with effort, whereas direct realization does not depend on mental activity and does not require reinforcement. The essential distinction is that one still belongs to the realm of mind and ego, while the other is the cessation of that realm in the clear, self-luminous presence of the Self.