The Vedantins, Zen Buddhists, Christian Scientists, and even to a certain extent Ramana Maharshi and Sri Krishna Menon said that self-identification with the Reality, thinking of this identification constantly, would be enough to attain the spiritual goal. This is called the Short Path. The opposite schools of Patanjali's Yoga, the Roman Stoics, and the Southern Buddhists reject this claim and say that it is necessary to thin down the ego and purify the mind by degrees through disciplines, exercises, and practices. This is called the Long Path. The Philosophic Method is to combine both of these schools of thought synthetically, with the explanation that both are necessary to complete each through the other--and that it depends upon the stage where the aspirant is as to which school is necessary for him or her to emphasize personally. Beginners need to give more weight to the hard effort of the Yoga school; but advanced persons need to give it to the Vedanta viewpoint, because in their case much of the ego-thinning and mental-emotional cleansing has already been done.
-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation > Chapter 5 : Balancing the Paths > # 150
