Is just reading about spiritual concepts enough? What does Chapter 26 say about experience versus intellectual knowledge?

Chapter 26 strongly advocates for the necessity of direct experience over mere intellectual understanding. The author prays to Sai Samarth, asking him to make spiritual knowledge meaningful through personal experience. The text poignantly states, "without experience, the exhaustion of speech achieves nothing in spirituality." This highlights that simply talking or reading about concepts like the Self and Maya is insufficient. The author's plea for Baba's grace to grant the "gift of the natural state of union (Sayujya)" underscores the belief that true spiritual realization is an experiential state, not just an accumulation of knowledge.