This book contains seven lectures of Swami Vivekananda culled from his Complete Works. It is especially intended for those who have not time enough to go through all the yogas but wish to gain a cursory knowledge of the subject. As the title suggests, the book acquaints the readers with the subject of Self-realisation and its methods in brief.
Those who have succeeded in attaching or detaching their minds at will have succeeded in Pratyahara, which means gathering towards, checking the outgoing powers of the mind, freeing it from the thralldom of the senses. When we can do this, we shall really possess character; then alone we shall have taken a long step towards freedom. Before that, we are mere machines.
-Swami Vivekananda