In each of the ten lectures collected in this book, the author, a master of Vedantic elucidation, speaks to the average spiritual aspirant � one who desires spiritual enlightenment, but is not yet willing to let go of worldly pleasures. He shows us a gradual way � not a way of compromise, but a way of steady and sure advancement toward the ultimate goal of illumination. In these lectures he tells us how to go about it and why it is the only natural and rational thing for human beings to do.
The important thing is how much less you think of the body, of yourself as matter -- as dead, dull, insentient matter; how much more you think of yourself as shining immortal being. The more you think of yourself as spirit, the more eager you will be to be absolutely free from matter, body and senses. This is the intense desire to be free.
-Swami Vivekananda