This book consists of spiritual teachings and practices based on Vedanta. Equally useful for beginners as well as advanced aspirants, the book does shed shafts of light, dispelling the darkness of ignorance from the reader's heart. For a beginner, the book is a path-breaker; for an advanced aspirant, reassuring and strengthening; and for one already established in the goal, well, it should be a sheer delight. The book will benefit aspirants at any level, since it deals with Self-knowledge and the means to attain it.
That which is nearest is least observed. The Atman is the nearest of the near, therefore a careless and unsteady mind gets no clue to the Atman. But one who is alert, calm, self-restrained, and discriminating, ignores the external world and, diving more and more into the inner world, realizes the glory of the Atman and becomes great.
-Swami Vivekananda