The present volume is a collection of Swami Satprakashananda's talks on different aspects of Vedanta. His exposition of the subtle nuances of Vedanta is charming and reader-friendly. In an almost conversational tone he discusses the why and wherefore of morality, the role of the spiritual teacher, the aura of meditation, the dichotomy of good and evil, the enigma of Maya, the inter-relation between reason, volition, and emotion, the use of symbols, the significance of spiritual visions, the power of mantras, and also explores the question of what happens after death.
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