When the true Self is known the jigsaw puzzle of the world gets solved, doubts end, and all misery vanishes. In Atmabodha, a lyric of sixty-eight mellifluous verses, Shankara gives us a lucid analysis of the nature of the Self and explains step by step how it can be realized. Swami Nikhilananda prefaces his delightful English translation with a masterly survey of the Upanishadic view of life.
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