This book is based on the notes of weekly lectures given by Swami Yatiswarananda at Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore. The Swami, a Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Order, was an illustrious disciple of Swami Brahmananda. He was a well-known spiritual figure in the Neo-Vedanta movement and did 17 years of pioneering work (1933-1950) in spreading Vedanta in Europe and USA.
I hate this world, this dream, this horrible nightmare, with its churches and chicaneries, its books and blackguardisms, its fair faces and false hearts, its howling righteousness on the surface and utter hollowness beneath and, above all, its sanctified shopkeeping!
-Swami Vivekananda