On one level this is a book about how to set things right in your life, how to have happiness and fulfillment in this world. The guidance works, but why stop there? Beneath the apparent practicality, layer upon layer of deeper wisdom will reveal itself to the thoughtful reader. There may be a temptation to read quickly, and the simplicity of style certainly makes that possible. But this is a book to be read and reread, slowly and attentively, and then lived. The goal is not just a better life – that is only the first step – but true self-knowledge. Particularly through selfless service to others, the practitioner of karma yoga will learn to shed the small, ego-based self and recognize a higher, divine identity; call it Self, God, Brahman, Christ-Consciousness, Ein Sof, or Ultimate Reality. Whatever you call it, if that infinite Oneness is the ultimate simplicity, then the closer one gets, the simpler everything becomes. That is the sort of simplicity that the thoughtful reader will find in this book. In Ma’s own words, it is “an instruction manual to help you find your soul.” And what does that mean? Certainly not an escape from this world, but a complete integration of the inner and the outer life.