Two lectures given by Swami Vivekananda in New York and England in 1896 were subsequently combined under the present heading.

In the writings, talks and lectures of Swamiji, constructive ideas relating to personality development are profusely scattered.  These passages have been systematically collected from his Complete Works and presented here in a booklet form.

This booklet presents the lecture 'Powers of the mind' delivered at Los Angeles, California on January 8, 1900 plus an excerpt on concentration and breathing.

In his lecture 'The Practice of Religion', Swamiji points out that we need to be dynamic and practice spiritual disciplines instead of being content with lifeless theories and dogmas.  Considering the importance of this lecture, it is now published as a separate booklet.