Part I: The hunger of darkness and the feast of light

• Perfection-progress, achievement-experience
• Question: How can I win the battle that is going on inside me between the light and the darkness?
• Question: Sometimes I feel I am doing well in my spiritual life, and at other times I hear a voice telling me how awful I am, how impatient I am and so on.
• Question: Once you said something about evil following in the footsteps of good. Would you explain this?
• Question: How is it that the spiritual force is so strong, yet the world seems to be such a disastrous place?

Part II: Obstructions on the road to eternity

• "No more problems"
• Question: How can I get rid of my weaknesses?
• Question: How can we transform our sexual desires?
• Question: I have had a few incredible experiences. It seemed as if I was entering a different world, a totally different consciousness. But when I try to analyse them they seem so unreal that I think it must all be hallucination.
• Question: Sometimes I just feel a kind of void inside myself. I start saying, "just give me a little drop of sweetness, or let me feel some love or something," but I don't feel anything.
• Question: Would you please explain what fear is and what causes it?
• Question: While meditating recently, I was overcome by some negative things that I know belong to the past. They suddenly became very real and they stayed with me all day. Is that normal?
• Question: When I try to meditate, I very often feel that although I want to, some part of me resists and doesn't let me meditate well.

Part III: Sorrow and joy

• Joy
• Question: If we are constantly going through different moods, how can we conquer depression?
• Question: I know that in the spiritual life I should always feel optimistic, but at times I feel frustrated or sad. When I feel like this, have I failed in some way?
• Question: I feel that I have no inner joy. Could you tell me what I am doing wrong? How can I obtain joy?

Part IV: Insecurity and self-confidence

• Sufficient
• I am a genius
• Question: Guru, what is my worst enemy in my spiritual life?
• Question: How can I try to make myself believe that I'm good?
• Question: How do you deal with guilt if you have been brought up with the feeling that God will punish you if you do wrong?
• Question: Guru, at times in my meditation I get a feeling of great strength rising from my heart, clear and bright like a sword, and I feel great confidence and assurance. How can I grow more into this feeling?

Part V: Undivine and unruly thoughts

• Whisperings
• Because
• Question: What is the best way to get rid of undivine thoughts?
• Question: When we are meditating, if we are aware of idle thoughts and inconscience in the mind, how can we combat them?
• Question: You often say that we are cherishing undivine things, consciously or unconsciously. If we are cherishing them unconsciously, how can we know it?
• Question: When I see other people's defects and imperfections I keep mulling them over in my critical mind.
• Question: Why do you tell us not to let any bad thoughts enter the mind while we are meditating?
• Editor's introduction to the first edition