Nisargadatta Maharaj asserts that the purpose of existence is to know who you really are. He talked about the direct way of knowing, in which one becomes aware of one's original nature through breaking the mind's false identification with the ego, resulting in a knowing that "You are already That". In a sense, it is a recognition of that which had not previously been recognized.

His talks were not for academics, but for those with the earnest desire to know their essential nature. His style is provocative, confrontive, at times combative, and immensely profound, cutting to the core and wasting no time with the non-essential. His potent words are known for their ability to trigger radical shifts from mere philosophical mental exercises to the purity of consciousness itself, even just by reading them.

This compilation is an excellent introduction to the power of his words.