This volume consists primarily of brief written statements by the Mother on various aspects of spiritual life. Written between the late 1920s and the early 1970s, the statements have been compiled from her public messages, private notes, and correspondence with disciples. About two-thirds of them were written in English; the rest were written in French and appear here in English translation. The volume also contains a small number of spoken comments, most of them in English. Some are tape-recorded messages; others are reports by disciples that were later approved by the Mother for publication. These reports are identified by the symbol § placed at the end.
The volume is arranged by theme in seven parts, each part having a number of sections. Within the sections, dated statements have been placed in chronological order, undated ones where they best fit in thematically.
Many of the one-sentence statements dated 1954 and 1955 are translations or adaptations by the Mother of extracts from her Prières et Mèditations. A number of definitions of terms are comments by her on the significances she has given to various flowers.
The reader should note that most of the statements here were given to particular persons under particular circumstances. The advice in them, therefore, may not apply to everyone.