Synopsis In this series of eight lectures, Swami Ashokananda traces the "descent" of the individual from his true divine status to his present condition and describes his "ascent" back to God the swami explains how the various aspects of man’s relative existence an be instrumental in the realization of his perfect being, which, in fact, he has never lost. One finds in these lectures the Vedantic answers to many of the Big Questions that we have asked since we first started asking. It provides not only an intellectual understanding of the soul's journey, but practical counsel on how to speed it along.