Although the letters contained in this volume begin in 1941 and end with Paramahansa Yogananda's mahasamadhi (conscious transition from the body) in 1952, Yogacharya repeatedly over many years said that his relationship with Paramahansaji began much earlier. Yogacharya, was a husband, father and prominent Detroit industrialist who met Paramahansa Yogananda after a long exhaustive search for the meaning of certain Bible passages (e.g. "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be filled with light") and his own profound spiritual experiences.

Yogacharya said of that meeting "I decided at one time that I was never going to be a pushover for anybody, until met him. And our first meeting did it. I was knocked out cold. He was the only one I had ever met who could ever do anything to me! Maybe I was bullet-headed or something like that, but he took care of the whole thing....