The author of this little book set down his own thoughts and prayers during a two-week solitary retreat in Ireland in 1988 and also while staying in a cabin in the Pyrenees Mountains of southern France. Martin Palmer has written that he found the book to be a fascinating insight into the nature of the modern quest for meaning and insight through prayer and chanting. He draws on the great Christian mystics.

In a letter the author states that “theologically speaking, there is much more in common between Vaisnavism and Christianity than Christianity and the impersonal schools of philosophy. Both the Vaisnavas and the Christians worship the Supreme Person, God, and say that He is reached by the path of devotion. There is a great similarity between bhakti (devotional service) practiced by St. Francis, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux and many other saints, and their counterparts in Vaisnavism such as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu or philosophers such as Ramanuja. For this reason he offers this book as dialogue between Christianity and Vaisnava theology.