Valmiki's Ramayana, the story of Rama and his defeat of Ravana, the evil King of Lanka, is well known to the world. However, it is said that Valmiki also, wrote a less known book called Yoga Vasishtha or Vasishtha Ramayana,which describes the inner life of Rama, telling how he triumphed over foes within himself, and so prepared to fight and conquer,l for the helping of the world, the outer evil forces rampant at that time. The Vedantins consider it as ; a work for the philosopher-yogi, who having mustered the theory, is passing on to the practice of it; whereas the well-known works like the Bhagavadgita and the Upanishads are meant for those who are yet trying to master the theory.
Mystic Experiences is a highly abbreviated version of the Yoga Vasishtha, with notes by Annie Besant elucidating some obscure portions in the book. It is structured in the form of stories and fables, with a philosophical foundation similar to those found in Advaita Vedanta, holding that the 'whole material world is the object of the mind'. The Text is notable for expounding the principles of Maya and Brahman, as well as the principles of non-duality,and its discussion of Yoga. Pierre d'Angkor, a French theosophist and author, has acclaimed it as 'a most precious and a rare gem of Sanskrit literature, a book......really to be placed by the side of The Voice of the Silence, Light on the Path, the Bhagavadgita, the Upanishds, and so on'