Seeker guides on spiritual odyssey

 My fascination with Fables n Fairy tales began on my mother lap as a kid whileshe narrated stories from folklore & mythology. Among all those tons of books on spirituality i read i bring out few best within my limited understnding. All are extremely good hence there is no best among this list.Each has its own speciality n uniquness.Here i go:

* Warning : some of these might be accused of being charlatans. Use your own judgment. My opinion is simple: i take what benefits me & leave the world opinion to world.

1. Autobiography of yogi & Himalayan masters by Paramahamsa Yogananda & Swami Rama
I bracket them under one kind. Both are amazing journeys of boy saints under their respective enlightened Masters from India to America. Probably they are best export of India to west after Swami Vivekananda . Both books speak of amazing anecdotes of siddhis. While Yogananda exposed world to amazing immortal Babaji , Swami Rama spoke on Himalayan traditions & was.also accused as CIA agent in India & fraud in America. Film Baba by Rajinikanth was partly influenced by both the books. Books by both the authors subsequent to these are great read to whet spiritual appetite of seekers & aspirants.

 

2. Stumbling into Infinity by Micheal Fishman: Author is one of foremost disciple of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who started Art of Living. It’s bitter-sweet roller-coaster journey of Author with Guruji. It’s not story of miracles & wonders but gentle story of doubting disciple journey before becoming ardent believer. It is also story of Sri Sri from his days under Mahesh Yogi of Transcendental Meditation , building of organization, authors part in growing up etc. Ashtavakra Gita by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is quite a revelation which is well interpreted for modern times. I came to know later that Mahesh Yogi who was most popular Guru in 60s (Beatles trained yoga under him) was also teacher to Jaggi vasudev (Isha foundation), Rishi Prabhakar (SSY) & Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (AoL).

3. “Destined into infinity by Stephen Knapp” & “He came to set Captives free by Rebecca Brown” & “Reminisences of seeker by Kapil Bhaskar ”
These three can be termed as spiritual thrillers though I can’t say how true the stories are. First two are more or less same while third can be read free on Kindle Unlimited. First was written by ISCKON devotee & the story is about foreigner who on visit to India discovers that he is destined to battle asuras with help of his Master who teaches him Narayana mantras while Rebecca claims to be help exWitch to fight against Satanists who allegedly infiltrated into society through catholic church & new age teachings (that included Lord Shiva, Yoga, meditation, TV series etc through which Satan controls humans). Again she was declared as fraud. However book was quite edgy. Similarly Kapil Bhaskar (he can be found on FB) states that he used occult to grow rich & famous . His ex Gurus in occult use him to get themselves rich & powerful. But in this process loses a.lot ,however later he was saved by genuine Guru.

4. Aghora Trilogy by Robert Svoboda 

Life is mere memory ., be it beautiful or bitter, its just a memory” muses Aghori Vimalananda. I read that line in Odessey book store when i was a teen. I never got enough funds to buy that book. I had to wait for another 5 years before i could lay my hands on it

Aghora 1(the Left hand of God); Aghora 2(Kundalini); Aghora 3 (Law of Karma). When i read Aghora-1 for the first time i lost half my sleep in nights due to sheer fear.All books i read till now are books that go easy on reader but Aghora triology is no-holds-barred .He shows no mercy and is often ruthlessly frank.No sugar coating for benefit of ignorant reader.These books are of Left hand of Tantra. Aghoris themslves are fierce saints who are said to eat dead bodies and these books “Left hand of Tantras” are more extreme in frankness. Though not suggested for faint hearts, neverthless its very informative which would open new grooves in your brain
Western world or urban populace knew less of Aghora Sadhus till these books came out. Author dispels myths around these ferocious saints who are said to eat human meat& involve scary rituals. The book is of author & his interactions with Vimalananda Aghori. Vimalananda lives like any city dweller in city, gambles in horses, enjoys life to peak as householder while being intense devotee of Goddesses. He opens the world of Aghora discipline & culture to his disciples while ordering him not to publish about him for 20 yrs after his death. Very fantastic book.

5. Buddhism:

Meditation has now become synonymous with image of serene Buddha in meditative state. Buddha was first revolutionary who defied existing status quo & order of the day. The popular memory of Buddhism is always maroon robed lamas, hidden esoteric potala palace of gentle Dalai Lama & mystical monasteries. Tibetan Buddhism (sikkim, ladakh, Tibet, Arunachal) was hidden under mystery almost till China occupied it. Padmasambhava, Milerepa, Nagarjuna etc great torch bearers of Buddhist wisdom that pervades to this day.

Lobsang Rampa (Author of 13 books with “The third eye “ being most popular) spoke about most bizzare wonders & powers of lamas. Aliens, secret passages into earth, astral travel to distant plans, invisibility, 3rd eye operations, soul transfer etc (wiki him for more) Western audiences didn’t know how to see his phenomenon as till that time no one could claim to be expert on Tibetan Buddhism . To my utter luck, I discovered book by unknown author made concise book including interesting parts of all 13 books. My interest in spirituality as 17 year old was totally due to his books.

Jetsunma Tenzin palmo, bio “Cave in the Snow”
is about European lady who gets attracted to Buddhism & comes to India. Does severe 12 year penance in snowy caves (3 yrs in total isolation) of Himalayas. She takes a vow to get enlightened in female form but had to stop her penance as her visa gets expired. Her fb posts & book is certainly insightful read. Inspirational as seldom we see female saints in modern world.(atleast I don’t know).

Few days ago I read “a step away from paradise by Thomas Shor” . It’s story of Saint who unsuccessfully tries to.open mystical land of Utopia in sikkim. He is joined by 200 followers who give up everything to join his once a lifetime journey. This gives peek into world of mysticism & Buddhist legends. This mystery land “Beyul Demoshong ” is land hidden by Padmasambhava (Saint who took Buddhism to Tibet aka Guru Riponche). Apparently, Padmasambhava foreseeing future hides treasures (wisdom, prayers, location of land etc) in earth, human memory etc to be awakened at time when it’s right. Amazing.

“Tibetan book of dead” is quite popular. Though I read it as teenager, now I don’t have recollection of it.

6. Born Again: Reincarnation Cases Involving International Celebrities, India’s Political Legends and Film Stars is Book by Walter Semkiw

&
Brian Weiss “Many life Many Masters “

These books shook minds of Western audience as they speak of reincarnation. For Asians, reincarnation is accepted fact but for Westerners, it’s unpalatable. Born Again charts who were who in past which includes Rekha, Indira Gandhi, Nehru, Abdul kalam etc. This book states that Tipu sultan has reincarnated as Kalam while his father Haider Ali was born as Vikram sarabhai, great scientist who was kalam guru. Both were rocket pioneers reborn later to finish what they started 400 yrs ago. In Wings of Fire (autobio of Abdul kalam), Kalam says how he was struck at picture of tipu sultan firing rockets in American lab. Perhaps his ancient memory was woken up momentarily.

Many life Many Masters ” is about past life regression by hypnosis where author discovers many past lives of his patients. He concludes many of phobias are due to past life experiences.

7. “Journey back home” by Radhanath Maharaj is bio of another westerner who comes in search of truth in India. At age of 14, author expresses weird nature in America, like, he couldn’t sit on chair to eat, or being vegetarian etc. At 17, he becomes hippie, travels across world to India. He tries various sadhanas with masters before he surrenders to Prabhupadha of Isckon. Currently he heads Mumbai Iskcon Temple. When I first heard of this book, I couldn’t afford it and five years later mysteriously someone gifts me this saying, he is not much a reader & book is lying idle for last 5 years.

8. There are many more interesting books by/on jaggi vasudev, Neem karoli baba, Dalai lama, Nityananda , Osho, Ramana maharishi etc but somehow either I didn’t connect well or I haven’t read. I haven’t added Om Swami memoir here as we all know about it & are here only after reading it. More than memoir I absolutely loved “Million thoughts “, “All is not well”, “Kundalini,” The wellness sense”,. Mahatria “Unposted letter “& “Most&More” are very modern, irreligius & can be read by any person of any age and greatly benefit from it, otherwise listen to his 5 minute videos on YouTube.

Phew, I started this post , however got so engrossed that I totally lost track of time. If you have come till this point, share which spiritual book had max impact on spiritual soulful odyssey?

Mission Passion

 

     "Duty done out of desire becomes ultimate delight"

I used to work in Govt bank. I never liked working in bank and I also didn’t like myself. Bouts of grumpiness, irritation over  failures in past, frustrated over wrong turns I took in life, old regrets surfaced occasionally as I lived alone. I merely existed in bank. But that doesn’t mean, I was bad at work. I was quite efficient & but just did what was expected from me. Not more. Its not that I didn’t enjoy my life. I watched films, read books, tried meditation, ate good food. Yet something in me was missing. Life was insipid, tasteless and I merely existed. One fine day, something snapped. I just called it quits. Entire world dissuaded me not to, considering my age. Many of friends & colleagues felt iam crazy, total failure and some just avoided me all together.  I didn’t have any job, or plan. For an year I just travelled, prepared for govt jobs etc. one fine day , I got landed in particular line of work in Govt services. It was stroke of luck & total grace. All my life I day dreamed this line of work. I used to watch those action films, read voraciously on these topics, dreamed in nights. Voila!, Now it has become reality.

 

Amsterdam. Pc: Rashmi

     As I joined the job, I realized I was the oldest guy in my batch. But I realized, I absorbed the subject like sponge and craved for more. i realized that huge heavy black cloud of regret & frustration lifted magically. In job , I felt light & energetic. I could feel energy pulsuating through. Even insignificant act appeared wonderful, if not sacred. It might appear mundane to world. But every moment became cause of joy & celebration. Results never mattered somehow as I was thoroughly enjoying the process of getting the job done. My heart became full to brim, smiles more from soul, enthusiasm naturally radiated. Somehow others felt it too. Though I was always with same face with no modification by any make up, now world felt I was attractive. This was surprise to me as well.  I was learning from all other unrelated jobs & tried to inculcate in my line of work with wonderful results. I enjoyed world to extent, many qualities like jealousy , cribbing, anger, stress, need for appreciation, desire for name/fame/awards/rewards etc dropped naturally and desire to learn &, contribute more increased phenomenally. I almost stopped reading fiction books or watching films. When life& reality  itself has become more exciting then why watch virtual make believe entertainments . Life went zen like mode.

Vizag. PC: Mallik 

     I realized If you are passionate about your work, you can do the same amount of job in fraction of time. Its not how long you sit to work but how good you feel doing it. Working for 10 hours at office and carrying load mentally back home is definitely miserable way to live. When more than half of your life is spent at work place, it better be great place to be.

    When you take up job that is close to your heart, its natural that you try to learn as much as you can from all quarters. More we know about our trade, more clarity on work field. More clarity leads to better decision making based on clear vision than guess work . All this end in generating more confidence in yourself. There may or may not be chances of earning more money or name or fame. But its definite that there is more calm and contentment in life.

Auroville, pondicherry 

     While I say this, it doesn’t mean that things don’t go wrong. At any given point of time no human has all information to make perfect decision. Things can go wrong. Blunders and utter failures may rise. It could be painful but need not be suffering. Failing might lead to new lessons, detours and redirection of our path. More experience to arsenal of thinking. Its better fail in cause of our liking than fail in jobs based on borrowed dreams. Of course at times, things didn’t work and I had to face ire of seniors. But I never felt the hurt or embarrassment . I knew my efforts were undoubtedly 100% and took their scolding as course correction or lessons for future (at times I even jotted down) & felt I grew more wiser now. Now I began to love myself & respect myself knowing I will go to grave with no regrets.

     Doing the job you are fond of is akin to floating while smelling sweet scent as against doing job which you have no desire is like dragging halfdead soul-less body by hooks painfully punctured into your skin. Quite often due to lack of enthusiasm in job gives rise to sheer wastage of huge amounts of energy putting enormous strain on physical and mental system. They are the ones who are always cranky and screaming kinds. Somewhere deep inside they are hurt and bitter. Either with life or themselves. I was there , but grace pulled me out. Perhaps I was persistent day dreamer and universe was kind to help me out. For this gift, I bow thee.