October 2001 Volume 7 No. 3
Aum Sri Sai Ram!
In the wake of recent terrorist attacks, each of us has to contemplate on how this has affected our lives, and more importantly, how each of us can contribute towards the restoration of peace and harmony on this beautiful planet. As we grieve the loss of thousands of innocent lives, we realize that these senseless acts were perpetrated by those who practise hatred under the guise of religion. Before we are swayed by public opinion as presented in the mass media, and before we begin to cry "Revenge!", let us not forget the crux of Swami's teachings - that all humanity is one and there is only one religion - the religion of LOVE! The true enemy (hatred) is within - and if each of us can conquer this through love - love for all humanity regardless of race or religion, then and only then can we prevent such tragedies. This issue is dedicated to our American brothers and sisters who have lost loved ones. We pray that they be blessed with the strength and courage to put these events behind them and move forward in the name of LOVE and PEACE!
UPBRINGING AND EDUCATION BY GERARD T.
SATVIC – Review by Ron Nater
This book is about how we can bring out the best in us, and become
true servants to everyone around us, by giving our children the right upbringing
and education. The writer, Gerard T. Satvic, was born and lives in Holland,
which is my birthplace as well. So I understand the flavour of his approach,
which appears very direct and somewhat authoritative. I hope it will be
well received by the readers of his book, as he shares invaluable information
for our growth and mutual happiness. Mr. Satvic is a student of Carl Jung,
a student of Sri Aurobindo and a devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He is
also an ardent researcher of wholesome living, and has helped to establish
the Satva Institute for Spiritual Growth and Health Education in Holland.
Throughout the book he refers to the eating of satvic food, which will
help us to become more spiritual in everything we do. According to the
writer all the conflicts and problems we create in this world are typically
the results of consuming the wrong food, or different types of food by
different people, groups of people or complete nations and cultures. In
the same way the type of upbringing and education we receive will shape
our growth and happiness. Mr. Satvic's coverage of how we develop all our
faculties, and how we can better develop these, can give the reader very
clear guidance in her or his own development. Price: $5.00;US$4.00
MIND INTO HEART - A MARVELOUS STORY OF
TRANSFORMATION
"Mind Into Heart" is the quest of Ellen Schumann from being guided
by the monkey mind to being guided by the heart and find pure love. And
all this with the help of Sai Baba! It is the story about the writer's
difficult journey through what life offers her. She is desperately looking
for love through her relationships in marriage and companionship, as she
feels that her childhood was deprived of love. It is not an easy road,
but through the guidance of Sai Baba she learns many lessons that slowly
direct her to who she is, pure love. And this is how she finds what she
is looking for, and what most of us are looking for, in this life.
It is a wonderful book, which I couldn't stop reading. As it says on
the back cover "a page turner". Ms. Schumann's experiences in her private
life and with Sai Baba in India are described in such a way, which makes
the reader really feel part of what she's been going through. And this
helps us to feel what she feels, which can touch us as if these are our
experiences. Many times God speaks to us through others, and this book
is a beautiful sample of how God guides us through the words of Ellen Schumann
when she describes how she moved from the mind into the heart.
Ms. Schumann confirms her discovery of pure love by quoting Sai Baba
as follows: "Man loves, because he is love. He craves for melody and
harmony, because he is melody and harmony. He seeks joy, for he is joy.
He thirsts for God, for he is composed of God and he cannot exist without
Him." Price: $10.50;US$7.40
STEPPINGSTONES BY LIGHTSTORM – Review by Ron
Nater
This book is about our growth through our lifetimes on Earth. The writers,
Johnima and Kalassu are also known as Lightstorm, a musical group dedicating
their lives to spiritual development through their experiences with Sai
Baba, their many life experiences in counseling and performing, and their
study of other spiritual teachers and books. They give clear counsel in
their book about many issues we face in our lives such as relationships
and karma, not feeling worthy (beating ourselves up), the temple of our
heart, organized religion and spirituality, the one eternal truth, patience
and forbearance, inner silence, liberation and worship. An imaginary
story weaves itself as a thread throughout the book around someone called
Angel, whose many incarnations in this world, sometimes as a boy and other
times as a girl, are a spellbinding illustration of how we can grow in
our enlightenment through our incarnations, dealing with our karma and
following our dharma. This interwoven story can wonderfully serve
the reader in understanding her or his own development, not having to put
too much weight on difficult experiences in our lives, as these merely
serve us as teaching tools or steppingstones. All in all a great lesson
about our reality and the illusionary world we live in unto which we often
attach ourselves. Price: $8.50;US$6.00
AT THE FEET OF SAI – THE JOURNEY OF THE LOWENBERGS
It was the year 1973. War in Israel broke out on 6th of October
between Israel, Egypt and Syria. Raymond, who was serving in the
Israeli army, was killed on the first day of the war. Raymond's parents
Bob and Naomi and his brother Alex and sister Louise were shattered as
soon as they heard the news. Soon after this episode the family read
the book called Sai Baba Man of Miracles by Howard Murphet. Instantly
they were all drawn towards Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and accept Him
as their Preceptor and the family eventually settles down in Whitefield
where Baba's Ashram is located. As they were traveling in South Africa,
U.S.A, and India, they came across many devotees of Bhagavan. These
devotees have shared their amazing experiences, which have taken the shape
of this wonderful gem titled 'At the feet of Sai'. The book
contains one fascinating and hilarious experience of a former anthropologist
from U.S.A who actually lives in the Ashram and has surrendered herself
completely to Bhagavan. The book also presents the first hand account
of the amazing story of resurrection of Mr. Walter Cowan and many other
intimate encounters with Bhagavan. After the publication of this
book the author Mr. R. Lowenberg has written two more books titled
'The Grace of Sai' & 'The Omnipresence of Sai', which will be
reviewed in the upcoming issues of this newsletter. Price: $8.95;US$6.25
IN HIS IMAGE BY MADELINE GUILLEMIN – Review
by Gopal Mehta
The author in this book describes how one can perceive God's presence
in and around us by going beyond the traditional views given in the religious
scriptures about God. She needed to satisfy herself intellectually
on God's existence and our relationship with Him beyond the limits set
by her church. She viewed and felt God's presence everywhere in nature,
through the fresh fragrance of the flowers, vast blue sky and even the
chirping sounds made by birds and even the frogs in the ponds. Originally
from England, she had immigrated with her family to New Zealand.
She researched through many different books of different religions and
arrived at the conclusion that God exists all around beyond the walls of
church. She also developed strong urge to find His guiding Hand.
This led her finally to Sri Sathya Sai Baba and she claims to have experienced
the ultimate Truth through Him.
The book gives in detail the effects of Law of Karma (action), on rebirth
and interesting examples of young children who remembered their past lives.
These cases were investigated and were proved to be valid. Reincarnation
is a process by which a soul evolves, one life after another, shedding
its animalistic traits and manifesting its inherent divinity in full glory
and ultimate union with God. She also describes the three Gunas (qualities)
that shape our attitude and actions that lead us towards bondage or liberation.
Our food intake has great impact on these gunas. She suggests that
spiritual seekers avoid eating meat. She praises Sri Sai Baba's message
for open-minded enquiry that seekers should make rather than follow Him
or any other spiritual teacher blindly. The book is more spiritual
than religious and attempts to explain the relationship between God and
the entire creation, from spiritual and scientific angles, as well as the
role of an Avatar (Divine Incarnation) who fortunately is in our midst.
The author has used many quotes from the western scholars, saints and
of course Sri Sathya Sai Baba to provide information on scientific view
of spirituality. The words of Baba sums up the message of this book
"spiritual progress has to be achieved. Body, mind and spirit
– these three together make up the man. The three are intertwined
and interdependent. Each promotes the other. Without the mind,
the body cannot decide on any step, but mind and body have to become subservient
to the spirit and become aware of the divine Atma". The book
offers abundant information on spirituality and will help to practice Sai
Baba's teachings on a daily basis and realize the goal of human birth.
Price: $17.25;US$12.00
GLIMPSES OF THE DIVINE – Review by Ron Nater
This book has the subtitle "working with the teachings of Sai Baba",
and after reading the first ten or twenty pages of this book the teachings
of Sai Baba slowly shine through, stronger and stronger as you read on.
The writer, Brigitte Rodriguez, was born into and grew up in a financially
well-to-do family in Denmark. But she felt lonely and was missing any joy,
and the name of God was never mentioned in the family. As Ms. Rodriguez
longed for a deeper meaning of life she embarked on a journey throughout
the world looking for Truth. She traveled to Italy, the U.S. and India,
where she remained to live at the ashram of Sri Aurobindo for a few years,
after which she received an inner call to come to Sai Baba. So she traveled
to Puttaparthi, where she met Sai Baba. Ever since meeting Swami she felt
a strong need to stay with him, who she felt to be the only guru for her,
and eventually settled down in Puttaparthi. She has lived there ever since.
On one of her trips to Bombay she visited a pandit in Bombay for a
reading from the Book of Bhrigu. Other writers of books about their life
with Sai Baba have a reading from the same book, which contents came to
a sage called Bhrigu in meditation thousands of years ago, and is mentioned
in the Bhagavad-Gita. He wrote the words on palm leaves, and in it one
can find very accurate descriptions of one's personal life, even today.
Ms. Rodriguez was totally astonished about the fact that thousands of years
ago this most beautifully handwritten leaf, from a historically famous
text, had been compiled about her, her son and her daughter-in-law.
"Glimpses Of The Divine" offers wonderful and clear reading about the
writer's search for Truth, her life with Sai Baba. Her deep love and understanding
of Swami and his teachings comes through in every word of her writing,
which is just beautiful. Price: $15.95;US$11.20
Jai Sai Ram!