The Religion of Love...Swami Says...

[Guest guest]

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! Back Ram ChuganiKobe, Japanrgcjp

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