Spiritual Masters

The Voice of Paramahansa Yogananda - Collector's Series #9. Removing all Sorrow and Suffering

by Paramahansa Yogananda

The voice of Paramahansa Yogananda. Removing all Sorrow and Suffering, No. 9 in our special Collector's Series of rare recorded talks. was recorded on New Year's Day, 1950 at the Self-Realization Fellowship Hollywood temple in California. With his characteristic wisdom, joy, and compassion, Yogananda explains the way to transcend mortal difficulties by lifting our human consciousness into divine consciousness. He imparts a powerful conviction that each one of us can permanently conquer material, psychological, and spiritual suffering by applying the precepts and techniques of Yoga — the universal divine science of daily communion with the infinite, unconditional love and bliss of God.
These digitally restored archival recordings of talks by Paramahansa Yogananda are unique - offering the listener a rare opportunity to hear the actual voice of a great lover of God. Anyone who admires Yogananda's writings will love hearing him speak. Yogananda can be heard sometimes expounding great truths with passion and humor, and at other times intimately talking with God, rapt in divine communion.

Publisher: Self-Realization Fellowship | More reviews: amazon.com

My Lord Loves a Pure Heart: The Yoga of Divine Virtues

by Swami Chidvilasananda

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"This collection of printed talks is a phenomenal guide to being the person you truly want to be! Using the Bhagavad Gita as her springboard, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda has inspired me to cultivate virtues and qualities that bring me peace of mind and a lot of joy. The book has opened me to a whole new vista of life. I'm now onto her next book, Enthusiasm."

Publisher: Siddha Yoga Publications | More reviews: amazon.com

Baird T. Spalding As I Knew Him

by David Bruton

Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC | More reviews: amazon.com

The Initiation

by Donald Schnell

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"For those who read and were influenced by such books as The Autobiography of a Yogi, and Be Here Now of Ram Dass, or are simply walking their own path looking for inspiration, this is a new book of a powerful spiritual journey, that of Dr. Donald Schnell, initiated as Prema Baba Swamiji and of the avatar Babaji's continued teaching through him. I was greatly moved by the story of his initiation and the playful mystical experiences he has with Babaji and his humility as he shares those experiences with the the reader. He shares what he has learned and received through his initiation and now brings forth for those who wish to receive such divine gifts. I was also very touched by a great love story, that of him and Leelananda, his wife Marilyn Diamond. I hope to do a workshop with them soon to receive the blessings of their teaching. This book points a way to bringing divine love into our everyday awareness and as a way of being in the world and truly transforming our world."

Publisher: Element Books | More reviews: amazon.com

From Death to Birth: Understanding Karma and Reincarnation

by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait

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"The Good Doctor must have known we were both ready for and needing this book, which not only puts the central mysteries of Eastern philosophy and religion into a context for the Western mind to fully fathom, but makes seem just that much more beautiful and poetic than we are currently able to even imagine. For those of us who can't help but hear Narcississtic baby boomers in mid-life crisis playing jams from the Doors and the Beatles on out of tune guitars and talking about Woodstock whenever you hear the word "Karma" (and therefore would rather not hear anyone try to explain what it is) this book brings you back to the dignity and profundity of what it realy means--not to mention how important it was that the Baby Boomers embraced it when they did for generations after them!Not only will you have no question as to what the central tenets of Hinduism and Buddhism refer to and build from after reading this, you will have a better understanding of what it is to be fully, truly human than practically most of the Western religious text we have today is capable of rendering, as well as the philosophy--which is ironcially based on much of this! This book sheds a light on life that is so bright it embraces the light of all others and absorbs it into its own, instead of attempting to extinguish it. It will answer more questions than you even knew you had. It will also put much of everything from the spiritual self-help/New Age/psychological movement of today's culture to the quantum physics/cutting edge philosophy movement of Western society today into the overarching context we all have been intuitively desperate for.This book teaches your soul to dance."

Publisher: Himalayan Institute Press | More reviews: amazon.com

To Know Your Self: The Essential Teachings of Swami Satchidananda

by Philip Mandelkorn

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"This book is really like ten or twenty spiritual books in one, because it's teachings are so dense with wisdom, yet easy to understand. I have many of Satchidanada's books and he is my favorite author on living a spiritual life. This was the first of his books I read- they're all wonderful! Believe me, his books WILL change your life for the better, no matter what religion you are. I feel truly blessed to have found his teachings at the young age of 23, for now, whenever I need that life guidance, I just open up one of his books and all answers are given, and more, in very easy to understand words..."

Publisher: Integral Yoga Publications | More reviews: amazon.com

The Himalayan Masters A Living Tradition

by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait

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"In a nutshell, this book describes the lives of 8 saints who lived in the Himalayan mountains. The struggles they went through and eventually attaining Self-Realization is truly a source of inspiration for all those souls embarking on the spiritual path. It gives new hope to thousands of people who have decided to lead a holy life of Truth and Wisdom and are having problems in their spiritual quest. Most of the common problems faced by spiritual novices can be answered in this small and humble book.

In the last chapter of this priceless book, the author gives an in-depth perspective on the teachings of this book. This is indeed a valuable guide to all those deciding to do yoga and other spiritual practices.

In short, the only complaint I have about this book is that it is too short! 181 pages of wisdom does not reveal the true nature of spiritual "giants" who had lived in the Himalayas. Nevertheless, this book is a great introduction guide to these spiritual "giants"."

Publisher: Himalayan Institute Press | More reviews: amazon.com

I Have Become Alive

by Swami Muktananda

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"Is it possible to attain spiritual liberation in this lifetime? The author, a great yogic master who brings the ancient wisdom of India to the West, answers with an emphatic yes! He himself has done so, and in this book he enthusiastically shares his vast knowledge of the path to liberation with serious seekers in lively answer and question sessions. What I learned is that the search for spiritual liberation is not necessarily a haphazard activity leading invariably to dead ends. Instead, the author shows that there is a carefully laid out path, with clearly marked road signs and a detailed roadmap. I am convinced of the truth of his teachings because my daily meditations have already improved greatly. I also recommend his three earlier works that are written in the same format, entitled "Conversations with Swami Muktananda - the Early Years" , "From the Finite to the Infinite", and "Where are You Going"."

Publisher: Siddha Yoga Publications | More reviews: amazon.com

The Knee Of Listening: The Divine Ordeal of the Avataric Incarnation of Conscious Light (The Seventeen Companions of the True Dawn Horse, Book 4)

by Adi Da Samraj

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"The Knee of Listening by Adi Da Dawn Horse Press 621p (1995)

This is one of many editions of the spiritual autobiography of the unique American mystic
Adi Da. The first edition was 1972 and new editions with more material and much advertising about the group continue to appear. I also got the latest one(2004) which was about 3 times the size and weight but the hundreds of pages of new material was more of the opaque prose and advertising. So, I recommend one of the earlier paperpack editions like this one.

The sticker on the cover says `The most profound spiritual autobiography of all time` and this might well be true. I am in my 60's and have read thousands of books and this if one of the great ones. Certainly it is by far the fullest and clearest account of enlightenment I have ever seen. Even if you have no interest at all in the most fascinating of all human psychological processes, it is an amazing document that reveals a great deal about religion, yoga, and human psychology and probes the depths and limits of human possibilities.

As I have read and experienced alot in various religious traditions, I naturally compare his writings with those of others, particularly with the great Indian mystic Osho. Though they clearly agree on the major points of how to prodceed on the path, letting go of the attachment to the spiritual quest etc. their styles are vastly different. Both are highly intelligent and well read(Osho could speed read and read over 100,000 books) and were at home in the spiritual literature of the major religious traditions. However, most of Da's books are essentially unreadable as he struggles to express in language the ineffable realms of the enlightened mind. Even in this, by far his most readable book, he often veers off into pages of opacity as he tries to explain the unexplainable. Osho by contrast is the clearest, most jargon free expositor of the spiritual life who has ever lived. He wrote very little and nearly all of his more than 200 books are transcriptions of spontaneous talks he gave-- with no notes or preparation. They are nonetheless unexcelled masterpieces of spiritual literature. His amazing àutobiography`(actually compiled after his death) has been published by St. Martins by the full version is available online at www.oshoworld.com and other places. Unfortunately, he has very little to say about the exact details of his spiritual progress.

Most of Osho's talks were videotaped and are available on tape and DVD. As Da lives most of the time in seclusion on an island in Fiji it is not easy to get to hear him but the Dawn Horse Press sells a few videotapes on their web page. Da is not a very engaging or facile speaker, unlike Osho who is by turns amusing, shattering and hypnotic. But, as both of them understand, it's what the master is and not he says that is important.

Both of them were utterly honest and uncompromising in their life and teachings and Da omits nothing of relevance, including his youthful adventures with sex and drugs as well as his exposure to LSD, psilocybin and mescaline as a volunteer in government experiments. However, as with many or perhaps all of those destined to become enlightened, he was different from birth and experienced the Shakti energy (which he calls the Bright) from childhood. And, when he entered college, he said his primary interest was to discover what living beings are and what is living consciousness. Clearly not your typical freshman.

A major problem in describing advanced spiritual states is that no criteria or language for them exists in common discourse so mystics have to try to bend language in mostly vain attempts to capture their experiences. It is far worse than trying to describe seeing to a congenitally blind person since they at least have the cognitive structures and experience of the world. But mystics are quite rare and most of them have left little or no description of their mental states.

Unlike Osho, who rejected miracles, paranormal phenomena and all the other nonsense that commonly accompanies religion, Da seems to lack any science background at all and embraces precognition(p120), reincarnation(p555),`meditating` other persons, living on air(p287) etc., and regards the phenomena that I would say are happening in his brain as being `out there`. From comments included in newer editions it is clear that many of his disciples believe he can perform miracles like stopping a raging forest fire at their California retreat. Nevertheless, most of the time he is amazingly levelheaded, going thru over a decade of stress and psychic terrors that would drive most from the spiritual path. Millions of years of evolution have solidified the ego and it does not leave peacefully.

Interwoven with the spellbinding account of his spiritual progress are the details of the minds interaction with the body described in the East in terms of various forms of Yoga(eg., p95-9, 214-21, 249,281-3, 439-40). These few pages are worth more than a whole shelf of yoga books if you want to get to the heart of the mind/body relation in spirituality.

Unlike most who have become enlightened, he had a thorough grounding in Christian practice and made a major effort to become a protestant and then Greek Orthodox minister. Even years later, after he was far along the path with Muktananda, he had an amazing and totally unexpected series of visitations from Mary and Jesus that went on for weeks(p 301-3 et seq.).

Regarding drugs, as is nearly universal among spiritual teachers, he notes that although they may remove certain barriers at times, they do not provide a shortcut to understanding. However, nearly everyone is now aware that they put many on the path to higher consciousness.

He describes in detail the many stages in his ego death or self realization(eg, p72-4, 198-200, 219,20, 238-9, 245, 249, 258-9, 281, 355-65, 368-72, 406). Along the way, he realized the ultimate disutility of all practices and all traditions(337-9) including yoga(281-3) which are all attached to seeking and goals, ultimately winding up in the present. He discovered, as have many others, that seeking and meditation became obstacles and gave them up for devotion to his guru Muktananda(p420-22). His detailed accounts of his interactions with the famous Swami Muktananda and his ultimate realization of his limitations are of rare insight and honesty.

He constantly encounters his attachment to his ego(Narcissus-- eg, p108-110) and asks himself--`Avoiding Relationship?` by which he seems to mean avoiding the divine or ego death with spiritual seeking.

After enlightenment he teaches the 'only by me revealed and given Way of the heart`, finding all other paths to be `remedial` and 'egoic' and merely pursuing God or reality(p359 +) but after a careful reading of this and several other books I never got any idea what that way consists in. Undoubtedly being in his presence helps alot but in other places he has complained about the fact that his disciples just won't let it happen and one wonders if even one has been able to follow him. Of course the same considerations apply to all traditions and teachers and though some of Osho's friends(he disavowed the master/disciple relationship) have claimed enlightenment, nobody of his status has emerged. It looks like you have to have the right genes and the right environment and a very advanced and preferably enlightened guru to stimulate you. The world desperately needs higher consciousness and I hope that someone comes up with an easier way very soon. "

Publisher: The Dawn Horse Press | More reviews: amazon.com

Kundalini : The Mother Power

by Sri Chinmoy

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"If your intention is to acquire good and reliable information about Kundalini, then this is a very good book. It answers questions like these very well: "Is Kundalini real or is it simply folklore from India?" "What is possible in the full Kundalini experience?" "What are the actual dangers of this phenomenon?" "What are some safe appproaches I could take that will lead me in the direction of Kundalini?"This text was not written as an instructional book. It is just the transcription of a coherent, but short set of lectures delivered by Sri Chinmoy. It is extremely well organized, clear, and concise. The author speaks with the solid clarity and mature good sense that usually arises only from a direct, complete, and deep personal experience. My own guess or intuition is that Sri Chinmoy has a total experience and complete personal command of this entire phenomenon, beginning to end. It seems to me probable that the author is "the real deal" even though I don't know him. In that sense, I regard this book as much better and clearer information than I could get from another source.My own preferences are not purely informational. I don't like to read a book and say, "Well, that's interesting" and set it down. I like to practice its techniques and get somewhere. While there are some good and useful exercises that a reader can do from this book, the whole subject does not really lend itself to the active or avid amateur reader. The author explains in all detail that an actual teacher is required in this area. We can pick up a tennis racquet and make a try without having any coach or teacher. My hope would be more or less the same with Kundalini. As it happens, Kundalini doesn't work that way. So, if you, too, are a true avid amateur you might be somewhat disappointed with the book (unless, of course, you can find a teacher)."

Publisher: Aum Publications | More reviews: amazon.com