Book Reviews

YOUR GOD IS MY GOD: By Gladys de Meuter. (Spearman, pp. 160, 15s.)

There are two great pitfalls in the study of different religions: one is to see them all from the viewpoint of one's own (which necessarily makes all others look inferior to it); the other is to make them appear identical in substance whereas they are so only in essence. Mrs. de Meuter avoids both. She does not compare religions but devotes a separate chapter to each, expounding each from its own viewpoint. The book is not academic in tone but devotional, almost ecstatic, couched in the form of dialogues between the Soul of the World and the Nameless. Nevertheless it is far more scholarly than one expects such a book to be, each chapter being based on translations or paraphrases of its scriptures.

In a concluding chapter she represents the universal essence of religion as Sufism: "a Sufi may be in outward appearance a Muslim, Hindu, Christian or Jew." (p. 145). But in this she is mistaken. A Sufi, unlike an exoteric Muslim, recognises the essential truth of all religions but his approach to this Essence is nevertheless Islamic. using an Islamic technique and terminology. The Vedantist (or Buddhist or Christian) may recognise the Sufi approach, as the Sufi does his, but he will use a different technique and terminology and cannot therefore be called a Sufi. Nor does he call himself one.

Despite this error, however, and despite certain small inaccuracies, this is both a wise and a beautiful book and can be strongly recommended.

PATHS TO INNER CALM: By Marie B. Byles. (Allen & Unwin, pp. 207, Price, 28s.)

In her delightful book Journey into Burmese Silence Miss Byles described a meditation centre, open to lay meditators also, where the technique practised was concentration on the constant atomic 'going-coming' evanescence of the body-mind complex. People of a theoretical turn of mind will marvel how this ancient wisdom is corroborated by modern atomic physics. Practical readers will see it as a beautifully straight path to anatta, 'no-ego'. Writing with obvious understanding and experience, Miss Byles shows how effective it can be when practised under an able guide.

The first part of her new book describes a return to the same meditation centre and again conjures up a delightful picture of Burmese life and people. Passing from Burma to Japan, she has a masterly link-chapter on the difference, rather of approach than dogma, between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

As she has already indicated in her article in The Mountain Path - of July 1964, she was not attracted by Zen. She found the life in the meditation centres too austere, the discipline too harsh, the practices too ritualistic, the roshis too inaccessible, the vaunted spontaneity of Zen almost wholly lacking, as also the basic Buddhist quality of meta or loving-kindness.

What attracted her in Japan was the new group of Ittoen, drawn from various religions, which specialises in loving service. She found and appreciated a strong Gandhian influence on it. While staying there she was able to join a latrine. cleaning expedition to a neighbouring village.

Miss Byles not only writes with considerable understanding but also with keen observation, ready wit and lively sympathies. As a result, her book is as readable as it is instructive, an attractive travel book as well as a sensitive account of different Buddhist approaches.

THE BOOK OF CHANGE: By John Blofeld. (Allen & Unwin, pp. 228, 35s.)

The I Ching (pronounced, Mr. Blofeld tells us, Yee Jing) is the oldest Chinese book, being already ancient in the time of Confucius. Basically it consists of hexagrams or groups of six parallel horizontal lines, whole and broken, arranged in their 64 possible combinations. To these a written text was added. Confucius added a commentary to the text and countless others have since.

The whole line is yang, which is fundamentally equivalent to Purusha, and the broken yin, fundamentally equivalent to Prakriti. Therefore the hexagrams show the possible combinations of Purusha-Prakriti, positive-negative, male-female, active-passive, light-dark. They have profound metaphysical and cosmological implications, but Mr. Blofeld is concerned here only with their use in divination.

He is completely convincing in arguing the validity of this use and the correctness of the replies received, if and only if, the work is approached with integrity and in a spirit of reverence. Indeed, he insists that questions as to the right course of action to be pursued are more in order than simple questions as to what will happen.

The book is likely to have a wide sale owing to the interest people take in divination. It deserves it in view of the serious moral tone with which the subject is approached and the clear and workmanlike nature of the exposition.

THE UNKNOWN CHRIST OF HINDUISM: By Raymond Panikkar. (Darton, Longman and Todd, paperback, pp. 163, 12s. 6d.)

Fr. Panikkar, a Catholic priest whose father was Hindu and mother Catholic, declares that Christ as Logos or Son of God is the Principle that inspired the formulation of Hinduism, as of all other religions. From this he argues that Hindus should acknowledge the unique and ultimate position among religions of the doctrine taught by Christ as Jesus of Nazareth. But this is a non sequitur and is either unintelligent or disingenuous. Sri Krishna declared that whenever righteousness is eclipsed and unrighteousness prevails he manifests himself and that those who worship other Gods really worship him; but Hindu's do not argue from this that all followers of other religions should take the Gita as their Gospel. They can equally well worship some other Incarnation of the One - for instance, that of Jesus of Nazareth. It is Christian refusal or inability to see this that led to so much persecution in the past and that lies behind tendentious calls for 'dialogue' today.

YOGIRAJ SHRI SHRI LAHIRI MAHASAYA: By J. C..Bhattacharya. (Yogada Satsanga, 166 Belillos Rd., Howrah, Calcutta, pp. 74, Rs. 2.25.)

Religion is a path from darkness to light, from death to immortality; therefore its vitality is indicated by its continued ability to guide men on this path, that is to produce saints and sages. It is a sign of the spiritual vitality of Hinduism that a constant succession of these spiritual champions, these vanquishers of the ego, has continued right up to modern times. Many of them have been little known because a non-proselytising religion does not normally advertise; but they have existed and still do.

Sri Lahiri Mahasaya (1828-1895) was the great promulgator of Kriya Yoga. He is fairly widely known through the disciple of his disciple, that is his spiritual grandson, Swami Yogananda, whose 'Self Realization Fellowship' has spread in the West; but he has had a number of successors in his native Bengal also. This is the first biography of him in English. It shows him already in the 19th Century exemplifying the tendency to the simplification of ritual technicalities - remarked upon in the editorial to this issue. He simplified the technique of Kriya Yoga so as to make it accessible to householders also; and indeed Sri Mahasaya himself was married and a wage-earner. He even opened it to non-Hindus and had Muslims also among his disciples.

This is not a biography written with literary skill but it is useful and informative for readers interested in the less widely known-Indian saints.

GEMS FROM BHAGAVAN: By A. Devaraja Mudaliar. (Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, pp. 55, Rs. l.)

With remarkable lucidity Devaraja Mudaliar (author of Day by Day with Bhagavan and My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana) has strung together Bhagavan's pronouncements on fundamental questions. The subjects dealt with include enquiry and surrender, grace and effort, Self and mind, reincarnation, predestination, Realization. For those who want clear statements free from philosophical complexities, this will be a very valuable little book.

- ARTHUR OSBORNE.

SWAMI OMKAR:

'Cosmic Flashes', 'Cosmic Fast', 'In the Hours of Silence', 'Self-Realization Now and Here', are simply collections of observations and reflections of Swami Omkar, mostly written as the fruit of lengthy periods of fasting. They are not on sale but are donated free to those who write for them to his ashram: Sri Shanti Ashram, via Sankhavaram, East Godavari Dt., A.P.

Swami Omkar is perhaps best known for his peace propaganda; but it is not the usual rather insipid variety, since he always insists that peace must be found within oneself before it can be spread abroad. As he says in 'Cosmic Flashes': "Peace is the birthright of every soul, nay, the Soul is Peace. Santoyam Atma, says the Upanishad. With every inhalation of yours try to take in Peace, and try to give out Peace only with every exhalation. Your very life should become Peace. He who thus realizes Peace realizes God, for verily the two are one."

He is not a guru in the usual sense of giving initiation and upadesa, but many who visit him revere him as such. He worships Go in all he sees: in the ocean, comparing it to "the ocean of Reality, the Atman;" in the breath that is the Source of all breath, the Infinite that is manifesting itself, in life as "a process of silent, slow and steady growth towards the goal." He is even capable of seeing God in the ugly and sinful; he sees everywhere the Face of God, in health and in sickness, in good fortune and ill. He has a delightful little fragment on the mosquito that stings him as a Divine reminder. He speaks or cosmic consciousness as "something not to be acquired anew but that is possessed by every soul eternally." He exclaims: "Impossible to forget God! How glorious! Every sound expresses Him. Every manifestation springs from Him." He longs to communicate his experience "that God is here and everywhere, that He is eternally one with us, and that all we have to do is to be aware of His all-pervasive Presence." That is the golden thread running through his book: that we have to feel the interpenetrating Presence of the Absolute, that "religion is to come face to face with God that is within and without, that real happiness is only in union with God, the Indwelling Light."

He speaks also of the power of thought. What we are is the result of our thinking. Therefore it can be said that we form our own destiny by our thoughts. By being master of one's thoughts one becomes master of one's, destiny.

In 'Cosmic Fast' the Swami has much to say about "The conscious realization and recognition of the Infinite and Eternal Light, Omnipresent and Interpenetrating Truth." He speaks of "The boundless Love of God, a perennial flow. of the Living Water of Life, Light and Love" and pleads: "Let us be worthy channels to receive His never ending floods of power and blessings." Fasting has led him to ecstasy which, he declares, is more than purifying the body; it is purifying our inmost being in the stillness of our own soul, in the sanctuary of our heart, feeling Divinity within by centring on the Most High. Overcome by the Presence, he prays: "Lord, as I am feeling Thy Presence now, in all inspired intensity, let me continue to feel It thus forever. Let me not forget Thee even for a single moment, Thou art my life, my soul and my all-in-all. With Thee I am complete! I need nothing else beside Thee for in having Thee who art in all things I am having everything!"

- I. G. SCHULTZ

TULSIDAS: By Chandra Kumari Handoo. (Orient Longmans, Bombay. pp. 300, Price Rs. 18.)

Tulsidas is a household name throughout the Hindi-knowing regions of India, where his famous Hindi work Ramacaritamanasa popularly known as Ramayana - is perhaps the most widely-read book in Hindu households.

In this book, Srimati Chandra Kumari Handoo has taken pains to collect a rich variety of data which throw fresh light on the man Tulsidas, his influence on contemporary life, his spiritual sadhana, and some of the miracles wrought by his faith in his lord, Sri Rama. His works were extensive, he was the author of about a dozen books - and are acclaimed by scholars as works of the highest art.

The Ramayana - the most well-known of his works, his magnum opus - is largely cast in the form of dialogues, which contain numerous gems of love and wisdom: revealing peaks of devotion as well as of knowledge and service, and also harmonising various pathways to God. In the actual story narrated in the Ramayana Tulsi depicts Rama, as well as many other characters associated around him, as upholding the highest dharma (righteous conduct) - the very beau ideals of a son, a brother, a wife, a friend, a teacher, a king, a servant, etc., etc. - thus bringing out in bold relief the spiritual and moral values inherent in Indian culture. Among the great men of recent times who have borne testimony to the inspiration they derived in their early lives from the Ramayana have been Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. and Mahatma Gandhi. Rightly has the learned authoress observed that the Ramacaritamanasa has entered the life and soul of millions of the people of India. The secret of this would appear to lie (besides the inspired nature of the work) in the simple language and style used by the poet, which could be understood by the learned and the common folk alike at their own levels. Tulsidas was indeed a pioneer in the use of simple Hindi instead of Sanskrit for religious literature.

A valuable feature of the book is an excellent selection of beautiful and significant quotations from Tulsidas' works rendered into English, which enrich the book and add to its usefulness to the English-reading public.

- MADAN MOHAN VARMA.

THE DIVINE VOICE OF SRI SRI THAKUR HARANATH OR UPADESAMR1TA—PART II: By A. Ramakrishna Sastri. (Published by the author, 3/19-A, Innespet, Rajahmundry-,2, A.P., pp. 316. Rs. 4.)

Sri Thakur Hiranath, whose birth centenary was celebrated on July 2nd this year, was one of the galaxy of great saints with whom modern India has been blessed. Unfortunately, however, he was little known outside the three provinces of Bengal, Bombay and Andhra. He had no philosophy to propound but taught the creed of divine love and practised it in his own life without stint and with no restriction as to religion or caste, or saint or sinner. He was an ecstatic and worked an extraordinary profusion of miracles. He followed Lord Gauranga (Chaitanya) of Bengal in propagating the creed of love, and indeed his followers regard him as an Avatar of Sri Gauranga, or rather both of them as Avatars of Sri Krishna.

This book is not a biography of the saint. Indeed it does not fall into any regular category of literature. It could rather be described as a source book or the raw material from which a book on Sri Haranath could be compiled. His teachings, published and unpublished, have been gathered from various sources. His messages, discourses, precepts, sayings and letters have been brought together, commented on and arranged under various headings. A valuable and extensive Introduction has been added bringing out salient points in the saint's life and his attitude towards devotees and others.

It is to be regretted that the English style and grammar and the printing and get-up of the book are not worthy of the love and devotion with which it has been produced.

- KRISHNA BIKSHU.

KAIVALYA NAVANEETA (THE CREAM OF EMANCIPATION): Translated into English by Swami Ramanananda Saraswathi from the Tamil original of Sri Tandavaraya Swami (Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, pp. 74, Price Rs. 1.)

Pursuant to the very laudable desire to bring to the notice of the discriminating public all the world over, the classics of the Vedanta Philosophy that India is justly famous for, Sri Ramanasramam has now published Kaivalya Navaneeta in English. This famous Tamil classic, comparable in its greatness to the Viveka Chudamani of Sri Shankara in Sanskrit, was originally composed in Tamil by Sri Tandavaraya Swami and although well-known and often referred to by Tamil scholars, lacks a current translation in English to draw the attention of readers not familiar with the original classical Tamil. In bringing out this English edition and thus making the precious wisdom of this classical work available to a wide public, Sri Ramanasramam has rendered a distinct service to the world now eager to drink from the fount of Vedanta.

Sri Bhagavan has, amongst other classics of Vedanta that he used to refer to, often cited from this work, Kaivalya Navaneeta, as may be gleaned from the record of his 'TALKS' published by the Asramam and it is indeed fortunate that the translator happens to be the compiler of the 'TALKS', steeped in Vedantic tradition and terminology and therefore in a position to do justice to the original. The spirit of the original can well be glimpsed in his translation although, as in every case, opinion may differ on the choice of a word here and there. It is no mean tribute to the scholarship of the translator that whatever differences there may be on the choice of particular words the spirit of the original has been ably reproduced in the translation.

The merit of this work, Kaivalya Navaneeta, has been well brought out by Professor V. A. Devasenapathi of Madras University in his Introduction "From the vast ocean of milk (the Upanishads, etc.) the great teachers have drawn the milk of wisdom and filled it in pots (ancient texts). Tandavaraya Swaini, the author of Kaivalya Navaneeta, says that he has extracted the butter from the milk. Those who have obtained this (being fed on the butter of divine wisdom - Brahmajnanam - and being eternally satisfied) will not roam about feeding on dust (non-real objects of sense)."

More words from a reviewer are needless - nay an impertinence - to commend this inestimable work to the seeker of Truth - East or West.

- SEIN

THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI: By Charles Johnston. (J. M. Watkins, pp. 117. Price 12s. 6d.)

The book is a translation and interpretation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

The different padas have been well interpreted: the author has tried to show lucidly the growth of the realisation of the spiritual being of man. Indeed, it is a valuable contribution to yoga literature.

- DR. ANIMA SEN GUPTA.

THREE MUSLIM SAGES, AVICENNA, SUHRAWARDI, IBN ARABI: By Seyyed Hossein Nasr. (Harvard University Press in America, and Oxford University Press in England and India. Pp. 185, Price $3.95, Rs. 19.75.)

Actually only the third of the three great Muslim writers dealt with in the three Harvard University guest lectures out of which this book arose merits the title of Sage.

Abu Ali Sinha, known to the West as Avicenna (980-1037 AD.), was a great master of science and in particular medicine. He was also the principle introducer of Aristotelian philosophy into the Islamic world.

Suhrawardi (1153-1191) not to he confused with the Sufi Saint who founded the Order of that name which is still widespread in the Eastern part of the Islamic world - stood midway between the philosophers and the Sufis. To Aristotelian or rational philosophy he opposed inspirational or illuminist teaching, putting intuitive above rational knowledge.

It was Ibn Arabi (1165-1240) who was the true Sage, that is the man of Divine Knowledge and Experience. He it was more than any other who formulated the intellectual expression of Sufism both on the purely metaphysical plane and in derived sciences such as cosmology and psychology. Apart from this he also practised and expounded the technique of spiritual training, being not only a writer but a Sufi Sheikh whose Order still survives.

His teaching reached the ultimate simplicity of pointing out (as did Ramana Maharshi) that it is not a matter of killing the ego but of realizing that it never existed: "Most of those who know God make a ceasing of existence and a ceasing of that ceasing a condition of attaining the knowledge of God, and that is an error and a clear oversight. For the knowledge of God does not presuppose the ceasing of existence nor the ceasing of that ceasing. For things have no existence and what does not exist cannot cease to exist.... Then if thou knowest thyself without either being or ceasing to be, then thou knowest God; but if not then not." (p. 115).

His intuitive inner knowledge led him, as it did some of the great Persian and Indian Sufis, to a perception of the equal validity of all religions, which so many modern exponents of Sufism, have lost sight of:

My heart has become capable of every form; it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks. And a temple for idols and this pilgrim's Ka'ba and the tables of the Torah and the Book of the Koran. I follow the religion of Love; whatever way Love's camels take, that is my religion and my faith.

The author gives a vivid account of the life and teachings of these three great Islamic writers. He also sketches in their intellectual background and ancestry, making this an attractive and informative book.

THE SPIRIT OF ISLAM: By Ameer Ali. (University Paperbacks, Methuen, pp. XXII and 514, Price 21s.)

Islam can stand on its own merits; it has no need to run down other religions in order to shine by comparison. This unfortunately is what the present author does in his introductory chapter and wherever the text allows. The same treatment has been meted out to Islam by so many Christian writers that his learned and sympathetic account of its rise and spread comes as a welcome contrast. However it spoils a good case by overstating it. The effect would have been greater if the presentation had been less partisan. For instance, outrageous casuistry is used to try to prove that the wars by which Islam spread were defensive. Of course they were not. They were jihad. The early Muslims were convinced that they had a better religion and way of life than their neighbours and had no compunction in imposing it on them. Nor did any stigma attach to aggressive wars in those days.

What will most interest The Mountain Path readers is the concluding chapter, written specially for the present edition (the bulk of the book having been first published in 1922), for in this the author deals with the spiritual traditions and history of Sufis. Unfortunately he shows little understanding or appreciation of it.

- A. QUTBUDDIN.

CHRIST APPEARS: By Mildred Hayward (Jnana Devi). Sri Shanti Ashram, via Sankhavaram, East Godavari Dt., A.P., pp. 125, free on request)

Christian reflections and exhortations are apt to evince rather an insipid piety. Mildred Hayward's are an exception. There is real understanding and strong purpose in them. Apart from Swami Omkar of Shanti Ashram, where this third edition is published, they seem, at least to this reviewer, to show the influence of Joel Goldsmith. Two very healthy influences.

- SAGITTARIUS.

ANCIENT BELIEFS AND MODERN SUPERSTITIONS: By Martin Lings. Perennial Books. PP. 76. Price 12s. 6d.

In only 76 small pages, Martin Lings ranges convincingly through the ages and over the continents, comparing ancient wisdom with modern ignorance, the inner riches of old with our profane poverty which completely ignores the spiritual reality in which we live and move and have our being. Tilting against the much vaunted theories of evolution and progress, he offers instead that of devolution based on the four deteriorating ages of Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron (the equivalent of the Hindu yugas), the last being our present, spiritually dark age. He writes mainly in a 'Christian context' but gathers in support widely from other sources. Perhaps Hindu quotations predominate, but he includes also Islamic, Taoist, Buddhist, Jewish and scientific as well as statements by the Christian mystics, old and new, to support the validity of his book. One wonders, however, what claim the Ave Maria has to be quoted (on p. 67) as the typical Christian prayer when obviously the Pater Noster holds that position. Mr. Lings also runs counter to modern tendencies in praising the Hindu caste system, in the sense of varnashrama, on the grounds that in its original and ideal form it provides a necessary hierarchy.

- E. G. BLANCHARD.

Buddhist Publication Society

The new fare the Buddhist Publication Society has to offer includes a lecture on Buddhism in the United States by the Venerable Vinitha, a booklet on 'The Buddha's Practical Teaching' by John D. Ireland and a reprint of a translation of the Kandarika and Potaliya Suttas with introduction and notes. Its most interesting item is 'Dialogues on the Dhamma', a double number (80-81) of 'The Wheel' by Francis Story, dispelling common misunderstandings of Buddhism in a clear and cogent way.

This last contains the significant sentence: "Buddhism does not claim to have the monopoly of knowledge regarding other states of samsaric experience. What it does claim is to have the sole means of gaining release from the samsaric planes." That is just the trouble with the proselytising religions - Buddhism, Christianity, Islam: each of them claims to be the only valid way. How can there be peace, and what use is dialogue, when each of them demands unconditional surrender? Why can't their followers concentrate on their own path and leave others to follow theirs?