Capturing Divinity


Book Description

In a discourse on 22nd April, 1998, in the hills of Kodaikanal, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba made a revelation about an aspect of God. “The photographer asks you to be ready when he snaps your picture and he gives you time to ready yourself. But, the Divine Cameraman will not give you any notice. You should always be ready to meet the situation. If you engage yourself in bhajan and daivachintanam (thinking of God) – keerthanam and smaranam (singing and remembrance) – you will not be caught unawares.” The Divine Cameraman wants us to appreciate and love His uncertainty. The prerequisite for seeking the Lord who is ever compassionate is to be ever ready and that is something that the author realized as he graduated from Swami’s educational wing into His service wing. One has to be alert always, because things can ‘click’ at any time; there can be a ‘flash’ of inspiration during any hour of the day and though situations appear to have been captured in a ‘negative’ way, they can quickly be ‘developed’ into the ‘positive’ to fill one with beautiful memories. It was an honour, a privilege, and a boon from the highest heavens in fact, that Aravind got the chance to be His cameraman for a few years. However, that did not reverse the roles with respect to readiness. Aravind had to be alert at all times and be ready to “meet the situation” as Swami puts it. He confesses that he has not been alert all the while, but whenever he was alert and sincere, an experience with the Divine unfolded. This book is a collection of such moments – moments that arose at the most unexpected times and in the most beautiful ways to assure him that his Beloved Bhagawan always has him in His sight.




Capture God's Love


Book Description

God has called His children to a life more fulfilling than the pleasure found in serving self. How do we go about capturing God's affection so that we may exercise the gifts that the Lord has in store for those called His children? Rev. Delos O. Soehren closely examines the lives of several key figures in Scripture and pinpoints how they brought their lives into alignment with God's will and captured God's love. Gideon trusts in God and because of that trust is enabled to act. Moses doubts, but he learns to walk by faith not by sight. Ruth's life does not go as planned, but she remains devoted and her virtue is rewarded. Much understanding can be gained from evaluating others' choices and the consequences. Filled with clear guidelines, this inspiring look at Scripture will strengthen your faith and offer hope. Learn what you can do to become fully alive and Capture God's Love.




Zen and the Unspeakable God


Book Description

Zen and the Unspeakable God reevaluates how we study mystical experience. Forsaking the prescriptive epistemological box that has constrained the conversation for decades, ensuring that methodology has overshadowed subject matter, Jason Blum proposes a new interpretive approach—one that begins with a mystic’s own beliefs about the nature of mystical experience. Blum brings this approach to bear on the experiential accounts of three mystical exemplars: Meister Eckhart, Ibn al-ʿArabi, and Hui-neng. Through close readings of their texts, he uncovers the mystics’ own fundamental assumptions about transcendence and harnesses these as interpretive guides to their experiences. The predominant theory-first path to interpretation has led to the misunderstanding and misrepresentation of individual mystical experiences and fostered specious conclusions about cross-cultural comparability among them. Blum’s hermeneutic invites the scholarly community to begin thinking about mystical experience in a new way—through the mystics’ eyes. Zen and the Unspeakable God offers a sampling of the provocative results of this technique and an explanation of its implications for theories of consciousness and our contemporary understanding of the nature of mystical experience.




Ontology of Divinity


Book Description

This volume announces a new era in the philosophy of God. Many of its contributions work to create stronger links between the philosophy of God, on the one hand, and mathematics or metamathematics, on the other hand. It is about not only the possibilities of applying mathematics or metamathematics to questions about God, but also the reverse question: Does the philosophy of God have anything to offer mathematics or metamathematics? The remaining contributions tackle stereotypes in the philosophy of religion. The volume includes 35 contributions. It is divided into nine parts: 1. Who Created the Concept of God; 2. Omniscience, Omnipotence, Timelessness and Spacelessness of God; 3. God and Perfect Goodness, Perfect Beauty, Perfect Freedom; 4. God, Fundamentality and Creation of All Else; 5. Simplicity and Ineffability of God; 6. God, Necessity and Abstract Objects; 7. God, Infinity, and Pascal’s Wager; 8. God and (Meta-)Mathematics; and 9. God and Mind.




The Gift of Kabbalah


Book Description

The first comprehensive, down-to-earth introduction to explain the primary message of Kabbalah--that we are to become like God. Unlike the faddish books that just discuss Kabbalah as a magical system, or those that treat it as if it were separable from Judaism, this inspiring book makes accessible the mysteries of Kabbalah with thorough scholarship and depth of spiritual insight. It traces the evolution of Kabbalah in Judaism and sets forth its most important gift: a way of revealing the connection that exists between our "everyday" life and the spiritual oneness of the universe. Including hands-on "personal Kabbalah" exercises that help bring the teachings into your life, The Gift of Kabbalahexplores: Healing from the Source Holiness in the Ordinary Contemplating Your Place in History Building a Positive Structure for Life The Soul's Contract with God ... and much more.




Sanathana Sarathi English Volume 07 (2012 - 2021)


Book Description

Started in 1958, Sanathana Sarathi is a monthly magazine devoted to Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanti (Peace) and Prema (Love) - the four cardinal principles of Bhagawan Baba's philosophy. It is published from Prasanthi Nilayam (the Abode of Highest Peace) and acts as a mouthpiece of Baba's Ashram as it speaks of the important events that take place in His sacred Abode, besides carrying Divine Messages conveyed through Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The word meaning of Sanathana Sarathi is the 'Eternal Charioteer'. It signifies the presence of the Lord in every being as the atma guiding their lives like a charioteer. It implies that he who places his life, the body being likened to a chariot, in an attitude of surrender in the hands of the Lord, will be taken care of by the Lord even as a charioteer would take the occupant of his chariot safely to its destination. The magazine is an instrument to disseminate spiritual knowledge for the moral, physical and mental uplift of humanity without any discrimination as the subject matter discussed therein is always of common interest and of universal appeal. The fifteen Vahinis - streams of sacredness - known as the Vahini Series comprising annotation and interpretation of the Upanishads and other scriptures, Itihasas like the Ramayana, the Bhagavatha and the Mahabharata, and authentic explanations on Dhyana, Dharma, Prema, etc., have been serially published in this magazine as and when they emanated from the Divine pen of Bhagawan Baba. This magazine is published in almost all Indian languages, English and Telugu from Prasanthi Nilayam and others from respective regions. Every year Sanathana Sarathi comes out with a special issue in November commemorating the Divine Birthday. The English and Telugu magazines are posted on the 10th and 23rd respectively, of every month, from Prasanthi Nilayam. This magazine has wide, ever increasing circulation in India as well as abroad, as the study of it brings the reader closer to the philosophy of the Avatar in simple understandable language THUS SPAKE SAI... Discoursing during the launch of Sanathana Sarathi... From this day, our Sanathana Sarathi will lead to victory the cohorts of truth - the Vedas, the Sastras and similar scriptures of all faiths, against the forces of the ego such as injustice, falsehood, immorality and cruelty. This is the reason why it has emerged. This Sarathi will fight in order to establish world prosperity. It is bound to sound the paean of triumph when universal Ananda is achieved.




Aesthetics in Performance


Book Description

In various ways, the essays presented in this volume explore the structures and aesthetic possibilities of music, dance and dramatic representation in ritual and theatrical situations in a diversity of ethnographic contexts in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Each essay enters into a discussion of the “logic” of aesthetic processes exploring their social and political and symbolic import. The aim is above all to explore the way artistic and aesthetic practices in performance produce and structure experience.




The Divine Vision of Dante's Paradiso


Book Description

In Canto XVIII of Paradiso, Dante sees thirty-five letters of Scripture - LOVE JUSTICE, YOU WHO RULE THE EARTH - 'painted' one after the other in the sky. It is an epiphany that encapsulates the Paradiso, staging its ultimate goal - the divine vision. This book offers a fresh, intensive reading of this extraordinary passage at the heart of the third canticle of the Divine Comedy. While adapting in novel ways the methods of the traditional lectura Dantis, William Franke meditates independently on the philosophical, theological, political, ethical, and aesthetic ideas that Dante's text so provocatively projects into a multiplicity of disciplinary contexts. This book demands that we question not only what Dante may have meant by his representations, but also what they mean for us today in the broad horizon of our intellectual traditions and cultural heritage.




The Divinity Code to Understanding Your Dreams and Visions


Book Description

The Divinity Code to Understanding your Dreams and Visions Stop wondering what your dreams and visions mean—and start living the meanings! The Divinity Code to Understanding your Dreams and Visions is a Bible-based guide to dream interpretation that reveals the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. With this set of Master keys, you can unlock the unseen realm! Led by the Holy Spirit, you can manifest God’s Kingdom on earth through Jesus Christ by knowing what your dreams and visions mean. The Divinity Code to Understanding your Dreams and Visions contains: The most extensive Christian dream dictionary on the market (with Scripture support). An important dictionary of names and places. A critical chapter on counterfeit interpretations by the occult. 101 interpreted dreams providing credible evidence. A fascinating metaphor dictionary. Embrace your supernatural communications with God and go deeper into the things of the Spirit—today!




The Future of Religious Studies in India


Book Description

This book looks at how religious studies is framed and taught in India. It addresses the contradiction between the country’s vibrant religious life and the dearth of comparative and social scientific religious studies programs across Indian universities. The volume: • Studies the efforts by Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan and Mohan Malaviya in Varanasi, to introduce and institutionalize religious studies in India; • Discusses the notions of religion and spirituality and situates the failure of the ‘secularization thesis’ in the context of modern India; • Provides concrete suggestions on how to develop religious studies in relation to global citizenship and Indian cultural heritage with the hope of initiating a larger discussion. A unique contribution to the study of religion in society and education, the book will be indispensable to students and researchers of theology, history, philosophy, sociology, secularization, globalization, religious studies, education studies, and South Asian studies.