The Svetasvataropanisad is considered to be the most beautiful of all the Upanisads, the philosophical texts of the Hindu religion. In this new translation, Devadatta Kali takes a fresh look, and works from a new premise that the Svetasvatara represents a Saivite (one of the Hindu sects) point of view. This he claims, allows its intended meaning to shine forth. The translation and commentary brings to life the seer Svetasvatara, who from time to time delights in provocation and word play, allowing the reader to share the joy of his liberated vision that all this world is an expression of the Divine. This translation aims to capture the seer's ecstatic response to the wonders of creation while pointing the reader towards the even greater wonder of its source. Devadata Kali's purpose in his translation and the commentary is to convey the vibrant immediacy of the Sanskrit original and strip away many centuries of exegetical accretions in order to make Svetasvatara's message heard as he intended--as a statement of profound insight designed to guide, inspire, and enlighten. Features of the text: 13 pages of uninterrupted fl ow of the translation of the Upanisad.6 chapters of the Upanisad in original Sanskrit with English translation and commentary.Two appendixes giving the word-by-word analysis of the Sanskrit and a complete tabulation of the correspondences with other texts and internal corresponds within the Upanisad itself.Index including bilingual references and major themes by verse.

In the abundant pages of this issue of Nectar will be found a further and ongoing testament to the truths of all religious traditions and spiritual pathways — Vedanta, Sufism, Jainism, Judaism, and more. This particular issue introduces articles on less familiar pathways such as Quakerism, Baha’i, and Essene Christianity. And commingled with all these honorable religious perspectives is a rich admixture of innovative philosophy, from the perennial to the evolving to the freshly emerged, all awaiting sedulous study. Thus, another dole of Nectar has been gathered, brewed, and is bubbling forth and over, providing the discriminating reader, the serious student, and the practicing adept alike with rich and rare refection that is ripe for the taking. Let us begin by skimming some foam off of the top, quaffing the ambrosial nectar of nondual instruction from the minds of the sincerely seeking shishya and the willing preceptor.

Records publications acquired from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, by the U.S. Library of Congress Offices in New Delhi, India, and Karachi, Pakistan.

This handy little book is a storehouse of choicest hymns and prayers of universal appeal culled from the Vedas, the Puranas, and other sources. These hymns and prayers are expressive of the deep spiritual longings and realisations of the Hindu seers. The compilation and English translation is by Swami Yatiswarananda, one among the foremost disciples of Swami Brahmananda and a former Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Order. The masterly introduction by Swami Yatiswarananda guides those who wish to know why to pray and what to pray for. It also deals with the historical and psychological development of the hymns.

People all around the world engage themselves, at some stage or other, in search for meaning beyond the finite and fleeting pleasures of their lives. How can they fulfil this spiritual hunger of the soul? Swami Yatiswarananda, who was also a Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Order and an enlightened soul in his own right, explains the challenges on the path and the ways and means of overcoming them. The elaborate ‘Introduction’ of the book under different subheadings elegantly orients even the lay reader into various aspects of spiritual life. The core of this book is a compilation of 499 Sanskrit verses and their English renderings. The verses have been selected mainly from the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, and also from Srimad Bhagavatam, Avadhuta Gita, Manu Smriti and the philosophical works of Sri Shankaracharya. Indexes to both Sanskrit verses and English renderings have been provided.

The current issue of Nectar of Nondual Truth starts our year off with profound thoughts of a religious and spiritual nature. There can be no better way to higher health than to purify the mind and intellect, daily, with words of a refined philosophical caliber. These are precious words indeed, coming as they do from a select group of serious individuals, all singularly dedicated to their chosen tradition and its dissemination. Herein, sandwiched between wise and heartfelt literary offerings by life-long dedicated writers and practitioners of the Vedanta, living and passed, lie complementary writings on some of the most respected spiritual traditions of the world, all in Nectar-like fashion. And, as usual with Nectar of Nondual Truth, the underlying theme which connects all of these beings and their mature perspectives together is that of Universality. Just as the Formless Reality called Brahman makes up the unseen but pervasive substratum for all that lies in the diverse realm of name and form, so does the eternal tenet of Universality support and weave together all religious traditions. When recognition of this great truth dawns on the human mind, it is immediately free, on so many levels.

There are innumerable ways of cultivating life’s many abundant harvests, but none more fruitful, fulfilling and freeing than a regimen of sedulous striving in the realm of spiritual practice. Why is this so? Assuredly, nothing other than purification of mind can facilitate the most subtle and sought after freedom that the human being longs for, either consciously, secretly or unconsciously. And this purification is achieved via sadhana, spiritual disciplines prescribed by an adept and esteemed religious preceptor according to revealed scripture, which cuts every man and woman in the image of abiding perfection inherent in each individual. Every man, Shiva incarnate, desires to break free of all the binding fetters of life and mind, but life itself is predicated upon a duality-fraught existence created by the manifold mind. Each woman, Shakti in manifest form, dreams of a life shorn of its weights and limitations, but the restrictive modes of nature and the constricting conventions of church, family and society unwittingly fashion the very chains that bind existence into painfully predictable scenarios and boring rounds of sleepy and sterile routine. Given this conundrum, it is no wonder that the key of innate spirituality and its superlative aim is held out again and again, from age to age and lifetime to lifetime, by truly compassionate beings who have tasted freedom and spare no efforts in order to share it with suffering humanity. And they often initiate the process of its discovery in seeking and suffering beings by pointing out the need for an intense yearning to be free. “Cry, oh mind, with a real cry,” sings Ramprasad Sen, “and the Mother of the Universe will not be able to withhold Her sweet Presence from you any longer.” “Beings cry jugs of tears for mates, money and materials,” states Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, “but shed not one tear for God.” Furthermore, our intense yearning to be free must lead us straightaway to the path, the teacher and the specific formula for the attainment of divine life which best suits each individual’s karmas, abilities, and capacities. The thorough breakdown of all that impedes — doubt, fear, misconception, inordinate desire — is brought to bear in life by the cultivation of spirituality via hands-on practice. Without it, there adheres in the mental body a whole host of various forms of attachment, call them what you will, many of them masquerading meekly as freedom. As Sri Shankaracharya poignantly puts it: “When I was a baby I was attached to my mother’s breast; when I was a young man I was attached to a young woman; when I was old I was attached to anxiety; but to the Supreme Brahman, alas, I was never attached."

According to healer and clairvoyant Keith Sherwood, each of us has the potential to heal ourselves and others through the Prana energy that flows through us. Special techniques make this book a "breakthrough" to healing power, but we are also given a concise, easy-to-follow regimen of good health to follow in order to maintain a superior state of being.