THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON – GEORGE S. CLASON

Desert stories are absolutely fascinating. What makes this book stand out from its counterparts is that it is a financial/money management book without heavy principles. It has practicability and effortlessness. The ways to financial security is story told. How did the richest man in Babylon acquire and sustain wealth? How the needy followed the advice to become rich personally is something this book speaks about.

One may think what is so different in first paying ourselves ten percent of monthly (regular) income (investing this in good/sound projects that can multiply the money), spending within seventy present of our earning and then clearing off debts from remaining twenty percent? It may sound very well know and too easy yet it is a powerful method. The regularity and cumulative effect that it creates and a clear cut structure it leads to is what makes the difference to our monetary situation also to standard of living.

 The five people you meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom

While there are high talks on the concepts of heaven and hell, Mitch in his yet another uniquely imaginative book speaks of heaven to be a place to understand one’s life lived on earth. The people who went ahead of us, tell us why they were present in our life and how it impacted us and in turn how we converged with others around … a place where we understand why we felt a certain way and that in order to go ahead we no longer need to feel it (anger, fear, hatred…) – “That’s what heaven is. You get to make sense of your yesterdays.”

These five people met in heaven can be considered five major events in our life never to leave it same again. Nothing happens in life without a reason, a place named hell doesn’t exist to punish us! And for Heaven, it is looked through different lenses here.

Tibetan book of the dead – Karma Lingpa

Consciousness is beyond sentient- limited duration stay on earth. While the wholeness of creation, decline or growth, and dissolution of consciousness is ineffable, this manuscript makes all the thinkable attempts to speak and remind us of our true nature, its phase and continuity.

Clear in answering several doubts that one may have about “what..after death?” It is verbalized in the form of prayer and explanation, has in it an element of mysticism which make it even more enchanting to read for those who have a leaning to it. 

It surely goes into the list of must reads (at least once) during a life time and in several lines I definitely had ahh ! moments.

A Return to Love - Marianne Williamson

The first idea presented in the book: A course in miracles is “Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists.”

‘A return to love’ is built around this idea. Marianne’s book is all about positivity and prayer. It helps us in understanding what are the blockages in thinking right, why we think in a certain way and how to receive atonement by bringing it to the holy-spirit.

 I so love her way of presentation..its like bang on, the authority in her voice and firmness in her belief. If we tend to follow the books of an author then there is a possibility of us coming across same idea but I must say it just impresses on our minds and if we truly follow the suggestions given here, we can emerge as better persons.

 From this book, we all can do one thing when caught up in a situation and that is, to pray to our higher self (holy spirit) to bring to us an understanding of the situation that would enable us to see things from various perspectives and clearly, submit our concerns and request for guidance. This simple yet powerful act takes away our load and lives us with immense...immense peace.

 I would conclude by saying,  ‘A return to love’  is an extraordinarily workable book..

Finding Chika – Mitch Albom

 

At first I thought the story to be a fiction but when I googled I came to know the story to be true, I don’t know what to say about this.

Finding Chika, while being painful presents us a braving, beautiful child’s heart, caring and patient older souls. Mitch has always taught us in his books how to respect, support, what we can learn, at the same time how to be strong when being with departing kinfolk. Also that if we really wish there is a lot we can offer/contribute to the world.

Human connection is beyond comparison, it is not bound by the blood, doesn’t make any distinction. Although children come with a set of responsibility like any relation in the world, each moment spent together is priceless. It is said, every experience in life is either a learning or a cherished memory, here it was both.

milk and honey – rupi Kaur

 

An honest, contemporary poetry. There is nothing superficially fancy here. I felt it takes an amount of courage and frankness to publish an open book like this that brings out to light still silenced subjects like child abuse and safeguarded matters as bruised heart, going through highs and lows of love.

Through plain language, Rupi  pens down the reveries of thoughts at the same time heedlessness in (the book is said to be about) love, loss, trauma, abuse, healing and femininity.

Ramana Maharshi-Upadesa Saram by Ramesh S. Balsekar And WHO AM I? - Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Must read because these works are so direct and literally enlightening.

 

Ramana Maharshi, was one of the greatest Gurus who traversed the path of realization through self-enquiry. Highly evolved soul himself, Balasekar in this book Upadesa Saraam expounds the work of Ramana Maharshi.

Ramana Maharshi’s book Who am I ?– Nan yaar? Is translated and explained by several writers.

Both of these books, Upadesa Saram and Who am I, wrapped up in a few pages are bullseye on the matters of self-enquiry.

If I am not my name, my education, my body, my work, my senses, my relationships, my mind, my possession, my achievements then who….. am….. I …..? this constant quest is the pointer and the answer to it is the essence of self-enquiry.

It is very evident that all means to realization leads ultimately to heightened knowledge of unanimous self.

The entirety of self-enquiry cannot be summed up better than by the words of Ramana Maharshi – “The “I”-thought is the first to arise in the mind. When the enquiry “Who am I?” is persistently pursued, all other thoughts get destroyed, and finally the “I”-thought itself vanishes leaving the supreme non-dual Self alone.”