5 comments about Shakti Mantras: Tapping into the Great Goddess Energy Within.

1. This book answered so many of my questions while showing me that the path to awakening Shakti is infinite and endless. Excellent combination of Hindu and yogic scripture synopses, mantra, and personal wisdom. Highly recommended--I refer to it everyday. Stick to the 40-day meditation--and to Farrand's advice--wonderful things start happening.



2. This book includes the stories behind the various manifestations of the Great Mother; by the time you reach the mantras, you have a clear understanding of the who and why. A great boost for women seeking the divine feminine, or for men who want to find a more balanced approach to the eight-fold path.



3. This was the first of TAF's books that I bought after being completely bowled over by listening to the 9-hour CD course "Mantra - Sacred Words of Power" There was just something about simply listening to that course that induced such unexpected energies in me.
   
   Anyway, I love "Shakti Mantras" and have had hugely powerful results from the long Kali mantra - which is actually a surprising one to find in such an accessible book. (My favourite though is "Om Parama Prema Rupaya Namaha".) Even the stories of the Divine Feminine are great and I've found that simply reading them can stir up a lot of energy in surprising ways. There is definitely something mysterious and wonderful at work in these pages! There are mantras here for spiritual development, abundance, beauty, love, reducing anxiety and all sorts of things - and as usual many come with excellent real life examples to illustrate how they can work. The pronunciation guide with each mantra is I think as good as they get too, though I would still recommend getting a mantra CD or two at some stage if you get hooked.
   
   In short, very highly recommended indeed - and if you take the practices up, it may change your life too.



4. Ashley-Ferrand again reveals India's secret lore for a hungry audience. His highly practical manual is also comfortable to read, and easy to apply. Having used the esoteric keys given in his first book, I can readily attest to the actual effect of chanting and using mantras. They work! The author recaps some of the information from his first fine book on mantras and augments it with insight and knowledge born of experience. A must-have for any serious student of Indian mystic lore, the deeper side of Yoga, or religious studies of Eastern traditions.



5. This book not only provides excellent mantras, the author also gives the background of the deities invoked.

5 comments about Slowly Down the Ganges.

1. Unlike his grounded colleague, the river traveller can indulge his bent for distraction only so far. His route is more or less fixed; certainly his destination is final. And so it is to Eric Newby's credit for eliciting from this journey 300 pages worth of erudite and witty observances, for it is essentially a procession of waterborne shuttles, one ghat to the next, punctuated only by the occasional onshore foray, the function of which mostly being to secure boat and crew for the succeeding leg. I suspect, though, that Newby could glean 300 pages from a dinghy ride in a swimming pool, and that that too would be immensely readable.

   The archetypical harrassed traveller, at every turn events conspire to defeat or, at the least, humiliate Newby. The atmosphere of the journey is established during preparations which smack of the comical: "I had even bought an immense bamboo pole from the specialist shop in the bazaar as a defence against dacoits whose supposed whereabouts were indicated on some rather depressing maps which G. [their sometime native companion] had annotated with this and similar information, in the same way mediaeval cartographers had inscribed `Here be dragons' on the blank expanses of their productions." In any case, these maps proved unserviceable. Because of hostilities with China, Indian Defence Regulations of the time (1963) were so stringent that it was impossible to buy large-scale maps of India of any kind. (At any rate, many maps of the Ganges are unashamedly indecisive of its course owing to the shifting alluvial bed.)

   Typically, arrangements that had been made in advance proved to be anything but arranged. The vessel intended to provide passage through the upper reaches of the Ganges was discovered to be in such a state of disrepair that use of it in a bathtub would have endangered lives. Attempts to procure another led Newby on an endeavour which he describes thus: "What we were doing in this instance was the equivalent in Britain of waking a fairly senior officer of the Metropolitan Water Board at a quarter to seven on a Winter's morning, in order to ask him to wake a yet more senior official and request the loan of a boat from one of the reservoirs in order to go down to Southend." Of course, the acquisition of another vessel appeased their troubles only momentarily.

   The journey proper was fraught from the outset: "It is difficult to describe the emotions that one feels when one is aground on a twleve-hundred-mile boat journey within hailing distance of one's point of departure." When not stranded upon a shoal Newby is confounded by the various tributaries shooting off this way and that. About this he consults the only man in India worse off than he: "There was only one person to ask the way from, an old man sitting alone on the shingle, but he was not very helpful. `I don't know where I am,' he said."

   When defeated by such circumstances Newby must, to advance his journey, venture ashore and seek out assistance. This demands the infiltration of the interminable mores of Indian society, a kind of mystic bureaucracy under which the populace shuns reason in favour of the myriad allegorical incarnations of the pantheon of mythic figures. He says of making even the most innocent inquiry: "But I knew that this was not the kind of question that can be asked in India - it was too logical and would therefore cause grave offence." He shortly arrives at the conclusion: "In India it is possible to win every battle but the last one."

   During such battles Newby often retreats to his arsenal of introductions, formal letters written by state officials and the like, the ace up the sleeve of the traveller at tether's end. Not surprisingly these missives of officialdom are met by the Indian everyman with bemusement or else total indifference. His choicest letter, that from the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, is singled for particularly devastating apathy.

   Newby's travelling companion, his wife, the long-suffering Wanda, is rendered something of an enigma in SLOWLY DOWN THE GANGES. Apart from delivering Newby from the dire gastric consequences of provincial Indian foods ("Wanda had produced [white radishes] artfully from a mysterious-looking bag.") her reason for being appears mostly to be for materialising at inopportune moments, usually the apex of some maddening asperity, in order to scorch the occasion with some withering remark. This surely had Newby tearing at his hair, but the narrative is infused with a rich vein of self-deprecating humour because of it. (Their courtship, which was borne of hardships much graver, is recounted in another of Newby's titles, `LOVE AND WAR IN THE APINNENES')

   Newby's own wit is deliciously dry. Unlike many contemporary travel writers he does not over-reach for a laugh or rely on out-and-out ridicule. However, his capacity for a descriptive turn of phrase is tested here. Certainly there are scapes that would arrest the senses of even the most impassive observer - shores lined with crazed sadhus and puja-devoted villagers, a river strewn with the pungent remnants of funerary pyres - but there is little variation on this theme for 1200 miles. And if the scenery is unchanging, then the characters - those folk along the way who lend a travel narrative its colour - are positively inanimate. Newby does admirably though, adroitly drawing from the cultural abyss the idiosyncrasies and personality interplay of guides and boatmen.
   
   And so, his route may be fixed and his destination final, but Newby never fails to appreciate the telling advantage he holds over his grounded colleague: "The only consolation about being lost on a river is that if you go on downstream you are bound to arrive somewhere different, unlike being lost in a forest, where you are quite likely to end up where you started at the beginning of the day."

   ****1/2 stars.

   (Contrary to what you may read, this book is anything but "insipid". Nor is it "lacking in prose, dialogue and structure." It, in fact, revels in them.)




2. I am a long-time fan of Eric Newby since stumbling upon his 1956 book, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush. I actually fell off the couch laughing. In addition to the adventures of the trip, Newby offers an inside look at Afghani geography, history and culture in a very readable form. Gently Down the Ganges, by comparison, I found monotonous and dreary, almost whiny. I strongly recommend Newby for his self-deprecating, dry "British Traveler" wit but cannot recommend Gently Down the Ganges as the best of Newby.



3. During the 1950s and 1960s there were several travel books written on India, whose tone were in general (many cases rightfully so) caustic. While Naipauls 'Area of Darkness' had the pain and disgust of seeing his country of origin in shambles, and Joseph Campbells 'Brahman and Baksheesh' had the disappointment of his lack of success in seeing theory in practice , one wonders about motives of Eric Newby in writing this book. Imagine the irony of a former member of a plundering army coming back, enjoying the hospitality of the same region, lamenting about how bad everything is. Throughout the book, he almost has nothing good to say about the culture, religion, beliefs or the traditions that make Ganges sacred to a billion people . The only people he warms up to are those of his own religion, and other natives who praise the Raj (perhaps he misses the Indian sense of hospitality to visitors , to make them feel at home, even if they dont actually mean it).
   But the book is hilarious where it doesnt get condescending, probably belongs to a bygone colonial era, where trashing heathen beliefs would get you a book deal. I give it 3 stars for the pure spirit of adventure involved in the travel and for his devoted wife who puts up with lot of chaos in a foreign land.



4. I read this book after I'd spent a month in India and I found it LOL funny. There's no great insights here, no V.S. Naipual style reflection or analysis, it's just a tale of two Colonial-era Brits determined to travel the 1,200 mile length of the Ganges by boat in 1963/64. But if you're a westerner who's ever spent an extended period of time trying to get around inside of northern India, I suspect you'll find this book as amusing as I did. So in that sense it captures some of spirit of the place, though perhaps it's only amusing if you've experienced first-hand the chaos that is India. It's probably not a good choice if you're looking for a traveler's introduction to "modern" India.



5. This frequently hilarious account of the author's boat trip down the Ganges River has it all: bureaucracy, a prickly spousal travelling companion, bizarre Hindu cultists, and dry streambeds loaded with basketball-sized rocks. Oh yes, there is also the heartland of classical India's Hindu culture unrolling along the shore, with the author's slightly quaint but extremely well-informed interest in the military history of the Raj (as well as reminiscences of his own exploits there years before) thrown in for good measure and some trips down side streets. Newby is one of the great travel writers, I prefer him to Theroux or Chatwin, he is down-to-eart, funny, and endlessly game.

4 comments about Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization.

1. Edited by the late Joseph Campbell, Zimmer's book is a detailed analysis and explanation of the significance and history of many of the symbols found in Indian art and religon. It has a good index and several photographs at the end which provide essential examples.



2. Zimmer is without a doubt a brilliant and sophisticated scholar of Indian Art and Mythology and this text reflects that fact very well. The sheer density of the text lends to the quality of it as a resource, but it not the number one choice of texts for someone who is just interested in mythology and folklore. Zimmer does more than merely tell you the myth or legend, he offers incredible symbolic and literary analysis of the myth in terms of broader and universal symbols. He brings together history, art, myth, religion, and philosophy in a incredible combination. However, the text is extraordinarily difficult to follow as a casual read.

   In many places the text simply jumps around without any transition and in a seemingly nonsensical manner, making it difficult to read in a linear fashion. There does not seem to be any real organization to the text, with bits and pieces of the text's various elements thrown into the book at what feels like haphazard points. The photographs of the art which Zimmer discusses is useful, but are hidden at the back of the book in small, hard to see, grainy, black and white photos. I found to be a real pain constantly to flip to the back of the book to see what he was talking about and having to squint to make out the intricate art in the poor quality pictures. It would more useful if the photos were on the page where they were discussed, were in color, and were bigger. One final quibble is that the sheer volume of information makes taking notes as you go along crucial to obtain a real understanding of the text.

   While I think these points are valid, do not let them scare you away. The text possess an immense wealth of information about Indian mythology and incredible analysis of its stories. An strong reference and research for students and scholars or for anyone who has a real interest in mythology, myth-art/religious art, or the psychological universality of myths. To any of these people I would highly recommend this book. If you are just starting on these or any other field that might be pertaining to the book, you might wish to start with some primary sources or books that are strictly myths and legends (i.e. the Mahabhrata or the Bhagavad Gita)or books on mythic/religious art before trying this book.




3. I was NOT what I expected it to be at all. I thought the fact that it was discussing Indian art and symbols, there would actually be a goodly amount of Indian art in this book. I realized I was mistaken upon leafing through this book and finding pages and pages of text with only a few examples of the art it related to. I'm not trying to disparage the book in this review, I'm sure it was good for what it was, but it certainly wasn't what I thought I was buying. I'm just trying to keep someone else from making the same mistake I made.



4. For those of us who want to be informed about the myths and symbols from ancient civilization, this book is a must. Informative and interesting at the same time. Zimmer has accomplished a great deal in presenting such rich detail.

1 comments about The Hindu Tradition: Readings in Oriental Thought.

1. Although this work first came out in 1972 (and still bears the unfortunate word "Oriental" in the subtitle, which is very misleading for a book about South Asia), it retains its relevance and usefulness, especially if you are seeking a book to accompany a course on ancient and medieval India. As a professor of South Asian history, I have used this work several times in the first half of a two-part survey of Indian history, and my students have found it comprehensible, readable, and very useful for writing papers. It contains well-selected excerpts from most of the major texts you are likely to discuss in a survey course: the Vedas, the Dharmashastras, the Arthashastra, Kama Sutra, Bhagavad Gita, and so forth - right through to the Mughal period. Unlike a lot of recently-published "document readers," it is not a compendium of obscure and unusable primary sources which were selected only because they were available without copyright restrictions! No, every page of this inexpensive little gem of a book is pedagogically useful, and students will find that Indian terms used in it are clearly and carefully defined. Praises given, there are a few drawbacks to this book, apart from the unfortunate title: it represents the elite Hindu tradition almost exclusively, and it fails to integrate in any clear fashion the Islamic tradition that played such a major role in shaping the "Hindu" tradition of South Asia after about 1100 CE. A new edition of this work, properly edited, would be a fantastic addition to the field of South Asian Studies and History, which currently suffers from a plethora of recently-published general histories, most of which are terribly dry, poorly-organized, badly-edited, hastily-knocked off volumes, some riddled with factual errors, that will have your students in a state of mutiny in no time. Embree and Bary are old masters of the field, and this particular book if one of their greatest achievements.

2 comments about Pathways to Joy: The Master Vivekananda on the Four Yoga Paths to God.

1. This book delves into a clear and simple presentation of the works of Vivekananda, the young Indian monk who at the turn of the 20th century, brought Hinduism and it's teachings to America.
   
   At a time when eastern religious philosophy was still a mystery no westerner was eager to unravel, you will be amazed at how this audience-captivating teacher was accorded the greatest respect and accoladeat the "Assembly or World Religions" in 1893. But even more important, was the way the top world religious teachers at the time hungrily ate up the spiritual food that was being dished by Vivekananda.
   
   What Dave DeLuca has done in this uncomplicated book is taken those teachings and presented them in the most enjoyable and interesting way. It is as if no time has passed. Vivekananda's teachings truly feel as if they are addressing present day issues.
   
   The wisdom and love of this monk flow these pages almost tangibly. It is no wonder that the students of Vivekananda seem to devour his teachings!



2. Vivekananda died in 1902, but still lives thanks in part to David Deluca for publishing this terrific book. Although Vivekananda wrote the words over 100 years ago his messages are absolutely timely to today; love, serving others, giving, compassion, accepting of all religions and all races without hate or arrogance. Vivekananda felt that all religions present different prespectives of God and that all are correct, no need for hatred. He also felt that all countries have something to contribute to all others. Eventually all countries will come together to share. I only wish that Vivekananda words could be heard, felt by all to stamp out the useless primitive and everpresent greed, hatred and killing in the world.

4 comments about Deepak Chopra Presents India Authentic Volume 1: The Book Of Shiva (India Authentic).

1. I didn't know about this graphic novel series until Deepak Chopra mentioned his colaboration with his son during his Iconoclast interview with Mike Meyers.
   Easy to follow storyline makes it easy to understand the basics about some of the Hindu Gods. If you have any interest in learning about Shiva, Ganesh, Shiva, Kali, Uma and many more this is a great start. Also, the illustrations and colors look outstanding on the glossy paper.



2. I heard about this comic series produced by deepak's son on tv and ordered the comic within minutes.Well written and awesome artwork,which complement each other perfectly.They should make a whole series and then
   creat a coffee table artbook just perrrrfect!



3. This comic book is great. I love mythology and this book proved to be good at teaching some legends. The story of the Gods is well written, and the illustrations are great. In fact, I have ordered the following one, and pre-ordered the third one!!!



4. I don't know what to say about "The Book of Shiva", other than I am renewing my love to Shiva. I mean, I love and adhere to all aspects of the Trinity, and I bow to the power of Vishnu to preserve the world. But Lord Shiva... I don't know. There's something within that Hermit of Kailash that amazes me. Perhaps His matted hair, from which Mother Gangga flows. Perhaps His hermit stage. Not His snake... not His snake...
   
   But one thing for sure that makes me admire Shiva: His love to Lady Uma/Parvati. So beautiful, so sweet... A while ago, I wept the first time I learned that He too was broken hearted when Sati died. Now, after reading the story again here, I was crushed again. Shiva is the God who knows pain of separation. And the way Shiva expressed His feelings as He watched the All-Mother Uma turned into Kali: "It pained me to see my Uma like this. I wept when she howled like a wild beast... and turned on the blood-spawns."
   
   Kudos to Saurav Mohapatra's script and Deepak Chopra's ideas. I really love the painting-like arts inside of the book - Tayade, Singh, and Subramanian did amazing works. My favourite part was when Shiva stopped the enraging Kali: "Uma, this cannot be. You must fight her." And then, the most beautiful painting, as He holds Uma's unconscious form and said: "The Sleeper slumbered again. For it was Uma who opened her eyes. Perhaps it was the fatigue of battle that quelled the primal will. Perhaps it was the power of the All-Mother. But sometimes I like to think...maybe... Just maybe... it was me."
   
   Sweet, romantic Shiva...
   
   My only nitpick is that Shiva was shown smiling only in 1-2 panels, particularly when Uma was around. I mean, yes - Shiva has the dark Rudra side, the destructive side. But He also has His sweet, beautiful side. The Dance of Life, as the Nataraj dances it, is danced with love. His love: sweet, tender, beautiful love. Such spirit is not really shown here, hence might mislead new readers or those who are not familiar with the Vedic tradition, that Shiva is the all-angry God who destroys everything.
   
   Personally, I would rather have the cover depicting the benevolent Shiva, He who smiles peacefully as He watches the world from the top of Kailash. But I understand why from the sale point of view, the artists and creator preferred the scarier form of Shiva. Here's the hope for the second volume, where Shiva is depicted with gentler smile, as sweet and gentle as He gazes lovingly at Lady Parvati.

3 comments about Christ the Yogi: A Hindu Reflection on the Gospel of John.

1. 1. "For the first time, a systematic study of the Gospel according to St. John is made by a non-Christian. Dr. Ravindra explores John's twenty-one chapters, one by one, with beautiful and incisive style... Ravindra's commentary is not an intellectual exercise but a heart pilgrimage. He warns us that the 'rational mind is always uneasy about the Spirit which displaces it from the centre of being...' The author shares with us his spiritual journey, using John's Gospel as the structure for his development. The basis of personal experience of the spirit within us is reminiscent of Pascal's Pensees, and, closer to us, Thomas Merton's reflections on Zen Buddhism... Stemming from this are larger, more universal truths; on an otherwise too-familiar text he brings us countless insights, which can only be gained from such a fresh perspective. Throughout the book these nuggets startle and delight... The Yoga of the Christ will be for many readers such a source of light, as the best insights of the Hindu tradition are integrated to better reveal the dynamic elasticity and immense spiritual wealth of John's Gospel." --From The Atlantic Provinces Book Revie



2. In this book Ravi Ravindra goes through the gospel of John section by section, following each part with commentary. I found his insights very valuable; although I had read John's gospel many times before, Ravindra's reading of it pointed out many insights I would never had caught on my own. I suspect this may be because the author approached the gospel with a "beginner's mind," which is often difficult for those of us raised in a Judaeo-Christian culture. His perspectives on the story of the Samaritan woman at the well were so profound that they pushed my understanding of Jesus' teachings to a new level. As a person who has given up on organized religion, this book was valuable in helping me to go back to what is of value in Christian teachings and draw on it. Ravindra combines his understanding of the Hindu approach to the spiritual path with Christian mysticism in this book. Rather than watering down either tradition, the approach is truly inspiring.



3. This book is excellent, but the title is a bit misleading. Let us start by saying that you can't go wrong reading this book. It is a detailed analysis of the book of John, from the New Testament. I must admit that much of the author's commentary brought up ideas I had never considered, or not seen the same way. It will add depth and understanding for anyone trying to understand the mystical style of the book of John.
   The reason I only gave this book 4 out of 5 stars is that the title suggests a more detailed treatment, and bonding between the Eastern traditions of Hinduism and yoga, and Christ. Little of the Eastern traditions are mentioned, but those that are mentioned are excellent reflections. I was hungry for a treatment of Christ philosophy from an Hindu Yoga point of view. It was much more geared for the biblical reader, than for the Hindu reader. A little more balance would have been my preference.
   Still, a wonderful book to read!

5 comments about Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition (Hermeneutics: Studies in the History of Religions).

1. An incredibly interesting book. This is the book that got me interested in Hinduism, that made me take an entirely new look at Parvati & Sati, & (with a *little* bit of help) got me hooked on religious studies. Very well-written, like every other Kinsley book I've read (with the exception of Hinduism: A Cultural Perspective).



2. This is a very good, scholarly overview of the major Goddesses of Hinduism. It is an academic work, and therefore not for one who is seeking to read about the Goddesses from a devotional perspective, but nonetheless it is full of insights. An essential book for those interested in Hindu Goddesses and/or world Goddess myth and religion, and one which will serve as both a useful introduction to the subject and an accurate source to be returned to in research again and again.



3. Great book about Hindu goddesses! A must read for those interested...



4. Great book for one who wants to learn about Hinduism and the feminine within the Indian traditions. Scholarship is excellent, but it isn't for those who have more New Age beliefs in general on goddeses such as Kali or Hindu/eastern concepts in general. I would suggest it for those who are actually into learning about the Hindu religion and not the Western idea of Indian culture and religion.



5. It's really a look at the Goddesses from a scholar's point of view without any religious attitudes whatsoever toward the subject matter. He treats the goddesses kind of like they're archaic symbols of some distant past, rather than great women of a living religious tradition. Good for students who are taking a course in this type of study, but not really good as a look at the goddesses through a devotional perspective.

No comments about A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush (Travel Literature).

5 comments about Back to the Truth: 5000 years of Advaita.

1. Being a student of Advaita (non-duality) Vedante (the culmination of The Vedas),can be a daunting task for the western student. There are a myriad of resources, many in apparent contradiction to each other: traditional Indian texts, promoted by many different splinters of religious thought within and without the Hindu community, a highly self published group of western contemporary teachers espousing hybrid interpretations of "The Direct Path" as well as interdisciplinary sects laying claim to teachings which result in "enlightenment".
   "
   Additionally,traditional Advaita teachings are encumbered with prolific use of Hindu and Sankrit terms which make the task of comprehending them even more daunting.
   
   Emerging from this choatic assemblage of information comes Dennis Waite, a highly educated and prolific author, who has spent a career inventorying and attempting to survey the entire arena. "Back to The Truth" is a continuation of the effort he began with the publication of "The Book of One", considered by many to be an essential reading on Advaita.
   
   The effort required to traverse Waite's new book is well worth the effort. In addition to explaining the many paths available to the student, Waite has painstakingly referenced hundreds of resources available for further study. The book assembles an abundance of quotes of both contemporary teachers and the original texts, complete with appendices which detail how to locate the source material. Waite has compiled website links, bibliographies,a glossary of common Sanskrit terms, even teaching lineages to assist in the readers search.
   
   The great irony is that Waite offers this road map to enlightenment while repeatedly noting the obvious:"enlightenment" can not be achieved by the conceptual mind. As Jim Swartz [...] so aptly put it: "In spiritual circles it has become an article of faith that a the quest for spiritual knowledge is an 'intellectual' and therefore misguided pursuit."
   
   Thus, as some neo-advaitins love to point out, some may decide that the effort of study is unnecessary.
   
   Ultimately, this conclusion is a fallacy. More by Swartz: "...it should be noted that anyone seeking enlightenment through the 'heart' or other paths would necessarily be motivated by the intellectual belief that he or she was limited, inadequate and incomplete i.e. unelightened. To pursue experience is natural but to pursue it at the expense of understanding is foolish because it is only misunderstandings about our true nature that make us think we are unenlightened in the first place. The Self realized beings who went before left a vast body of information to help us purge erroneous concepts that stand in the way of appreciating who we really are."
   
   Dennis Waite has provided the penultimate resource to assist readers in this pursuit. It is first and foremost a service to humanity. If you have a serious interest in discovering your true self and uncovering the nature of reality, this is as close to an road map and instruction guide to the apparently confusing world of Advaita as you will find. I strongly recommend it.



2. This book, while almost encyclopedic in its coverage, is still very readable, especially for the person who has at least some background in non-dual thought. As I read it, I bit off a good chunk at a sitting and found I could chew it for a long time.
   
   I especially appreciated the author's fair approach to the various ways of understanding Advaita, which like so many other spiritual viewpoints is like the proverbial blind men trying to describe an elephant by touching it's various body parts.
   
   There are many references in the comprehensive appendices that are truly useful for the person who wants to do more study.
   
   At first I was a bit turned off by the author's use of the Sanskrit transliteration method known as ITRANS, designed to help properly pronounce Sanskrit words, which usually come into play whenever the historical aspects of non-dualism are discussed. However, he includes a helpful explanation of how to use this technique in an appendix, if you're interested.
   
   Most of the historical references are from Indian sources with very little acknowledgment of the Chinese (Ch'an) and Japanese (Zen) contributions to non-dual expressions. However, if these had been included it would have required multiple volumes.
   
   This is the best and most readable book I've seen covering the full range of thought on this topic from many different perspectives, filled with quotations from a wide variety of writers, both ancient and contemporary.



3. What can I possibly say, that hasn't already been said, and said with better style, by all the wonderful reviews of this Landmark book?
   It's an incredible, awe inspiring work. Dennis Waite is truly a gift to the World. His web-site, Advaita.org.uk, has been my lifeline since I discovered it.
   It is an bottomless source of Wisdom, knowledge and resources, and a truly enormous amount of work goes into maintaining it--to do this, write books, especially a Masterwork like "Back To the Truth", while still responding to emails with hapless questions from, I'm sure, many `miserable seekers' like myself, in his quiet, totally accessible way, in incomprehensible to me.
   
   The style of Back To The Truth--his ability to draw from so many varied sources, from the most traditional of ancient Vedic Scriptures, to the most current (so called) `neo' Advaitin writings, What a skill! Then factor in his knowledge of Sanskrit.
   The appendixes are nearly overwhelming--offering more resources and reviews, plus a glossary of Sanskrit terms. OK. I'm done; this review could go on and on...but I must end it.
   I have to say this, however, before I do. To me, it is not the many quotes, and words of wisdom, past and current, that make this book so powerful, but Dennis's own words...his writing has a simplicity and clarity that is deceptive; like the gentle surface of a lake, there is great depth there.
   Don't be put off by the size or the scholarship of this book. The best thing about Dennis, his web-site, and his writing, is his generosity and his Integrity. It shines through everything he touches.



4. A profoundly astute and masterful guide to the field of Self-discovery. An authoritative scholar, Dennis writes with supreme clarity as he skillfully expounds, logically analyzes and insightfully integrates the wisdom of classical and contemporary teachers with the principles of Advaita.
   - Katie Davis, Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment



5. This is my first book review, but when I received my copy of Back to the Truth I felt a sense of wonderment at how much had been covered and the extensive quotes which enrich the content. I rarely recommend books to others, but I have recommended this one often and given it as a gift to my very first teacher. It is an invaluable resource which you would want own if you are interested in Advaita and nonduality.