Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji by A P J Abdul Kalam & Arun Tiwari

Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji by A P J Abdul Kalam & Arun Tiwari
Thank you Kumar for lending me the book.
– Book of mirdad mentioned!

– Story of Bhagwan Swaminarayan aka Ghanshyam aka Neelkanth Varni.

– History of Akshardham inception to completion.

– He didn’t go for a second term in presidency as per Pramukh Swami’s advice.

– Kalam has written a lot of books.

– There was a time when Indian temples didn’t have images like mosques. Goes more into temples history and differences between northern style and southern style.

– Gandhi’s story.

– Story of Indians travelling to east Africa to work on the railway and later evolving to agricultural enterprises. Uganda was called the Kashmir of Africa. Satsangs were springing up all over the place until Idi Amin came into power and expelled 80,000 Asians. Sir Charles Cunningham helped build the Swaminarayan Mandir (temple) for those who fled to UK. President Museveni later returned 4 BAPS Mandirs in Uganda.

– Mentions 4 of the Six Subtleties. Ruh – divine breath, qulb – emotional heart, sirr – ego and Nafs – pleasure seeking 5 senses. Wiki Laṭaʾif as-Sitsta to know more.

– Gets into different scientists theories of consciousness.

– Emphasises how children should see consistency in what they see and hear from parents and practising what is preached. How they copy what they see from their parents.

– 13 August 2016. As I read this book I see a post from dad with RIP to Pramukh Swami Maraj. One of the first gurus I met and I remember a huge function happening in the school right behind my house. I used to climb the walls then and ended up on top of the thatched structure they made for the function too. My first experience of meeting Swamiji was asking him to get dad to stop smoking. He gave me this necklace with orange dots.

– Ghar sabha is where family gather, members pray, read scriptures, discuss values and amicably settle differences.

– 5 principles which promote family unity: meet each other; praise and appreciate each other; recognise and acknowledged the talents and virtues of your family members, particularly encouraging children by appreciating them; help each other; and, above all, exercise forgiveness.

– Talks about how beliefs can change DNA – epigenetics.

– History of Baruch Spinoza (the Prince of Philosophers) and his idea of God and Nature as two names for a same reality.

– Explains how life came about on the planet and evolved to create the atmosphere we have now, the same with the sun and chemicals involved and how we can see gods work in it all.

– Gives his take on leaders and examples of such brave people.

– Forgiveness is a 5 step process.
1 – not letting go will need energy and sap your vitally it.
2 – understanding why it happened. Put yourself in their feet.
3 – express the emotion and communicate well.
4 – forgive unconditionally.
5 – let go fully.

Table of Contents
– Introduction
– Prologue

Part 1 – Experience the Presence
1 – Lead India
2 – You Are Not Who You Think You Are
3 – Peace Grows When It Is Shared
4 – Children Are Everyone’s Future
5 – The Confidence That We Can Do It
6 – Self-Discipline Is The True Path To Dharma
7 – Nothing Less Than God’s Best In Our Lives
8 – Change Alone Is Eternal, Perpetual, Immortal

Part 2 – Spirituality In Action
9 – Portal To The Unseen
10 – Warriors Of The Light
11 – The Doctor Of The Soul
12 – A Status Without Parallel
13 – From Within I Rise
14 – Walking Over The Waves
15 – Living In The Witness Of God
16 – To Give And Forgive Is Divine

Part 3 – Fusion Of Science And Spirituality
17 – In Contemplation Of The Beauty Of Creation
18 – Religions Are The Signposts Of God
19 – Mind Is The Matrix Of All Matter
20 – Growing Into Highly Evolved Physical And Spiritual Beings
21 – The Highest Virtue Is The Intellectual Love Of God
22 – A Dimension As Vast As Space And As Timeless As Infinity
23 – The Unique Throb Of Life In All Creation
24 – God Is The Source Of The Universe

Part 4 – Evolution Of Creative Leadership
25 – A Fearless Look Into The Face Of All Facts
26 – What Prevented You From Prostrating When I Commanded You?
27 – Purity Is The Feminine, Truth The Masculine Form Of Divinity
28 – There Is No Such Thing As Defeat In Non-Violence
29 – Forgiveness Forces Us To Grow Beyond What We Are
30 – The Best Name For God Is Compassion
31 – Vision With Action Can Change The World
32 – The Most Powerful Force On This Planet Is Human Cooperation

– Epilogue
– Notes
– Premukh Swamiji: A Brief Introduction
– Acknowledgements

#ads