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Foreword
These
are days when we come across a plethora of literature that
go to entertain but only a few to educate and much fewer to
inspire. In this collection of eleven lectures by Swami Gokulananda,
one will find a book that will both educate and inspire.
The
education it gives is in Para-Vidya, the science of the Spirit.
The author calls the subject matter as 'Some Guidelines to
Inner Life'. That goal is the attainment of liberation from
the hold of the body on our Consciousness, which is called
Moksha in our devotional parlance. The 'Guidelines' are the
various disciplines that an aspirant must undergo for this
attainment.
Many
might have treated this subject from a philosophical stance.
But philosophy as such is a dry subject for most people. However,
if it is expounded in an inspiring manner, it becomes a delicious
intellectual and spiritual drink, a veritable sherbat for
a spiritual aspirant.
This
book comprising Swamiji Gokulananda's eleven lectures is a
text that answers to these requirements. It educates and inspires.
Most of these lectures are based on quotations from the 'Vivekachudamani'
and the 'Bhagavad Gita', both of which exhort aspirants to
rise above the body consciousness - the former through the
path of Jnana (discriminative wisdom) and the latter through
the path of Bhakti (devotion to God and His grace). A special
feature of the book is the inclusion in it of the treatment
of these subjects by several saints of the West also.
The
discourses are also punctuated by quotations from the teachings
of Swami Virajanandaji, the Spiritual Teacher of the author,
to whom the book is dedicated. His Guru's grace is what has
endowed Swami Gokulananda with the power to impart this inspirational
quality to his lectures, the benefit of which was derived
till now only by his Delhi audiences, but is now extended
to all readers of English everywhere through this book.
Ramakrishna
Math,
Madras,
20-7-90
Swami
Tapasyananda
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