Rabda: My Sigh . . . My Sai by Ruzbeh N Bharucha

Rabda has attempted suicide and chances are that he is going to die. Sai Baba of Shirdi enters the hospital room and awakens the spirit body of Rabda. The two, Master and musician, begin to converse about life, death and everything in between.

Set in the present, Rabda takes the reader to the past, to when the Sai lived in His physical body. The life and philosophy of Sai Baba of Shirdi are revealed, often in His own words, and questions pertaining to Him and spirituality answered.

Nimue Says :

“Sometimes books don't find us until the right time.”

—Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Long before I read his , I believed from all my heart that we often read what we most need. And probably for this reason , I know that Rabda came to me at a very appropriate time. Rabda is story and teaching of Sai baba as narrated to Ciaz ( known also as Rabda ) who is a world famous musician , currently in a hospital after yet another failed suicide attempt. It is little heartening to read that he did not want to die 'cause he was unhappy but just that he did not find any purpose strong enough to live for. So Rabda tries to die , with chanting Sai and listening to his own song; and is blessed by visit from Sai who takes his spirit along him to a faraway cave where the men share their love , life and more importantly , the lessons of and for a beautiful life.

There might be many a books on life of Sai baba and many more about his teachings. But this book is not either or both. This is more like a dialogue between Sai and Rabda where Sai is at his casual best and Rabda too is not a star struck devotee but a curious , carefree and yet devoted and faithful companion. The life story moves in a linear format with certain events mentioned randomly in the conversations. Sai talks about his life, first as a novice on the path to meet the One, and later as a guide to others walking the same path. and in between we get to read of all that we have been taught and told in different ways but perhaps have forgotten the reasons and implications.

What I liked about the book is that some of the examples and simple ways the writer has used to explain serious stuff. Sample the talk about going through hard times. We all hear "As you sow, so shall you reap". The writer further explains it like going to a fine dining restaurant. You know the price of the dish before you order, and also you order the quantity yourself. Now when the bill comes, you cannot fight with the manager telling the bill is too much. You pay for what you order. Same with your life. You pay for all the bad actions and are protected and rewarded for the goodwill you spread and share.

And yet, the flow of the book was interrupted at times ( many times) by the repetition of certain phrases that Sai uses for Rabda. Certain swear words do not work for me at all, specially not my God saying those. Are we not supposed to have a clean language too ? Also, some concepts of the spiritual growth and journey are beyond my complete grasp. I am glad that the writer at times presented the same ideas in different ways and summarized them in the end so I have some half cooked idea of my own but I will still have to read those chapters again, perhaps when I am mature enough.

The scenes of Sai leaving earth and trying to help every and anyone he could in those last breath too , was touching. The way he spent all his life in making people love God and seek him for the same; and still humans kept going to him for selfish purposes , made me feel so guilty. As I finished the book , I felt tears in my own eyes and that for me , was my love for God , the super power I feel in the very fabric of life around me. In all, I liked the book and would recommend this to all God-loving folks. As for the non-believers, I had a talk with a few close friends and I realized that even they believe in the goodness of humans and loving the creations on Earth. Just that , they focus more on living in the moment and have problems with next birth or the spirit life. Well, they can still like the book for the teachings of Oneness of God ( no religion) , Being good , passing kindness , Living comfortable yet not with too much wastage and never refusing anyone for help you can give easily.

My rating : 4/5

Gifts with no Giver, by Nirmala

To read poetry is easy, to understand poetry is a little more difficult. Spirituality and poetry have always gone together. A casual look into Indian history and mythology will show the same. Meera Bai or the sage Narada, they have composed poetry in dedication to the gods. Those poems cover the aspect of love and truth often. It is with a mix of alacrity and anxiety that I began to read this book of poems.

So, what are the poems about? In the poet’s own words, they are an attempt to capture the undying presence of love. They are to touch our souls, the words of a lover drunk with a passion for the truth.

Do they work? I suppose to each person, the understanding of a poem varies. I did enjoy and understand a few of the poems. Like one that speaks of being satisfied in the moment that is now; or the one that talks of the good things in “not knowing”. They carried meaning, and they were beautiful.

But, for the most part, these poems were confusing. Yes, I could sense that the poems were talking of love. But to me, they spoke in riddles that were too hard to unravel.

I’ll not be re-reading it. But I feel, if the reader can unravel those riddles, they might enjoy it enough to read them again.

---

Title: Gifts with no Giver
Author: Nirmala
Genre: Poetry
ISBN/ASIN: B003YL4FUI

Journey to Ithaca

Author: Anita Desai
Publisher: Vintage / Random House India
ISBN-13: 9788184000771
ISBN-10:8184000774
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 400 Pages
Copy courtesy: Publisher
Rating: 3.5/5

Now she knows why the Mother went on that pilgrimage, why anyone goes on a pilgrimage, and why she must go too.

Journey to Ithaca by Anita Desai is about poignant pilgrimages of the protagonists, painted with so much beauty and pathos, it takes you on one of your own. Desai does that. She is masterful in carrying a reader in her arms to surreal places, in unforgettable realms. I shall always remember the time I read my first Desai novel, The Artist of Disappearance. I shall always remember how she took my breath away with almost every sentence. She weaves similar her magic in Journey to Ithaca, but in certain places, in certain ways. It is not a sustained work of genius like The Artist... is. I remember wanting to cry sometimes, so overwhelmed I was with the beauty of her language.

Like here: Isabel is quiet, separating two ideas and then putting them together again: Grandmother does not want them to go to their parents, and grandmother does not want them here. 'Then where can we go?' she asks, not knowing a third place for themselves. 

And here: ...and a jasmine that flowered and flowered as though it thought itself to be in paradise.

But I also remember being bored at times. Especially the last few pages. Perhaps I was tired of reading the the book, perhaps Desai of tired of writing it. The end of Matteo and Sophie's story and that of Laila or the Mother's and that of Giacomo and Isabel all come to a laboured end, but that's perhaps how it feels when one reaches Ithaca.

Journey to Ithaca takes us along on the arduous road to self discovery of Matteo, his antithetic wife, Sophie, and the spiritual journey of the Mother/Laila. As Mateo tires of his bourgeois Italian upbringing and heads to India with his newly-wedded wife, Sophie in search of life's true purpose, we fall and flail along the path with them. Sophie is disgruntled with the dirt, the disease and the poverty of India and wants to live the 'Goa' life, while Matteo suffers in his search for a guru, until at last he finds refuge in the Mother. Sophie does not understand Matteo's blind faith in the Mother and proceeds to uncover her past in the hope to open her husband's eyes. Sophie learns about the spiritual guru's past as Laila, a rebel, who dances her way to India, and finally meets her spiritual master and destiny.

Desai's portrayal of Matteo and Laila strike home particularly hard because their search for the Supreme is laced with a lot of pain, doubt and conflict. The author is brilliant when she deals with strong emotions such as these. You can feel it sometimes like a body blow, when Matteo lies on the cold hard ground in wait and Laila weeps in agony to be united with her divine lover. Sophie's bewilderment draws sympathy too, but not as much. The characters are stark and the plot sublime. Reading Desai needs you to be buoyant, to float, and to let it take you to Ithaca and beyond.

Only Love is Real: The story of soulmates reunited - By Dr. Brian Weiss

Image source: Self-clicked.

ONLY LOVE is REAL: Spirituality, Psychology and Metaphysics.

AUTHOR: Dr. Brian Leslie Weiss, MD (68) is a traditional psychotherapist. In 1988, during one of his sessions, he was astonished and skeptical, when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. His skepticism was eroded, however, when she began to channel messages from “the space between lives,” which contained remarkable revelations about Dr. Weiss’s family and his dead son. Using past-life therapy, he was able to cure the patient and embark on a new, more meaningful phase of his own career. Dr. Weiss is graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School. He is also the Chairman Emeritus of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. (From the official website http://www.brianweiss.com/)

Image Source Dr. Brian L.Weiss, MD

BEST SELLER(s): Many Lives, Many Masters; Miracles Happen; Through Time Into Healing; Messages from the Masters; Same Soul, Many Bodies; Mirrors of Time: Using regression for Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Healing; Meditation: Achieving Inner Peace and Tranquillity In Your Life; Eliminating Stress and Finding Peace; and Healing the Mind and Spirit Cards.

SYNOPSIS (From the Blurb):

                       We all have a soulmate, someone who is special to us.

In his books, psychiatrist and past-life therapist Dr. Brian Weiss describes the extraordinary case of two of his patients, Pedro and Elizabeth, whose shared lives and lifetimes unfolded quite separately in his office. Could they have loved - and lost - each other across time?

Dr. Weiss explains that you may be awakened to the presence of your soul companion by a look, a dream, a memory or a feeling. Finding and reuniting with your soulmate will bring you profound bliss and happiness, safe in the knowledge that you are together always, to the end of time.

EXCERPT:

I have been here before,

But when and how, I cannot tell;

I know the grass beyond the door,

The sweet keen smell,

The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.

You have been mine before -

How long ago I may not know:

Just when at that swallow's soar,

Your neck turned so,

Some veil did fall, - I know it all of yore.

- DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI

You never forget the hurt, but, as time passes, you can live around it. After a decade of pain, we began to understand about the immortality of souls.

MSM Speaks: There are certain genres which people usually don't find themselves attracted to and at the risk of stereotyping, I would say - religion or spiritualism is one such genre. You either need to have a keen interest or a hunger to hold on to the knowledge and wisdom delivered until the end. I came across this book after few of my friends mentioned Many Masters, Many Lives as something that I should pick up. However, Only Love is Real was given to me by one of my friends. To be honest, I did not open it until few days back because of the mental block that it must be highly boring and well, clichéd. 

The book starts off at a pretty slow pace to make the reader familiar with terms and issues to be dealt with in Past Life Regression Therapy. Dr. Weiss introduces little verses at the beginning of all the chapters to make them more intriguing. I really loved the verse that I have given in the excerpt - it is in essence, all of what Dr. Weiss is trying to say. He starts with Elizabeth's session who is suffering from anxiety and bad relationships. She is also in deep sadness regarding her mother, whom she lost. A lot of her problems are dealt with and a marvellous connection is brought out to her previous lives. 

In another session, Dr. Weiss is dealing with a Mexican patient Pedro who has been suffering from a lot of mental stress and physical stress. Also, he has recently lost his older brother and therefore, feels an incredible sense of loss that seems to be rooted beyond this lifetime. 

Two parallel therapies are taking place - two parallel connections are being drawn. Masters from the other side meanwhile give messages worth reassessing our position in this world. Yes, we are indeed a tiny speck, but we are also one of a kind, the sui generis. Dr. Weiss does not impose what he believes, just gives his take on the principle of past life regressions.

I had to finish this book, and yes, somewhere somehow, even though the contemporary upbringings tell us to believe otherwise, I ended up feeling hopeful about myself. A complete feel good book. 

My Rating: 4.5/5

ONLY LOVE is REAL@ Piatkus UK (www.piatkus.co.uk) 2004

ISBN 978-0-7499-1620-6
Number of Pages: 176
Price: INR 225 /- (flipkart)