Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

Last updated on 2nd Aug. 2019 I was pleasantly surprised to be informed by Notion Press over email, of the first sale of my paperback book, "Autobiography of an Indian Software Techie and Spiritual Aspirant – Part 1" on amazon.in ( https://www.amazon.in/Autobiography-Indian-Software-Spiritual-Aspirant/dp/1645874087 ). The purchase happened towards the end of this month (July 2019). I did not buy the copy on amazon.in, and so it is somebody else who made the purchase. Whoever it is, I hope he or she will find it worth the money they have spent on it. Further, I do hope that they do not mind the somewhat hurried writing approach I have used in the book, due to lack of time as there are many other things on my plate now. I simply do not have the luxury of time now to step back and write in a calm and peaceful way, pondering over what would be the most appropriate words and phrases, and pondering over the flow and other presentation aspects of the book. Now this book is p...

This post follows up on my previous Facebook post dated 21st July 2019: A Hindu priest was attacked in New York, congresswoman says, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2548349405381621  [this Facebook post's full contents are reproduced at the bottom of this blog post]. Yesterday's (28th July 2019) Hindu print newspaper carried this article: U.S. lawmakers condemn attack on Hindu priest, https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/us-lawmakers-condemn-attack-on-hindu-priest/article28733153.ece , 27th July 2019 Swami Harish Chander Puri is the name of the Hindu priest. He seems to be the founder and leader of the Shiv Shakti Peeth temple in New York, http://www.shivshaktipeeth.org/ . I looked up youtube for videos on US lawmakers condemning this attack and found this video: Web Extra: NY AG, Officials Condemn Assault On Hindu Priest, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anHkIvYFMNM , 41 min. 31 secs, published by CBS New York on 23rd July 2019. The above video show...

Last updated on 22nd July 2019 The resurrection of Walter Cowan is a well known incident among Sathya Sai devotees. Here is the article on it from John Hislop's My Baba and I book, put up on SSSCT website: http://www.srisathyasai.org.in/Pages/Devotees_Experiences/Resurrection_WalterCowan.htm . I had read the above article (in John Hislop's book). But I don't think I had read (or do not recall it) Elsie Cowan's version of the miracle. I found Elsie Cowan's article to be straight-forward. I get the impression that (in the article) she is just "telling it like it is". Elsie Cowan writes that (in December 1971) her husband Walter Cowan collapsed in their hotel room in Madras (Chennai now) and that an eminent doctor who had been brought in to examine him, declared him (Walter Cowan) dead. An ambulance was called to take Mr. Cowan to a hospital where the hospital doctor also declared him dead, and Mr. Cowan was covered with a sheet with cotton wool put i...

Yesterday night I enjoyed reading this article: "INDIVIDUAL EMANCIPATION AND WELFARE OF THE WORLD" by Swami Atmashraddhananda of Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, Kolkata, in the May 2019 print issue of Sanathana Sarathi. This is the first part of a two part article (2nd part is carried in the June 2019 issue) based on a talk delivered by Swami Atmashraddhananda in Prasanthi Nilayam (Puttaparthi) on 10th June 2018. The article (first part), IMHO, is a superb articulation of Hindu core beliefs and value system, that I was exposed to in my readings on spirituality & Hinduism in my youth in and around Mumbai from late 1970s to early 1990s (prior to coming to know about Sathya Sai). Note that I have read many books published by Ramakrishna Math and/or Ramakrishna Mission, and have visited their Khar centre in Mumbai, a few times. I strongly recommend that readers interested in these matters should read this article, if they have not read it already. I thought I should...

The paperback version of my part autobiography book in 6 in. x 9 in. size is now available on amazon.in for Rs.285 + shipping here: https://www.amazon.in/Autobiography-Indian-Software-Spiritual-Aspirant/dp/1645874087 . Notion Press self-publishing platform sells it on amazon.in. It also sells it on its own store at the same price here: https://notionpress.com/read/autobiography-of-an-indian-software-techie-and-spiritual-aspirant-part-1-1325351 . This is mainly the same book content (text and pictures) as available at Pothi.com in A5 size: https://pothi.com/pothi/book/ravi-s-iyer-autobiography-indian-software-techie-and-spiritual-aspirant-%E2%80%93-part-1 , for Rs.265 + shipping. Pothi.com's shipping charges seem to be slightly more than Notion Press, and so the final cost of the book is almost the same, whether one buys from Pothi.com or Notion Press/amazon.in. It was possible for me to use two self-publishing platforms for the same book and same edition (first) but with d...

The first edition of my paperback (A5 size) book, "Autobiography of an Indian Software Techie and Spiritual Aspirant - Part 1" has been allotted on 16th July 2019, an ISBN as follows: ISBN with hyphens: 978-93-5382-255-2 ISBN without hyphens: 9789353822552 To see ISBN entry in isbn.gov.in (issuing Indian govt. agency) go to isbn.gov.in and click on "Recently Published Books" link. In "Recently Published Books" page, there is a search criteria box at the top. Specify ISBN number (with or without hyphens) of this book and click on Submit to get the Search results. The Search results should show this book's ISBN entry details. Note that Book Title in isbn.gov.in form does not allow - character and so this book's Title in ISBN entry does not have - character. But Description field has the proper title with - character ("Autobiography of an Indian Software Techie and Spiritual Aspirant - Part 1"). Given below is a pic showing the ...

Sathya Sai as the spritual teacher can be seen in full flow in this video clip: Sathya Sai Baba Discourse - Gurupurnima 30th July 1996 Pt - 7, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAx0nIzqsxs , 9 min. 15 secs. The clip has English sub-titles besides the on-the-spot English translation of Prof. Anilkumar Kamaraju. I came to the Lotus Feet of Sathya Sai in the early to mid 1990s. Like many others, I have personally experienced, live, the power and force of discourses of his like the clip above. What an awesome spiritual teacher Sathya Sai in living form was! Oh how blessed we are to have experienced Sathya Sai, the spiritual teacher! God taking form as the Avatar Sathya Sai to show mankind the way to live in these times while progressing spiritually towards merger in Godhead! How well he teaches about various sects (like Vaishnavites & Shaivites) and various religions, being just different paths to the same God! Truly, Sathya Sai was an amazingly inspiring spiritual teacher. I of...

I now have two paperback books (both being associated, at least in part, with spirituality) which have been self-published using Pothi ( pothi.com ) in A5 size and will very soon have the same two books in 6 in. x 9 in. size, self-published using Notion Press ( notionpress.com ). I think that Pothi (pothi.com) and Notion Press (notionpress.com) are doing terrific work! Great service to society if you ask me, as these Print-On-Demand self-publishing platforms with a free Do-It-Yourself (DIY) option, provide a platform for writers and knowledge-sharers to very affordably provide a way for interested persons to buy printed copies of their writings/knowledge-sharings. I think that contributes significantly to more ideas and more knowledge being available to those who are interested. The key point about Print-On-Demand is that the book author/self-publisher does not have to invest in ordering and storing hundreds of copies of his/her book, and also worry about selling those copies. With ...

Some days back a Facebook correspondent had passed me a video of a young girl doing an awesome dance with the audio background being a part of Sathyam Shivam Sundaram Hindi film song, and then some sentences about Shiva and Shakti. Here's a youtube clip of it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD1IFxBbuJg . But it has been put up by an individual and NOT Sony, so it may get blocked for copyright in future. As per this Hindi language report on the dance, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJKlLqXUGR8 , around 3 mins, the dance was part of Super Dancer Chapter 3 of Sony. The young girl dancing is Jayshree Gogoi and the event was on 9th June 2019. Zeenat Aman was invited as a guest and was seated with the panel of judges. More on Zeenat Aman later in this post. Here's a clip of the Sathyam Shivam Sundaram Hindi film song audio with English meaning and with the video being different from the Hindi film song. From around 5 min. 20 secs, the video has some philosophical stuff not dir...

The First edition, 2nd revision of my ebook, "Autobiography of an Indian Software Techie and Spiritual Aspirant - Part 1" has been allotted an ISBN (different from ISBN for First edition), as follows: ISBN with hyphens: 978-93-5382-135-7 ISBN without hyphens: 9789353821357 To see ISBN entry in isbn.gov.in (issuing Indian govt. agency) go to isbn.gov.in and click on "Recently Published Books" link. In "Recently Published Books" page, there is a search criteria box at the top. Specify ISBN number (with or without hyphens) of this book and click on Submit to get the Search results. The Search results should show this book's ISBN entry details. Note that Book Title in isbn.gov.in form does not allow - character and so this book Title in ISBN entry does not have - character. But Description field has the proper title with - character ("Autobiography of an Indian Software Techie and Spiritual Aspirant - Part 1"). Given below is a pic s...