IN this anthology, some of the best writings of Sri Madhava Ashish, who was for many years the head of a remote and rather unconventional ashram in the Himalayan foothills of northern India, range eloquently over a wide spectrum of contemporary topics on the difficulties that arise during his spiritual adventure and on a creative interpretation of dreams. Always candid and lucid in his analysis, Sri Madhava Ashish could never accept half-baked ideas or superstitious beliefs.
Sri Madhava Ashish was a Scotsman who came to India to work as an aircraft engineer in 1942 but chose to stay on in India, helped by the “combined powers of self and circumstance” to be initiated into the spiritual path. He became a Hindu monk of the Vaishnav order.
The opening chapter of the book gives an idea of what happened during that defining period of his life in the Himalayan ashram. Under the tutelage of his guru Sri Krishna Prem, he strives and attains enlightenment and following his guru’s death, guides a growing number of seekers – people driven by questions about ultimate meaning and purpose.
-MG
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