The Spiritual Evolution (4 Lectures in U.S.A.)

Our Guru Swami Vidyanandji of Pune visited America. A son (Sun) of India shone in his brilliance in America. Swamiji likes to go places. He has traveled the lengths and breaths of India to the holy places and others for feeling the pulse of India. As he himself has said, he derives power from holy places and distributes the same to the disciples. But it is also true that he energizes the places that have lost their powers in course of time.

Swamiji visited U.S. on the request of a few Indian youngsters placed in America and well inclined to Spiritualism. It was more of a personal invitation. Swamiji always looks for the opportunity to meet people, and what an opportunity it became for his devotees! Swamiji only knows best what really the deeper mission of his visit was. But one thing is very clear in that he gave the message of our Vedanta, the higher wisdom, lofty ideals, deeper Spiritualism, all-encompassment and the ultimate Truth of India among Indian Americans, Indian residents in America and some of the Americans. There is no doubt that he won the hearts of all there.

This Small book of 69 pages is not something that was written as a book. In the first part of it is a compilation of the four discourses delivered by revered Swamiji in English, in America. The second part consists of mostly the excerpts from letter correspondence between Swamiji and his disciples in America.

Through the four discourses that he delivered, he takes the disciples to the Indian way of looking at Spirituality. He teaches as to what a human being is in reality, what is this thing called Universe, what is God and how can one reach God - the four most difficult aspects of Spiritualism. In the question-answer part, he clears many of the doubts of the disciples which can well form the doubts of any genuine seeker, in a very interesting and logical way. In this set of questions is a good mix of questions of general as well as personal nature, and all are intelligent and quality-questions. Swamiji responds with all the concern, to the point but elaborate, with perfect logic and gracefully at the same time, being very open and yet not hurting, bold, revealing and still careful. The So’ham discipline, into which Swamiji initiates a disciple, has also been explained in short in the course of exchange of questions and answers. Swamiji comes from the Spiritual lineage of Nath Pantha. He has also studied deeply the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and follows his lines in achieving lofty ideals in his own Spiritual path. There is no wonder that Swamiji carries the touch of Sri Aurobindo in his language. Even his English resembles the style of Sri Aurobindo. He carries too the softness and concern of Swami Vivekananda.

It was the long cherished desire of some of Swamiji’s disciples that Swamiji’s original work in English should get published. That wish is getting partly fulfilled here. The very first book of Swamiji on a Spiritual subject was written in English in 1972. It was a highly acclaimed and respectable biography of Swamiji’s Guru Swami Swaroopanand of Pawas. Three decades have passed since then. In the interim period, many of Swamiji’s books were published but these are all in Marathi. Hope the English loving readers of Spiritual bend would find this small volume useful and to their liking.

**Sample Pages**