In The Company of My Lord

This book is a narrative of the first stage of Ma Gurupriya's (Ratnadeepa's) spiritual quest - a rare, open, honest sharing of intensely personal facts and lessons from her life and saadhana.

Ratnadeepa, a young girl from a loving, close knit family given to academic excellence finds increasing purposelessness in life. A mind given to rational thinking, keen observation and analysis, develops at yearning that the world of education, profession and marriage is not able to fulfill. The journey of Ratnadeepa's mind and heart as she searches for the eternal, forms the underlying theme of the book.

Applying the same dedication to her spiritual quest that she had for her studies, Ratnadeepa ultimately attains fulfillment in the wholesome pursuit of the spiritual path. In her writing she shares this journey with rare feelingfulness and candour, revealing the various stages and difficulties her mind coursed through and transcended.

Spirituality permeates every minute detail of Ratnadeepa's daily life. The supreme importance she gives to the Guru's words, growing and flowering according to his guidance, culminate in her transformation from Ratnadeepa to the Universal Mother-Ma Gurupriya.

Ma Gurupriya is a sannyasin disciple of the renowned Saint Poojya Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha ji Maharaj - the guiding force of Narayanashrama Tapovanam (Thrissur, Kerala), the Centres for Inner Resources Development (in India and abroad), and the Foundation for Restoration of National Values. Born in a Bengali family of academic excellence, Mas inner journey began during her student days while pursuing Ph. D (Physics) in Delhi University. At this time, she was engulfed by an intense wave of dispassion, a yearning for something meaningful. Her life took a turn on to the spiritual path through a providential meeting with a fellow student. This finally led her to Baba Gangadhara Paramahamsa of Dakshinakhanda, West Bengal, from whom she received deeksha (spiritual initiation). In 1984, Ma renounced her profession as a lecturer in Physics (Kolkata University), and since 1987 she has been living in Narayanashrama Tapovanam, dedicating her life to the service of Poojya Swamiji in all aspects of his mission.

"In the Company of My Lord" is a title evoking curiosity, admiration and insistence in any devout mind, with regard to what the author has to say in the matter. Every one enjoys the company of people, animals, birds and the like. Our parents, children, brothers, sisters, friends and well-wishers, all give us their company, instilling joy, interest and intimacy.

But is this the case with the Lord we so much adore and are devoted to? The Lord is said to be all-pervading. The Supreme Reality of philosophy as well as the Inmost Self of spirituality also points to the all-pervasiveness. But all these being invisible, remain evasive, despite our best efforts to reach them. In such a background, if someone is ready to speak about his or her living association with the Lord, it is a matter of rare interest, joy and even fulfillment. Thus Ma Gurupriya's narrative here is sure to generate common as well as special interest to the devotees and seekers, including advanced sadhakas.

Our land abounds in Temples. Devotional fondness is abundant in our people. But with all these, how many are able to gain access to their beloved Lord, interact with Him freely, bringing satisfaction and fulfillment? It is in such a background that this narrative of Ma Gurupriya comes to you with its direct, personal, enlightening imprints and inputs. On reading this, one is bound to feel that God or the Supreme Reality is not just a matter of imagination or fantasy, but something too real to ignore. God is even more real than one's own body, its relations and belongings!

Between the mind and the body, does not the mind come first and then the body? Is it not the mind that makes one feel the presence of the body itself? The same mind that makes the body felt, can and also does make the body unfelt, as in deep sleep and unconsciousness.

**Contents and Sample Pages**