B. S. Goel
|
|
ABOUT THE BOOK (from the dust jacket) Third Eye and Kundalini is one of the most sensational accounts of the transformation of Dr. B.S. Goel from dust to Divinity, from mortality to immortality and from nothingness to everything. It contains first hand experiences of Third Eye which are perhaps not available in any modern writing presented in modern times on the subject. Third Eye and Kundalini is a reaffirmation of the timeless yogic truth of all religions of the world that the grace of Guru/God can descend on anyone pursuing the path of spirituality and further, that once this grace descends, the sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) will be lifted automatically from the lowest plane of most gross existence to the highest plane of Sat-Chit-Anand, a state of pure Consciousness. The book is a touching account of the mercy of Guru, Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, on his disciple, B.S. Goel for an eternal life where the disciple 'thirsts no more'. Third Eye and Kundalini is an absorbing narration of Kundalini experiences written in simple language so that even a layman can read and enjoy it in the fashion of a fiction. And yet it is not a fiction. It contains many theoretical formulations on religion, psychology and psycho-analysis that even the best placed scholars in these areas may find very useful in their professions. While the book can provide remarkable understanding and guidance to many sadhakas (spiritual aspirants) pursuing the path of spirituality, it contains numerous meaningful advices for those psychic and emotional patients who are suffering with nervous disorders of various kinds and find it difficult to get out of them. Third Eye and Kundalini can convince anyone that each one of us is searching nothing but the ultimate spiritual identity of our own existence. It proclaims that each one of us is a potential Buddha, Mahavira,Jesus Christ and Guru Nanak. In fact, they all represent ONE and the same PURE CONSCIOUSNESS. Someday, each one of us has to realise within our ownselves that we are also 'That' in order to finish our search and journey! Third Eye and Kundalini, it is hoped, will prove to be a great inspiration for all those, who, like the author are groping in the dark jungle of many material and mental philosophies like Marxism and Psychoanalysis to find out a way for their own liberation from all bondages but are not succeeding. It promises to lead them towards the desired goal. ISBN 81-85082-00-6 (SET) ISBN 81-85082-01-4 |
|
BOOK REVIEW by Larry DeWitt This is one of the two or three most important books I have ever read. It is deceptively simple yet profoundly deep. Along with Swami Muktananda's "Play of Consciousness" and Gopi Krishna's "Living With Kundalini," it is one of a handful of first-person accounts of the inner experiences of kundalini sadhana. Too often religious literature is metaphoric or symbolic, if not mythic, in its treatment of the process of spiritual growth and enlightenment. For millennia authentic religious and mystical experiences were hidden, or were part of an oral tradition at best, and when published were deliberately vague. The tradition of explicit descriptions of mystical experiences thrived in India in obscure and inaccessible Sanskrit texts. But in the Western world such accounts are rare indeed. In fact, the appearance of Gopi Krishna's autobiography in 1967 may well be the first publication in English of a first-person account of the kundalini model of mystical experience. The charm of B.S. Goel's account is that he presents an unself-consciously traditional view of religious sadhana while describing some profoundly esoteric mystical experiences. Goel's personal background includes training as a Freudian psychoanalyst and as a philosophical Marxist. These are the axes he has to grind. So much of his account involves critiques of these two materialist traditions. Even so, his account is so honest, so sincere, and so without guile that even his agendas are unoffensive. The essential model that Goel presents is that the individual mind (the jiva) is entrapped in a "cage" of sense impressions, ideas, memories and mental constructs. The kundalini energy burns away this cage of mental constructs and the result is that the jiva merges with the jivatman. According to Goel, the chakra at the sixth center (the "third eye") is a critical way-station in the process. This the point where God/Guru intervenes with the descend of grace or further progress is blocked. The process of spiritual growth is not easy or always blissful, according to Goel, as the kundalini energy "operates on the psychic-cage and nervous system of an individual to destroy the old one and recreate a new one fit for final bliss and knowledge." This model is very reminiscent of the account given by Gopi Krishna. In my assessment, these first-person accounts are the most valuable form of spiritual literature because they take the often abstract or esoteric concepts of the spiritual system and place them in the context of an actual human life. This clarifies many issues and generally makes it much clearer just what is being claimed and what the real possibilities are in a spiritual system. In this regard, B.S. Goel's book is one of the best and rarest of spiritual books. Goel's book has thus far only been published in India and so it is extremely difficult to find in the U.S. One source is the Bodhi Tree Bookstore, 8585 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA 90069-5199 phone: 310-659-1733 or 1-800-825-9798. E-mail: bodhitree@bodhitree.com
Bibliography: Goel, B.S., "Third Eye and Kundalini: An Experiential Account of Journey From Dust to Divinity," Third Eye Foundation of India. 1995. Krishna, Gopi, "Living With Kundalini," Shambala Press. 1993. (Originally published as "Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man," Shambala.) Muktananda, Swami, "Play of Consciousness," SYDA Foundation, 1974. (Originally published as "Guru," Harper & Row.)
|