Review from SpiritualityHealth.com
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Doug Glener and Sarat Komaragiri have gathered 26 inspiring stories from India's oral tradition about men and women who demonstrated the highest spiritual virtues. They come from Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Sufism. Yet despite their roots in different traditions, they all hold in high esteem the same reverence for charity, fearlessness, peacefulness, renunciation, purity of heart, truthfulness, absence of greed, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and perseverance in the pursuit of wisdom.

In the introduction Sarat Komaragiri notes: "These tales were passed down within families, as they were in mine, where my grandmother and parents told us many inspiring tales at bedtime. Over the years, I realized these were not mere stories but principles by which to live. Like lamps in the dark, they lighted my way through gloom and confusion as I was growing up, revealing to me that the true purpose in life was to find God." What is their gift to the reader?   He quotes Swami Shankara, the eight-century monist: "The company of a saint even for a second has the power to transport us across the ocean of delusion."

Among the company of saints here are Kabir, Mirabai, Tegh Bahadur, Eknath, Nanda, Ramananda, Milarepa, and Namdev. These tales speak in sly and subtle ways about the value of selflessness, the way a person's character is revealed in the smallest of deeds, and inner peace that comes from total surrender to God.   These stories are good medicine for those who want to walk the path of devotion.

Copyright (2002) by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Reprinted with permission from SpiritualityandPractice.com. Link to the original review article.

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