The Science of Self Realization
- Learning the Science of the SelfChoosing a Spiritual MasterDiscovering the RootsUnderstanding Kṛṣṇa and ChristPracticing Yoga in the Modern AgeFinding Spiritual Solutions to Material ProblemsExploring the Spiritual FrontierAttaining Perfection
From the back cover
In this book you will discover the timeless science that great teachers have spoken for millennia. The Science of Self-Relization opens up the secrets of the self within, nature of the universe, and the Supreme Self within and without. Here the world’s most distinguished teacher of the science of self-realization talks about meditating and practicing yoga in the modern age, gaining liberation from the law of karma, achieving superconsciousness, and much more. In all the interviews, lectures, essays, and letters chosen for this special book, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda speaks with startling clarity and power. He proves just how relevant the science of self-realization is to today’s world and your own life. ¶
Appreciations of Srīla Prabhupāda’s Work
Over the years many people have expressed their appreciation for Śrīla Prabhupāda’s work—bringing India’s timeless science of self-realization to the West. ¶
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“His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda is doing valuable work, and his books are significant contributions to the salvation of mankind.”
“Swami Bhaktivedanta brings to the West a salutary reminder that our highly activistic and one-sided culture is faced with a crisis that may end in self-destruction because it lacks the inner depth of an authentic metaphysical consciousness. Without such depth, our moral and political protestations are just so much verbiage.”
“In the diversity of religious approaches offered by the yogis of India the most significant of course is the way of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, shown by Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktivedanta Swami, tenth teacher in the tradition of Mahāprabhu Caitanya. It is amazing to see how Śrī Bhaktivedanta Swami has in less than ten years succeeded by his personal devotion and single-minded dedication to the task, untiring energy and efficient direction, in organizing the International Society for Krishna Consciousness having thousands of devotees, opening the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temples in the major cities of the world and writing numerous works on the bhakti-yoga as taught by Sri Kṛṣṇa and Sri Caitanya.”
“A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda is a prestigious master and heir to a great tradition.”
“Words fail me to describe the height of scholarship and devotion manifest in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s vast writings. Our future generations will definitely find a better world to live in through the efforts of Śrīla Prabhupāda. He stands for international brotherhood and the spiritual integration of all mankind. The literary world outside India, particularly of the West, is indebted to Śrīla Prabhupāda, who has so scientifically acquainted them with what is best in Kṛṣṇa conscious India.”
“As a native of India now living in the West, it has given me much grief to see so many of my fellow countrymen coming to the West in the role of gurus and spiritual leaders. Just as any ordinary man in the West becomes conscious of Christian culture from his very birth, any ordinary man in India becomes familiar with the principles of meditation and yoga from his very birth. Unfortunately, many unscrupulous persons come from India, exhibit their imperfect and ordinary knowledge of yoga, cheat the people with their wares consisting of mantras, and present themselves as incarnations of God. So many of these cheaters have come convincing their foolish followers to accept them as God, that those who are actually well-versed and learned in Indian culture have become very concerned and troubled. For this reason, I am very excited to see the publications of Śrī A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. They will help to stop the terrible cheating of false and unauthorized ‘gurus’ and ‘yogis’, and will give an opportunity to all people to understand the actual meaning of Oriental culture.”
“The books of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda are not only beautiful, but also relevant to our times, as we as a nation search for new cultural patterns for our way of life.”
“It is a great honor for me to have the pleasure of examining the publications of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, which I find to be of exeptional value for use in educational institutions and libraries. I particularly recommend the ancient classic Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to all students and professors of Indian philosophy and culture. The learned author, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, is a world renowned saint and savant in the field of Vedic philosophy and its practical application in the modern world. He has established over one hudred spiritual ashrams, for the study and cultivation of Vedic knowledge, throughout the world. Factually, he is unequaled in his efforts to establish the Vedic way of life, sanātana-dharma, in all countries of the world. Certainly, I am most grateful that this message of the Bhāgavata is being spread for the benefit of the world by such a qualified personality as Swami Bhaktivedanta.”
“Swami Bhaktivedanta has offered to devotees of God a blessed service with his English translations and commentaries.The universal application of these truths is shown to be a promised blessing in these times of challenge when light is illumining darkness. Truly this is a holy, inspired writing for all aspiring souls seeking the why, whence and whither of life!”
“… As a successor in direct line from Caitanya, the author is entitled, accrding to Indian custom, to the majestic title of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Swami Prabhupāda possesses total mastery of the Sanskrit language. The great interest that his reading of the Bhagavad-gītā holds for us is that it offers us an authorized interpretation according to the principles of the Caitanya tradition. … This appreciation, coming from a Christian philosopher and Indologist, is a gesture of sincere friendship.”
“I have read Śrī Bhaktivedanta Swami’s books with great care, attention, and profound interest, and have found them to be of incalculable value to anyone who is curious about India’s spiritual and cultural heritage. The author of these books displays on every page an astounding scholarship in the subjects treated, and also an understanding and ease of exposition of abstruse ideas, which are rarest gifts of a man who has been rigorously brought up in the schools of Vaiṣṇava philosophy and has absorbed its teachings so fully that he seems to have reached the highest state of spiritual illumination only few blessed souls achieve.”
“Undoubtedly, the work of Swamiji is a great contribution to the troubled human society of today’s world.”
“The appearance of an English translation of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Goswami’s Śrī Caitanya-caritāmrta by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda is a cause for celebration among both scholars in Indian studies and lay people seeking to enrich their knowledge of Indian spirituality.”
“… Anyone who gives a close reading to the commentary will sense that here, as in his other works, Śrī Bhaktivedanta has combined a healthy mixture of the fervent devotion and aesthetic sensitivity of a devotee and the intellectual rigor of a textual scholar.”
“… These exquisitely wrought volumes will be a welcome addition to the libraries of all persons who are committed to the study of Indian spirituality and religious literature, whether their interests are sparked by the motivations of the scholar, the devotee or the general reader.”