The Heart of the Eastern Mystical Teaching

This is an account of the life and teachings of a God-realised Mahatma, Shri Dada of Aligarh (1854-1910), a life given to sharing his knowledge of ultimate reality and relieving distress in whatever form it confronted him. Shri Dada was a traditional teacher of the way of Self-Knowledge (Adhyatma Yoga), based on the philosophy of non-duality (Advaita). Unlike many of the great spiritual figures of the time, Shri Dada remained in the world as a family man, earning his livelihood and bearing his share of life's trials. His short sermons, and his response to events and to people, give the surest indication of how to advance one's spiritual progress in daily life, 'intent on expanding your limited experience of a fraction of the finite world to consciousness of infinity, perfect peace, bliss and love'. Shri Dada was known as the Saint Universal, who saw that all religions lead to the same goal, and for whom 'Hindus and Moslems, Christians and Jains are waves and bubbles of the same water of love'. There are several interchanges with people of other faiths, and the book is an antidote to religious narrowness of any kind.