Love Perfected, Life Divine

Swami Kriyananda

Description

Inspired by Marie Corelli's book, The Life Everlasting, Swami Kriyananda—direct disciple of the great world teacher, Paramhansa Yogananda (author of the classic Autobiography of a Yogi)—retells the dramatic story of a woman's discovery of her twin soul—a discovery that propels her to undertake an arduous and perilous climb to the loftiest heights of spiritual awakening. Fueled by her love, the heroine must overcome harrowing challenges before she realizes the goal of her yearning in union with God. Love Perfected, Life Divine is a timeless tale that carries the reader to the heart of the inner quest.

As Swami Kriyananda wrote in his introduction:
The Life Everlasting is the only novel Paramhansa Yogananda ever finished reading. I can understand why he did so. It has a deep spiritual potential. I myself have enjoyed it, and have read it many times. I would not have undertaken this endeavor, however, if Yogananda himself had not also addressed the subject [of soul-mates] once, so obliquely as to cry for clarification. He said—and, to the best of my knowledge, once only—that everyone, before attaining oneness with God, must be united with his soul dual, even if that dual is living on another planet and the union can be achieved only in vision. . . .

The Life Everlasting . . . exerts an undeniable spell. . . . [It is] not afraid to express openly the author's devotion to God without enclosing the reader in a narrow box of sectarianism. . . .
I have rewritten [this] story because, with all its faults, I have always loved it. I have cleared out massive amounts of excessive verbiage; introduced a note of greater kindness; cut out many pages as unnecessary and, indeed, deleterious to the lofty mood of the book. I have rewritten the book also to make it correspond to my own beliefs. I think, as you read, you will understand my reasons for the countless changes I have made. And I conclude by saying I am happy with the results. I hope you, dear reader, will be happy also.

Sujets

• Love
• Love (disambiguation)
• Fiction
• Paramahansa Yogananda
• Swami Kriyananda
• Soulmate (disambiguation)
• Religious

Informations

• Publié par: Crystal Clarity Publishers
• Date de parution: 07 octobre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781565895256
• Langue: English

Extrait

“. . . Until, in our perfected love, we find the perfect love of God.”
From the Marriage Ceremony used in the Ananda Communities, written by Swami Kriyananda
Testimonials

“I finished Love Perfected, Life Divine this morning. It is beautiful and so uplifting!” — Dharmadas Schuppe, teacher
“Yesterday I read Swami Kriyananda’s new book. I started in the afternoon and simply couldn’t stop, so I went on reading until midnight! It’s one of the most amazing, transforming, and powerful books I’ve ever read. I feel like a different person.” — Sahaja Mascia Ellero, teacher, translator
“This is an amazing book, infused with divine power.” — Nandini Valeria Cerri, publicist
“ Love Perfected, Life Divine is one of those rare novels that is both entertaining and profound. The story draws you in with an ever-increasing force, your heart captivated by the heroine’s quest to find eternal love in the midst of cynicism and materialism. The ever-deeper truths revealed in these pages seem at first mildly exotic, then familiar, and finally as if springing from your own higher self. This is a profoundly uplifting book.” — Jyotish Novak, author of How to Meditate
“This book explains perfectly the reality and the true purpose of soul-mates as a means of merging back into God’s infinite and eternal love. It is full of deep wisdom, spiritual insight, human romance, and adventure. Absolutely fantastic. A masterpiece! Everyone should read it!” — Narayani Jha, stylist
“To me, though it may sound blasphemous, this book is even more important than the Ramayana . It is no less than a scripture; even its physical presence emanates light.” — Kaveeta Kaul, film director
“I really love this book. It’s quite a page-turner! The characters and story offer such insight and interest. Swami Kriyananda’s writing is exquisite—a treasure chest of amazing wisdom, and so eloquently phrased. Before this I could never read Corelli’s whole book; it was too flowery for me. You’ve pruned and enhanced it and made it thoroughly fascinating!” — Padma McGilloway, international publishing marketer
“I salute this book as a scripture, highly suitable for the modern age. Love Perfected, Life Divine is a gentle testimony to the greatest reality: Love, so universally misunderstood. Everyone wants to be loved, but how few people realize that they themselves, in their true Self, are LOVE! This work will enlighten many. I know of no other book that conveys such deep insights on how to live life in the highest way.”
— Hansa Malik, guide to joyful living
“This book is beautiful. I read it without moving for hours and hours.”
— Nirmala Schuppe, graphic artist
“This rewrite of Marie Corelli’s work is a hundredfold improvement. Swami Kriyananda has turned the story into a page-turner.”
— Hriman McGilloway, teacher
“A thrilling and beautiful tale, filled with quenchless yearning and undaunted determination to achieve final fulfillment. I enjoyed every page.” — Devi Novak, author of Faith Is My Armor
“It is rare that a novel can convey deep truths in such a way that the reader’s consciousness is transformed, but Love Perfected, Life Divine succeeds beautifully. This captivating book elevates the genre of romantic adventure to its highest peak. It reveals the ultimate fulfillment of all human love, and ushers the seeker past many pitfalls on the spiritual path. Swami Kriyananda has written a story for the ages.”
— Richard Salva, author of The Reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln

A NOVEL

Swami Kriyananda
Crystal Clarity Publishers, Nevada City, CA 95959
Copyright © 2013 Hansa Trust
All rights reserved. Published 2013
Printed in China.
ISBN 13: 978-1-56589-277-4
ePub ISBN: 978-1-56589-525-6
Cover design by Nirmala Schuppe and Tejindra Scott Tully
Interior design and layout by Tejindra Scott Tully
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kriyananda, Swami.
Love perfected, life divine : a novel / Swami Kriyananda.
pages cm
“Inspired by, and completely rewritten from, The life everlasting, by Marie Corelli.”
ISBN 978-1-56589-277-4 (quality pbk. : alk. paper) --
ISBN 978-1-56589-525-6 (epub)
I. Corelli, Marie, 1855-1924. Life everlasting. II. Title.
PS3611.R59L68 2013
813’.6--dc23
2013013346
www.crystalclarity.com / 800.424.1055 – 530.478.7600
Contents
~ Chapter One ~ The Heroine Begins Her Story
~ Chapter Two ~ The Fairy Ship
~ Chapter Three ~ The Angel of a Dream
~ Chapter Four ~ A Bunch of Heather
~ Chapter Five ~ An Unexpected Meeting
~ Chapter Six ~ Recognition
~ Chapter Seven ~ Memories
~ Chapter Eight ~ Visions
~ Chapter Nine ~ Joyful Destiny
~ Chapter Ten ~ The House of Aselzion
~ Chapter Eleven ~ A Cross and a Star
~ Chapter Twelve ~ A First Lesson
~ Chapter Thirteen ~ Shadow and Sound
~ Chapter Fourteen ~ The Magic Book
~ Chapter Fifteen ~ Dreams Within a Dream
~ Chapter Sixteen ~ The Unknown Deep
~ Chapter Seventeen ~ Into the Light
Foreword
by Nayaswami Asha
“Why would God plant within us such a deep longing to be loved, not only impersonally by Him, but also personally by a single other, if He did not also intend to fulfill that desire?”
In a quiet conversation in the living room of the apartment where he was staying in Los Angeles, California, Swami Kriyananda raised this question.
“Before God-realization can be attained,” he went on to say, “ every desire must be fulfilled. Even so small a thing as the desire for an ice cream cone must be satisfied. That is what my Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, said. Certainly, the fulfillment of so compelling a desire as the longing for perfect love must be part of God’s plan for us.”
Does the duality we see all through God’s creation extend to the level of the soul? Is each individual only half of a divinely created pair? Is that the source of our longing for a single, perfect love?
Yogananda, Swamiji said, spoke of “soul-mates” only once—in his commentary on the Bible passage, “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” This joining, Yogananda explained, is not the man-made convention of marriage, but a God-created, eternal reality. Union with that soul-mate, Yogananda said, must come before God-realization can be attained. This union, though, has nothing to do with romance as the human mind conceives it. Passion itself, selfish desires of all kinds are the greatest barriers to that union. One’s soul-mate might even be living on another planet and union come through divine vision.
Yogananda didn’t dilate on the subject, lest his students abandon their search for God and look instead for a soul-mate! Swamiji, too, in all his prolific writing and speaking has rarely referred to the subject, and never at length—until now.
The method Swamiji has chosen—a surprise even to him!—is a complete rewrite of a novel first published over a hundred years ago: The Life Everlasting , by Marie Corelli. Corelli struggled to explain the idea of soul-mates, but it proved beyond her understanding. Still, hers was the first known speculation on the subject, and is not without merit. It is said to be the only novel Yogananda ever read through to the end.
To Corelli’s inspired plot, fascinating characters, and exquisite descriptive prose, Swami Kriyananda has added the spiritual clarity that has brought him world renown.
Now it is the story of one soul’s search for her eternal mate: God. And also the story of two divinely destined lovers—twin souls—who meet, separate, meet and separate again, in countless tumultuous, dramatic lifetimes. Finally, on a mysterious yacht in a desolate area off the Scottish coast, they find each other once again, and understand that their mutual completion will be found in God: their human completion in each other; their divine completion in God.
Many tests and trials must be faced and overcome. Courageously they plunge ahead, determined that, this time, no fears and no selfish misunderstandings will keep them from either goal.
“Your union is solely for the purpose of merging together in God ,” they are told. “ God, not human affection, is the goal. Therefore the bond between you is not only a blessing: it is also a test—a test of your faithfulness to the highest ideal. . . . There must be no desires, no attachments, no self-limiting thoughts of any kind.”
Countless men and women through the ages, often with tears of frustrated longing, have asked the question: “Is there for me—as long as I have a separate ego—a destined ‘other,’ my twin soul throughout Eternity?” Never, until this book, has there been a satisfactory answer.
Never until now has the question of soul-mates been raised and answered with such a perfect blend of poetry, romance, and wisdom. Even the austere renunciate will find in this story the guidance and inspiration to realize within himself the perfect love of God. Perfected love is life divine.
“Selfless love is not an Emotion, but a Principle. As the generator of Life, love pervades all things and is in all things. . . . Love is a Divinity whose power is limitless, and whose benediction bestows on life all beauty, all sweetness, all joy.”
Introduction
The Life Everlasting , by Marie Corelli, is the only novel Paramhansa Yogananda ever finished reading. I can understand why. It holds a deep spiritual potential. I myself have enjoyed it, and have read it many times. I would not have undertaken this endeavor, however, if Yogananda himself had not also addressed the subject in such a way as to demand clarification. He said—and, to the best of my knowledge, once only—that everyone, before attaining oneness with God, mu