Customer Reviews

Living with the Himalayan Masters: Spiritual Experiences of Swami Rama

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Swami Rama is one of the overlooked great figures of our time. For twenty years I had the privledge of being one of his students. His indepth understanding of the human condition, his selfless service and his profound attainment of states higher consciousness was a wonder to behold. In this autobiography he relates in a humble way his encounters with his early teachers. Since he was raised in a cave monestary from the age of four his life was very different from our modern way of developing as a person. While some of the stories stretch our credability they all actually happened. I realize that many people have difficulty accepting other peoples experience, especially if it outside the range of their own limited life experience and challange our own fixed ideas. Swami Rama definitely challanges us about how the world is, in a very real way, but I find that challange refreshing and inspiring. His core experience, that the goal of human life is spiritual attainment and Self realization pulls us out of our small limited view of the world. It is one of the great spiritual classics. If I was stranded on a desert island with only three books this would be one of them.

This is a timeless classic by one of the most influential yoga masters of the 20th century. It transports you into the caves of the Himalayas and introduces you to the great adepts who live there. This is the real thing from a man whose whole life was an extraordinary spiritual adventure. One of the best books on spirituality ever!

Firstly, I wish to state that this book deserves a 5-star rating for the contents in it. However, the quality of the paperback edition leaves much to be desired. As I was reading this book, the pages got torn easily. I would strongly advise the would be buyer to purchase the hardcover edition of this wonderful book.

Anyway, Swami Rama's memoir on the Himalayan sages might prove to be hard to believe but the description on the miracles of these masters are quite "common" among yogis and saints of the past and the present. In another book, the "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda (which I strongly recommend) the descriptions of the miracles performed by saints is similar to those mentioned in this book. A timeless classic!

I didn't want to put this book down. Partly because the experiences from Swami Rama's life are nearly beyond belief almost as if from the Arabian Nights stories. There are sages with extraordinary powers. But what I really like about this book is Swami Rama doesn't put these feats on a pedastal. He says they are remarkable, but he doesn't worship them. To him these beyond-belief feats show how versatile and ingenious humans can be on the spiritual side (instead of just the technological/scientific side). But Rama knows that these pursuits turn into distractions from the noble pursuit of self-knowledge, and knowledge of Reality.

Few people on Earth have accumulated the spiritual wisdom that Rama did, yet instead of making me feel inferior, I felt inspired to put more of an effort to develop inner spirituality. You learn in the book that he wasn't born with the wisdom. He was foolish growing up, and his guru had to cut down his ego numerous times. But he persevered and never kept his eyes (Third Eye, intuition included) off his goal of self-realization.

I was able to translate his extraordinary experiences to my own life, and I felt like the lessons he studied are lessons we all study through out different experiences. I enjoy gaining some understanding into the underlying order of existence. It's not all for naught.

Also, he clarifies how scientific true spirituality is. It isn't some ambiguous undirected meditative prayer. And it isn't metaphorical, but a rigorous system of self-inquiry requiring discipline and dedication. With enough effort there will be real spiritual experiences that can be duplicated and attained consciously. Rama didn't say it's easy, just that anyone with enough dedication can make measurable progress.

Lastly, Rama's points about people's lack of understanding about death is fascinating. Just about everyone has a fear of dying. Most are too young for it to be an immediate fear, but those who are near their deathbed from old age, accident, or disease know the mental anguish of isolation, of being forced from life. From the sages of the Himlayas, he learns how mastery of death is possible. The fact that Swami Rama passed peacefully into death without any fear is testament to his wisdom, and something we can all learn from considering the fire of death is something we all have to pass through.

I have owned this book for a long time but hesitated to read it because of the catching title. This is not quite what it is about...

It is about Rama`s path in spirituality and there is a lot for every person who searches whatever their path may be. Very open, quite critical of false spirituality, totally aware of the possible mistakes on the road and of the traps set up by pride. I love the simple yet beautiful writing. It is not true that all the sages presented in the book are said to be enlightened. Quite the contrary. But there is a certain humility and great love for people that allows Swami Rama to describe their mistakes without scorn or hate. Also interesting insights on all the major religions. VERY ENLIGHTENING.

I've read many books lately involving Eastern spirituality. This is one of the better titles, not so much because of the "miracles" described in the book, but because of the wisdom of Swami Rama. Some say there is no substitute for experience, and while that is true, knowledge is its complement, and here you will learn from someone who has something to teach. You should buy this book.

I've read this book twice, about a year apart. Each time I benefit. Swami Rama writes about his spiritual development, gained from not only his master, but from other adepts he visits. What he learns from each, he summarizes to the reader. What I gained from this book is ANYTHING is possible: returning from death, healing, precognition, teletransporting, you name it, it's here. Although God is given credit for everything, it's the mind that is God-realized that is necessary. I am reminded of the Autobiography of a Yogi, but I related to this book more easily. Maybe I have advanced a bit ...

I just love this book. It consists of a collection of short "essays", autobiographical, and philosophical, about the author's life growing up in the Himilayas.

Much of Swami Rama's life seems biblical in it spiritual "magic"--it displays similar themes and miracles that you find in the New Testament. For instance, his father's guru predicted that he and his wife--although he was over 60, and she over 40--would have a son who would follow the father's master. The parents, childless for years, declare that this would be a miracle, but that if it happens, the child is his. 18 months later, they have a child, the Swami. When is three, the Master returns and initiates him by whispering a mantra in his ear.

When the Swami is still young, his parents die, and the master comes for him, and they travel together. Often, the master sends his disciple off to study with another guru for a period of time, but throughout his training into his adulthood, the master is, so to speak, the point around which the Swami Rama orbits in his spiritual peregrinations.

He describes many miracles. We witness a resurrection, a miraculous feeding of the poor, and other bizarre, often familiar, miracles. India seems like a land of magic.

Is all this b.s.? Who knows. One thing is certain...the Swami Rama is not self-promoting in this book. He doesn't present himself, for instance, as the performer of miracles. But he does witness them, and is on at least on occasion the recipient of one.

In any case, this book is a good read--simple, wise, and entertaining. I can't recommend it enough.

If you have read Paramahamsa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, and did like it, you will definitely like this book as well. It is very similar, as it is about the yogis who achieved some super-human powers (siddhis) and also peace of mind.
A good inspirational life story.

Book describes Himalayan lifestyle of some great Yogi's. It was very interesting and easy to read. Some of his stories of what the amazing yogi's did is difficult to comprehend. It only leads to greater mystery and motivation for those on the path. Don't be discouraged to purchase if your on the path.