Customer Reviews

Love is My Form: v. 1: The Advent 1926-1950

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

 

 

I got this book after some trepidation as it cost INR 2,250 (~USD 50). But what a joy it has been to go through.

I've experienced the grace of Sri Sathya Sai Baba; the most significant being the villa where I stay, which is in a unique housing project called Palm Meadows in Bangalore. All the money for it has come from the Infosys stock options that I received on Baba's birthday (23.NOV) in 1994.

I like the manner in which this book takes the reader through a descriptive journey of Baba's first 25 years (1926-1950). Some of the photos are simply amazing.

It's evidently a labor of love by R Padmanaban and his team and the end result is a thing of beauty.

I have been a student of Sai Baba College for 5 years and personally have a very good collection of old photos of Sai Baba. I have known Padmanabhan for several years and have contributed a bit to this book as well.
This book is one of the best biographies of the early life of Sai Baba. Padmanabhan has spent several months of effort in making this wonderful book and it has the best pictures and stories of Sai Baba's early days.
Shyam Das

For years to come devotees and admirers of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba of Prasanthi Nilyam, the world over, will be immensely grateful to Dr. Ranganathan Padmanabhan for compiling and preparing Volume I of a Biographical Series on Sri Sathya Sai Baba, titled "Love is my Form. Volume I: The Advent (1926-1950)" which chronicles the first 25 years of the life of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The text of "Love is my Form" knits a rich tapestry of recorded history, interviews of contemporaries and devotees, narration of landmarks events, personal experiences and an incredible album of photographs, letters and other authenticated documents to give us a panoramic view of the unbelievable life of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. In the words of the compiler "The experience of working on the present volume has been nothing short of living out a divine miracle. It has been a miracle of love." Six more volumes, each dealing with ten to fifteen-year spans are in the production pipeline. When completed it will be one of the most comprehensive biography of an "Avatar" ever compiled.
Who then is this popularly called "Sathya Sai Baba" (or just Baba for short)? "Descending" on this earth on the twenty-third day of November 1926, as an "Avatar" in human form, He was born to a humble family in South India, in the then town of Puttaparthi, as "Sathyanaran Raju", He is known for His miraculous powers and His ability to transform and heal the hearts of people. Baba's central message is based on the "Unity of Faiths", a revival of "Vedic" life and the importance of "Love" as the principle human value for all mankind to live by. He has described Himself in His own words as: ""Sathya" is my "prachaar", "Dharma" is my "achaar", "Santhi" is my "swabhava" and "Prema" is my "swaroopa"". Simply translated it means "Truth is what I say, Righteousness is what I do, Peace is my nature and Love is my form". He also says "Start the day with love, fill the day with love, end the day with love, that is the way to God." About religion He says "There is only one religion - the religion of Love. There is only one language - the language of the heart. There is only one caste - the caste of Humanity. There is only one God and "He" is Omnipresent."
Words fail to describe the wonderful photographs that adorn almost every page of this 620 page tome. The detail chronology of events, exhaustive footnotes and commentaries speak volumes of the scholarly capacity of the compiling team assembling this book. The book ends with an impressive glossary of religious and technical terms. Sai Towers Publishing has performed a yeoman service to mankind in creating, designing and publishing this most wonderful and unique biography of a remarkable "Avatar". Devotees the world over are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the other planned volumes.

My husband and I, along with my family, spent years in India and have fallen in love with the culture. My husband is a professor of philosophy and religion, and he went to the Puttaparthi ashram, there meeting Sri Sathya Sai Baba. My father, a Quaker, is also very much open to the cultures and religions of India and has performed a Quaker/Sikh wedding.. All of us loved the book -- its detail and photos and offering of new information, and its clear showing of the beauty of India Thank you!!