In Whispers from Eternity, by Paramhansa Yogananda, we are taught to pray to Our Heavenly Father by demanding, not begging, and thus not to limit ourselves to the way of beggary. The author explains at the start why our prayers are not always answered. All the property a father owns can be claimed by his son, but not by a beggar. That is why the author tells us that, in order to demand, we must first realize our forgotten identity with the Father in deep meditation; we must, by right living, remember that God made us in His image.

In this sacred book we are shown how to resurrect dead, old‐fashioned prayers, and through their living qualities bring response from the Silent Almighty. Instead of parroting dead prayers, this book teaches us how to saturate our prayers with God‐invoking love.

We are taught here how to avoid two extremes—egotistical guidance from the little self, and blind, passive dependence on God. It teaches us how to use our own God‐given will power and concentration, guided not by our egos but by God, in making life successful in every way. Consequently, the author writes: “I will reason, I will will, I will act; but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right thing that I should do in everything.”

The prayers in this book help to bring God closer by describing feelings that arise from direct God‐contact. God is expressed here as something finite and tangible. The Cosmic Idol is a grand concept of the In nite and Invisible made nite, tangible, and visible. Nature, man, mind, and all visible objects are taken as materials to build a magnificent Divine Idol on which we can concentrate easily.

The followers of all religions can drink from this fountain of universal prayers. These invocations are an answer to the modern scientific mind, which seeks God intelligently. The prayers in this book are presented in great variety, and therefore enable each one of us to choose those prayers best suited and helpful to his own particular needs.

My humble request to the reader is expressed in the following lines:

Pass not by, with hurried intellectual reading, the mines of realization hidden in the soil nourishing the word‐plants in this sacred book. As the author tells us, dig into them deeply, daily and repeatedly, with the pickax of attentive, reverential, and meditative study. Then you will find the priceless gem of Self‐realization.

Amelita Galli-Gurci

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Whispers from Eternity