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ALL LOVE FLOWS TO THE SELF
Eternal Stories from the Upanishads
By Kumuda Reddy, Thomas Egenes, and Linda Egenes
Photographs by Mark Paul Petrick and Michael Peter Cain.

The Upanishads have been described as some of the greatest works of wisdom known to mankind. Many regard these stories of spiritual illumination as the jewel in the crown of the vast literature of India's Vedic tradition. In simple tales, they describe the full glory of realizing the inner Self, a state of complete enlightenment where everything in the entire universe is connected in a bond of universal love. The purpose of reading the Upanishads is said to be to remind the reader of the flow of all life towards this supreme goal of enlightenment.

Author Kumuda Reddy first heard these stories when she was a child in India at her grandmother's knee. Coauthors Thomas and Linda Egenes have been long-term students of the Vedic literature and the development of consciousness. All three have studied extensively under the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In their introduction, they pay tribute to the work of Maharishi who, over the last forty years, has gathered together the scattered ancient texts of Vedic literature into a complete science of consciousness of practical use to every human being.

Upa-ni-shad literally means “to sit down near”. Quoting Maharishi, the authors explain how this means that “everything sits down near the Veda”. “Veda” means “pure knowledge” or “pure consciousness”. When we know the essence of everything to be Veda, then we have gained the fruit of all knowledge and can truly be said to be “enlightened”. Thus, even though the Upanishad stories describe the comings and goings of ordinary people and events, at a more subtle level of understanding they are about the dynamics of consciousness found within everyone and can be an invaluable aid on the path to enlightenment. Like all aspects of Veda and Vedic literature, these stories were actually cognized by the great enlightened Vedic Rishis, or seers. They are profound truths that dawned spontaneously in the silent depths of their own pure consciousness.

All Love Flows to the Self contains twelve of the most well-known stories from the Upanishadic literature, describing the path to self-realization from different points of view such as that of a teacher and his student in a secluded forest ashram, a great seer meditating in a Himalayan retreat, and a proud king bowing to the simple wisdom of a humble cart-driver. They have been translated into English by the authors from the original Sanskrit and contain quotations and sayings in the original devanagari script. The language is simple and beautifully poetic and is illustrated by beautiful color photographs of India by Mark Paul Petrick and Michael Peter Cain. Add to this the rich cover design and layout of Shepley Hansen and you have a real “gem” of Vedic literature.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

download photo (257k) Kumuda Reddy, M.D., a former faculty member of Albany Medical College and was Medical Director of the Maharishi Vedic Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She is presently in private practice in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Reddy is an experienced practitioner of Maharishi Vedic Medicine and and an expert in family health care.

download photo (69k) Thomas Egenes, Ph.D. received his doctorate from the University of Virginia. An expert Sanskrit scolar, he is the author of several books on the language, including An Introduction to Sanskrit. He is an Associate Professor at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, where he lives with his wife and fellow author, Linda. Among his current writing projects, he is at work on a second book of stories from the Upanishads.

download photo (59k) Linda Egenes, M.A. writes books for both adults and children. She currently teaches graduate courses in literary journalism at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. She has just published a book about the life of the Amish community entitled Visits With the Amish: Impressions of Plain Life. She is currently working with Dr. Reddy on a book about raising healthy children using the Maharishi Vedic Medicine.

ALL LOVE FLOWS TO THE SELF
Eternal Stories from the Upanishads

Published by Samhita Productions
Pages: 172
Illustrations: 14 color
Size: 9” X 9”
Price: Cloth $24.95
ISBN 1-929297-05-X
Published November 1999