Book Talk
Subtle-effect of Spiritual Books Depending on Their Author
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jayant Athavale
Writing a book on spirituality is not as easy as writing books about the physical world. This is because the subject of spirituality is subtle in nature and therefore an author needs to access subtle-knowledge to write a spiritual book. Authors of spiritual books shape society’s perception about spirituality and how they practise.The team at the Maharshi University of Spirituality has thirty-seven years of spiritual research experience. The spiritual research team studied the process of writing books spirituality. Using aura and subtle-energy scanners along with the advanced sixth sense of its research team, an experiment was conducted to test the spiritual efficacy of the literary works of three categories of authors. It was observed that the book written by a Saint emitted highly positive subtle-vibrations. In contrast, books written by the other two categories of authors, an average person and a self-proclaimed spiritual guide, emitted negative subtle-vibrations. Further analysis revealed that both authors were affected by negative energies. These negative energies influenced how the two authors received subtle-knowledge. Most authors write spiritual books to gain fame and/or fortune. Due to such worldly motives, they do not gain access to Divine guidance. Subtle negative forces take advantage of the worldly ambitions of such authors and try to influence the author’s thoughts to misguide society through his book. Hence, it is recommended that spiritual books should only be written by Saints or under the guidance of a Saint underpinned by a strong foundation of spiritual practice.
Gerald Brenan’s Fight for Freedom: Main Works and their Publishing Houses - Past, Present and Future
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session María Dolores Ortega-Munoz
This paper highlights the characteristics that have created a fighter for freedom (Brenan, 2003). The study analyses the main Brenan’s books and their publishing houses. Brenan had fought against the authoritarianism of his father and social class to choose a life on his own. Thus, he decided to become a writer. Brenan was in Spain when the Spanish Civil War broke out (1936) and he had to return to England. The military uprising had made him committed to the Republican cause. He expressed the background of this war in "The Spanish Labyrinth" (1943, Cambridge University Press). Later, he wrote “The Literature of the Spanish People"(1951). Accordingly, Brenan’s reputation as a Hispanist was established and was offered the "Alfonso XIII Chair of Spanish" at Oxford, but he refused the proposal. In 1949, Brenan toured Spain and investigated the murder of Lorca, then he penned “The Face of Spain" (Turnstile Press, 1950). Hence, Brenan’s character was born in his autobiographical work "South from Granada" (Hamish Hamilton, 1957): a young man who leaves the enslaving modern society and seeks his way in the mountains. "The Spanish Labyrinth" was translated into Spanish by Ruedo Ibérico (Paris, 1962) and "The Literature of the Spanish People" by Losada (Buenos Aires, 1958). Brenan’s books were banned in Spain, but they were a cry for freedom against Francoist censorship and seed for other researchers. Nowadays, Brenan’s fight is alive online.
