With the incomparable blessing of the principle of Universality as our underlying foundation and confirmed philosophical perspective, Nectar of Non-Dual Truth and its staff launches into its twenty-eighth issue, every one of them dedicated to the truth of Nonduality, or Advaita, as it appears in all of the religious traditions of the world. Like previous offerings, this issue of our one-of-a-kind religious magazine has a rich store of wisdom teachings contained within it. One only has to turn to any of its many pages to find a glowing testament to the Truth and its veracious expression through so many illumined vehicles. In this regard we humbly offer our gratitude to the enterprising writers, authors, teachers, and practitioners who generously contributed both time and wisdom towards this positive outcome. Though this work of religious and philosophical egalitarianism may not reflect it outwardly, it is quite a task to find even a small host of open-minded individuals to share essential parts of their respective traditions in a congenial manner in this day and age. That it has been accomplished, and will continue to be, is valid and substantial proof that the spirit of Universality is alive and well in the world. Both care and effort must be taken in the future to ensure that it will never die out.

Unconditional Equality examines Mahatma Gandhi’s critique of liberal ideas of freedom and equality and his own practice of a freedom and equality organized around religion. It reconceives satyagraha (passive resistance) as a politics that strives for the absolute equality of all beings. Liberal traditions usually affirm an abstract equality centered on some form of autonomy, the Kantian term for the everyday sovereignty that rational beings exercise by granting themselves universal law. But for Gandhi, such equality is an “equality of sword”—profoundly violent not only because it excludes those presumed to lack reason (such as animals or the colonized) but also because those included lose the power to love (which requires the surrender of autonomy or, more broadly, sovereignty). Gandhi professes instead a politics organized around dharma, or religion. For him, there can be “no politics without religion.” This religion involves self-surrender, a freely offered surrender of autonomy and everyday sovereignty. For Gandhi, the “religion that stays in all religions” is satyagraha—the agraha (insistence) on or of satya (being or truth). Ajay Skaria argues that, conceptually, satyagraha insists on equality without exception of all humans, animals, and things. This cannot be understood in terms of sovereignty: it must be an equality of the minor.

SHRI RAMACHARITAMANASA of Tulasidasa is the single most popular book of the Hindus, which, for over four centuries, has greatly appealed equally to the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate, the old and the young, and the scholar and the common man. Keeping in mind people`s ever-increasing quest for the epic, this unique edition of the Ramacharitamanasa with verse to verse Hindi and English translation along with Tulasidasa`s original text has been prepared. The translation rendered by an accomplished scholar maintains the intrinsic richness of the original. Special care has been taken for making it useful to the Indian brethren living abroad to whom the dialect of Tulasidasa`s original may be somewhat incomprehensible. There has been a long-standing demand from the vast Indian community settled abroad for a standard and authentic edition of the Ramacharitamanasa. The present edition has been designed to meet their requirement by using the most modern printing and processing techniques to make it a work of international standard. A speical feature of this edition is the inclusion of Lavakushakanda, Shri Hanumanchalisa and Shri Ramashalaka Prashnavali. The mode of its recitation is given as a separate appendix. Adding to its uniqueness is the inclusion of important section containing Indian, European and American scholars` criticisms on Tulasidasa`s Ramacharitamanasa. A glossary of important proper nouns and epithets is given at the end.

“A Bond of Love” by author Srila Prabhupada is a heartwarming spiritual classic that explores the deep connection between humanity and the divine. Through profound teachings and personal anecdotes, Prabhupada imparts timeless wisdom on the power of love and devotion. This transformative book inspires readers to strengthen their spiritual bonds and experience a profound, unconditional love that transcends material boundaries. It serves as a guide to a more meaningful and purposeful life.

Present-day migration takes place in a world characterized by the compression of time and space, with cheaper air travel and the existence of new communication technologies - the internet in particular - making it easier to stay in contact with the places, people and cultures that one has left. This book investigates the online organization of, and exchanges within, the global Indian diaspora. Bringing together research from around the world and presenting studies drawn from the US, Europe and India, it engages with theoretical and methodological debates concerning the shaping and transformation of migrant culture in emerging sites of sociality, and explores issues such as religion, citizenship, nationalism, region and caste as they relate to Indian identity in global, transnational contexts. With detailed empirical case studies showing both how members of the Indian diaspora connect with one other and ’life at home’ and how institutions in India maintain such links, Indian Transnationalism Online sheds light on the ways in which information and communication technology functions as both a catalyst and indicator of contemporary socio-cultural change. As such it will be of interest to sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists and studies of cultural studies working in the areas of migration, transnationalism and ethnic studies.

A Theology for a Mediated God introduces a new way to examine the shaping effects of media on our notions of God and divinity. In contrast to more conventional social-scientific methodologies and conversations about the relationship between religion and media, Dennis Ford argues that the characteristics we ascribe to a medium can be extended and applied metaphorically to the characteristics we ascribe to God—just as earlier generations attempted to comprehend God through the metaphors of father, shepherd, or mother. As a result, his work both challenges and bridges the gap between students of religion and media, and theology.

Three stories—one of a demi-god, a Swamiji on trial for murdering his followers, the other, of a young law graduate, racked by nightmares and Fits, and that of a judge whose entire family is threatened because he is presiding on the Swami’s case—come together in strange ways... ...and raise a few questions: Where is the Swami’s wife, the only witness to the case? Why does the young man not respond to treatment? Why does every judge die or leave soon after he takes up the Swamiji’s case? The mystery slowly begins to unravel as the story progresses and out tumbles a shocking tale of horror, black magic and hypnotism...

By clothing the Word with her flesh, the Virgin Mary made God visible, manifesting Christ as a perfect “image” of the Father. By virtue of this archetypal “artistry” of Incarnation, Mary mediates the tradition of Christian image-making. This volume explores images of the Mother of God in early modern devotion, piety, and power. The book is divided into four sections, the first three of which link the subjects thematically and geographically in Europe, while the last one follows Mary’s legacy. Contributors include: Elliott D. Wise, Anna Dlabačová, James Clifton, Kim Butler Wingfield, Barbara Baert, Steven Ostrow, Barbara Haeger, Shelley Perlove, Cristina Cruz González, and Mehreen Chida-Razvi.