Book Cover of PILGRIMAGE ON THE PATH OF LOVE

Endorsements for Pilgrimage on the Path of Love by Barbara Ann Briggs

Barbara Briggs' Pilgrimage on the Path of Love, a spiritual odyssey, delivers the richness and complexity of life in India, and brims over with convincing, memorable characters, not the least of which is Shantila, a seeker after something we too seldom see in literary fiction - spiritual awakening and liberation. Through many suspenseful twists and turns of fortune, a reader follows Shantila's journey with the certainty that the outcome of her story will enrich his or her own meditations on the timeless questions of why we are here, and how we can follow a spiritual path in a world so stained by suffering. This is a book I would recommend for everyone who loves wisdom and wishes to lead an examined life.

Dr Charles Johnson, Professor Emeritus, University of Washington, MacArthur Fellow, Recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature, and National Book Award for his novel Middle Passage, author of 21 books

Reading through Pilgrimage on the Path of Love by Barbara Ann Briggs gave me the feeling of moving gently on a canoe in a beautiful lake on a bright sunny evening when the approaching twilight leaves you nostalgic to see the day coming to an end. Making lucid use of the confessional mode of expression, her debut novel remarkably captures the spirit of the times. The quest that Shantila, the chief protagonist, undertakes on the path of love unveils to her not only the agony of pain and suffering implicit in meetings and partings but also the ecstasy of understanding and appreciating the intrinsic beauty of the landscape of the soul, the true nature of life as we live it. Her rumination at the end of her journey --"The pilgrimage I sought to complete has been completed, not to the temples of Rishikesh, Haridwar, Badrinath or Gangotri, but to the omnipresent God, to the temple hidden within every human heart" -- comes as a potent antidote to growing intolerance bordering on clash of cultures and civilizations that characterizes a world in individual as well as collective distress. The charm of the novel lies in its ability to capture the attention of the reader from the beginning to the end as it takes us over picturesque rivers, dales and hills to experience a kind of peace that defies understanding. I wish her maiden venture all success!

Nibir K. Ghosh, UGC Emeritus Professor, Department of English Studies and Research, Agra College, Agra (India); Senior Fulbright Fellow, University of Washington, Seattle, USA & Chief Editor, Re-Markings (www.re-markings.com).

Pilgrimage on the Path of Love by Barbara Ann Briggs is a loving account of a woman's quest for spiritual fulfillment. At heart is a palpable undeniable love for the country of her adoption; its multitudinous life, its minor duplicities and wider generosities are so fondly captured, with a liveliness, both authentic and amusing that I felt fresh love gushing for this crazy country of mine. In the book, we travel from Dubai to Delhi to Manali and Leh with its far flung monasteries and brooding temples, and with each ascent, the protagonist is symbolically nearing that state which neither gains nor wanes, where plenitude and beatitude are suffused. These visitations are presented with gossamer delicacy; the author's luminous prose spreading its lacy veil over creation till creation becomes a salutation and a benediction. The inherent discipline encourages emulation; the devotion which the author brings to her enterprise, and the serenity that follows are an inspiration.

Shernavaz Buhariwalla, Retired Professor of English Literature, Nagpur University, Maharashtra

Reminiscent of Irina Tweedie's Daughter of Fire, Herman Hesse's Siddhartha and Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle, Pilgrimage on the Path of Love is a tale of human love transformed into divine love, of desperation into exaltation, of darkness into enlightenment. Barbara Ann Briggs writes with a poignant, transcendent grace that enables us to experience the story, not merely read it. And this is an experience to treasure.

William T. Hathaway, author of Wellsprings: A Fable of Consciousness, Cosmic Egg Books

Excerpts Of Articles by Barbara Ann Briggs,MA

Excerpts From Articles

by Barbara Ann Briggs, MA

By meditation, we gain access to that which never changes, pure consciousness, the transcendental wholeness at the basis of life. Some call it the Atman,some call it God or it can be personalized as Lord Shiva or Lord Krishna or the Divine Mother. It has also been referred to as “the light of lights.” There is a saying: “The gate that silence opens within us leads to light. It is not outer reality that silence reveals but our own innerness. Silence is essentially a surrender to the divine mystery.”

From: The Benefit of Meditation, Eternal Solutions magazine, July 2009, New Delhi, India

According to saints and sages, tat srstva tad evanupravisat: having created, the Creator entered into

his creation. All that we see is a reflection of the infinite fullness of the Divine which breathing out, creates from within itself, and breathing in, draws everything back in cosmic dissolution. The universe is eternally humming, spinning and unraveling the shimmering web of life, singing in silence the song of creation,preservation and dissolution.

T o hear this song, the mind must become silent. Habituated to directing our senses outward , we have forgotten how to experience inner silence. Yet there are certain places where no matter how active the mind, how outwardly directed the senses, one will inevitably feel a deepening stillness, an awareness of something inexpressibly sublime, a bliss that will draw the senses and mind inward toward their source. These places are the spiritual power spots, where the earth is charged with divine magnetism. Even though the whole universe is the body of the Lord, the energy is not equal in every part of the universe, just as in the human body, there are particular power spots along the spinal column that act as storehouses of spiritual energy.

From: Cosmic Square of the Lord, Life Positive Plus magazine, July-Sept 2003, New Delhi, India

The syllable gu means darkness and the syllable ru means light. The guru is he who removes the darkness of ignorance with the light of Self-knowledge. There is a saying that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. Similarly in the spiritual life, when one has a burning desire for Self-realization, one meets a saint or sage.

From: He Who Awakens, Life Positive magazine, October, 2004, New Delhi, India

The universe may be described as a living, breathing organism composed of trillions of web-like

interconnections which constantly interact and influence each other. Because the universe is intricately interwoven, every thought, word and action of every individual influences the fabric of life as a whole. Every word we speak vibrates in the air. The vibration sends forth waves that produce corresponding vibrations which spread into the atmosphere. The influence of every thought, word and action on the universe is incomprehensible. The full effect cannot be measured. In this sense, karma or action, is unfathomable.

From: How We Shape Our Destiny, , Eternal Solutions magazine, February, 2010, New Delhi, India

Life's greatest teacher is love. To live well, we must open our hearts and learn to love all living beings equally. When our vision expands, we will experience the inexhaustible spring of happiness that originates in universal love and service. Where love is, fear is not. Love is the greatest unifying power on earth. May the infinite ocean of love lead us to the shores of immortality so that when death comes, we can accept it as an inevitable phrase in the vast symphony of life,

From: When the Drop Meets the Ocean, Life Positive Plus, July-Sept 2004, New Delhi. India

Love is the most powerful force in the universe yet it is the most tender. It requires great courage

to give of oneself completely and infinite tenderness to nourish the deepest level of someone else's being. It is the pride of the ego which stands in the way of pure love for it is the nature of the ego to assert its independence and it is the nature of love to unite, but even the resistance of the ego can ultimately be overcome by the power of pure love for the bliss of union surpasses the limited pleasure of self- assertion.

From: Pure Love, Eternal Solutions magazine, December, 2009, New Delhi, India

Titles of Other Published Articles by Barbara Ann Briggs are:

The Value of Meditation

The Mechanics of Meditation

The Vedic Ideals of Womanhood

The Source of True Courage

Citizens of the Universe

Anger: The Enemy on Earth

Forgive and Flow
Inimitable India
The Lure of the Goddess

Re-Markings Vol. 15 No.2 March 2016

Two Poems

Barbara Briggs

Returning

In the midst of the darkest of nights

I behold the silent petals of a rose aflame

In the center of a whirling world

I behold a sea of peace

In the middle of the desert

a garden appears

and the quiet song of the angels is heard

melting the snow upon the topmost peaks

embracing the soil with the fires of love

and in the distance

the golden bells resound

calling us back to you

O divine most loved

we are forever returning.

The Bells of Eternity

I hear the bells of eternity

ringing in the morning air

they sing of love and joy

of the flaming worlds beyond a sea of stars

they sing of union

communion

and the soundless dance that moves from here to here

they invite you

O my soul

they call you

out of the silence

into beckoning waves of light

arise

O quickening heart

arise and go forth

into the billowing space

of your destiny.

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