This blog was published today about my book. You may read it by clicking the link below.

http://consciousnessinspiredliterature.com/2019/09/great-passages-an-ocean-of-silence-a-lotus-between-our-hearts/

PRAISE for Pilgrimage on the Path of Love

             "I loved your book cover to cover. This book deserves a much bigger audience."

                  Pilgrimage on the Path of Love

                 

When my feet first touched Indian soil in 1986, I felt as if I had finally found my home. Since that time, my destiny has led me back to India time and time again, first to study sitar in Shimla, then to study Sanskrit in Varanasi and then to live here continuously from 2001 until 2010. These trips etched in my heart and mind images, feelings and ideas which shaped my world view and the subsequent pattern of my life. The sunrise painting the cliffs of the Himalayas at dawn, the prayerful rituals on the banks of the Ganges, solitary treks to the sacred temples in the mountains; these images became an indelible part of my inner life.

 Pilgrimage on the Path of Love unraveled in the jungles of the Himalayas in Manali. I used to come to sit beneath the towering deodar trees in the early morning when the sun poured its liquid radiance through the leafy bowers. The jungle in its cool still verdant beauty invited introspection, and my fingers raced over the blank paper in an effort to keep up with the rapid tempo of thoughts and feelings flitting like fireflies through my mind.

During my travels in the mountains of Manali and Ladakh, each person I met shared a fragment of their life with me and the  multi-colored fragments, like beads on a thread, wove the necklace I carried with me, as an inner adornment, a cherished memory of a country to which I felt I belonged. If I had to choose a country to which my inner being is most resonant, I would unhesitatingly choose India.

In Pilgrimage on the Path of Love, we enter the interior world of a woman on the spiritual path and we see how the spiritual dimension of life in India fosters in her a deeper understanding of the ultimate quest of human life: enlightenment.

Review Published in Life Positive Magazine

The Contribution of Maharishi's Vedic Science to Complete                                       Fulfilment in Life

                                    This book provides a deep insight into the immense contribution made by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in reviving the purity of the ancient Vedic wisdom and revealing the practical benefits of this knowledge for every aspect of daily life. From an explanation of the most subtle layers of consciousness to the applied values of this timeless wisdom in bringing fulfillment to human life, the book contains over one hundred quotations by Maharishi followed by simple, clear and concise explanations. The aim of this book is to make Maharishi's Vedic Science easily accessible to everyone.

Available from: www.maharishi.co.uk/cds-books?p-3

Endorsements: 

"Knowledge For Complete Fulfillment in Life"

This compact book is a must read for those who seek clear and basic understanding of the main concepts of Maharishi's Vedic Science. The author masterfully accomplishes this in an easy to read format with key concepts succinctly extracted and condensed from the vast volume of Maharishi's works. The presentation cites over 100 direct quotes of Maharishi in substantiating each concept. Here is timeless knowledge derived from delving into the heart of the science of consciousness, the Self of everyone. This astute and concise compilation of Maharishi's Vedic Science gifts us with a book worthy to keep, refer to and cherish.

Teresa Meyers, MS

"A Feast of Absolute Wisdom"

Barbara Briggs' book is an excellent and compact source for this supreme practical Vedic wisdom as presented by Maharishi - the "Genius of Consciousness". It is faithful to Maharishi's exposition, being replete with well-chosen quotes from Maharishi's works. Sources are given. It makes what used to be a highly specialized field of knowledge easily accessible to today's reader, wherever they are starting from, and points the way to how one can achieve the timeless goal of full personal development and a comprehensive understanding of oneself and of life.B

Charles Cunningham, BSC(hons) Psychology, MSC, Health Promotion

"Brilliant Reference Book for Maharishi's Vedic Science"

I found this a brilliant reference book for Maharishi's Vedic Science. Here is a map of the territory of higher consciousness, it's development through all the seven states of consciousness to unity and the fundamental principles that underpin each one. With copious referenced quotes of Maharishi, the book does not seek to re-interpret the path but simply highlight the landmarks that Maharishi brought back to light for all future generations to find their way.

Henry Brighouse, Graduate, AA School of Architecture, London

"Excellent Introduction to Vedic Wisdom"

Barbara Briggs has written an excellent introduction to Vedic wisdom. Her book does justice to the depth of the material and at the same time is easy to understand. It won't make you enlightened, but it will make you want to get enlightened.

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

Recent reviews of my book: Pilgrimage on the Path of Love:

"I loved this book. Pilgrimage on the Path of Love is one of those rare novels that manages to combine great storytelling with genuine and profound spiritual insights and experiences in a completely natural way. The essence of the book is about the search for the truth of life, and for supreme love, both human and divine.

Written in autobiographical style, I found the prose so vivid and immediate, that I really entered into the experiences of the narrator, Shantila Martin, an American woman writer living in the UK. She visits India for the publication of her first book, and finds herself on an unexpected journey.

Her experiences of the vibrancy of Indian life in Delhi, and later in Manali and Ladakh, are vividly depicted, and descriptions of the scenery of the Himalayas are breathtaking, reminding me of the wonderful paintings of Nicholas Roerich. The writing is so alive that we feel every bump in the road, every intense discomfort of life in this extraordinary country, and all Shantila’s responses. We are also able to share in her experiences of its astonishing beauty and spirituality, and enjoy her many meetings with interesting and remarkable people.

There is real spiritual poetry in this book, in the descriptions of nature, and in Shantila’s profound experiences during her visits to Temples and Monasteries, often reverberating with the devotional chanting of Buddhist monks. The descriptions of the transcendental nature of her own meditation are beautiful, and one feels this must be the first hand experience of the author.

As the book gains momentum, all of her experiences together - painful, blissful and reflective, combine to help her unfold deeper and deeper layers of realisation of the true nature of love, and of the ultimate unity of all life. I feel it’s a strength of the book that the narrator is depicted as a woman with normal vulnerabilities, rather than as a superwoman. It shows that genuine desire for spiritual growth can transform all our lives to higher states of consciousness.

This book was a really inspiring read. It’s a heartfelt book - full of enjoyment of the beauty of life, and a celebration of the highest spiritual values of human consciousness and its relationship to the Divine. I missed it when I had finished it, and am looking forward to more from this author."

Sally Brighouse,UK


"I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The style was graceful without calling a lot of attention to itself. I liked and cared about our heroine and found all the characters believable. Lama Tashi in particular was well drawn. The bittersweet ending was convincing and appropriate. A fine novel."

Andrew Archer, UK

" Whether you read this book or not, this is a journey everyone is going to have to take. Truthful, touching, vulnerable always to an impossible ideal, until that ideal undergoes its inevitable transformation and finds fulfillment. You can't imagine this story, it has to have been lived. Beautifully and honestly told."

HWB, UK

"This is an excellent first novel. It is well written with a multi-layered plot all on the theme of love in different ways. It is part travelogue and part story."

Barry Spivack, UK

Love Saves Us From Wrong And Guides Our Path In Life

"Pilgrimage on the Path of Love" is the story of Shantila, a courageous woman, travelling alone in India in search for the true meaning of life. The path she follows is the path of love. With almost no money in her pockets, she lets all-knowing mother nature guide her each and every step and provide meaningful experiences very useful for individual evolution.

Shantila falls in love with a Tibetan buddhist lama, only to find out that this kind of personal love has to develop into unbounded universal love. Universal love and knowledge, which the ancient Rishis of India express in the words: “Aham Brahmasmi, Tat tvam asi, Sarvam kalv idam Brahm” - [I am Brahm (Totality), Thou art That, All this is Brahm]. By the grace of God, Shantila is blessed with glimpses of this exalted state of consciousness, filling her heart with love for whole creation.

"Pilgrimage on the Path of Love" is written by Barbara Ann Briggs in skilfully refined and easily flowing words. The reader will be absorbed in adventurous real-life stories, leading to deeper understanding of progress and evolution towards the highest goal.

Dr. Herbert Gerstendorf

Teacher of Transcendental Meditation

Member of Maharishi Sahasrashirsha Purusha Programm

Uttarkashi, India

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.

www.re-markings.com