My association with this great teacher was for a very short period. I heard him directly six or seven times. But the impact of that listening was so great that it prompted me to listen to many of his taped lectures several times. More than six hundred hours of taped talks covering various aspects have been put into an mp3 format for better storage at the request of Mr. Vinayak Joshi who had recorded them using his little recorder. I could feel the presence of Shastriji always during that period of my listening and recording.
While I was reading the edited works of a great Mystic, a sudden inspiration came to me that I should also do some serious efforts to take up the task of bringing the audio version of the talks of Shastriji into a book form, the reason being Shastriji’s direct approach to the problem of happiness and sorrow (sukha and duḥkha), should reach many aspiring practitioners in the path of sādhana. Shastriji himself was a very serious sādhaka and was well known guide for many aspirants. His Monday lectures at Śankarakrūpa in Bangalore was well attended and well received.
While working on this book, I was informed that Shastriji himself had expressed his intent to get these ideas brought out in the form of a book to reach out to a larger readership. His wish has now become a reality.
These lectures were delivered by Shastriji in Detroit U. S. A. during the period 2001-2002 at the request of a group of psychiatrists, doctors of medicine and doctors of science who were all in to the study of Vedānta and were longing for a deeper understanding of the siddhānta and sādhana
It was most appropriate that he took up the title of the lecture series as ‘Message of Upaniṣad-s” as he had done a deeper research into the aspects of lasting happiness which has been dealt very widely in the Upaniṣad-s. These messages formed the nuggets to be condensed into a scientific model. He described his own model as –calculus model-which took him a long time to develop after an in depth study into Upaniṣad-s, Śankarabhāṣya, and Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha.
Shastriji always preferred an interactive session and wanted more searching questions from his listeners and even encouraged them to throw any type of question however trivial it might look. He always used to stress that Vedānta should be introduced at a very early age of fifteen or sixteen, as that was the right age to sow the seeds of culture in young minds. He always recommended everyone to develop a scientific temper of questioning any hypothesis till a satisfactory answer came forth and not to study Vedāntic texts in a goody goody way.
For the sake of a better understanding of the various aspects of the message of the great master, the book is divided into three major parts individually named as Siddhānta**,** Sādhana and lectures on Māṇdūkya Upaniṣad. These are only broad sub divisions. The concept of Omkāra upāsana for deeper levels of spiritual advancement is the highlight of these lectures. A Few Gems from Gauḍapāda Kārikā-s which Shastriji always used to quote and asked his ardent sādhakā-s to do manana on them have been added for the benefit of the reader. The concept of Dharma as propoununded by our R̥ṣi-s and misquoted by many, have been very scientifically analysed and this can be used as a tool of sādhana.
The Sanskrit śloka-s often quoted by Shastriji have been given in Devanāgari script along with references to their texts for the benefit of reader. The transliteration of the śloka-s have been put in bold font instead of the usual italics type for a clear reading.
If the reader is benefited from these talks, I feel the effort and pain was worth the trouble. I hope that the reading will push to inner peace and tranquility. G.S.Radhakṛṣṇan
Bangalore. India.