I always have had a passion to write. What is somewhat new is publishing my writing. It began with books on Shivabalayogi, continued with writing about my father and brother, and has developed into translating Hungarian historical novels and even a French novel.
Actually, it is not really writing. I do not have the imagination to create a novel with characters and a plot. What I enjoy doing is taking something significant that already exists and working it into clear language. I have a passion for editing and clear writing . . . and I have a passion for history and a good story.
Books about Shivabalayogi
Swamiji had the manuscript published in India by the Bangalore Trust for his birthday on January 24, 1991. He brought copies with him to the West later that year, which was when I discovered that it had been published.
Tapas Shakti (the power attained through tapas, meditation in samadhi, the state of enlightenment) was published in India. Shivabalayogi presented it to the public on the occasion of his 59th birthday on January 24, 1992.
More about Tapas Shakti. To buy Tapas Shakti.
The book was censored by the Bangalore Trust because its trustees were apprehensive about their own control of the trust after Shivabalayogi was no longer in his physical body. The Bangalore Trust published the censored version in India and presented it to the public in Adivarapupeta (Swamiji's native village) on the first mahasamadhi anniversary, on April 2 of 1995.
The full version is available at the Shivabalayogi.org website as a free ebook download.
Divine Play, the Silent Teaching of Shiva Bala Yogi (2004) is the first biography of Shri Swamiji written for and published in the West. It is drawn from several sources: Telugu and English booklets published during the early years after Swamiji emerged God-realized on August 7, 1961, Spiritual Ministration, Swamiji’s own collection of papers, conversations with Shri Swamiji, many tape-recorded between 1988 and 1994, and a selection of personal experiences collected throughout India, the United States, and England.
What Shivabalayogi communicates cannot be contained in words. That is the meaning of silent teaching: a yogi gives experiences (divine play) and imparts direct understanding.
More about Divine Play. To buy Divine Play.
Swamiji's Treasure, God Realization & Experiences of Shivabalayogi (2007) is a large format and detailed biography, the authoritative resource on one of the world’s great yogis of the 20th century. It is a comprehensive and detailed biography of Shivabalayogi, including all available recorded conversations with the great yogi, experiences of over a hundred devotees, and over three hundred sixty photographs.
Swamiji discouraged trying to rationalize spirituality. His only teaching was to encourage the practice of meditation and his message is often summarized in these words:
Know truth through meditation, then you yourself will know who you are, your religion, your purpose in life, and your nature. Do not believe what others say and become a slave to religious prejudices.
Meditation is your religion.
Meditation is your purpose in life.
Meditation is your path.
Swamiji referred to devotees' experiences as his treasure and much of Swamiji's Treasure are experiences collected over five months of interviews throughout India.
More about Swamiji's Treasure. To buy Swamiji's Treasure.
Yoga Vasishta
Yoga Vasishta is considered to be the most powerful exposition of advaita (non-dual) philosophy. Shivabalayogi explained that Yoga Vasishta is the only book that accurately preserves a yogi’s teachings. Other scriptures, he often said, have been altered over time. He said the Bible, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata are only about ten percent accurate, at best. The rest is gloss, much of it religious.
Yoga Vasishta runs almost a million words, about a third longer than the entire King James Bible, and consists of stories within stories within stories that illustrate the nature of reality and illusion.
Yoga Vasishta Maharamayana (2012) is a modern edit of V. L. Mitra's 1891 archaic but complete English translation of the Sanskrit book. Mitra's translation is long out of print, but it is the only complete English translation.
Yoga Vasishta is the record of Sage Vasishta teaching the young Lord Rama about the true nature of existence. Rama is an incarnation of Vishnu, God the Sustainer. Vasishta is a yogi, an ancient muni. Over the course of twenty-two days, Rama asks questions and Vasishta answers, lectures, and tells stories. Through the process, Rama comes to realize his own true nature and attains Self realization. All this takes place before the assembled court of Rama’s father, King Dasharata, and numerous sages, gods, nobles and brahmin priests.
About Yoga Vasishta. To buy Yoga Vasishta.
Family
Memoirs is my English translation of the first half of Szól a kakas, the parts that relate to his personal history, his family and his life partner, Darany Mingmaninakin.
Memoirs was published in two versions: one for general reading and the other a large format, more comprehensive family version with photographs, family documents, and a section on our mother. Both versions are annotated to give the reader a context to our parents' life: World War One and the Treaty of Trianon that dismembered Hungary; Paul's service in the Royal Hungarian Home Defense (army) on the Russian front during the Second World War; the two-month siege of Budapest when our mother and two eldest siblings took shelter in a cellar in Buda's Castle Hill only a few hundred meters from the German headquarters; then refugees in Austria and Australia and our immigration to the United States.
Paul was a very special person who passed away much too young. His two children were still very young. This short book contains lots of stories to remind his children just how special and colorful he was.
Paul was a friend to all who had a sense of generosity. He was more interested in character rather than breeding or social status. Paul’s way of complimenting good character was to describe a person as “good people.” He was good people.
Historical Novels by Géza Gárdonyi
Géza Gárdonyi (1863-1922) was a Hungarian journalist, author and teacher, an outstanding figure in tuen-of-the-century Hungarian literature. He was a unique figure of his time, a member who could not be classified in any literary circle. His life work forms a transition between the romantic, anecdotal storytelling of the 19th century and the Art Nouveau, naturalist-symbolist stylistic ideal of the Western generation born in the 20th century.
It is the story of the successful defense of Eger in 1552. Some 2,000 Hungarian defenders (the "Stars") held off an Ottoman army of about 40,000 for 39 days. The Ottomans finally gave up. The siege is a patriotic symbol of national defense and Gárdonyi's novel is one of the most widely read books in the Hungarian language.
Zeta becomes infatuated with a Hun girl, becomes a slave of the Huns, and joins the army of King Attila that invades Gaul in 451 and fights in the Battle of Catalunian Fields against the last great Roman general, Aëtius, and his Visigoth allies.
Over the centuries, Western historians adopted the contemporary and near-contemporary view of the Romans and Byzantine Greeks that the Huns were an ignorant, violent and savage people. Hungarians view Attila and the Huns as kindred folk to their own Magyar ancestors, and Hidden among the Huns offers a more balanced and fascinating description of life among the Huns.
Historical Novels by Mór Jókai
Mór (Maurice or Maurus) Jókai (1825-1904) was a Hungarian nobleman, journalist, novelist, dramatist, and statesman who participated in the Hungarian revolution of 1848. He was a prolific writer and his books were translated in the 19th century and admired beyond the borders of Hungary. Foreign critics spoke highly of his humor and his works depicting Hungarian folk life and society. Many of Jókai’s romantic and historical novels were translated into English in the last half of the nineteenth century. One of his more notable admirers was Queen Victoria herself.
The story is set in the semi-independent Principality of Transylvania in the years 1661-1674, a time when its precarious existence hung in the balance of power between two empires: the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg’s Holy Roman Empire, a time when its princes schemed with other European powers to win the thrones of Hungary and Poland.
The book is a psychological novel with historical characters that have depth and evolve as the plot develops; a fantasy with detailed descriptions of exotic oriental pleasure palaces set in the remote mountains the northern Carpathians and of Transylvania; a romance with plenty of passion, betrayal, and reconciliation; a swashbuckler with bold, proud heroes and dangerous intrigues; and a comedy with ribald humor and subtle satire. The fantasy scenes are an allegory, and the underlying themes are hubris and the seductions of wielding and manipulating power.
Connections develop as the novel progresses, and seemingly inconsequential details and the occasional obvious clue assume necessary significance as events unfold. Jókai’s descriptions of the characters’ emotions and thoughts bring the scenes to life in the reader’s mind.
Originally published in two volumes in Pest, 1852, as Erdély aranykora. This translation by T. László Palotás relies on the original Hungarian text and adds annotations. The Golden Age in Transylvania.
A fehér rózsa (“The White Rose”) and A janicsárok végnapjai (“The Last Days of the Janissaries”) were originally published as a series in a Pest periodical, then in 1854 as a three-volume book. Since then the two works have been published separately — until now.
Multiple story lines with twists and turns and unexpected surprises unfold in the context of historical figures and events. Jókai, the master storyteller, immerses the reader inside the Ottoman Empire with his skillfully crafted descriptions of action, intrigue, romance, sensuality, superstition and humor, all rooted in his knowledge of the Ottoman court, Turkish life, and historical events.
The White Rose is Beyaz Gül, the fictional heroine in the novel Jókai named after her, but the protagonist of the story is the historical Patrona Halil, an Albanian janissary, sailor, and rag-and-bones peddler working in Istanbul. His name survives in history because of the Istanbul mob insurrection he led in 1730 that became known as the Halil Patrona Revolt. For two short months he effectively became the Ottoman head of state, deposing Sultan Ahmed III and ending the Tulip Era known for the obsession of the Ottoman wealthy with tulips, ostentatious garden parties, sumptuous entertainment and, increasingly, Western European fashions.
The Last Days of the Janissaries is also set in Istanbul, in part, but a century after Halil Patrona. The novel culminates with the Auspicious Incident of June 15, 1826, when the Janissary Corps, the once feared elite but by then rebellious Ottoman infantry, was ruthlessly abolished by Sultan Mahmud II.
The main character in Jókai’s Janissaries novel is Ali Tepelena, the Pasha of Janina, one of the most brilliant, picturesque, and ruthless despots of Turkish history. The Balkan wars seeking his overthrow helped precipitate the Greek War of Independence. Several story lines are woven together with vivid desriptions of Istanbul, the Pashalik of Janina, the Levant, and Circassia in the Caucasus Mountains. Jókai incorporates Turkish and Muslim customs, fairy tales, magic, actual history, and a sharp sense of humor.
Pierre Loti: Aziyadé
His first work, Aziyadé (1879, also later published under the title Constantinople) originally was published anonymously. It recounts his experiences in Thessaloniki and Constantinople (Istanbul) in a journal format. The book paints a favorable image of old Istanbul, one that endeared Loti among Turks. (One of our favorite hotels in Istanbul is named after him.)
In his day, Pierre Loti's books were quite popular and were translated into several languages. For example, Madame Chrysanthème is an autobiographical journal of a naval officer who was temporarily married to a Japanese woman while stationed in Nagasaki, Japan. It became the popular introduction to how Westerners saw Japan and the story was adapted to become Puccini's Madam Butterfly.
I was unable to find an English translation of Aziyadé, so I made my own. Those who have spent time in Istanbul will enjoy Loti's detailed descriptions of the vibrant city in Ottoman times.
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