Welcome to our monthly newsletter.
We start our selection with a series of biographical notes and pictures of Yogaswami, the “Lion of Lanka” (1872–1964), a great representative of the highest Hindu Shaivite spirituality from Sri Lanka.
You must meditate in the morning and evening and at night before you go to bed. Just pronounce the name “Shiva”, and sit quietly for about two minutes. You will find everything in your life falling into place and your prayers answered.
• Next, we present two complementing articles on Noah, the patron saint of quarantine, and master of the rainbow of hope. Both articles elucidate aspects of the Flood and the Ark, including their deepest metaphysical interpretation and their cosmic temporal symbolism. First, “The Flood in Hindu Tradition” by Ananda Coomaraswamy.
The more proximate genesis and guidance of humanity in each kalpa and manvantara is brought about by a Patriarch (pitr) of angelic ancestry, and designated Manu or Manus… Each Manu is a determined and conscious survivor from the previous manvantara, and through him the sacred tradition is preserved and transmitted.
Noah’s Ark, from a Beatus Apocalypse manuscript in Manchester.
• And second, an article by René Guénon on “The Mysteries of the Arabic Letter Nun”:
To understand the question properly it should be remembered that Vishnu, manifesting himself in the form of a fish (matsya), commands Satyavrata, the future Manu Vaivasvata, to construct the Ark in which the seeds of the future world are to be enclosed, and that, in this same form, he then guides the Ark over the waters during the cataclysm which marks the separation of two successive Manvantaras. The role of Satyavrata is here similar to that of Sayyidna Nuh (Noah), whose Ark also contains all those elements which are destined to survive until the restoration of the world after the deluge.
May we remind our readers, in these times of recollection and introspection, that the riches of our Library are as ever free to use and to share, and that we are as committed as ever to only distribute and offer what is conducive to “the one thing needful,” and to be in a humble way a little Ark of Noah, carrying seeds of wisdom towards a new world. Be our guests!
