தமிழ்த் தேசியம்

"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."

- Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C 

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TAMIL NATION LIBRARY:
Religion & Spirituality

"Religion is for those who believe in hell,
spirituality is for those who have been there." - David Bowie

[see also Unfolding Consciousness: From Matter to Life to Mind..]

* indicates link to Amazon.com online bookshop
** indicates link to Amazon.co.uk online bookshop

Book Recommendations by Satyendra Chelvendra are flagged...


*Edwin Arnold - Song Celestial or Bhagavad-Gita (1885) [see also Reflections on the Gita for a fuller list of books on the Bhavad Gita]

*Boulanger, Charlotte - In the Kingdom of Nataraja: A Guide to the Temples, Beliefs and People of Tamil Nadu Paperback /Published: January 1993

*Henriette Bugge - Mission and Tamil Society : Social and Religious Change in South India (1840-1900), Paperback / Published: March 1996 (**alternative link to Amazon.co.uk)

*Carman, John Braisted -The Tamil Veda : Pillan's Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli  Paper Back, University of Chicago Press, 1990

*Fred W. Clothey - Quiescence and Passion : The Vision of Arunakiri, Tamil Mystic Hardcover / Published: June 1996

*Elizabeth Fuller Collins - Pierced by Murugan's Lance : Ritual, Power, and Moral Redemption Among Malaysian Hindus / Hardcover / Published: May 1997 (**alternative link to Amazon.co.uk)

*Ananda K Coomaraswamy - The Dance of Siva : Essays on Indian Art and Culture / Paperback / Published 1985 [see also Ananda K. Coomaraswamy - One Hundred Tamils of 20th Century for a fuller list of books by Ananda K Coomaraswamy]

*Cutler, N. - Songs of Experience : The Poetics of Tamil Devotion (Religion in Asia and Africa Series) Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1987.211 pages.


*Alain Danielou - Gods of Love and Ecstasy : The Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus Paperback/1992

*Alain Danielou - The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text Paperback /1995

*Alain Danielou - The Phallus : Sacred Symbol of Male Creative Power  / Paperback / Published 1995

*Alain Danielou - While the Gods Play : Shaiva Oracles and Predictions on the Cycles of History and the Destiny of Mankind / Paperback / Published 1987

*Alain Danielou - Virtue, Success, Pleasure, & Liberation : The Four Aims of Life in the Tradition of Ancient India / Paperback / Published 1993


*Damasio, Antonio. R (1994). Descartes' Error : Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain , New York: Avon.

*Ganapathy, T.N. - The philosophy of the Tamil Siddhas

*Ghose, Rajeshwari - The Tyåagaråaja cult in Tamilnåaòdu : a study in conflict and accomodation

*Goleman, Daniel (1995). Emotional Intelligence, New York: Bantam.

*Hampden-Turner, Charles (1981), Maps of the Mind, London, Mitchell-Beazley.

Hardy, F. Viraha-bhakti: The early History of Krishna Devotion in South India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983.692 pages

*F. Kingsbury - Hymns of the Tamil Saivite Saints   Hardcover / Date Published: January 1993

Koran - Tamil and Arabic - Tirukkuran: Arapi Mulattutan Tamilakkam -  The Holy Quran: Arabic text with Tamil translation [translated into Tamil from Urdu by a Board, members of which are, Moulavi Mohammed Ali ... [et al.]]
Tilford: Islam Intarnesanal Paplikasans, 1989, 1408p; 22cm

*Maònavåaòla Måamuöni - Deliver me, my lord : a translation of Maònavåaòlamåamuni's åArtiprabandham

*Nagaswamy, R - Siva Bhakti, 1989

Narendranathan P - Transient Thoughts- Volume I, 1991 (purchase inquiries to 53, Crossways, South Croydon,Surrey CR2 8JQ, U.K.)

Navaratnam, C.S., A Short History of Hinduism in Ceylon, Sri Sanmuganatha Press, Jaffna, Ceylon, 1964

Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. Development of Religion in South India,Madras: Orient Longmans, 1963.

*Patrick Olivelle. The Early Upanisads: Annotated Text and Translation (South Asia Research) 1993 From the citation for the A.K. Ramanujan Book Prize for Translation for 1996 awarded by the Association for Asian Studies:

"A corpus of Sanskrit prose and poetic works, the Upanisads are among the most important religious and literary texts of ancient India. Presenting secret doctrines mainly in the form of dialogues between teachers and students of sacred learning, the Upanisads contributed substantially to the development of philosophical ideas in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Patrick Olivelle’s elegent, lucid, and accurate renderings capture the power and beauty of these ancient texts.

His terse English prose matches the spare style of the dialogues in the original, while the poetic passages evoke the lyrical spirit of the Sanskrit in full measure. His refusal to archaize his translation of these sacred texts, which are so far removed from us in time and in cultural contexts, is refreshing and very effective, resulting in dialogues vivid with the tones and rhythms of living , spoken language. While specialists will revel in the depth, originality and impartial spirit of Olivelle’s scholarship, the author has aimed his work above all at an audience of uninitiated readers. His historical introduction to the Vedic religion and society out of which the Upanisads arose is at once magisterial and eminently accessible, yet his greatest achievement is his ability to let the translation speak for itself. At every point his renderings offer new insights to these enigmatic texts.

Patrick Olivelle tells us that one of his goals in translating the Upanisads is to illuminate the distant past of India for the reader, but as he himself remarks in another context, a text is a living reality, not an artifact to be excavated. By making the far near, and by letting these ancient voices speak to us in all their humanity, Patrick Olivelle has made the Upanisads a living reality for us. In doing so, he has acted fully in the spirit of A.K. Ramanujan, the poet-scholar-translator for whom this prize was named."

*Leslie C. Orr - Donors, Devotees, and Daughters of God: Temple Women in Medieval Tamilnadu (South Asia Research) Oxford University Press, 2000

* Arthur Osborne - The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi  [see also Ramana Mahrishi - the Sage of Thiruvannamalai for a fuller list of books on Ramana]

*Peterson, Indira Viswanathan Poems to Siva : The Hymns of the Tamil Saints (Princeton Library of Asian Translations) Tevaram / Hardcover / Published 1989

*G.U. Pope - Tiruvasagam or the Sacred Utterances of the Tamil Poet, Saint and Sage Manikkavasagar / Hardcover / First Published 1900

"...It has been repeatedly asked, 'Of what possible use can the republication, translation and editing of books like Thiruvasagam be?' - and 'Who can be expected to desire make themselves acquainted with such works?' ... If the Tamil people and the English are ever in a degree to understand one another, and to appreciate each other's thoughts and feelings regarding the highest matters... our English people must have the means of obtaining some insight into the living system which exercises at the present day such a marvelous power over the minds of the great majority of the best Tamil people. For under some form or other, Saivaism is the real religion of the South of India and of North Ceylon; and the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy has, and deserves to have, far more influence than anyother. The fifty one poems (of the Thiruvasagam) ... are recited daily in all the great Saiva temples of South India, are on every one's lips and are as dear to the vast multitudes of excellent people there, as the Pslams of David are to Jews and Christians..." [see also Mannikavasagar's Thiruvasagam]

** Tamil Bible by American Bible Society

Jack Rauahala - Find Your God:A Pilgrim's Guide to the Cosmos

"The meaning of the cosmos is its purpose. The purpose of the cosmos is its meaning... there is no enlightenment. There is only continuous enlightening because reality is a verb, a process, a reaching for total communion with the Consciousness of the Cosmos..."

Ramaswamy Ayyangar, M.S. Studies in South Indian Jainism. Part1. First edition 1922. reprint. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1988.183 pages.

*Richman, Paula  (Editor) - Extraordinary Child : Poems from a South Indian Devotional Genre (Shaps Library of Translations) Paperback, Published 1997

Sandgren, Ulla The Tamil New Testament and Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, Uppsala: Swedish Institute of Missionary Research, 1991,121p; 26cm

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

*Dancing With Siva : Hinduism's Contemporary Catechism
(Paperback -1997) (see also Dancing with Siva - Introduction by the Author)

*Merging With Siva : Hinduism's Contemporary Metaphysics (Paperback - 1999)

*How to Become a Hindu , A Guide for Seekers and Born Hindus, 2000

Note from Publishers: What is it like to enter an Asian religion fully? And how does a Hindu recharge his faith with deeper meaning and life-guidance? Stories from Americans, Canadians and Europeans recounting their dramatic, sometimes intense, passage from Western faiths to Hinduism vivify and clarify this historic religious pattern. As pioneers, their tales will fascinate metaphysical and religion readers. Marriage between couples of differing faiths is more and more commonplace. Indo-Americans who are Hindu are often marrying outside their religion, and eventually face upsetting challenges in their married life. 'How to Become a Hindu' offers honest reflection and recommendations for these couples. For Hindu/yoga leaders ordained and lay the book is the first-ever how-to guide, an immensely useful tool explaining each step of the way into Hinduism. The core meaning of Hindu identity and Hindu openness to newcomers is explored with stimulating insight, clear perception and powerful voices from India's great thinkers. This handsome, fully illustrated volume includes an extensive list of Hindu names and cogent comparisons between world faith beliefs. Inquiries about the book may also be addressed to . Also available at

* Loving Ganesha

*Lemurian Scrolls : Angelic Prophecies Revealing Human Origins

On Sathya Sai Baba...

* Samuel H. Sandweiss - Sai Baba the Holy Man and the Psychiatrist  

Sathya Sai Baba".... Everyone is a guru. The bookstores, filled with books supposedly showing the way, attest to this fact. But nothing seems to work. We are lost in a myriad of ideas, a confounding whirlwind of impressions and experiences without direction or discipline...to many of us, a search for fundamental answers to personal and social problems seems futile and meaningless.

My own search for meaning and understanding led to a medical education and then into the field of psychiatry. But nine years of psychiatric training and practice, and a comprehensive investigation by-participation of what one might call the "human-potential movement" provided few answers...Is there really such a thing as humanity's infinite potential - an ability to so transform one's consciousness as to discover and merge with a divine, infinite or eternal dimension of being? I was beginning to be convinced that such a search was an exercise in futility. In such a mood I turned to the East . . . and came upon Sai Baba. Here was a teacher - a scientist of consciousness - who taught that our true nature is not bound by time or space, and is in fact infinite, immutable, eternal. ... His followers believe that Sai Baba's life itself is concrete proof of his possession of knowledge profound enough, and energy sufficiently powerful, to help them achieve the deepest kind of self-realization....

But how can one determine whether this Indian mystic and holy man, still obscure to the West, is even a fraction of what his followers believe him to be? .... This book is an attempt to describe my direct observation and personal experience of some of these powers. It is the outcome of a soul's struggle to comprehend phenomena in which the West does not generally believe. I have tried to prepare the Western reader for the alien territory which he will encounter here and to relate what I observed to psychiatric concepts with which most of us are at least somewhat familiar...."

*Samuel H. Sandweiss, M.D. - With Love Man is God

* Samuel H. Sandweiss -  Spirit and the Mind

*Al Drucker - Sai Baba Gita - The Way to Self-Realization & Liberation in This Age Paperback / Published 1993

"...There are many fields of knowledge but there is only one supreme knowledge. This supreme knowledge is self-knowledge, the knowledge of the immortal self. It is the knowledge of your unchanging reality, your true self - that which was never born and which will never die. There are many other types of knowledge. There are the different fields of art, science, commerce and education. But, these will only help you to gain some transitory worldly objectives and worldly pleasures. To realize the eternal bliss that is your own true nature you must have self-knowledge. It is the only knowledge that enables you to know the inner peace and the unending joy which is your own truth, your real identity. When you shine with self knowledge, you become love itself. You become pure and completely selfless. Then you will always be in perfect harmony with all existence..."

*Rod Serling - Man of Miracles-Satya Sai Baba  - Video VHS
*Erlendur Haraldsson, Erlendur Haraldsson Ph. D - Modern Miracles : An Investigative Report on These Psychic Phenomena Associated With Sathya Sai Baba  / Paperback / Published 1997

*Jonathan Roof - Pathways to God: A Study Guide to the Teachings of Sathya Sai Baba   

*Graciela Busto - Baba Is Here : Conversations With God on His Omnipresence / Paperback / Published 1998 [**alternate link to Amazon.co.uk bookshop]
*Don Mario Mazzoleni, et al - A Catholic Priest Meets Sai Baba / Paperback / Published 1994 [**alternate link to Amazon.co.uk bookshop]
*Diana Baskin - Divine Memories of Sathya Sai Baba  / Paperback / Published 1990
*John S. Hislop - My Baba and I   / Paperback / Published 1985
*John S Hislop - Conversations With Sathya Sai Baba  / Paperback / Published 1979
*Howard Murphet - Sai Baba, Man of Miracles  / Paperback / Published 1977
*Howard Murphet - Walking the Path With Sai Baba / Paperback / Published 1993
*Howard Murphet - Where the Road Ends : From Self Through Sai to Self  / Paperback / Published 1994
*Phyllis Krystal - Sai Baba : The Ultimate Experience  / Paperback / Published 1994
*Phyllis Krystal - Taming Our Monkey Mind : Insight, Detachment, Identity / Paperback / Published 1994
*Phyllis Krystal - Reconnecting the Love Energy : Don't By-Pass Your Heart / Paperback / Published 1995
*Jeannette Caruth - Song of My Life : A Journey to the Feet of Sathya Sai Baba   / Paperback / Published 1996
*Brian Steel(Editor) - The Satya Sai Baba Compendium : A Guide to the First Seventy Years  / Paperback / Published 1997
*Lieut Gen, M.L. Dr. Chibber - Sai Baba's Mahavakya on Leadership : Book for Youth, Parents and Teachers /Paperback / Published 1996
*Andrew Shaw - Words of Truth: 108 Sayings of Sai Baba  / Paperback / Published 1996

Peter Schalk (Editor) - Buddhist Woman's Path to Enlightenment: Proceedings of a Workshop on the Tamil Narrative Manimekalai, Uppsala University, May 1995 / Paperback / Published: December 1996

* Richard Schiffman  - Mother of All : A Revelation of the Motherhood of God in the Life and Teachings of the Jillellamudi Mother 

*Sekkizhaar, N. Mahalingam (Editor),G. Vanmikanathan (Translator) - Periya Puranam : A Tamil Classic on the Great Saiva Saints of South India  Hardcover / Published: September 1985

Shulman, D.D. Tamil Temple Myths : Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in the South Indian Saiva Tradition. Princeton : Princeton University Press,1980.

*Subbiah, Ganapathy - Roots of Tamil Religious Thought

K. R. Subramaniam - Origin of Saivism and Its Development in the Tamil Land, Hardcover / Published: August 1986

*Masakazu Tanaka - Patrons, Devotees and Goddesses : Ritual and Power Among the Tamil Fishermen of Sri Lanka / Hardcover / Published: January 1997

*Talbot, Michael (1991), The Holographic Universe, London: Grafton Books.

Tayumanavar - The poems of Tayumanavar, translated by Mutu Coomara Swamy, Edited & published by S. Durai Raja Singam, 1977

 The Twelve Thirumurai [see also The Twelve Thirumurai]

** Panniru Tirumurai, Sri Kamakoti Ayvumaiyam,  1988

** Murukavel Panniru Tirumurai, Tirunelveli Tennintiya Caiva Cittanta Nurpatippuk Kalakam,  1965

** Panniru Tirumurai Varalaru: Mutar pakuti : mutal elu Tirumuraikal, Vellaivaranar, Annamalai Palkalaikkalakam,  1994

** Tirumurai kanta Celvan, Raja Syamala, Acokan,  1978

** Tiruppukalp parayanat tavanerit tirumurai, Satu Partta Sarati,  1970

** 1st Thirumurai Tiruñanacampanta cuvamikal aruliceyta Tevaram, Tamil Nilaiyam, 1995

** 2nd Thirumurai Tiruñanacampanta cuvamikal aruliceyta Tevaram, Tamil Nilaiyam, 1995

** 3rd Thirumurai Tiruñanacampanta cuvamikal aruliceyta Tevaram, Tamil Nilaiyam, 1995

** 4th, 5th, 6th Thirumurai - Thirunavukrasu (Appar) Tevarap patikankal, TTSS,  1972

** 6th Thirumurai St. Appar's Thaandaka hymns,  Dharmapuram Aadheenam, 1995

** 6th Thirumurai Tiruttantakam: Arant Tirumurai (Mutal pattup patikankal), TTSS , 1974

** 7th Thirumurai Cuntaramurtti cuvamikal aruliceyta Tevaram,  Tamil Nilaiyam,  1995

** 7th Thirumurai: Cuntaramurtti cuvamikal Tevaram : varalarru muraiyil mulamum uraiyum, P. R Nataracan, Ilatcumi Nilaiyam, 1996

** 8th Thirumurai Tiruvacakam, Caiva Cittanta Maka Camajam, 1968

** 8th Thirumurai Tiruvacakam, Caiva Cittanta Maka Camajam,  1968

** 8th Thirumurai Manikkavacaka Cuvamikal aruliya Tiruvacakam: Mulamum pala araycci akaratikalum , Kantalakam,  1992

** 8th Thirumurai Tiruvacakam, Tirukkovaiyar (Padmasri V. Subbaiya Pillai Endowment lecture publication), A Civalinkanar, Ulakat Tamilaraycci Niruvanam, 1992

** 9th Thirumurai Tirumalikaittevar mutalana onpatinmar aruliceyta Tiruvicaippa Tiruppallantu: mulamum telivuraiyum : urai aciriyar, M. Narayanaveluppillai,Tamil Nilaiyam,  1995

** 10th Thirumurai Tirumular aruliceyta Tirumantiram: mulamum telivuraiyum : telivurai aciriyar, M. Narayanaveluppillai, Tamil Nilaiyam,  1995

** 11th Thirumurai Panniru arulalarkal patiyaruliya: Narpatu nulkal atankiyatu TTSS, 1971

** 11th Thirumurai Panniru arulalarkal patiyaruliya: Narpatu nulkal atankiyatu, TTSS Kalakam, 1971

** 11th Thirumurai Patinoram tirumurai: Mulamum telivuraiyum, Tamil Nilaiyam,  1995

** 12th Thirumurai Periya puranattil uvamaikal, A Cankari, 1975

Veluppillai, A. tamizar camyja varalARu - Essays on the religion of the Tamils - second reprint, Madras, Paari Putthakappannai, 1985.214 pages.

Veluppillai, A. Religions in jAzppAnham up to the Thirteenth Century.Lanka 5. Ed. Peter Schalk. Uppsala: Religionshistoriska Institutionen:1990, pp. 10 - 42.

Veluppillai, A. The Hindu Confrontation with the Jains and the Buddhist: Saint tirugnAnacampaNtar's polemical writings. The Problem of Ritual.Ed. Tore Ahlback. Abo, Finland: The Donner Institute for Research in Religiousand Cultural History, 1993, pp. 335- 364.

Veluppillai, A. A Negative Evaluation of non-Buddhist Indian religionsin the manhimEkaly. Paper presented to an International Seminar onmanhimEkaly in Uppsala in May 1995.

Westcott, Arthur -  Chandrodhayam...: A brief history of the Christian church during the first four centuries in Tamil, Madras, 1892 18cm

Yocum, G.E. Hymns to the Dancing Siva : A Study of Manikkavasagar's   TiruvAcakam. New Delhi: Heritage Publishers, 1982.

*Zvelebil Kamil V. The Smile of Murugan : On Tamil Literature of South India, Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1973, 378 pages.

 

 

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