In Search of the Unitive Vision: Letters of Sri Madhava Ashish to an American Businessman, 1978-1997

Rating:
Summary: A Review of "In search of the Unitive Vision" by Ginsburg.
Review: Books about spirituality are so common in the market these days that it becomes difficult for even a serious seeker to sort writings dealing with the real from fantasy or downright fraud. The plethora of consciously or unconsciously written mixture of truths, half-truths and lies about man's spiritual quest, nevertheless, does keep on throwing up gems about reality, even if to remind us that there IS a reality far greater and stranger than anything that the human mind can invent or discover. Seymour Ginsburg's "In Search of the Unitive Vision" is one such gem and is the story of an honest seeker after the mysteries of life and death who was lucky enough to come in contact with a remarkable man who through sheer hard work and unwavering dedication had resolved that mystery for himself and was willing to help others who wanted to do the same.
In our "global village" today, it is of significance to note that the author of the book is a successful American businessman while his mentor, Sri Madhava Ashish, was a Hindu Vaishnava monk of mixed English and Scottish descent who spent 55 of the 77 years of his life in the Himalayan foothills of India. It is the identity of the individual with the universal that needs to be experienced, Sri Madhava Ashish argues, before we can see life in its full glory through what he called the "Unitive Vision."
This excellent book can be described as the inner autobiography of Ginsburg that truly reflects the aspirations, doubts, trials and tribulations of a seeker of truth. It also asserts that the inner path is a path of self-improvement, not in the sense of acquiring any material benefits (such as name, fame, power or wealth) but improvement aimed at reaching that state of "perfection" which is the birth right of every man and woman merely because one is a human being. The search for this perfection has nothing to do with one's nationality, religion, profession, gender or cultural bias. It has very much to do with recognizing one's inevitable biases and gradually getting rid of them so that one can look at oneself in a reasonably dispassionate manner. Ginsburg brings out a very natural unfolding of the issues faced by a spiritual aspirant and does not hesitate to point out where he found that his preconceived ideas had to be abandoned when they failed the test of objective reasoning.
Any book on spirituality gets its life not only from the story of the writer but the living contact it is able to engender with a real knower of truth. Sri Madhava Ashish was such a knower and Ginsburg is able to create an atmosphere of the palpable presence of the master by providing quotations from his letters and articles.
This excellent book as a "must read" for all old and young seekers after truth all over the world.
There are a few repetitions but they seem necessary to reinforce some information which may otherwise go unregistered in the mind of the a reader; and I could find only ONE typographical error in the entire book!

Rating:
Summary: A Piece of Truth
Review: During the past decade a host of books that concern man's spiritual quest have appeared. Unfortunately, most of them focus the readers attention on conclusions, convictions and pronouncements on 'the' way to come to spirtiual fulfillment. Not so, thankfully, with Sy Ginsburg's "In Search of the Unitive Vision - Letters of Sri Madhava Ashish to an American Businessman 1978-1997". In this compact [280 pages], highly readable collection lie innumerable pearls of practical and critical advise, focusing throughout on the uniqueness of man's capacity to stand in the 'awareness that he is aware'. Refreshingly, Ginsburg does not spare himself in his selection of answers given by Ashish to his [Sy's] questions. When an author is able and willing to expose his own superficialities and recurrant inabliity to stay on track a taste of reality and the wish for truth in the spiritual pursuit is evident.
Ginsburg intersperses his lively coorespondance with a selection of of four essays by Ashish that highlight his ablility to be succinct and practical in his exploration of spiritual questions.
This book is a significant contribution to the reconciliation of the inner and outer life of man. Ginsburgs growth in Being, growth in his own pursuit of this inner-outer reconcilliation, is ably reflected in the consistancy of his search and in the perseptive help given him by this quite remarkable 'englishman-become-guide'.
The book is a gift worth sharing with all of your co-searchers.

Keith A. Buzzell, D.O.

Rating:
Summary: A Piece of Truth
Review: During the past decade a host of books that concern man's spiritual quest have appeared. Unfortunately, most of them focus the readers attention on conclusions, convictions and pronouncements on 'the' way to come to spirtiual fulfillment. Not so, thankfully, with Sy Ginsburg's "In Search of the Unitive Vision - Letters of Sri Madhava Ashish to an American Businessman 1978-1997". In this compact [280 pages], highly readable collection lie innumerable pearls of practical and critical advise, focusing throughout on the uniqueness of man's capacity to stand in the 'awareness that he is aware'. Refreshingly, Ginsburg does not spare himself in his selection of answers given by Ashish to his [Sy's] questions. When an author is able and willing to expose his own superficialities and recurrant inabliity to stay on track a taste of reality and the wish for truth in the spiritual pursuit is evident.
Ginsburg intersperses his lively coorespondance with a selection of of four essays by Ashish that highlight his ablility to be succinct and practical in his exploration of spiritual questions.
This book is a significant contribution to the reconciliation of the inner and outer life of man. Ginsburgs growth in Being, growth in his own pursuit of this inner-outer reconcilliation, is ably reflected in the consistancy of his search and in the perseptive help given him by this quite remarkable 'englishman-become-guide'.
The book is a gift worth sharing with all of your co-searchers.

Keith A. Buzzell, D.O.

Rating:
Summary: A Spiritual Journey
Review: IN SEARCH OF THE UNITIVE VISION by Seymour B. Ginsburg is the account of the author's encounter and subsequent relationship with an extrordinarily wise teacher, Sri Madhava Ashish, who in the Western esoteric tradition would be known as an Initiate. Ashish, of Scottish descent, had spent virtually his entire adult life in India engaged in the Spiritual pursuit of the ultimate Transcendent state of Consciousness or, as termed in the book's title, The Unitive Vision where the identity of Self, the root of consciousness, with the Highest Reality is experienced. The author, who conveys his point of departure by presenting himself unpretentiously as a businessman, is initially skeptical and generally a logical positivist in his philosophical approach to life; however, following a family tragedy he sought something more than the ephemeral rewards of personal achievement. With the same great vigor and enthusiasm that had brought him worldly success, the author now began an adventure in unknown territory sparing no effort to satisfy his persistent curiosity.

The book charts the author's relationship with Ashish and his developing familiarity with esotericism, through books, contacts with important figures, channelling and membership in schools of spiritual development. This relationship was conducted over a nineteen year period through letters and yearly visits; the corpus of letters captures the thrust and depth of Ashish's teaching and documents his generosity and guidance in reponse to Mr. Ginsburg's probing questions about mediums, the collective unconsciousness, personal dreams, and inner experience. Gems of knowedge are conveyed throughout the letters i.e.Ashish's observations on the relationship of movements to the alterations in consciousness.

Ashish is a master therapist as well as a Spiritual Master and guides the author through the territory of his personal issues, psychological defenses and identifications to achieve an integration of heart and mind. Ashish repeatedly stresses the importance of first hand experience which cannot be gotten from books or personal contact with those who have experienced something of a higher nature even though they might provide inspiration and motivation. He directs the author to relax his logical mind which has served him so well, bringing him to the quest, but now would hinder him from opening to That Reality which is beyond his security net. The author joined and later became a facilitator in a Gurdjieff group, a leader of a Theosophical study group, and organized yearly conferences where the key ideas of Gurdjieff were discussed and eminent Gurdjieff scholars participated and submitted manuscripts that were later published. The letters document Ashish's observations on these activities but also document Ashish's unrelenting message that the path is inward even if group activity might enhance the integration of the personality and generate motivation.

I would highly recommend this book which in a wonderfully accessible and articulate manner brings to us the teaching of an exemplary Man as well as the record of a seeker's developing awareness . The message will greatly contribute to the understanding of the well-seasoned seeker as well as someone who is embarking on the spiritual journey with skepticism and diffidence. The approach, façade and substance of Ashish's teaching is utterly nondenominational and the message does not violate the tenets of any religion because of the respect shown to the essential undergirding of all approaches to spirituality which is Love, the most direct means to transcendence.

Rating:
Summary: East becomes West
Review: Sy Ginsburg went East in his search and found a teacher who came from West. Sy quotes Sri Madhave Ashish from his letters and lectures, which have a remarkable clearity, both in vision and expression. Ashish has the ability to put deep thoughts in a simple and understandable form and he does it with authority.

The book is certainly of interest for those who study Gurdjieff's ideas. The picture that Sy Ginsburg paints of himself is that of a rebel, who does not always agree with the Work authorities, but will pursue his own way. He has a good solution to the matter to be solved - he builds his own Work activity. To put it in business terms: he makes a product that satisfies the demand, which in his case is his own.

Rating:
Summary: A clear window to a remarkable man
Review: This book is a compilation of letters and other interactions between the author and Sri Madhava Ashish over many years. Sri Madhava Ashish, born English, lived most of his adult life in a small ashram in the middle Himalayas, Mirtola. His approach to inner and spiritual questions was comprehensive, modern, and clear. As such it attracted a diverse community to him and to Mirtola. Ginsburg's book shows through their communications over many years the subtle, complex, yet harmonious nature of Sri Madhava Ashish's teaching, if that word can be applied here. For, rather than systematized teaching, which he abhorred, he represented a living, organic, clear yet intelligent medium between the few basic principles and their translation into spiritual practice, what he would call wisdom. Ginsburg's book is written with a light touch so that no more than is necessary of personality impinges on the always original and fresh insights going back and forth in their dialogue. There is a dialectic in the book between constant themes, both in terms of specific issues of a real life, lived, and the one source that establishes a firm foundation for their resolution. The other part of the dialectic is the original and fresh way in which these were always interpreted.

Rating:
Summary: A clear window to a remarkable man
Review: This book is a compilation of letters and other interactions between the author and Sri Madhava Ashish over many years. Sri Madhava Ashish, born English, lived most of his adult life in a small ashram in the middle Himalayas, Mirtola. His approach to inner and spiritual questions was comprehensive, modern, and clear. As such it attracted a diverse community to him and to Mirtola. Ginsburg's book shows through their communications over many years the subtle, complex, yet harmonious nature of Sri Madhava Ashish's teaching, if that word can be applied here. For, rather than systematized teaching, which he abhorred, he represented a living, organic, clear yet intelligent medium between the few basic principles and their translation into spiritual practice, what he would call wisdom. Ginsburg's book is written with a light touch so that no more than is necessary of personality impinges on the always original and fresh insights going back and forth in their dialogue. There is a dialectic in the book between constant themes, both in terms of specific issues of a real life, lived, and the one source that establishes a firm foundation for their resolution. The other part of the dialectic is the original and fresh way in which these were always interpreted.