Sound of the Sacred Beads: A Poet's Journey into India - Paperback

by Susan Klauber (Author)

Sound of the Sacred Beads: A Poet's Journey into India is "an exciting 'adventure in spiritual tourism' with the peripatetic range of Jack Kerouac, the verbal fireworks of Allen Ginsberg, and the wit of Mark Twain." Susan Klauber's colorful and incisive prose and poetry "take the reader on a rich and often humorous journey through a land of wonder, magic and madness."

Based on Susan's eight winters in India, and drawing on many years of meditation and world travel, her personal journey through India mirrors the universal journey of self. As Susan unravels India, India unravels her and her Canadian/American conditioning. Confronted by India's chaotic "swarm of flesh and traffic layered into the atmosphere," beggars, poverty, and the hardships of many women's lives, Susan is warmly welcomed with the unique candor, acceptance and curiosity of the Indian people. The naturalness of their spirituality draws Susan into her own inner "dialogue with destiny," which is at once humorous and penetrating. "With great compassion, wit, humor, and a lucid gift of phrase," Susan "welcomes the strange, the expansive, the rare and the illuminating."

Susan's "hybrid western-eastern love affair" with India takes on the "Footsteps of a Pilgrim" to holy places both famous and obscure. Prompted by the deeper questions India demands, Susan explores "Beyond the Transitory" and narrates sublime experiences with holy people and India's ancient universal wisdom that redefine her view of the divine.

Stunning photos accentuate the author's vivid images, insights and "understanding of self." From the opening "Western Porcelain Goddess in the Holy Valley of the Gods" to the closing "Lessons from India" and "India in Translation," the author "distills the essence" of the mystery of India, from its raw exterior to its spiritual heart. Sound of the Sacred Beads is a creative "classic" that is both "comic and cosmic."