Sivananda Radha has explained the way the mantra works and has gone into the intricacies of this difficult spiritual discipline in a simple and clearcut way. Her list of mantra goes beyond individual religions and includes buddhist, christian and Hindu mantra that are easy to learn.

Swami Radha has brought the ancient wisdom tought to her by her Guru from Rishikish and made this wisdom accessible to the western mind. She shows us how it works within the context of the western experience and she is constantly encouraging us to know from our own explorations of the Mantra. She is indeed a very powerful and enlightened writer who by example shows us the power of speech and the power of the ancient chants.

On the front cover of David Forsee's book Can You Listen to a Woman? there is a startlingly beautiful photograph of Swami Sivananda Radha as a young woman. Her gaze is deep, direct and passionate, perhaps even urgent as if, already, at that young age there is something she must tell us, if only we will listen. In the title of the book David offers the reader the same challenge that was offered him by Swami Radha: Are you listening? Can you hear me? Can you hear the feminine Divine within your own heart? Can you lower your defences to allow the divine to show you who you really are? David offers us his own story, his personal experience with the many layers that lie under the surface of these questions. This is David Forsee's journey toward the spiritual self. Along the way, we meet him in his earlier life as the young man who loses both his parents in a car accident, as a radio journalist, a logger, and as a husband and a father, who is more surprised than anyone by his attraction to the spiritual life. We accompany him as his friendship with Swami Radha grows and as he and his family make their decision to move to Yasodhara ashram in the Kootenays of British Comubia. Eventually David becomes one of Swami Radha's renunciate desciples and is given the name Gopalananda. His new name reflects his potentail to reach higher conciousness by identifying with the spiritual growth of the youthful Krishna. Understanding that potential, is the struggle of his life. As Swami Gopalananda, David Forsee, the accomplished writer, the gifted spiritual diarist, and superb story teller, brings us into Swami Radha's presence through a candid, intimate look into his life with her. The story of Radha and Krishna and their painful separation is a pivotal theme of the book. In one form or another, separation from the beloved is the most poignant aspect in all our lives. In this ancient Hindu allegory, "Radha's separation from Krishna rapresents the separation of individual conciousness from Cosmic Conciousness." According to Swami Radha's teaching's each event in our lives has a purpose that must be understood if we are to make progress on the spiritual path. Seen that way, the longing that accompanies the loss of a mother or the separation from a beloved becomes the power, the sound of the flute that draws us back to the union with the Divine. The experience of loss, then, rather than building up resistance and defenses, becomes a gift with a purpose. Loss will occur over and over until we go deep enough to find out, "what we really need to know". Even the smallest events can be understood from the perspective of a Divine purpose for life. "Most of the time you haven't listened," was one of Swami Radha's final challenges to Gopalananda, as she prodded him to go deeper into his own knowledge, to listen to the feminine voice within. Perhaps that is the challenge to us all. There is much left unsaid in this story. Beneath the story lie many of the mysteries of yogic practice, and of the guru-desciple relationship, of the meaning of surrender, and of spiritual knowledge from past lives. References to the practice of the Light or the repition of mantra are, for the most part, left unexplained. Let these omissions be an enticement for the reader who is listening and has a desire to know more.

"Go back to the diaries. Read what's there. You must be able to see how far you've come." So the authors guru, Swami Radha, invoked her belief that wisdom and learning was a living process, to be documented, to be renewed. This compelling book is one result of those commands from and older, gentle woman whose ashram Forsee and his family moved to when he left his career as a CBC broadcast journalist. His diaries and memories chronicle an astonishing spiritual and emotional growth in this man, who trusted his teacher to elicit the feminine within himself. The spiritual path of yoga, for this "conventional" North American married man and father, would be no piece of cake. When he made the move to the Pacific Northwest ashram, he became, "uncertain about how to live a married life while trying to give attention to purpose for being here...a stronger sense of devotion in my life." With candor and his polished, reportorial skills, Forsee tells of his transformation, his increasing devotion to Swami Radha and her enlightened teachings, the new purpose for his editorial and production skills. He writes honestly of a three month vigil near the old beach house to reduce his male arrogance. "The weather was grey and sodden with wet snow and freezing rain. Each morning I would go to the prayer room and chant mantra for two hours. At times, the warmth was the only thing keeping me there." Full of hope and inspiration.

Can You Listen to a Woman describes with remarkable insight, sensitivity, and candor the many subtleties of spiritual descipleship filled with lessons big and small - all adding up to the miracle of self-transformation. At the same time, it gives us a rare glimpse into the mind and heart of the twentieth century's most extraordinary female guru - Swami Sivananda Radha. While each person's journey to enlightenment is unique, we can all learn from the triumphs and mistakes of others. I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone venturing forth on the spiritual path.

Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D. Author of: The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga

I felt a connection with the content of this book. It helped in sorting my thoughts and establishing a firm understanding of where I was and where I wished to be. Most importantly I felt it allowed me the room to feel okay about where I chose to be for now as long as I was honest with myself.

Promises made & never kept, this book is about a marriage of the soul w/yourself. Nothing really to do w/finding a lover, a mate or a friend. It's all about the relationship you are having w/your soul before you can possibly go & find a mate. Very heavy reading. I felt like I wasted time.

This book is a treasure, lifting the age-old game of relationships to a new level, one that we so often imagine is possible but never quite know how to get to. It's more than a read. It's a reading experience, one that could well change the way of thinking about the purpose of a relationship and the challenges that relationships offer. Be prepared to discover something that will stand your preconceived ideas on on their heads! Wonderful. Orginal.