Dear Haran,

As I wrote to you, while I read the first half of "Ashes of Love" forwards, when I read the second half I began at page 50, and turned the pages backwards; this to ascertain whether the meaning of "Ashes of Love" is to be inferred from its structure, i.e. from the arrangement of its 280 numbered paragraphs, or alternatively from the significance of  
a) each individual aphorism,
b) the cumulative effect all the aphorisms, or 
c) both.
The correct answer, I conclude is c).

1) It is without pre-judgment and with what I believe and hope is an open mind
that I read these 280 aphorisms as a set of incantations, as variations on the
theme "Awareness". I'm reminded of the Lutheran Protestant liturgy of my 
childhood, and of Roman Catholics counting their beads while intoning

Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

2) Each of the aphorisms has a meaning to me which is contingent on my
familiarity with Rupert Spira's King's English. When, as an experimental 
exercise, I try to calibrate each aphorism by translating it into German, 
I find a spectrum of inconsistent meanings among which I must choose 
those that are compatible with and congenial to my own personal (inward) 
experience. There must be half an earth's circumference difference between
the meaning of Indian (Sanskrit?) mystical poetry and Rupert Spira's
resurrection of John Donne's metaphysical verses.

3) When I write that I read the 280 aphorisms as 280 poems, please don't
deem it derogatory. I believe that in truth ALL language is poetry and is
therefore inherently ambiguous. Only mathematics is by its nature unambiguous.

4) The common denominator which makes "Ashes of Love" intelligible is the
hypothesis of the common humanity of us all. Thus I assume that Spira's
and Amma's and Rasya's - and your - experiences of life, love, conscience,
consciousness and spirituality are - not the same, but comparable, analogous
to my own. Else communication would be impossible. I have no difficulty in
translating your teachings into, and reconciling them with my own experiences.

5) In comparison with Spira's and Amma's teachings, if I understand them
correctly, my own experience of spirituality or inwardness is afflicted with
the fatal flaw that I cannot proselytize; I am not an evangelist. I am deaf
to the classical Christian imperative:
Mark 16:15-16 King James Version (KJV)
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

6) My experience, on the contrary, is that spirituality and communality are
incompatible and mutually exclusive. I am persuaded by
Matthew 6:6 King James Version (KJV)
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

with the reservation that I don't expect to be rewarded.

Best wishes to you and Rasya.

Jochen