The Story and Free Download of ‘S.O.U.L. – School of Universal Learnings’.

I recently revisited my ‘S.O.U.L.’ of 2010. This book more or less wrote itself, and like a young, inexperienced, and somewhat surprised mid-wife, despite my best intentions, I really did not know how to do justice to this book. I have never been good at marketing my various offerings, and certainly not on a large scale. Even today, I am not able to do that.

Nevertheless, my late father’s words remain my guiding force – that if my writing can benefit even person, I must make the effort to put it out. Which is why I share so freely on this blog and on Facebook.

Initially, the full form of the acronym SOUL was “School of Universal Learnings”.  Submissions to publishers received mixed responses.  Most were unwilling to experiment with this odd mix of truth and fiction.  One of the leading international publishers of new age and spiritual books wrote me a glowing feedback but said they could not publish it as they were currently working on a similar book.  They even recommended two other publishers to me.  But the rejection letters continued.

A couple of my friends at that time, Sheetal Sanghvi and Shilpa Kanungo, encouraged me to publish the book myself. I decided to use a Creative Commons license and publish 500 copies. Simultaneously, a free pdf was made available on my website and other sites. With the help of them and other like-minded friends, the book was widely offered in the spirit of gift economy.  I managed to recover the monetary costs and the feedback was rather fulfilling.  Many readers loved it and wrote in glowing praise (read some examples here.) Some not so much. One reader told me that it was as though I had gathered a great deal of healing and spiritual practices and put them together into a story.  Though he said it dismissively, I don’t mind the book being read as a handbook of sorts, with a storyline thrown in to lighten the contents! (Truth be told, this really was not an intentional bundling of information.  It just flowed.)

A couple of years after the print run, Xynobooks from the U.S. took up the book. As part of the contract requirements, it was renamed as ‘SOUL – Student of Universal Law’ and all free distribution had to be withdrawn.  The ebook received little of the publicizing support I had hoped it would. There were negligible sales, but again, some wonderful reactions and reviews, including on Amazon.  Subsequently, Xynobooks itself closed down and the rights are back with me.

Recently, I decided to re-read the book. I find that much of its information is still relatively unknown, practically useful, and most certainly relevant to current times. Those wishing to lead a more conscious life which is in harmony with Gaia would probably enjoy it.  Readers curious to try the suggestions for themselves would likely find the results personally rewarding, as well as beneficial for the collective.
I have to say that I am surprised at the emotions and purpose this book still stirred in me. Like the characters in my book, I too feel that what is imperative at this point is a raising of individual and collective consciousness.

Given all of the above, I have decided to make the original pdf available free of cost once again. Tools for Empaths and Are You an Earth Sensitive? And Why You Need To Know are two of the most frequently read and widely shared of my posts. If either of those interest you, please do consider reading S.O.U.L. And if it resonates with you, please drop me a line and share it within your circles (thank you!).

Read S.O.U.L on Scribd at:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/306486432/S-O-U-L-Sangeeta-S-Bhagwat

(For other free audio and book downloads, please visit my website. )