PB December 2009 REVIEWS For review in Prabuddhabharata, publishers need to send two copies of their latest publications. Peace or Perish: There Is No Other Choice JPVaswani Gita Publishing House, 10 Sadhu Vaswani Path, Pune 411 001. 2007. xii	+	201	pp.	Rs	250. win	Towers	destroyed	in	New	York.	Blasts in Mumbai	and	a	luxury	hotel	put	under	siege.	Sui- cide	attacks	in	London,	Kabul,	Peshawar,	Colombo, and	Jakarata.	Danger	lurking	everywhere;	danger with	no	face.	Where	are	we	heading	to?	Are	we	safe? Is	peace	within	our	reach?	Can	we	live	peaceful	lives, within	and	without?	These	are	questions	bothering everyone	everywhere.	For	a	generation	which	has almost	lost	hope	of	peace,	the	present	book	offers a	possibility. This	is	a	timely	work	authored	by	Dada	Vaswani, who	has	always	worked	for	better	understanding	and peace	among	fellow	human	beings.	As	the	subtitle rightly	says,	we	have	no	choice	other	than	to	adopt	a peaceful	attitude	towards	ourselves	as	well	as	others. In	his	characteristic	anecdotal	style,	Dada	Vaswani portrays	the	various	challenges	of	life	and	reminds us	that	troubles	were	always	part	of	human	life	and that	present	times	are	not	very	different. We	are	shown	three	dimensions	of	peace-peace within,	peace	between	nations,	and	peace	with	nature. The	author	outlines	a	new	eightfold	path	to	attain inner	peace.	For	peace	between	nations,	universal brotherhood	and	the	spirit	of	service	are	stressed upon.	Often,	human	development	takes	place	at	the cost	of	violence	to	nature.	Dada	Vaswani	tells	us	that we	are	at	war	not	only	amongst	ourselves	but	also with	nature.	He	urges	us	to	adopt	an	attitude	of	rev- erence	towards	nature	and	protect	it.	This	will	ensure that	a	peaceful	and	harmonious	relation	is	main- tained	between	human	beings	and	their	surround- ings.	Development	ought	to	be	holistic	and	not	at	the cost	of	nature,	the	very	source	of	our	sustenance. Through	a	journey	from	the	individual	to	the	col- lective,	we	are	told	that	peace	is	indeed	possible,	we only	need	to	be	more	alert	and	also	willing	to	achieve it.	Giving	a	hope	of	a	glorious	future,	the	author	says poetically:	'All	around	us,	today,	is	a	ring	of	darkness. But	darkness	cannot	stay	forever.	When	I	look	into the	future,	it	is	so	bright,	it	burns	my	eyes.	It	is	up	to each	one	of	us	to	make	this	future	a	reality.'	Indeed, each	one	of	us	must	play	our	part	to	make	this	future possible. With	a	foreword	by	Shashi	Tharoor,	an	acclaimed writer	and	former	under-secretary	general	of	the United	Nations,	this	book	has	been	appreciated	by many	thinkers	and	spiritual	leaders,	including	the Dalai	Lama.	Elegantly	produced	and	easily	read,	this volume	is	a	significant	guide	to	a	peaceful	life	and society. Swami Narasimhananda Advaita	Ashrama,	Kolkata Spiritual Values to Live by SwamiPrabhananda Ramakrishna	Mission	Institute	of	Cul- ture,	Gol	Park,	Kolkata	700	029.	E-mail: rmic@vsnl.com.	2007.	x	+	82	pp.	Rs	35. Striking a balance between lofty metaphysical	ideals	and	mundane	life	is	always	difficult.	Swami Prabhananda,	well	known	for	his	researches	and	writ- ings	on	the	Ramakrishna-Vivekananda	tradition,	has accomplished	this	difficult	task	in	his	small	collec- tion	of	thirty-seven	articles,	which	were	initially	pub- lished	under	the	title	'Observations' in	the	Bulletin of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture.	These articles	cover	the	problems	of	human	life,	in	both its	exterior	and	interior	aspects,	and	seek	solutions in	the	eternal	values	that	sustain	humans	and	their universe.	Although	each	observation	can	be	read	in	a few	minutes,	they	inspire	a	serious	reflection	on	life and	our	responsibility	towards	ourselves. The	author's	style	is	that	of	a	psychologist-relat- ing	the	intricate	problems	of	life	directly	to	the	com- plications	of	our	thought	processes-and	yet	it	has T -No bleed here-