Guruhari Hariprasad Swamiji was often asked a wide range of questions by devotees—how to live in harmony with others, how to stay positive during difficult times, how to overcome ego, how to forgive others, or how to progress in satsang. Time and again, Swamiji offered the same simple yet profound answer: “Delve into the lives of Gunatit Purusho, and then do bhajan and prarthana.” The lives of Gunatit Purusho—beginning with Bhagwan Swaminarayan and extending to Guruhari Prabodh Swamiji—are a roadmap for us, offering guidance on how to think, respond, and act in the many situations we encounter in daily life. Guruhari Hariprasad Swamiji shared many profound prasangs from the lives of Gunatit Purusho in his discourses, and would often say, “Keep these prasangs in your mind for the rest of your life.” A compilation of such prasangs was published on November 30, 2004, in a book titled Manan Chintan. The original Gujarati edition made a deliberate effort to preserve Guruhari Swamiji’s words as much as possible, almost verbatim, so that readers could grasp his true intent and message behind each prasang. This book presents an English translation of Manan Chintan with the same spirit. Since manan-chintan means ‘deep reflection and contemplation,’ we pray to keep the prasangs in this book at the forefront of our minds, to constantly ponder upon them throughout our lives, and to draw strength from them as we walk on our spiritual journey.
