Book excerpt: Inspired by Marie Corelli's book, The Life Everlasting, Swami Kriyananda—direct disciple of the great world teacher, Paramhansa Yogananda (author of the classic Autobiography of a Yogi)—retells the dramatic story of a woman's discovery of her twin soul—a discovery that propels her to undertake an arduous and perilous climb to the loftiest heights of spiritual awakening. Fueled by her love, the heroine must overcome harrowing challenges before she realizes the goal of her yearning in union with God. Love Perfected, Life Divine is a timeless tale that carries the reader to the heart of the inner quest. As Swami Kriyananda wrote in his introduction: The Life Everlasting is the only novel Paramhansa Yogananda ever finished reading. I can understand why he did so. It has a deep spiritual potential. I myself have enjoyed it, and have read it many times. I would not have undertaken this endeavor, however, if Yogananda himself had not also addressed the subject [of soul-mates] once, so obliquely as to cry for clarification. He said—and, to the best of my knowledge, once only—that everyone, before attaining oneness with God, must be united with his soul dual, even if that dual is living on another planet and the union can be achieved only in vision. . . . The Life Everlasting . . . exerts an undeniable spell. . . . [It is] not afraid to express openly the author's devotion to God without enclosing the reader in a narrow box of sectarianism. . . . I have rewritten [this] story because, with all its faults, I have always loved it. I have cleared out massive amounts of excessive verbiage; introduced a note of greater kindness; cut out many pages as unnecessary and, indeed, deleterious to the lofty mood of the book. I have rewritten the book also to make it correspond to my own beliefs. I think, as you read, you will understand my reasons for the countless changes I have made. And I conclude by saying I am happy with the results. I hope you, dear reader, will be happy also.