Secrets of soulful existence

Team L&M

Spirituality changes the way one looks at life was something I had always heard about but never believed in. Till one day, I had a chance encounter with spirituality and it ushered in a change in my life. This happened around three years back. Even as was I slowly adapting to this new change in life, a friend gifted me a book on my birthday last December on spirituality. “Hope you like it!” he had said. The title seemed catchy but somehow I couldn’t read it. The delay could have been longer had my friend not asked how had I liked my gift around a month-and-a-half later. Though I managed to divert him from the subject, I promised myself to start reading the book the same day. And when I did, Soul Selfie (Fingerprint!; Rs 250; pages 232) by Sadguru Rameshji added a new dimension to my life.

The Sadguru, through Soul Selfie, “reveals the secrets of living a soulful existence independent of the body by covering two aspects of a spiritual journey. One proves the independent existence of the soul and the other chronicles the personal journey of the author in his experimentation with the soul, including a out-of-the-body astral travel experience.” So interesting is this treasure of spiritual knowledge that I put it down only after I had read it, cover to cover. The manner in which the author disburses capsules of wisdom with suitable examples from the past as well as present is praiseworthy.

In Chapter One, This or That?, Sadguru Rameshji cites the example of King Janaka and one of his dreams where he sees himself wandering about in a jungle, all hungry and thirsty but when he wakes up, he finds himself in his palace, on his soft bed. “He felt bewildered not knowing which the real dream was: was he dreaming right now about being a king or had he dreamt about being a hungry and thirsty beggar.” It is here that he  mutters, “Which is real, this or that?” The mystery continues till Janaka meets Sage Ashtavakra who tells him that “neither was that real nor this, but you are real.” The author explains that two concepts emerge from this story: “One, the physical body and the physical world are unreal as they are temporary, and subject to change, decay and destruction. Second, the soul is real as it is permanent, imperishable and is not subject to change or decay.”

Whereas in the Preface of the book, he writes: “Everyone takes selfies of their physical appearance, but nobody bothers to take selfies of their inner appearance – the inner self, the soul. While our social networking profiles always have our latest pictures, we have forgotten to update the selfie of the actual self in the database of our intellect. We rarely bother to know how we look from the inside – how smart or dull, caring or apathetic our soul is.”

Through 25 chapters which range from Transcending the Duality,  Spirited Soulplay, Astral Travel, Purpose of Human Life, Unity in Variety and Salvation is Right Here, Right now, Rameshji wonderfully explains the concept of spirituality including some personal experiences which lends a personal touch to the book. In fact, the Nectar of Gyana at the end of each chapter is like an icing on the cake.

There is so to talk about the book but Soul Selfie but then you must read it and usher in a change in your life too. And you too will thank me for introducing the book to you, the same way I can’t thank my friend enough to have brought Soul Selfie into my life. I now just click selfies, both internal and external, to ensure I remain clean and pure.