A Book Which Can Give Perspective To A Generation

On July 19th ( gurupoornima)  I had the good fortune of being in the presence of my Guru His Holiness Om Swamiji at His Ashram in Himalayan foothills. On the occasion of Guru Poornima, a book written by Ismita Tandon (now Sadhvi Vrinda Om*) and Swami Vidyananda ( the foremost disciple of His Holiness) titled Swami -- As We Know Him published by Harper Collins (https://harpercollins.co.in/book/om-swami/)   was released . I had played a minute role in getting the second half (written by Swami Vidyananda) translated from Kannada to English, His Holiness Sri Om Swami in all his benevolence gave me a copy of the book along with His Blessings during the function.

As we boarded the return train to Bangalore, my wife, Vasudha, started reading the book. Since I was on the verge of finishing His Holiness' earlier book Kundalini, I did not pay much attention to this new book. After reaching Bangalore the next morning I glanced through the first chapter of the book. I was immediately moved to tears. The plain, simple and heart-warming manner in which this book has been written, un-layered my logical and reasoning mind, evoking sentiments of great love surrender and devotion in me. Every page I read at any time, in any mood has had the same impact on me, moving me to tears of unrestrained devotion. The book brings alive the incidents with startling clarity .  Hence I have no reservations to declare that this book is a Guru in its own right. Written about one of the greatest living Siddha-Saint Sri Om Swami (www.omswami.com)  by two of His Disciples from extremely diverse backgrounds, the book can allure and deeply touch everyone from the most rigid sceptics to devout monks.  I have started reading the book every morning since then just like a ritual and each time it unfailingly - fills me with Purity, which I think is the essence of all rituals worship or devotion. After reading a few pages the mind becomes steady in calmness, acceptance, humility, devotion and gratitude.

Naturally anyone in my family who laid hands on this book had similar experiences.

The stories of Sadhvi Vrinda and Swami Vidyananda are poles apart. The way they have been guided by His Holiness Sri Om Swami goes to show that a truly realised Siddha is multidimensional, without any limitations of method or reasoning. This diversity in the transformation of an educated, worldly person trained for analyzing and questioning everything and a  surrendered young monk yearning for a Guru to fulfil his quest for God, is  where this book becomes a most unique example of spirituality

Though Sadhvi Vrinda was brought up in modern surroundings in an army family background with little exposure to religion and rituals, she had but one quality in her   - an extremely sensitive heart. How His Holiness transformed her into an epitome of devotion in a matter of few months without any religious diksha or ritual, by merely giving minor glimpses of  His towering omniscience and tender care is an epic in itself. In her lucid heart-warming narration, Sadhviji has enumerated and expounded various facets of His Holiness. It’s a gift to mankind and will continue to churn out deepest devotional sentiments in people for ages to come.

The book starts off with a fragile and hurt Ismita, distressed after losing her mother and meeting His Holiness for expressing her gratitude for helping her through the toughest phase of her life. Possessing an indifferent attitude and little belief in tradition, rituals and Gurus, her life proceeds very swiftly in the next few chapters, bringing about a major transformation by the grace of  His Holiness.

She highlights  beautifully how the great Siddha tempers and tames the presumptuousness of His devotee by humorously manifesting His divinity and expansiveness...call it miracles -  to quickly dissipate her doubting mind.

Fully in variance with this, on the other hand is -

Swami Vidyananda, who has had the best of Sanskaras and a secret longing for the vision of the Divine as written in esoteric tantric and traditional scriptures. He was in search of God for the better part of his teenage life and in Guruji his search ended. Just as Sri Ramamna Maharishi   Swami Vidyananda had left the comforts of his home as a teenager  in search of God  to associate himself with Ramakrishna Ashram in Bangalore, Swami Vidyananda spent many years of his early life there. His deep desire to find his Guru further led him to leave the Ashram and go to Haridwar and serve in a temple and pray relentlessly to the divine to help him find a worthy Master. Swami Vidyananda had camouflaged his appearance to appear as a Devotee of Lord Shiva, when he was actually yearning for a vision of the Divine Mother. He had told himself that the entity that would be able to pierce through this and identify his devotional alignment without his saying it explicitly would be his Guru.

The second half of the book written by Swami Vidyananda talks about how His Holiness Sri Om Swamiji initiated him into the most secret aspects and rituals of Srividya, and granted him a vision of the Goddess, as enumerated in our exalted scriptures in the most traditional way through Guru Shishya Parampara. This  is a testimony (rarely found in current times) of the relevance and truth contained in the ancient scriptures in these cynical times.

Gifted with a mellifluous voice and a rare devotion for his Guru, Swami Vidyananda is one of the finest disciples of our times, full of devotion and surrender. A person reading his part of the book will definitely prompted to think and believe that it is possible to see God with the guidance of a realised Guru and belief in scriptures.

                                            

Swami Vidyananda further lucidly elaborates how he came to point in surrender where he decided that his sole God Head his Guru, is the embodiment of Jaganmata Herself.

For the benefit of the readers I would  like to add that His Holiness  Sri Om Swamiji is a Siddha who  has seen (If Truth Be Told: A Monk’s Memoir by Om Swami), sees God and is ready to help any sincere seeker  like  Sri  Swami Vidyananda to have a vision of the Almighty.

Spirituality and religion have somehow had an esoteric connotation. This book will dispel that myth to make us all understand that the connection with the Divine is not something esoteric but an essential ingredient which can give colour and dimension to every aspect of our daily life and relationships.

These two disciples have one thing in common, which seems to have made both of them eligible for the Grace of the Divine and His Holiness -- a pure, sincere, heart, which genuinely commits itself to  truth once it is found.

From my experiences, I can vouch that His Holiness’ Grace only requires a sincere seeking heart and the background of the individual ceases to matter. His Holiness is a touchstone who will transform an “Angulimaal” into a devotee.

These two souls have done immense service to the world by writing this book. Many instances   written in the book have also been witnessed by many of us who have had the good fortune of having been in His Holiness' proximity,  but it is Sadhviji and Swami Vidyananda who have taken the efforts to bring it out to the world by writing this  epic book.

Being able to fully devote oneself to someone or something is God’s greatest gifts and an end in itself. When the heart is filled with deep devotion everything in the world looks bright and hopeful. Overpowering surges of gratitude diminish our ego leading us out of misery and bondage. Reading Sadhviji and Swamiji’s account helped me be a part of their journey. The benefit of their devotion rubs on us in more ways than perceivable. Every word of the book extols the greatness of the Divine Swami. Every word of the book drips with devotion and soaks us in its unique hue. That is the magic of this book. This book  gives us a glimpse of spirituality and what a spiritually  adorned person actually  is. Until now crowds have flocked to Swamiji now after reading this book  masses will swarm at His Abode.

It’s a book which a father can give his son to read  to guide him to an  authentic source of spirituality, to  understand God and Spirituality beyond  religion and rituals, a treatise from which a devout religious person can open the window from religion into spirituality, and take comfort that religious practices can indeed lead to spirituality and peace, a person having no initiation into religion or rituals can see and learn how to open up the umbrella of the divine to bring peace and good living  upon himself and his family.

Everything good in this world is finally an offshoot of a spiritual selfless thought process.

All glories to his Holiness Sri Om Swamiji!

* Ismita Tandon was initiated into Sanyasa by  His Holiness Sri Om Swamiji on the Guru Purnima Day and was anointed as Sadhvi Vrunda Om