About The Book
Tand the an ancient philosophical texts, exploration of not only the of Indic Vedantic blueprint thought, but a deep-dive into the spiritual seeking of the evolved seekers themselves. Philosophic wisdom has been at the heart of India's culture, defining and redefining its contours at each step of its historical evolution, and has been the fountainhead from which the expression of this wisdom through the arts and culture flows. The Philosopher and mystic in the Indic tradition has not just reflected upon the nuances of society, but has laid down a template at each critical junction of history, for society to follow in the footprints of that template. This journey of articles too attempts to resurrect and revive this Indic Philosophic template, which is a beautiful diverse tapes-try in itself, a spiritual vision that gave rise to this idea that there are manifold ways of approaching the eternal, of invoking the elan vital, Life Force, as Bergson termed it.
About The Author
Pranav Khullar started writing on the Indic tradition, for the famous children's magazine "Children's World' at the age of 10. His first book 'Bus to Mukerian' a collection of short-stories and Middles, was published while he was graduating from Hindu College, Delhi University, which was widely reviewed. He completed his M. Phil. in English Literature from Delhi University, following it up with an MBA in Policy and Public Management from IIM, Bangalore.He has been writing for the 'Speaking Tree' column of the Times of India for over the last nearly 30 years, on Indic thought and mysticism extensively, as well as on comparative religious traditions and Western thought. A Civil Servant (1993 batch), Pranav Khullar has worked across several sectors in the Central Government in senior positions during his career, from the Ministry of Communications to the Ministry of Finance, from C&AG Audit to the Ministry of Culture. He spoke at the Assembly of World's Religions on Vedanta, as well as at Sahitya Akademi's Festival of Letters.
Foreword
This journey of reflection and contemplation on the ancient T philosophical texts, this deep dive into the spiritual seeking of the evolved souls, traces its source to an early July morning at the Sivananda Ashram at Rishikesh in 1996, wherein Swami Chidamanda Saraswati, President of the Divine Life Society/Sivananda Ashram, "Initiated" me into the mysterious dimension of the intellect beyond the mind. I remember being asked to read the Atma-Bodha of Adi Sankara to understand the difference between the fluctuating transitory nature of the mind, with which I seemed besieged then, and the inner Consciousness which is the Silent source from where the mind itself arises. This 'initiation' set me on a path of reflection and writing for the next nearly 30 years, triggering off an intellectual and a spiritual journey which made me delve not only into the Vedantic-Upanishadic texts, but took me on a "pilgrimage of the mind from which there is no return", as J. Krishnamurti was wont to say. I had already been a student of Philosophy and Comparative Religions, having been under the tutelage of Prof. Huston Smith, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Syracuse university and University of California, Berkeley, USA, and author of the best-selling classic work, The Religions of Man (also titled The World's Religions). Professor Huston Smith's tutelage for a few months at the Youth Seminar on World Religions in 1984 had a profound influence on my understanding of the core of all religious traditions, whether Eastern or Semitic traditions. But this particular meeting with Swamiji later, too, kindled a fire for plunging into Indic Philosophy, especially Vedantic thought. The meeting stoked a latent desire to The a free souf ex well, though that will have to watt perhaps the mitnit to be completely free of alagad responsibidines Subsequently, I was drawn to Indo-known places fos, which I'd never heard of earther, to feel inspired to understand and write afresh on these profound Indic texts of wisdom, these referencs pesänts of understanding what enlightenment is all about. Nevasa in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, was one such a place i was drawn to in 1997 on a visit to Shirdi, which turned out to be the place where the famous Marathi saint poet of the Nath and Varkari tradition, Sant Dnyaneshwar had written his epic commentary the Bhagavad Gita, the naneswari or Bhavarth Dipika, interpreting the Gita in the light of Vedantic philosophy. This too set me on a journey of India's Philosophic Quest, as I prayed for inspiration to write on our ancient philosophical and mystical traditions. On Around the same time, but a little earlier, in 1996, The Times of India introduced the Speaking Tree Column on its Editorial page, at the initiative of Smt. Indu Jain, a column devoted exclusively to matters of Spirituality, faith and Philosophy, with a focus on Indian thought. This Speaking Tree column branched out later into a complete paper in itself later, before the Covid phase forced it to close down, but the Column has stayed on the Editorial page to date I am deeply indebted to the Times of India, deeply thankful to the Speaking Tree for giving me this wonderful opportunity, this wonderful platform to express my reflections on the philosophical and spiritual traditions of Indic thought, as well as the Western philosophical paradigm. Its been a great privilege to have been writing for the Speaking Tree, and all of the 87 pieces, barring one, have been published in the Speaking Column/Paper, of the Times of India over the last nearly 30 years. This journey with the Speaking Tree has been a great experience, and I wish to thank all the Editors who put such tremendous faith in my writing, and which too became the trigger to search for more themes, more subjects within Indic and Western thought. I must add also that the Word-limit set by the Editors was a great challenge too, as it becomes difficult to encapsule the core of a text or a tradition or an evolved Master.
Vedas (1182)
Upanishads (493)
Puranas (624)
Ramayana (741)
Mahabharata (354)
Dharmasastras (165)
Goddess (496)
Bhakti (242)
Saints (1503)
Gods (1290)
Shiva (370)
Journal (187)
Fiction (60)
Vedanta (362)
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