What
happens when your ‘big dreams’ get
fulfilled?
Do you attain an enduring state of happiness?
Are you then able to live happily ever after?
Or, is there something vital missing, to be
addressed now?
“When I pose these questions to the students
at IIT, they feel uncomfortable”, says
Dr Menon. The majority are too heavily programmed.
There appears to be too much at stake in the
rat race of life, and it takes considerable
courage, even just to pause and reflect. It
becomes even more difficult, if not impossible,
as one grows older. The dreams of our bright
young students are but a faithful reflection
of the prevailing materialistic world-view,
and there is little in their education to persuade
them to think otherwise. Everywhere, they see
the extraordinary emphasis on competitive performance,
on getting ahead of others.
Even our most brilliant academicians and scientists
tend to evade the fundamental questions in life.
Remaining unenlightened, they are as vulnerable
as anybody else, if not more, to the common
human failings of greed, envy, manipulation,
pretension, anger and fear. The modern “pundit”
(learned scholar) stands out in sharp contrast
with the “guru” (dispeller of darkness)
of ancient India.
Although painful to accept, the reality is that
we are “magnificently unprepared”
to face the vicissitudes of life and the eventuality
of death. Entrapped by our “ego-selves”
and blinded by our obsession with productivity
and “progress” in the material world,
we unwittingly invite suffering and fail to
discover our true potential.
Written in poetic prose, and drawing inspiration
from various spiritual traditions, the book
guides the reader through nine graded chapters
to the full meaning of “awakening”,
with a final flowering in the last two chapters.
It is established that awakening and continual
awareness of one’s ego-self not only bring
freedom from mind-made suffering, but also enhance
tremendously the quality of one’s work
and one’s life.
