Open-Eyed Meditations by Shubha Vilas
Author: Shubha Vilas
Publisher: Fingerprint! Belief Publishing
Pages: 280; Price: Rs 250
On receipt of a copy of the Open-Eyed Meditations by Shubha Vilas and given the fact the author was influenced by his spiritual masters, it was natural to assume that I would learn some new techniques of meditation. But to my stupefaction the book opened a new vision altogether by digging deep into our mythology and the epics in the form of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
He posited what he calls the three limbs of Yoga. This is an intrepid move, which a robust mind can adopt as against the traditional methods and texts.
Lord Rama, Krishna and Hanuman stand out in the book for their wisdom, fearlessness, dexterity and intelligence. Readers can seamlessly establish a relationship with these characters.
The author with great craft has depicted the ten-headed demonic Ravana, where each head is symbolic of antipathy. He has provided a new meaning to the celebrations of festivals. These should be events to meditate upon, contemplate and feel grateful, a chance to connect with those talismanic figures and not to merely carouse and holiday.
Lord Krishna features prominently in the book. His virtuosity, leadership qualities (visible and invisible) and dynamism have been captured persuasively which casts a powerful imprint on the readers, guiding them to use theseaphorisms/sutrasas a template to lead their lives.
Meditation, contemplation and observation have almost been used interchangeably in the book. Conventionally speaking these words are significantly different. But this is a novel effort and the mushrooming of fresh ideas ought to be welcomed.
The author has discussed a variety of subjects like leadership strategies, innovations, the immodesty and deep rooted desire toalways be LIKED. Fresh ideas on the subjects of relationships, fears and phobias, and the riveting concept of the X factor, synergy and game changer makes this work distinctive.
Concepts such as fixed, rigid and realistic mindset of humans, emotional, thought oriented and uplifting personalities have been skilfully introduced. Treatment of the process of letting go, importance of time and events on human mind, power of responsibility and possessing an uncomplaining attitude is quite captivating. Further how simplicity scores over complexity while debating an esoteric subject like meditation is equally engaging.
Each chapter ends with a synopsis which draws the attention of the reader. The reader needs to ruminate and regurgitate the words with enormous care to appreciate these nuggets of wisdom. But this will require rigorous tapas.
However, it is reckoned that characters like Karna, Ravana, Duryodhana, Ashwathama, Bhishma among others have been generally painted with only a black brush. Perhaps the intention was to position good against evil, white against the black. But life was and continues to remaincoloured with several shades of grey. These characters could have been etched out with a little more objectivity.
The prose of the book is appealing and strikes the right chords. The 64 Sutras form the book quite like the squares of the chess board.The book serves as a handy guide to beginners and advanced practitioners too.
