Jnana Yoga (read Gyana Yoga) by Swami Vivekananda is one book on the subject of philosophy and religion that I believe cannot be appreciated enough.
It is a collection of lectures and discourses delivered by Swami Vivekananda, majorly in the UK and the USA, in the late 1890s and early 1900s. He goes at length to explain the philosophical aspect of religions in general and the Vedanta in particular.
A few sections in the book are absolute gems - two that come to mind right away are his explanation of the idea of Maya and his idea of the realisation and practice of a universal religion. His method of explaining seemingly very complex and very commonly misunderstood/misinterpreted ideas is that of a brilliant, patient teacher who takes you in slowly and steadily but makes you self-reliant enough to not just be spoon-fed. To add to that, there is absolutely no part of the book where he asks you to simply accept or believe his words as arguments from authority. So, as a cautionary reader, you might get uncomfortable and may not even agree with some of the things he says. But as they say, there's always time for a second read! :)
In more ways than one, absorbing this book opened up the way I used to look at religion and religious ideas/practices in general. I'll end this post with a passage from the book:
"I thought while I was in India that the cave would give me clearer vision. I found it was not so. Then I thought the forest would do so, then, Varanasi. But the same difficulty existed everywhere, because we make our own worlds. If I am evil, the whole world is evil to me. That is what the Upanishad says. And the same thing applies to all worlds. If I die and go to heaven, I should find the same, for until I am pure it is no use going to caves, or forest, or to Varanasi, or to heaven, and if I have polished my mirror, it does not matter where I live, I get the Reality just as it is. So it is useless, running hither and tither, and spending energy in vain, which should be spent only in polishing the mirror."
Give this book a go, polish your mirror!
<More book recommendations - Books I love>
In all honesty, I prefer having personal chats rather than back and forth in the comments' section. If you feel like you want to have discussion with me regarding the content on my blog or anything else, please connect with me on my Instagram here: Chetan Narang - Instagram
Comments
Post a Comment