“To understand your unconscious mind, you have to be alert and observant and work with yourself gradually.” – Art of Joyful Living by Sri Swami Rama
Casually referring to – if that can be a term for penning about His Holiness Swami Rama – I chance upon his book, the Art of Joyful Living and read through section by section. The student in me attempts to comprehend his messages. The wannabe writer in me tries to decode his writing style.
What makes it so appealing, straightforward, simple and lets one travel from gross to subtle and be back? What is it about his style that allows one to move the external to within or in his words in the two worlds of a man – the world outside and the world within.
Surely Masters and their way are unknown and advanced but to me what makes Sri Swami Rama’s literary body of work unique is the essence brought out so simply on topics so deep. From writing about “Let the Bud of Life Bloom” to “Perennial Psychology of Bhagwat Gita” to prose versions in “Love Whispers” and “Ramayana”.
Through these masterpieces I can only attempt to fathom the volume of messages Saints and their Tradition are willing to offer for the humanity at large and with what smallest of spoons we fill our pots of learning!
In the simplest of ways he explains the essential basics of talking, walking, sitting, breathing, emotions, ahimsa, love and so much more. This simplicity can only be a expression of a true “Swami” who has “Swamitva” or complete control over his senses, mind , action and speech, to have practiced and mastered the teachings in -depth and then offers it to the world in the simplest version.
It shall be my fallings to still only be standing at the shore and admiring and not plunge in the vast ocean of knowledge offered.
I stand before you with ignorant heart and mind,
Oblivious to the direction,
Seeking solace in your words,
Praying to you in words of my own,
Take me to the other shore!
-Garima
