yes, there is a hope...

"The Tibetan book of the Dead" is translation work of Prof. Robert Thurman. This book is translation of "The Great Book of Natural Liberation through understanding in-between" or “The Bardo Thodol” in Tibetan. This is the translation of the original composition by Padma Sambhav. There are many translations of this great text. However as per the preface of The Dalai Lama, this one by the author is more realistic.  The book explains the phenomena of dying and is related to body of literature popular in Tibet which is similar in theme, and is kind of a manual for people who are facing the death of self or of dear ones. Death is one of the most mystic and researched topic in the world. There is no absolute truth, no explanation which can tell us to what happens after one person dies. This book attempts to tackle and explain the phenomenon with help of Tibetan Buddhism. So the book basically explains the in-between state, which refers to whole process between the death a...

These days, I am reading books related to spirituality, philosophy, yogic practices and Hinduism.                  In the series, recently, I have completed Aadhyatmikta : Explorations into Hindu Spiritual Practices written by Rajarshi Ranjan Nandy. The book has been published by Bluprint in 2023.                   The book is divided into two parts. In part one, the author has discussed the general concepts relating to Sanatan dharma like reforms, sadhana, difference between experience and realisation, Purush and Prakrati. In the  part two, the author has developed into different aspects of this and Devi‘s which are in Sanatan Dharma, which includes some of very famous forms of Shakti like Chinnamasta, Kubjika, Bhairavi. Amongst Devta’s he has discussed Ganesh, Shiv, Hanuman, Garuda which introduces you to their puja padhatti. The glossary contains meaning of the words used in...

India : A Sacred Geography Do you remember review of Benaras: The City of Light written by Diana L. Eck? As I read more and more about her books, I am sort of liking her. The depth she had in exploring the Indic religious organisation which is very rare for someone looking from outsiders perspective. This book India : A Sacred Geography, published in 2012 by Random House is next in series for the author wherein she has delved into the vastness of religiosity of India as a country. The book is divided into 10 chapters starting with a detailed note on transliteration and pronunciation. In A Sacred Geography, an imagined landscape, the author identifies tirthas as “crossings”  where one’s prayers are amplified, one’s rites are more efficacious, one’s vows more readily fulfilled. The book indicted that in the ancient shastras not only geographical teerthas but also teerths of heart are referred as “manas teerthas”. These are enumerated as “truth, celibacy, charity, patience, self-contr...