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#3791 -
The Nonduality
Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
A review of Dissolved, by
Tarun Sardana, is featured along with an interview of Tarun.
Dissolved
by Tarun Sardana
Advaita is the
traditional and stepwise teaching of nonduality. If you're
looking for a brief book about Advaita that you can fall in love
with, get Dissolved.
Dissolved is a
delightful-to-hold-in-your-hands, attractively designed 90 page
book. It is a dialogue between a seeker and a sage.
Dissolved is a gently
told Advaita: a study of mind; a question of illusion; an
enquiry, "Who am I?"; a surrender to the Guru, to the
Self; a dialogue on spontaneous action, pre-determination,
fearlessness.
This is an easily
received Advaita, too: a questioning of the world of duality and
reactivity; a confession of living in the world when established
in the Self; an addressing of pain and sorrow.
Dissolved is a practical
Advaita: impermanence; the nature of happiness;
renunciation, diet, helping out the world, alcohol and drugs; all
these topics enter the dialogue and are crisply addressed
Dissolved is a full
Advaita: in the end there is the dissolution into Self through
surrender to the Guru and via self-enquiry.
Dissolved is filled with
stories and metaphors, some of which you may have heard and all
of which are heard freshly once again.
In the following
fragment, the Guru plays the role of seeker and the seeker Vivek
plays the role of Guru; this is done to test Vivek's knowledge,
or perhaps the reader's knowledge, or perhaps it is a pure
demonstration of the play of Self:
Guru Ji: But still how
can [the Self-realized being] meet people, who give him hatred
and abuses, with love?
Vivek: What happens when
one throws a stone in the ocean?
Guru Ji: Water gets
splashed.
Vivek: Does the ocean
splash back stones in return? No. The ocean only has water to
give. No matter what you throw it, it will only throw water back.
Similarly, a Self-realized being is an ocean of love. He has only
love to share. No matter what you throw in, you will only get
love. There is nothing else in there.
Guru Ji: Still … How
is this possible? I know, you will say they don't see anything
separate from them, they see only the Self, etc., etc.
As the dynamic between
Vivek and Guru Ji plays out, the reader eventually joins to make
a trinity. Sometimes the reader takes the attitude of seeker,
sometimes the sage. In this way, the reader eventually becomes
another character, merging with, dissolving into Guru Ji and
Vivek, so that all three characters become one.
In the beginning, the
seeker Vivek asks his Guru for help in understanding who he is.
In the end, there is dissolution into the Self, into
consciousness. Dissolved, therefore, is a full-cycle, concise
version of the teaching of Advaita.
Whether the reader
dissolves into Vivek and Guru Ji, or dissolves into Self, or sits
back with a cup of tea and dissolves a spoonful of sugar into it,
this book serves up many levels of rewards.
Perhaps you are seeking a
beginning education in Advaita, or further practice of
self-inquiry, or maybe you only want to enjoy the dialogue, the
stories within, the story at large, the teaching, the expression.
In only 90 pages of gentle dialogue, poetry, and storytelling,
Dissolved offers all this, all you could and could not imagine.
~ ~ ~
Preview
"Dissolved" on Google Books:
Purchase
"Dissolved" from any of the following places:
Amazon.com link:
A1 Books -
http://www.a1books.co.in/itemdetail/8184651120/DISSOLVED/
Parimal Publications:
http://www.parimalpublication.com/Bookdesc.aspx?id=449
Interview with
Tarun Sardana
Photo: Tarun Sardana
How about a brief
bio?
I was born in May 1979. I
stay in
How did you
stumble into Truth? Any childhood stories?
My Grandmom and mom are
spiritual followers from as long as I can remember. They used to
go to the satsangs every Sunday and would also take me along with
them. We had a scripture at home called 'Satvastu ka Kudrati
Granth' which means 'Sacred scriptures of Satyug as revealed by
the nature'. They used to read it daily and share with me and my
younger brother their spiritual experiences. That was how I was
initiated to the truth. While in school, we were taught the
history of Sikhism as part of our curriculum as it was a Sikh
school. The curriculum was about the ten Sikh gurus, their
encounter with the truth and their brief biographies. The
biographies really interested me. I always wanted to understand
what is 'that' which every scripture points at. I used to lock
myself for our hours in a room meditating and seeking that truth,
seeking God until one day when I came across one of Ramana
Maharishi's article on web which changed my direction of the
search from finding God to finding the one who is seeking
God.
How did Dissolved
come about?
'Dissolved' is a book that came as a spontaneous expression as
part of my own spiritual journey.
What Advaita
teachers do you recommend?
I believe all the teachers are good, it really depends on the
seeker which pointers suit his temperament the best. My
introduction to Advaita was through Shri Ramana Maharishi's and
Nisargadatta Ji Maharaj's teachings. Though, I have not met
anyone of them in person. I did visit Shri Ramana Maharishi's
ashram in Tiruvannamalai back in 2007.
Why did you write
this book as a dialogue?
Before the silence takes over, this is how a conversation happens
in one's mind - in a dialogue form. Therefore the book was
written in a dialogue form.
How do you create
an effective pointer to truth?
Usually the truth that one experiences is inexpressible in words,
so to communicate one tries to relate it with the closest example
from life. It happens as a spontaneous expression rather than a
thought out one.
On your website, http://knowi.org, you speak about workshops and trainings.
What are you offering or planning to offer? How would Dissolved
be used in such an offering?
KnowI has been formed to serve as a platform to facilitate
knowing the "I" through various mediums like
publications, articles, workshops, talks… etc... Dissolved
plays an important role in such offerings as it covers most of
the aspects of the so-called spiritual journey.
I don't think you
use the word "surrender" in Dissolved and yet this book
is certainly about surrender. Why did you decide to describe
surrender rather than speak directly about how to surrender, as
you did with self-enquiry?
'Surrender' is the only way to the Self. Surrender means
admitting one's powerlessness and this can only happen when one
clearly sees its powerlessness. And self-enquiry does the same.
It reveals the powerlessness and non-existence of the mind
separate from the Self and thus leading the mind to surrender.
Therefore, the book talks about the Self-enquiry, letting the
mind to see the truth and thereafter surrender to follow
naturally.
How did you want
the reader to respond to Dissolved?
As the book says, "Dissolved is the result of every
Self-enquiry, which is dissolving of the non-existent ego-self in
the Self." The book expects the same to
happen. Dissolved moves as a journey from Vivek (a character
in the book) to no-Vivek. If while reading they can make the same
journey, the book will achieve its purpose.
What are you
doing to change the educational system to a transformational
institution founded in truth and awareness?
The current education system is being followed and practiced
since ages. The employment sector and everything else is
completely based on the present education system. Therefore,
sudden transformation of the system may not be possible.
Realizing that, KnowI has started an initiative called KnowI
Education, which attempts to provide a supplement to the current
education system i.e. not making changes in the current education
system but providing a supplement to what lacks there.
More details about KnowI Education can be found at:
http://knowi.org/knowieducation.html
Dissolved
by Tarun Sardana
Preview
"Dissolved" on Google Books:
Purchase
"Dissolved" at any of the following places:
Amazon.com link:
A1 Books -
http://www.a1books.co.in/itemdetail/8184651120/DISSOLVED/
Parimal Publications:
http://www.parimalpublication.com/Bookdesc.aspx?id=449