Tantra between the covers

Mystic's Musings is well produced and occasionally shocking, unlike other predictable spiritual books

ENGAGING There is never a dull moment in Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's book

In this age of unlimited spiritual guidance — from real to
virtual — it's often a case of quantity without quality; current strains of
"spiritual" books so much lack character that one will do just as well as
another; they look similar, sound similar, and require little more from the
seeker than acquiescence.

So a book like Mystic's Musings, beautifully produced,
intriguing, thought provoking, even occasionally shocking, is exciting.

Mystic's Musings contains ten years of conversations
with the maverick spiritual master, Jaggi Vasudev, whose ISHA Foundation (www.ishafoundation.org)
runs yoga centres world wide as well as an orphanage and several medical centres
in South India. The Isha Yoga Centre at the foothills of the Velliangiri
Mountains is the hub of ISHA Foundation's activities. From here, it runs
regional community health programmes as well as the Action for Rural
Rejuvenation programme.

Mystic's Musings is remarkably eye-catching for its perfect
square actually seduces you into picking it up, and it comes as no surprise to
read that the shape is not accidental.

In the afterword, the Sadhguru reveals that the written word
in the book was crafted to function as a yantra, " ... When you labour through
500 pages of words, we want to provide you certain keys to the Existence,
opening a certain dimension of life which is not in normal access to people. If
you are open to it, it will do things."

What these keys are, the reader will have to find out, but
this much at least is guaranteed, that the journey through the words of this
master is not dull. For one thing, there is a profusion of photographs, which
are captivating in their variety and in what they reveal about the master.

There is no straight biography in the book but these pictures
tell a story - Sadhguru on his BMW, in a robe playing with a snake, on a
football ground, climbing up a hill, in meditation, playing drums, dancing, in
meditation, playing football, climbing.

The conversations that the book records cover a period of 10
years and are those that selected and carefully prepared disciples took part in.

The editors say: "When we embarked on the mission of
compiling these monumental pages of intense interactions with Sadhguru, it was
not without an element of mischief. Over the years we had seen many people
approach Sadhguru with questions... some casual and curious; some cynical and
sceptic, some mischievous and malicious. Yet, each received fittingly... "

This is what divides the book into two sections, for the
questions fall into two separate kinds — section one is easily read, the
questions and answers touching the intellect and the practical world, while the
second section is of a more closed nature — spirit energy, ghosts, karmic
misdemeanours, the Dhyanalinga... and much more.

It is the second section that makes one pause before putting
finger to keyboard and passing judgment, for it is difficult to either endorse
what is written there or to dismiss it because one simply doesn't know. So all
the reviewer can really look for is whether the material expresses what is
intended and whether the answers form any kind of pattern for the reader.

Thus, when one reads the answers to questions about pain,
loss, death and how to live in peace, in the first section, and then, in the
second section, explanations about bad spirits, energy patterns in the spiritual
sphere, disembodied spirits, trapping spirits and about the Sadhguru's efforts
to construct the Dhyanalinga, they appear to settle into a definite pattern,
taking the questioner (and, if you are willing, the reader as well) deeper and
deeper into a spiral, which becomes more complex with each turn until it comes
to a stop with what appears to be a definite answer from the master.

The first set of questions creates a simple flow taking the
reader inward and also outwards, into self and back into the world, while the
other set of questions and answers might make you uncomfortable, the Sadhguru
made it clear that people need answers to such questions too.

Mystic's Musings is certainly more interesting than
several dozen other spiritual books that I can think of off hand. The bonus is
that the book is also physically attractive and that Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is
intriguing, and there is rarely a dull moment in the book. What one gets from a
book like this, as the Sadhguru himself points out, depends on what one is
looking for