In the 1990s, an eighteen-year-old headed to Australia to realise his worldly dreams.With the little money or support, he struggled to survive there. Two years later, he was earning an annual income of $250, 000; by the age of twenty-six, he was a multimillionaire. Yet worldly success was merely a way station on a journey that began years ago.
As an eight-year-old, he saw a vision of God in a dream, an experience that left his with a sense of deep joy and peace. The dream triggered off his desire to meet God, to see a manifestation of the Divine. He practised astrology, intense meditation and tantra, yet God was nowhere in sight. Deeply frustrated, he dived into materialistic pursuits to distract himself from the restlessness within.
After years of living the good life, he found he could no longer ignore the old restlessness; worldly pleasures just couldn't fill the void within. He moved back to India and finally did what he had always yearned to do; renounce the world and become a monk.
In the Himalayas, in terrifying silence and solitude, Om Swami practised intense meditation. Death was always close as he confronted starvation, the fierce elements and wild animals. Sleeping on soiled floors and dusty mattress or hard benches. Getting stung by scorpions. Losing completely all appetite and feeding only on biscuits. Bathing with icy water and above all; sleeping in a cave with insects and rats. Finally, his sadhana brought him to the ultimate realization:
"I am what I have been seeking."
Gems from the book:
"I began to see how I - and everyone around me - was an exact replica of the universe.If there were numerous tar in the universe, the macrocosm, there were a sun and moon beyond, there was a solar and lunar channel of breathing within. If there was 70 per cent water on the earth, there was also 70 per cent water in my body."
"The truth is that our future is determined by the choices we make today, and our today is resting on the choices we made yesterday."
"Enlightenment does not mean you have to live like a pauper. It does not mean you have to subject yourself to a life of hardship and abstinence. On the contrary, to be enlightened means to live in the light of love, compassion and truthfulness."
"Your knowledge of rituals and the scriptures, the time you spend in places of worship, the money you raise for religious causes - such things, I am sorry to tell you, have absolutely no connection with God unless the heart is open to the Divine."
"Wisdom speaks only to those who are pen to the truth, and insight does not speak at all; it just dawns. So, I cannot give you any insight, it must come from within. I can only share my own learning."
Om Swami is a monk who lives in an ashram in the Himalayan foothills. In Search of the Truth, he renounced the world and went to the Himalayas, where he realised himself after practising intense meditation.
About the Author:
Om Swami is a monk who lives in an ashram in the Himalayan foothills. In Search of the Truth, he renounced the world and went to the Himalayas, where he realised himself after practising intense meditation.
Om Swami has a bachelor's degree in business and an MBA from Sydney. His blog, omswami.com, where he writes every week, gets more than a million views annually.
My achievement is not what I have,
My introduction is not what I do,
It is but who I am.
A nobody.
A speck of dust in the infinite creation,
A vast ocean in the tiny dew drop,
A Himalayan stream,
The still mountain,
So are you.
I sing I laugh I dance I clap,
I am That.
Compassion is my religion and love, my only philosophy.
"An amazing journey into the daily harsh routines of an aspirant who finally attains bliss. If Truth Be Told deserves 5*." - Viragoattitude
