Introduction

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

Although born in Karnataka [india], I grew up in a small

coastal fishing village, about 60 miles south of Mumbai [formerly

Bombay].

 

There were temples galore and festivals for the various

deities round the year.

 

The literature I got exposed to was stories from Ramayana,

Mahabharata, Puranas; biographies of Marathi saints.

 

For high school and college I moved to Mumbai, and got to

read Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Gita; Aurobindo, Yogananda,

Radhakrishnan, Ranade, Ramana, followed in due course.

 

Graduate studies in psychiatry took me into fields of

Western psychology, philosophy. Mystical traditions of various faiths

occupied the next phase of study.

 

Faith, intellect, and experience constantly battled for

attention. The touchstone always seemed to boil down to Vedanta, and

especially of the Gita, and more in depth studies followed.

 

Nama-mantra-japa is the cornerstone of my life. When

the statements in the Gita were challenged, circumstances would arise

that would clear them for me. One particular set was about 'yoga-

kshema' [protect what one has, and give what one needs] which

occurred frequently enough to make me desist from further challenging

it!

 

 

Regards,

 

s.