Kathmandu :

After over two decades of introspection in the forests of Shivapuri hill, Swami Chandresh — a master of Yoga and meditation, a poet, musician, educator and painter — has written a book called Ocean in a Drop.

The book, unlike most modern-day easy-to-digest work of fiction, is meant for serious consumption — food for the mind and soul. As the title itself suggests the book is a capsule, which has all the nutrients that the soul needs to live and grow.

There are 12 essays ranging from the goal of life to death, science to Vedic seers. The themes are not new, but the way of presentation is unique and the language, simple.

In the essay ‘Perfection is the Goal’, Swamiji talks about perfection in life, what does it mean and how can one attain perfection: the struggle, the role of success and failure in one’s life, and the equanimity of soul. His point is that all that happens in life, agreeable or adverse, certainly bear some spiritual significance and possibility. We only realise this in time through the universal law of cause and effect.

In ‘The Power of Action,’ he says everything must move, change, be it ‘with life or without’, with mind and intelligence or without. There is no excuse for us but to work incessantly.

The third essay is about mind and its power. “For the seed of all knowledge is already existing in the vast storehouse of human mind. Proper environment helps the seed to germinate,” he writes. The power of mind cannot be underestimated.

Swamiji writes on enjoyment, materialism and spiritualism, hatred and love, death and immortality, science in the light of religion, yoga and humanity, mythology and legend, and the human society. He makes it simple with stories and a mastery of language. No sooner than one finishes the book, a reader finds oneself in a state of trance.

Reading Ocean in a Drop is like meditating in the presence of Swami Chandresh in the forest of Shivapuri hill. Though religion has become more of a fashion statement these days, Swamiji takes us on a ride and shakes many traditional beliefs in the process. The book not only touches our intellect but also our soul.