Introduction
Flowers on the Path depicts the bliss of a Guru surrounded by the fragrances of beauty and divinity blossoming forth from human endeavour and its limitless potential. An irresistible countenance on the cover of the book compelled this restless mind to open the first few pages. What ensued was a silent listening, a few questions, eyes wide open in wonder and a quest to learn, all from a 186 page book that was lying around at home since June 2020.
Sadhguru’s daily quotes was the only way I had squeezed in trouble, puzzlement, agreement, quietude, questioning, spirituality and disbelief in my hectic schedule. The book has exploded into the foundation of about a year of reading his daily quotes and settling into the molten lava that had begun to influence the Self. I may be ready to see the way…and he promises flowers on the path.
Thesis
The book is divided into three sections with around 10-12 articles, reflecting moods, the many lives of Indian people and the subcontinent. His sharp intellect cuts through these fleeting categories with scalpel-like precision, as we emerge from illusions about our everyday romance in one article to piercing through nostalgia that grips us about our past. Discomfort with Truth follows a natural outcome, only after one has left the book unfinished in disagreement. To be honest, my curiosity got the better of me enough to reach the last page through ill health, screaming deadlines which included this review itself, and a troubled mind full of work woes. Once I put the book down, my worry washed away, and I was still. “Why worry?”, asks Sadhguru. Indeed, I have your book.
The Guru is there if you are seeking him. Since ancient times, wisdom has flowed into family traditions where you have been told things like “The Guru comes only when you are ready” or “Guru is like Brahma himself”. You perhaps take a minute to ponder on these aphorisms and give in to the next moment that attracts you towards other things. Sadhguru’s articles remind of the Guru from the redundant Guru-Shishya parampara some of you are now nostalgic about. In some unbelievable way, this book in articles is an introduction to vast depths of his knowledge and the Guru’s intention is in seeking YOU, not the opposite.
Candid as Sadhguru is known to be, in an article he simply shares his mission with you. One half of the planet needs spirituality, he surmises, if not everyone, to save this planet. This quest is understood in this race against time to fulfil his goal.
Indian traditions, knowledge systems, spiritual discourses have almost always invited debate, argumentation and questions. Something that we are all proud of is our past full of knowledge and great men who shared it freely with disciples and laymen alike. To box those times and not see this moment as perhaps a continuum is what Sadhguru would also term rigidity in our minds and bodies. For knowledge to flow, the mind should seek. Questions arise in a curious mind that is looking for something…more.
“If you are ready and willing to experience life in a deeper dimension, to be truly happy, I have methods”.
The ubiquity of Sadhguru’s use of technology to introduce the sadhak (seeker) to new ways of communing with nature, people, the environment, and his inner-self lets me move on and use this space for a lot more that is usually rare to encounter! Suffice is to say, that this is the question of you being happy. Sadhguru will not only answer, he will give you the sadhana (practice) to make yourself a happy person.
“I am willing to change myself”…that is what Yoga is about. The book says ‘this is not about changing the world, it is about changing yourself’. Your transformation can be instrumental, it is even essential in bringing about a change in the world – a true revolution. This country has seen many such revolutions, India’s struggle for Independence being one of them. In the past, Buddha unraveled his open revolution to share with those suffering in India. Buddhism travelled far and wide in the world and still is a way of life of entire communities and nations.
Delightful stories grace Flowers on the Path, and for him to quip Gautama Buddha seems a happy surprise, yet on second thought, almost a necessity. The kind of life that a Buddha would lead needs a reintroduction in our society again to cope with pressures of today’s lifestyle.
The Introduction talks about a story when Buddha just picked up a flower and gazed at it. Mahakashyapa, his disciple, after a while, smiled. “He was the only one who understood”.
Conclusion
It has been the rarest phenomena in this country that a Guru has used technical and scientific terms to explain reasonably obscure practices to everyone curious enough to tune into him. When he says, ‘I have methods’, a chance to explore those methods is what one can find in one’s dailiness. Would I gaze upon a flower and feel the light of a thousand suns shining upon me? What other time would the Guru come looking for us?
After spending a substantial number of years believing that the Guru can come when my time is right, I feel the need to reach out through Flowers on the Path. I too, want the fragrance of his blessings showing me the way to happiness, and bliss.
I hope the book gives you as much as I have gained in knowledge, quest, learning and a hunger for more – if nothing else, hope and happiness, for a moment. I wish you a lot more.
Rating: 5 stars
Price: Rs.150
