Pause In today’s book talk I am going to discuss about my recent audio book “Mysterious experiences : A peek beyond the confines of the Mind”. Swami Vivekananda once mentioned some mysterious experience he used to have in his younger days, I.e, before he became a Sanyasi. Whenever he closed his eyes before he slept, he could see a bright light in front of him. But swamiji never felt that that was something unusual. He thought everyone else experiences the same way!

Quick links Pause We were talking about the endless cycle of births and deaths that a soul goes through and the emphasis in all ancient schools of Indian thought on the liberation from that cycle. But the birth does give us an opportunity to enjoy this world!. In that case, why were these schools against enjoyment?

Quick links  Pause In the previous episode we saw how ancient Indians were not against enjoyment completely. They only counseled for a guarded indulgence. They forbade promiscuity that can be a nuisance to the society in addition to harming the individual. In that case, why not an individual keep taking births after birth, enjoying the world, of course in a well disciplined way? Why should one bother about ultimate realization and emancipation?

Pause In the previous episode we were talking about the “Chariot allegory” that is used by the Upanishadic story that we have been discussing. The allegory says that our body is the chariot and our soul is the rider who uses this chariot. It also says that death is the event of this soul disembarking the chariot. Now the question is “what happens when this rider disembarks?”. Obviously, the body gradually disintegrates. But what happens to the rider who has stepped down? Does he also perish?