This was a pretty big day for me. I wrote this book in 2008 and it has been a long process of bringing it into the "finished" product. And the thing is that while I could talk about the external challenges and road blocks involved in the project, really, the thing is that the time it took was really for me. The last three years have involved some of the deepest, richest and most profound sadhana and personal work I have ever done and I think it was necessary in order to feel in alignment with the subject matter of this book.
The book is inspired by Yogi Ramusratkumar who is my guru's guru. He was a saint who lived and taught in Southern India in Tamil Nadu. Toward the end of his life he orchestrated the building of a huge temple that he intended to be a place of refuge, sanctuary and blessings for anyone who visited. It would, in effect, be his body when he had passed his physical sheath.
I love visiting this ashram and have always enjoyed the stories of how it was built and given my own struggle to inhabit the temple of my body in a joyful and peaceful way I was inspired to use the stories of his temple building project as a template for my own continued work in this domain. The book also goes further than that and outlines principles we can use to build a "body of work" or a "body of practice" that glorifies The Highest and becomes a place of inner sanctuary and refuge. I give suggestions, ask the readers to explore their own ideas and to engage a Temple Building Project of their own.
It's a cool book. I am told it reads well and is meaningful without being too heavy or technical. It is not meant to be academic or definitive relative to Anusara Yoga philosophy but you will certainly get some commentary on some of our guiding principles along with some teachings from Lee and stories from Yogi Ramsuratkumar devotees. Since the topic is about crafting a temple, the "delay" in publication gave me some much needed time to do some work on my own body of practice and shore up some of the weaker walls and freshen up some stagnant rooms.
It really is an amazing process to write a book. Lee used to say that we generally write books like these beyond where we actually are in terms of realization and actualization and that this is no problem at all. He said it is the boon of writing because once it is written, the book becomes a tool that can draw us forward into the truth that we already know on one level but have yet to become on another level. That is how it has been for me for sure.
So, if you want to buy my book, you can go directly to www.hohmpress.com and buy it this week. Soon it will be for sale on Anusara's website. They have been super supportive of the project. It's really quite a blessing.
More soon!
4 comments:
Congrats! I'll totally buy it once my household isn't bursting at the seams with unemployment. I'm currently almost finished with Yoga from the Inside Out... which I love.
congratulations!
I attended a sitting with Yogi Ramusratkumar in Thiruvannamalai in 2000. I just ordered your book. . so glad about it.
Congradulations! I look forward to reading it. YOu are a treasure. All Love-
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