How the Great take you to the Greatest

The modern society is confused by such terms as Spirituality, Religion and God and many of us do not understand what it means to experience the Almighty. Definition is often difficult but there is certainly some overlapping between the concepts.

I have read many books, including those on religion and spirituality over the years but I found ‘Mahaan’ a unique, interesting, thought-provoking and inspiring.

Written by Venkataraman Nilakant, Associate Professor (Department of Management) at the Christchurch based Canterbury University, the Book examines some hard questions such as ‘What is the role of religion in spirituality?’ and ‘Does God really exist?’

‘Mahaan’ is an insightful and compelling discourse into Dr Nilakant’s journey in search of what has given meaning to his life. In his simple and easy-to-follow style, he discusses how he has grown spiritually and the concepts of Indian spirituality and mysticism. He also narrates his experiences with ‘Siva Shankar Baba,’ who he met in New Zealand in 2009 and following a number of meetings found him to be a true ‘Mahaan’

Real Mahaan

According to Dr Nilakant, ‘Mahaan,’ means a great or saintly person. His book reveals that Siva Shankar Baba is different; a person who lives and breathes the moral values epitomised in the Bhagavad Gita by achieving Krishna consciousness.

The author uses this epic text to demonstrate how man should live to become a real life Mahaan, serving God, leads an unaffected life, works hard but is not consumed by reward or recognition, loves everyone and strives to serve them.

Baba’s concept is ‘Aham Brahmasmi Tattavamasi’ (‘I am God and so are you’). His mission is to make everyone understand that God exists within each of us and that God is an experience, not a being.

“Our so-called problems are ‘fabrications of the mind’ and we alone are responsible for our own happiness.”

Given to simple thinking and high living, Baba asserts, “We must be aware of the world in which we live, establish ourselves through hard work without compromising our values, which become our worship of the Lord.”

Spiritual practice

Dr Nilakant said that according to this Mahaan, the highest spiritual practice is ‘being able to accept whatever life throws at you at this very moment” and that if we “remove desires and ego, we become divine.”

The book succinctly reveals life’s true purpose by asking the tough, ‘what it is all about’ questions and helping us to find comfort and peace during tumultuous times.

The practice also shows us how to fight the demons raging within and, most importantly, guides us towards fulfilment and enlightenment when all seem lost.

Dr Nilakant claimed that for many people, meeting Baba was the best thing that had happened to them, with their lives acquiring a new meaning, depth and dimension.

Attaining Divinity

The author says, “The best way to experience divinity and God is through the physical medium of a Mahaan, who is the closest you can get to God on this Earth. It is the Mahaan who can reveal God to you; God is the totality of everything that you can see and cannot see.”

I believe this book will help us get back on track if we find ourselves spiritually stuck, immaterial of our current beliefs.

Dr Nilakant has previously written two other books on Siva Shankar Baba. They are ‘Close Encounters of the Third Order’ and ‘Seriously Searching Shiva.’

Dr V Subramaniam is our Singapore correspondent.