Nirvana (Spirituality) cannot be explained in words but to be lived through

There are scores of book on Buddha and Buddhism. But reading every book need not be an experience to remember. However, if a book is authored based on extensive research by a scholar and a master in penning philosophical books such as Mukunda Rao, then there is every
reason to take the book seriously.

On Sunday, Mukunda’s new book - The Buddha – An Alternative Narrative of His Life and Teaching – was formally released in Bengaluru by historian and author Ramachandra Guha. The 216-pages book has been published by Harper Collins.

Mukunda, in his brief introduction on the book, said it was an amazing experience to write the book as he felt as though he knew Buddha for ages.  “I had to work hard for it. I had read books on Buddha for 3 to 5 years.  Another thing was that I found hundreds of parallels between
Budhha and U G Krishnamurti.  As I have observed, in traditional religious discourses, the body has been marginalized. But I have brought the body to the centre of the narrative. The body is the hero of the narrative,” he added.

Ramachadnra Guha confessed that he was ambivalent whether he was intellectually equipped to be part of the discussion on the book because he is religiously unmusical. “ I am not pro or anti religion.

I visit temples, mosques and churches for the beauty of structures.  I am connected with creations of humans on humans. But I thought of educating myself by coming here. I have worked on Gandhi (authoring books on Mahatma Gandhi), for 20 years. Gandhi was profoundly
religious. He was engaged with many religions but did not take Buddha seriously. There could be many reasons for it including Buddhism not having much influence on Gujarat. Gandhi had said Buddhism was a form of Hinduism.”

Later talking about Mukunda and his book, Guha said the book is a product of deep and wide scholarship of the author. It is awonderfully compellingly readable, partly because of the narrative style of Mukunda. It is profoundly complex but essentially readable.

There are subtle comparisons between Hindu and Buddhist traditions, he added. Guha  readout some of the one-liners of the author in the book. He also suggested that the quotes in the book worth tweeting.  One such one-liner he read was – “If science builds on the past, spirituality
seeks the disillusion of the past.”

Another was – "'Nirvana (Spirituality) is something which cannot be explained in words but to be lived  through''.  Another was, “It is emotions of hatred, envy,egotism, greed that constitute unfriendliness and not eating flesh.”

Sundar Sarukkai, writer, commenting on certain salient points as towhy reading of the book is important, said it is a great challenge towrite a book on spirituality as it could sometimes become contentious.

But Mukunda has a long history of engaging with such subject and alsotake readers along with his write-ups.  The book is about Buddha and not Buddhism. While Buddha is a monumental subject, ‘isms’ are easierto deal. The book has extremely good framework – the body.

 “The body is not the final and liberation of the body happens through the mind. This has been interestingly presented in the book. The story of Buddha and introduction to his tents well presented.  The book ends around the point - spiritual experience has to be experienced and
language cannot capture it. It is a kind of experience which you cannot talk about it but should be experienced. “