A Cup of Humour with Spoonful of Faith!

Recently, I was fortunate to be able to go through an excellent book authored by an author who happens to be a spiritual teacher. It was about learning the art of mastering one’s thoughts, feelings and emotions. Through it, the author shared a treasure trove of wisdom on different aspects of life. I had watched a few video talks by this same author some years ago. I really appreciate the humor that he brings into his talks, which is something that is amply evident in this book, too. What a contrast this is to the ponderous burden that one sometimes feels while listening to talks by some people who claim to be in the know about matters related to God that are driven by fear and clouded by gloom!

Humour lightens the ambience and makes spirituality appealing, something that one wants to pursue for the love of it, because it makes one joyful. I would like to think that God wants us to be happy, not fearful, and that, therefore, spirituality should help us become happier people and to contribute to the stock of joy in the world. I find this understanding resonates deeply with the spirituality that the author of this book exemplifies.

What I liked most about this book is that the author deals very meaningfully with core issues of life that we all go through—be it grief, guilt, criticism, depression, emotional upheavals, feelings of anger, fear and hurt, negative thoughts, rude behavior, self-conceit or many other such everyday sorts of things. He shares insights about some of these issues with the help of anecdotes from his own life and helps us gain an understanding of how he handled them—a very useful learning lesson for readers. Sharing his own experiences in this regard makes it easy for readers to connect and resonate with what he says. Through this one is also led to understand that even people who are considered to be ‘spiritually advanced’ are fellow humans, and that they face many of the same issues that other humans do.

Another great bit of wisdom I learnt from, and liked about, this book is the fact that the author is deeply connected with the ‘real’ world. His spirituality is socially-engaged. He is far from being indifferent to the world. He interacts with ‘ordinary’ people like a friend. He counsels them when they approach him with their issues. He accepts invitations by families who invite him out of their gratitude and respect for him. He has read many books by global authors on issues like self-help and psychology and does not confine himself to only books about spirituality and religion. While being deeply concerned about others, he also allots time for his self-care, including meditation. This integration of care for the self and for others that he reflects in his life is a great learning lesson.

Openness of mind and willingness to learn from different sources is, I think, a key feature of a wise person. The author of the book beautifully exemplifies this. Just to cite one example, he mentions his meeting a famous film actor while on a journey. In the course of their conversation, he asks the actor to recommend a good film to see, and that evening he sees it. That movie is one of the best that has made on the core subjects it deals with.

*

I am sure glad I read this book—it helped me understand that with a cup of humour, mixed with a big spoon full of faith in God’s grace, life’s challenges can be dealt with confidently.