Not often do you see authors at a press conference help its attendees experience what they’ve just written in a book. The launch of The Heartfulness Way , a book co-authored by Kamlesh Patel and Joshua Pollock at ITC Kakatiya was indeed unique, the experience did go beyond words. The book emphasises on Heartfulness, a meditative practice that promises to be equally accessible and effective in helping a person from any walk of life find and identify himself/herself on an inward journey.
Joshua, a co-author, heartfulness trainer and a western classical violinist informs, “Book is one form among many to convey a message. Heartfulness as a technique emphasises on one-on-one interaction, that’s the foundation of the book and it’s the way many of our volunteers get trained.” He’d tried many forms of meditation through books, practices in the past and realised he wasn’t any good at it. For some reason, he believed in meditation and kept looking for alternative methods to make it a part of his life. A chance encounter with a stranger at a grocery store introduced him to it, the experience was memorable and it’s been 15 years now. He says, “The book is a route to take this message across many quarters, it’s something I would’ve picked up had I known about it back then. The idea through the book, the second section in specific is instructional for people to give it a trial.”
Putting together a journey that’s so personal in words isn’t the easiest, but Kamlesh Patel, fondly addressed as Daaji by his followers and friends at the Sri Ramachandra Mission, downplays it.
“If you like something, there’s no struggle, it’s like asking child about his interest to eat an ice-cream. If you have a specific goal to reach, the journey towards it is joyful when you allow the heart to take its rightful place-Heartfulness is all about it.” The book caters to the basic needs of every person, overcoming stress, having better sleep, better family life and a path leading towards realisation.
Yet Joshua insists it isn’t entirely instructional. “All our lives, people tell us what to do and be like-parents, teachers, priests and society. What’s the result? It’s debatable. Most books surrounding meditation come with similar messages of loving one another. The book goes beyond preaching.” He says there are enough books that talk of the ideal qualities that a human should imbibe and they didn’t want this to be that.
“This one only gives you a way to change within. It’s upto the reader to experiment with it. The book isn’t only for those who experience heartfulness practically, it’s for the common man too who might not really understand what words like moksha might essentially mean.” Anyone who could be helped is a target audience, he says.
The conversational tone between the two lends an interesting and lively dimension to the book that’s straight from the heart. Would this come under the self-help genre? “It’s beyond that, it takes you towards your final destination. It helps you solve the riddle of life-why am I here? It helps solve the problems of the world on an individual level,” Kamlesh avers. There’s information here yes, which could probably trigger a transformation, Joshua adds. Several readers over a couple of weeks have labelled their effort an ‘encyclopedia of a yogic journey’.
What are the problems that the practitioners of Heartfulness initially come with? “Common problem among beginners is the overflow of thoughts, after practicing Heartfulness they complain about the lack of it. What has happened to my mind?” Kamlesh smiles. He calls the re-significance of meditation among a contemporary crowd both fortunate and unfortunate. “The growth in the practitioners is fortunate, but the reason-not so much. The West has realised its scientific value so much that it has got us excited now, something that was exported is being re-imported to us again.” Joshua finds the book relevant because it helps one go on with their life, work, not meditate for 24 hours a day and yet have results.
