By: Ananta Ripa Ajmera, Founder, SoulWisdom Press & PR, Co-founder and Director, The Ancient Way
Embark on an adventure of self-discovery and transformation as you read the compelling spiritual book “In Search of the Highest Truth: Adventures in Yoga Philosophy” by author Hari-kirtana das. In this book you will go on a trip to uncover an unconventional approach to learning ancient yoga wisdom and why its relevance is important in today’s world. On this journey, truth seekers can expect to develop a spiritual vision, an understanding of how to apply the principles of traditional yoga philosophy to life in the modern world, and most importantly, how to have fun and take risks along the path of exploration.
We are so excited to have Hari join us now to reveal what it means to go on a transformative adventure, how his journey prepared him to write this impressive spiritual guide and to clear up common misunderstandings in yoga philosophy.
This is a book about yoga philosophy, but what’s the significance of characterizing it as “adventures” in yoga philosophy?
Yoga Philosophy offers us a journey into transcendental knowledge that is meant to be transformative, not just informative. A journey of transformation is always an adventure because you never know exactly what you’ll discover along the way. And going on an adventure to discover something new is it’s fun. The number one rule in all of my yoga classes is that everyone must have fun. Everything else is secondary.
I think that’s another one of the other things that makes In Search of the Highest Truth different from other books on yoga philosophy is that it’s fun to read. These are conversations that were fun to have, and I believe they will also be fun to read.
Of course, with any adventure, there’s a risk. There’s a risk in an adventure in yoga philosophy that it might turn your own worldview inside out. That if we feel inspired to look at the world through the lens that yoga philosophy gives us, it’s going to change the picture, and therefore we risk having to change the way we think about the world and relate to the world and how we think about ourselves and what the purposes of our lives are.
How did you learn enough about yoga philosophy to be able to write a book about it?
I began reading a wide variety of yoga wisdom texts when I was a teenager. Then, in my early twenties, I lived in a devotional yoga ashram for five years, where study and practice were all we did 24/7. That was where my formal training took place and where the foundation of my understanding was established. Although I left ashram life and moved on to have a professional career, I have always tried to stay connected to that foundation in yoga wisdom through study and practice. The fact that I’ve been trying to live this philosophy in my personal and professional life while continually pursuing a deeper understanding of it under the guidance of my very learned and generous teachers is my real qualification for publishing this book.
In the book, you make a distinction between gurus and teachers. What’s the difference and why does it matter?
Knowing the difference between a guru and a teacher matters. Because in modern yoga, they have been conflated. And the result has been damage to the reputation of the institution of guru in yoga, because many unqualified people have assumed that position. And then been shown to be unworthy of it.
The guru disciple relationship involves a different level of commitment, going both ways from each participant in that relationship. The disciple has decided that the guru is someone that they trust, that has knowledge, and has the inclination to bestow that knowledge for the benefit of the disciple. The disciple, in exchange for receiving this knowledge, makes certain commitments to accept the discipline of the guru. That’s what it means to be a disciple.
A teacher-student relationship doesn’t have that kind of commitment to it, or at least it shouldn’t. It doesn’t have that kind of depth of connection where there’s a commitment made by both parties to one another. So, the teacher-student relationship can be close, inspiring, and many other things. However, a teacher-student relationship doesn’t have that sense of complete faith and commitment. That is characteristic of a guru-disciple relationship.
What’s the biggest challenge to understanding traditional yoga philosophy? And how does your book help overcome it?
The biggest challenge to understanding traditional yoga philosophy is that it is, in many ways, diametrically opposed to modern assumptions that we take for granted.
For instance, yoga wisdom texts tell us that we are not created beings: we are eternal. And to be eternal means to have never come into being. Yoga wisdom literature describes us the atma, the purusha, the self as eternal, having never come into being, with no possibility of ever going out of being.
This is very different from the modern assumption that we come into being at a point of time when there’s a chance combination of material elements that produces this body. And if we had a religious upbringing in a monotheistic tradition, we might have heard that God creates us at a point in time: at conception or shortly thereafter. Well, what we hear from yoga wisdom texts is that we were somewhere before we came here, and somewhere before that, and somewhere before that.
This idea of the eternal soul transmigrating from one body to another in one lifetime after another is actually a very radical idea that can be really challenging. So it gives you an idea of how a modern worldview coming to a traditional yoga wisdom text would have to make a pretty big change of mindset in order to enter into the world of that yoga wisdom text.
By pointing out and discussing underlying assumptions like this, In Search of the Highest Truth gives readers an opportunity to look at the world through the lens that yoga philosophy gives us rather than look at yoga philosophy through the lens that the world gives us. And if we look at the world through the lens that yoga wisdom is offering us, what we’ll see is something very, very different than what we’re accustomed to and something very revelatory.
What other things do you do?
I’ve just finished my second book called Journey into the Bhagavad Gita: A Guide to Exploring Timeless Principles of Transcendental Knowledge and Integrating them into Your Life. It’s a comprehensive introduction to the Gita that I specifically wrote with the intention of making it easier for a Western audience to enter into the Gita’s world, understand its metaphysical framework, and make the Gita’s integrated approach to philosophy and theology both accessible and actionable.
I also offer a variety of live online yoga philosophy courses and workshops, and I still do in-person workshops a few times a year. I also speak at various events, conferences, yoga teacher trainings, and academic institutions.
Once a month, I host a free Community Conversation, where I choose a topic suggested by either a student or friend and discuss it through the lens of yoga wisdom.
You can learn more about Hari-kirtanta das here and find his book on Amazon.
Published By: Aize Perez
