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‘Agastya, The Path’: A Book of Profound Wisdom About Human Possibilities and Potential

‘Agastya, The Path’: A Book of Profound Wisdom About Human Possibilities and Potential

  • The seeds of this book intrigue and inspire me deeply to believe in the forces beyond our mind and how our life is often shaped by aspects beyond our will.

Reading the preface for “Agastya the Path,” I already felt appreciative of what was in the pages ahead. It impressed me deeply that the wisdom in this book is a divine revelation from Sage Agastya to K.M. Gajaraj, the late father of the author Anuradha Gajaraj Lopez. It felt like a description of Shruti, a stream of consciousness, just like how the verses of Vedas had come to be. Secretly, I found a validation of some of my own experiences of words and knowledge that I had never known before suddenly flowing through my writing — I had perceived it as unreal in today’s modern world. The treasure that transpires in the form of this book is pure grace of infinite proportions, from the view of the humble personal glimpses I was afforded.

The seeds of this book intrigue and inspire me deeply to believe in the forces beyond our mind and how our life is often shaped by aspects beyond our will. The author was a little girl when she found a wooden statue of an ancient sage in a small hill town in southern India. It was a statue of Sage Agastya and it would be 30 years later that her father received a direct experience – for 3 years when he sat in meditation, the Sage transmitted great knowledge through him in classical Tamil language. This happened without any interruption, research, or prior knowledge of the topic of the day. A crowd started gathering to listen & seek answers to their queries. The girl’s mother wrote it all down.

In the current times, the right people with exact skills needed came together serendipitously in support of the author, for this book to be born in English from its original version in Tamil language as recorded by her mother. The author is an earnest devotee following higher guidance to serve the world with spiritual messages to alleviate suffering, as received by them – this makes for a profound reading experience.

The knowledge in this book is expansive in meaning — a combination of inner knowing and awareness — not the intellectual kind gained from reading a book of information, but something that blooms as an embodied experience. The book consistently strives to amplify the authenticity of the spirit experienced daily while addressing the real-time suffering of the human journey. The simplicity of the language is most appreciated as every aspect of our life and the universal existential questions are answered and explained. It addresses the variety of emotions, relations, life stages, death, health, the timeless nature of time, and an all-encompassing view of ways to find the right path through it all. I particularly enjoyed the metaphors of river, lake, ocean waters to explain the concepts of knowledge, meditation, the intention of actions, etc. The black and white pictures interspersed, offer a tangible connection with the author’s real-life narrative.

The book rightly emphasizes the importance of the presence of a teacher/guru for consistent progress as a spiritual seeker, as also that of a householder seeking ways beyond the conventional for being in the world with more fulfillment and less attachment. I was particularly pleased to find chapters dedicated to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the principles of yoga as a significant part of the process of a spiritual life. The relationship between the regulation of breath, mental stability and capacity for meditation is something I can relate to from personal experience and my extensive training in the same. I am curious for what the author’s views would be, about the debates I have in my mind about this conception that yoga is effective or accessible to only higher-level serious practitioners.

As a lifelong student of yoga with an ongoing study of the Yoga Sutras for two decades with respected teachers, it has been my intent at finding and facilitating the applications to daily living while being a householder and carving an authentic trajectory of spirituality. It is my understanding that the yoga sutras are translated adaptively to each level of seeker for a life free of suffering, has descriptions and solutions for all of the life queries that apply accurately to our modern times too. It would be my pleasure to ever get the fortunate opportunity to have a conversation with the honorable author over all the views that overlap with my learnings as a serious yoga practitioner and those that I find myself having variable perspectives over. It is my confidence that I would leave with a richly enhanced exchange and evolution of understanding.

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Overall, Agastya, The Path is a book deserving a read for its profound unraveling of what our life on Earth really is, and also perhaps for what it would challenge or stimulate in you to explore further. It is also a great introduction and doorway to delve into Anuradha’s entire series of works published that covers the history of origin and three books with complete discourses that had come through her father — Agasthiyar Vazhipaadu series.


Pragalbha Doshi is a San Jose-based therapeutic yoga teacher. She facilitates therapy, healing and change for people who struggle with chronic symptoms of physical and emotional stress, and who want a productive and fulfilling life. www.yogasaar.com.

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The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of American Kahani.
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