By Parveen Chopra
When a media person chooses to write a book, the low-hanging fruit for him is the most topical issue of the day, which entails staying close to the temporal world, the only world most of us know. Shomik Chaudhuri, with decades of media marketing and reporting behind him, has shunned the temporal and leaped straight for the eternal as he made his debut as a writer with ‘Some Whispers from Eternity’.
The recently released book from Dorrance, a 100-year-old publisher, may come as a surprise to many people who have known him. But unbeknown even to his coworkers and bosses, as he displayed his Midas touch delivering ad revenue by the bucketfuls, he has also been a lifelong practitioner of Kriya Yoga.
Kriya Yoga is an advanced spiritual system that Paramahansa Yogananda brought to the world’s attention with his iconic book, ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’. Shomik deepened his practice when he learnt its derivative, Om Kriya Yoga, from his guru, Ramanandacharya Rajivlochanacharya, some twenty years ago.
For the uninitiated, Kriya Yoga, Shomik explains, has the concentration factor like many other meditation techniques, but makes it more intense with additional kriyas and asanas to enhance the experience of the seeker.
Traditionally, Kriya Yoga lessons are given by guru to shishya in an institutional setting, strictly after initiation. In his book, ‘Some Whispers from Eternity’, Shomik has broken the secrecy around this less-known system and devotes one entire chapter to giving step-by-step Kriya Yoga instructions.
He also shares many processes for anyone to practice and evolve into better and more wonderful human beings. Studies, work, and relationships improve. Concentration, patience, focus, endurance, calm disposition, and health become better, he promises. His urgent advice is: “Life is short. Start today and do not let any day pass by without practicing the lessons and building your relationship with God. Take one step at a time and practice with your sincerity and love for God. He will make your progress faster, easier, and more enjoyable.”
Okay, that explains the first part of the book’s long subtitle, which reads: Book on Evolution of Consciousness and Upliftment of Humanity through OM Kriya Yoga. For the second part, know that he has had the privilege of working with United Nations forums for over two decades. His deep interest, insight and knowledge on spirituality and human existence made him the youngest person in UN history to represent the organization at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1995.
He went on to co-found an NGO at the UN which impelled the UN to give adequate attention to spirituality as the most important aspect of human existence. He also co-founded an international NGO based in India which is in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC of the UN and has branches in New York and Europe.
Shomik believes that the knowledge he has presented in his book should be applied to uplift and transform humanity, no less. After all, the Vedic blessing ‘Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu’ is not for Indians only, but for the well-being and happiness of all.
As his friend and former colleague, I had the privilege of contributing the Foreword for Shomik’s book. On reading the manuscript, I found something striking. To keep his narrative lively, Shomik employs an Upanishadic device – the question and answer format to dwell on a subject and then go deep. He starts each of his 15 chapters with a conversation with his rhetorical friend, Madhu. That also allows him to give a bird’s eye view of the vast Vedic literature.
‘Some Whispers from Eternity’, 192 pages paperback, price $18, can be ordered from Dorrance at https://bookstore.dorrancepublishing.com/
(Founding editor of The South Asian Times, Parveen Chopra has started ALotusInTheMud.com, a wellness and spirituality web magazine.)
