Book Review: Spirituality Bytes

Spirituality Bytes – A guide to understanding and managing
the journey called life.

Dr. PV Vaidyanathan. Readworthy, New Delhi 2009 pp170.
Price: Rs 195.00

Available from the publisher at: 4662/21 Ansari Road, Daryagunj, New Delhi 110002

(Book Review by
vyasamoorthy@gmail.com)

Spirituality is a device that helps you understand and
accept life as it exists. This easy to read book comprises of ten chapters of
varying lengths (Just one page to forty five  pages), the longest one on “Life” and the
shortest one on  “Spirituality in a
nutshell”.

While dealing with Life the author touches upon a series of
apparently unconnected issues such as: Search for Identity, choosing the middle
path, Letting go, quitting the comfort zone, Essence of NOW, Awareness,
Freewill, Desire or Deserve, Money and its role etc.

The book is purposely designed to be a collection of
different topics such as GOD, fear, greed, anger, present moment awareness, the
art of listening, how not to take anything or anybody for granted, mind,
meditation etc. The very structure of loosely connected topics makes it easy
for anyone to start at any chapter and read the sub sections that are only a
few pages. The author spells out his views clearly and asks readers to accept
or reject them freely. The selection of topics mostly justifies the subtitle.

However, one teaching that stares in your face all thorough
the book is “to take the middle path”. Don’t be a control freak and don’t let
yourself be totally laid back – follow the middle path, he says. While taking
decisions, ‘balance is the key’ – again the middle path approach. While talking
about Stress handling ( a subject on which he has written another book) he
opines: Don’t take much more than you can chew; avoid multi tasking and have a
balanced view of life. Allocate your time suitably among family and work

Love is all about freedom – allowing the person you love to
be free. It is more of giving than of taking. 
One of the observations of the author which made me gasp aloud: “How
true!” was on ‘boredom’: “children say they are bored when all that they need
is parents’ attention”.  Who, other than
a pediatrician, can know better?!

He advises you to celebrate Death everyday. Live today as if
there is no tomorrow. Life gives you a second chance but death gives you none.
These seemingly simple utterances have a profound meaning for senior citizens
in their twilight years. He even says you should cry. Tears cleanse your system
of accumulated toxins. Only if you can experience extreme sorrow, you can
experience extreme happiness, he says. I too agree that extremes of happiness
and sorrow are at the end of a circular spectrum and if you look at it in
another way they are close to each other!