Tantra & Buddhism: Greatest Spiritual Wisdom by Pranay | Book Review

Does spirituality refer after-life stuff only and thus can be considered – hypothetical or abstract? Does spirituality help one achieve the goals in material life while keeping work-life balance?

Possibly these two questions appear in one’s mind during his/her growing up time? Most people considered spiritual stuff to be followed in the later stage of life. Various books in the spirituality and management series by various authors suggests otherwise.

Recently we are introduced to author PranaySpirituality and Leadership series we’ve reviewed so far.

• Hinduism: Spirituality for Leadership and Success
• GITA: Spirituality for Leadership and Success By Pranay
• BUDDHA: Spirituality for Leadership and Success By Pranay
• Vivekananda: Spirituality for Leadership and Success By Pranay

So when offered by the publisher – Fingerprint! Publishing – about his new book series – Greatest Spiritual Wisdom – we happily accepted the review copies for a few books in the series.
Here is our review for a book in this series:

• Gita & Vedic Wisdom: Greatest Spiritual Wisdom

Today we are going to talk about Tantra & Buddhism: Greatest Spiritual Wisdom.

Book Cover:

Being a gateway to the virtual world explored within, the cover page is responsible to make its first impression. And, despite believing in the fact that – a book should not be judged by its cover – one cannot ignore its influence.

As you can see, the cover page of this book is really attractive. Cheerful red diamond frame with natural elements attached to the same looks fantastic on yellowish background. The line drawing of celestial figures in the formation of a union represents the core of Tantra as per the popular beliefs. With the use of right font and colors for text, it looks really good.

I like the cover page very much.

The Book And My Views And Reviews For The Same:

Usually we talk about the storyline ond our overall views for the book in two distinguished segments. As the nature of this book is little different, we are merging both these segments here.

Throughout the book you will find the mention of Virupa, Tilopa, Vajrayana; the prominent and respected figures in Tantra. The book preface starts with a quote by Tilopa, the great master of Indian and Tibetan Tantra.

Tantra is one of most less-understood branch of spirituality. The Tantric practises are often considered as occult related stuff. Many people link it with material pleasures, especially male-female union. The concept, however, is to channelize the male and female energy (the Purush and Prakriti) through their union and use it for the spiritual advancements. I don’t find any segment in the book defining “Tantra” in simple language for a regular reader. Despite having a lot of substance, this makes the book “not for everyone”. And, of course, a large number of people look away from “Tantra” based on their beliefs, prejudices and limited knowledge. The book could have been a good opportunity for the author to introduce readers to Tantra in detail and in a really effective way.

The author himself clears his aim in the very beginning.

I have written this book with one clear aim: bridging the ideas of Indian and Tibetan Tantra, as both have the same roots.

But, without knowing “What Tantra is?”, it would be difficult for a reader to explore these connection. For them, the author gave a simple answer:

Tantra is in a way the ‘worship’ of pure cosmic energy (Shakti) itself.

The book talks about “Buddhism” and “Hinduism” and the essence of the same. If the author could have rightly mentioned that they are ultimately not different but belongs to the same Dharma, the readers could have got a clarity about the same. The author, however, decided to go with the popular beliefs, and gave the reader an opportunity to get life lessons through the book. He rightly says:

Religion is not about imagination and visualization of what others tell you. Religion is about finding a transformation within your being, through your self-movement into compassion and love.

In a similar context, you also found the following:

You look at the concept of God and devil in most religions: the similarity doesn’t exist in Tantra and occult or esoteric Buddhism.

One of the advices is:

Live Spontaneously!

And he elaborates it further:

Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing.

We often find these advices in various memoirs and biographies and even referred to in various commencement speeches and talks (like Ted Talks, Tedx Talks, Josh Talks,…). The problem rises when the listeners / readers take it literally, without understanding the context. We need to look at the big picture before walking on the path of any advice we get in our life. Eventually, we are responsible for our actions and the reactions for the same.

The author consciously puts an effort in clarifying various points in the book, mostly for the same reason. Eg:

‘Rest’ does not mean non action; quite the opposite. It implies cutting away the unnecessary anxious thoughts, and being established in one’s highest and purest state of blissful being.

And he also clarifies, what does he mean when he say “Live spontaneously”!?

Ultimately, spirituality and mysticism are all about mental freedom! And, mental freedom is the crux of spontaneous living.

The book has some life-lessons focused on one’s overall persona. We are what we think, we believe in, and more importantly what we do. The mental and physical attributes are part of our persona and they cannot be separated from ourselves. So, when the book says the following, it may look hard to digest, but at the same time, you find essence of wisdom in it.

We think we need the ego to assert ourselves, but what we are actually doing through ego is making ourselves heavier and dull.

And, the book talks about fearless living.

Does that mean, you have to do all the decisions spontaneously, without planning for future?

No, of course, not!

The author clarifies:

Fearless living is all about not believing in labels.

Let me quote two more important blocks from the book:

You must take the stance of loving life and making love (sneha) the whole approach of your life.

Success implies the ability to find balance within yourself. Balancing is what leads to happiness.

Very true, right?

The above mentioned quotes must have given you a fair idea about the book content and what to expect from it. You also got a few glimpses of the literary attributes of the book, as well. I tried to make it as much spoiler free as possible.

All these are good advices and they all are reflected when talking about various religions, cults, practices, management and leadership studies, etc… If the author could have bound them more tightly with “Tantra” and its elements with proper examples, it could have been more faithful to the book title. Of course, the modern day references adds the contemporariness to the book.

Such books are not meant for time-pass reading. The reader has to apply his own knowledge and wisdom while analyzing its content and implementing the same.

Summary:

Overall, an informative and spiritual book about Tantra that contains management gems and life lessons. It misses the in-depth introduction to Tantra for regular readers, though.

ThinkerViews Rating:

Around 7 stars out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy - Tantra & Buddhism: Greatest Spiritual Wisdom by Pranay - Paperback - Amazon IN
• Buy - Tantra & Buddhism: Greatest Spiritual Wisdom by Pranay - Paperback - Amazon US

Over To You:

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