Hill Holler

If you had the chance to sit down and talk with a charming and enlightened guru at length, would you take it? Author and spiritual seeker Cheryl Simone did exactly that when she hosted Indian mystic and yoga master Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev at her home in the mountains for one week. Under the stars, Cheryl asked many searching questions she had sought answers to during her own thirty-year spiritual quest for understanding and enlightenment.

Those midnight conversations on a sandy island by campfire resulted in a wonderful book called Midnights with the Mystic: A Little Guide to Freedom and Bliss (Hampton Roads Pub Co, 328pp, ISBN-13 978-1571745613). Over those nights, Sadhguru answered questions with a combination of simplicity and wisdom that resonates deeply within you.

With his ready laugh, love of speed and fondness for joke telling, Sadhguru is not your average expectation of a guru by any means – or mine anyway. Some of the book’s snapshots show this visionary is just as happy sporting Ray-Ban sunglasses and shorts as more traditional garments.

In fact, if you were to judge him by appearance only, he’s a perfect expression physically of how we limit ourselves with our beliefs, one of the lessons he teaches on those moonlit nights. If you expect your guru to be found only on a remote mountaintop garbed in a loincloth, you may never find them. Appearances can certainly be deceptive.

Equally, don’t let Sadhguru’s Western attire fool you either. The more absorbed you become in Midnights with The Mystic, the more you become convinced that this man is the real deal. I feel, and believe Cheryl also touched on this, that his casually dressed appearance would be as much for our comfort in his presence as for his own physical comfort. It would be easy to become overwhelmed by Sadhguru’s intensity and depth which comes through beautifully on the written page. I came away from this book with the deepest respect for him, his teachings, Cheryl’s passion and a newly formed understanding of Isha Yoga.

The introduction is by Richard from Texas of Eat, Pray, Love fame. At one point he says “When you read this book, I know you’ll resonate with its own truths, be touched in ways that can trigger your own transformation.” A lofty claim indeed you may think. That is, until you begin to read and discover this startling fact: he’s not kidding.

That was no marketing ploy. Many times when I was reading the profound yet clearly expressed spiritual insights in this book I could feel tears well up and a physical stirring in my heart. Not because a passage was particularly sad, I hasten to add. This was no ordinary emotional reaction. I know deep down that Midnights with the Mystic: A Little Guide to Freedom and Bliss touched me on a level beyond the simply physical, and the lessons within it will always remain within me on both a conscious and unconscious level. This is one spiritual book I will return to again and again and I’ve read many in the last decade or so.

It’s difficult to choose a favorite passage to share with you as there are countless gems. This is one favorite of mine, when Cheryl had asked if we actually have a life’s calling. At the end of the discussion, Sadhguru summarized it like this:

“Now, I want you to get this right: There is no life’s calling, but life is calling–both from within and without. Only when you truly respond to the call of life will you know life in its entirety. Only when you know an unprejudiced and absolute involvement with the universe, every atom of the universe, will you explore, experience, and know the full scope of who you are. And, in this absolute involvement, you need not be limited by your own past experience and capabilities; you can imbibe and have access to the great storehouse of knowing that is the very nature of the universe. It is also through this absorbed, unadulterated involvement that one can know the true nature of the self, which is boundless, and the basis of all, which is the ultimate destiny that the all-desiring process is actually leading you to.”

I’m thankful for their joint willingness to share that week of conversations with readers. Cheryl Simone, with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, has meticulously compiled a book that makes life’s complexities more fathomable, the unexplained more intelligible and clarifies through its unfolding how spiritual enlightenment is attainable for all. A truly inspirational, compelling, and important read for all those seeking answers to big questions in life. I loved it and hope you will too. Fingers crossed for a sequel! To find out more, please visit http://www.midnightswiththemystic.com/.

Disclosure: Thanks to FSBAssociates.com for providing me with this book for review. This review was originally published in The Cuckleburr Times on March 30.