Allowing our thoughts to flow like a river...

Chennai Book Fair

I.Vijayalakshmi, II MA English

I would like to start my review with a truthful proverb that goes thus: Books are the best companions.

Indeed, a good book has the ability to change the attitude of the reader!

I came to know this truth after reading one book which I bought in this Book Fair. In the exhibition I could see so many stalls lined up with books of all sizes and shapes. Among these neatly arrayed stalls, my eyes chanced upon a particular stall which was named as PUTHU ULAGAM. This stall really inspired me a lot.

I witnessed everybook in that stall has its own passion. I bought one book from that stall which was titled, KAVALAIGALANNAITHIRKUM THEIRVU by BHAGAVATH. I have already read this book which is named as GNANA VIDUTHALAI. The topic of the book stimulated me to read this; Moreover, reading progressively through the pages of the book made me to slowly move deeper and deeper into this book. He is the living master. He knows every nook and corner about the mind. In this book he explains what is mind, how it works and how the mind will attain the state of enlightenment.

Here he says that there is always a conflict between the conscious and the sub-conscious mind.

Before that, he has clearly explained the meaning of both the conscious and the sub-conscious. He has also succeed in explaining the most complicated thing - which is nothing but the mind - in a very easy manner, with day-to-day examples, even though many people had only attempted to explain it superficially, including Freud. In this book, he explains that we are not responsible for the thought that arises from the sub-conscious mind. We hold no responsibility for our conscious thoughts. They arise on its own accord, so we need not resist any of these thoughts. We should be careful enough to just leave these thoughts to arise and fade away whether pleasurable or painful.

Instead of allowing our thoughts to flow like a river, we make it stagnate like a pond. A stagnated mind is the root cause behind all the problems. The point that attracted me the most about this book is that, trying to be an enlightened person is again disturbing our enlightenment.