By Alvin Monteiro

Bengaluru, Jul 20: ‘Book of Myths’ is not just a compilation of myths revolving around the truth, sense of self, and spirituality, but it also contains answers and resolution of those myths by Advaita teacher Acharya Prashant. Acharya Prashant has published several books over years, but this remains an important one since it successfully connects the reader to the realities and clears the mist around the questions the reader is perhaps carrying with itself for years.

Acharya Prashant talks about hope, positive thinking, desire, individuality, sixth sense, inner voice and opens up other elemental concepts while debunking the myths around them. The topics (myths) covered in the book are carefully selected and curated so that they are aligned with the most common misconception and myths that people actually face.

Through this book, Acharya Prashant also answers questions that are relevant for a seeker of truth in contemporary society. For example, ‘what is meditation?’, ‘who is a guru?’, ‘what do we mean by prayer?’ and so on. This propels the reader (seeker) plummeting towards self-discovery to enquire into the nature of self, truth, and Maya.

What makes the book truly interesting is that the author quotes from scriptures of various religions. He refers to the Quran, Bible, and Bhagavad Gita alike and quotes Guru Nanak and Guatama Buddha, reinstating that religions are not the gatekeepers of the path to self-discovery and truth.

The daily-life examples to explain complex concepts and situations, something that is commonly observed in his online discourses, are seen here as well. But what is problematic here is a lack of empathy for the seeker in the sense that sometimes what is said assumes or demands a certain level of spiritual training or understanding from the reader (seeker).