Dear all:
I am glad to share with you the attached pre-publication info.
Each of you has been a part of this journey as I have been working on the contents of this book for well over a decade now.
This book is due for publication before the end of the year.
I shall send you details on the book after it is published, hoping it will receive a wide reception and reading by you and your large network of family and friends.
As of now, please let me know if you have any inputs after reading the attached.
With best wishes to each of you and everyone in your families for a Happy Holiday season.
With warm wishes
Subbu
Spirituality in Practice – SiP
A Collection of Essays
Exploration for peace and harmony within
as well as collaboration and cohesiveness
with all that surrounds us.
Dr. Krishnamoorthy (Subbu) Subramanian
This is a collection of essays on life in general. In our rush to do better, feel better and be happy, we tend to miss a large part of who we are, what we already have, and the happiness which is natural and within us all the time. When we stop, look around and “smell the roses” on hand, then it becomes easier to do better in whatever we are doing. Good feelings and genuine happiness also come forth as naturally as the water flows downstream or the rain soaks the dry earth, or plants grow on their own nourished by rainwater! This is Spirituality in Practice (SiP)!
I was born in a village and raised in rural towns in India. I moved to larger cities for higher studies and work and to the USA for graduate studies at MIT, Cambridge, MA., USA. My long professional career created opportunities to interact with many people and their families across the globe. My upbringing in the villages and small towns in rural India has been a source of reference for comparison and connectedness with many cultures and their way of life I witnessed across the globe while progressing through life. I have personally witnessed poverty and affluence in many continents. I have experienced the culture and way of life at all layers of society. My interactions with many professionals and their families from many nationalities and cultures have enriched my global view. This personal experience and exposure have impelled my study of Vedic Philosophy and its universal appeal.
SiP is always a work in progress. While perfection is the goal, we need to keep the “I” or ego in check to gain the most of it. For peace and harmony within as well as collaboration and cohesiveness with all that surrounds us! So, we have named our blog site: Spirituality in Practice — SiP! This compilation of essays started as a series of blog posts over ten years ago at www.Sipractce.com. There are over 200 essays on this blog site. They have been edited and condensed into 78 essays presented in this book.
This book starts with an overview of spirituality and to address many questions about this topic. This overview also lays the foundation to understand and treat spirituality as a tangible and real aspect of everyone’s daily life. We recognize spirituality as a non-denominational process exhibited through our thought and actions. We recognize that spirituality is one of the three legs of a stool required for a stable life, along with material/physical and emotional/social aspects as the other two legs. When we focus primarily on the material aspects of life or seek comfort through family and social groups, our life suffers from instability since we ignore spirituality as something that belongs to religious people with a monastic or secluded way of life. We hope to shatter this paradigm and false notion and present spirituality in practice as an essential for everyone’s life.
A collection of five essays forms the introductory section. Through these essays, we glide into an analytical approach, the basis for any philosophical study. Then we enter the realm of Vedic Philosophy and its relevance for daily life. We address the basics of Vedic Philosophy through a series of twenty-three essays. Spirituality in practice is far more engaging and applicable in various contexts in daily life. We explore this application-oriented discussion of Vedic Philosophy in the next chapter containing forty-nine essays.
In the end, we hope the reader leaves with a few takeaways: Vedic Philosophy is not abstract and metaphysical. The concepts proposed in Vedic Philosophy provide a simple yet comprehensive framework to describe and understand anything we wish to study or learn about. Life is not an aimless journey but full of potentials enriched by the soul within and the universe at large. We are alone if we choose to be, but we are also seamlessly part of everything since that is the way it is. True knowledge is not feeling isolated as individuals. True knowledge is to see us as part of the eternal and ever-present universe. The goal is to feel good through self-compassion but also work towards the peace and harmony of all, limitlessly. We are subjective when we see ourselves as a droplet of water. We become objective when we see ourselves as part of a larger body of water. We become increasingly objective when we are under self-control (in our physical perceptions), with non-attachment (in our emotions), and liberated in our thoughts from all that bind and isolate us as “I” or individuals (like drops of water). We gain true knowledge when we realize that all that is cognitive and all their enablers (laws of nature) are like two sides of a coin, like the waves on the surface and the deep ocean below coexisting, inseparable, and enabling the other.
To keep the discussion simple and easy to follow, the book is written as a collection of essays. We use simple schematics or illustrations to bring out the “model” behind the thoughts codified in Vedic Philosophy. We do not follow a single text or set of references, but it should be clear that all the materials contained in this book are from a large body of scripture collectively known as Vedic literature. Some interpretations and all the figures are original. The principles and framework outlined in the essays to convey the Vedic Philosophy are adapted from Vedic literature and many books written in English and Tamil to translate and convey their meaning by scores of authors.
The origins of Vedic Philosophy are not well known. They are treated as self-evident truths. The authors of Vedic literature are many. Our salutations to all these visionaries. We present this collection of essays with great regard and reverence to all of them. Our gratitude and reverence are also for many Saints like Adi Sankara and modern-day teachers such as Ramana Maharishi, Saint Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, and many others. This author was introduced to formal studies in Vedanta by Swami Chinmayananda through his lectures. “Studies in Vedic Philosophy should not be an abstract intellectual exercise” was his repeated guidance through his lectures. Instead, all such studies should lead to their understanding and application in our daily life. The theme of this book – Spirituality in Practice – originated from this guidance!
Author Biography:
Dr. Krishnamoorthy (Subbu) Subramanian was born and raised in Nannimangalam, a rural village in Southern India. After his high school graduation at Board High School, Lalgudi, Tamil Nadu, he received his undergraduate degree from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. He obtained his Ph. D from MIT at Cambridge, MA. USA in 1977. He has over 45 years of experience working in the global manufacturing sector. His work has focused on research, new business development, innovation, and mentoring. He has worked with people at all professional levels from many nations and continents, from hundreds of companies and scores of universities. He is a distinguished fellow of two professional societies: ASME and SME. He has received the coveted Eugene Merchant Medal for Manufacturing. His professional work has been published extensively. He has authored the book: The System Approach – A Strategy to survive and succeed in the Global Economy and co-authored another book: Thriving in the 21st Century Economy – Transformational Skills for Technical Professionals. Now he serves as the President of STIMS Institute (www.STIMSInstitute.com), an advisory, consulting, and mentoring services organization that partners with businesses and universities around the world.
Dr. Subramanian is deeply versed in Hindu traditions, culture, and way of life in rural India. His upbringing by his grandparents and growing up in rural Southern India was a formative experience. He has witnessed poverty and affluence and experienced the way of life at all layers of economics in society. His interactions with professionals and their families from many nationalities and cultures have enriched his global view. This personal experience and exposure have impelled his study of Vedic Philosophy and its universal appeal.
He was introduced to studies in Philosophy through a few lectures at MIT by Swami Chinmayananda in the early 1970s. He has pursued self-study since the early 90s, which continues today and hopefully forever. He teaches classes for youth and adults on the theme of Spirituality in Practice (SiP). He explores the nuances of SiP in daily life through mentoring and volunteer work. He is the President of AASAI (American Association for Social Advancement of India http://www.aasai.org/), a non-profit charitable organization. He is married to Dr. Durga Subramanian. Their immediate family includes their son Ganesh, daughter-in-law Jessica, and two lovely grandchildren Asha and Niraj. They live in Bay Area, CA. USA.
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