Ecstasy

by Sudhir Kakar

Book Overview

Gopal-or Ram Das Baba, as his devotees refer to him-is the son of a devout Brahmin family who has spent a lifetime seeking the ultimate truth of spiritual knowledge. His journey as a mystic is filled... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585674583
• ISBN13: 9781585674589
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 251 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Not the answer

I bought this book when I was travelling through India because I had finished reading Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything and Dawkin's The God Delusion and wanted something a little more spiritual. This book, well written and very evocative, didn't hit the spot I was looking for. That's not to say it isn't a good book, but for me, at the time, it wasn't it. The book details the stories of two people. Gopal, a mystic, and Vivek, a middle class boy. Gopal's life from early stages through his changes is well detailed. Beautiful details of a spiritual life in both the monastery and through the countryside as he searches for his meaning and place in the world. And a view into Gopal's relationship with his spiritual elder and his own family and followers. This is contrasted with the life of Vivek, also a deeply religious soul, as far from the life of Gopal as East is from West. Vivek is the militant Hindu wanting India to return to something that it might never have been. Vivek eventually also leads an ascetic's life, but so far from the full of life Gopal, that it breaks Gopal's heart. And mine. So, is this a book for you? Well, don't expect this to be the sort of Indian version of Chicken Soup for the Soul. If you approach it that way, then you'll walk the right path. Otherwise you'll still be hungry.

Ecstasy, A Review

Sudhir Kakar's novel is a fascinating weave of fiction and history. Beautifully written, ordinary life in India and its ordinary and extraordinary places are memorably captured. Though not a mystic himself, Kakar does a splendid job also of capturing the weird, profound, mind-shattering, and inexplicable path of mysticism. Based on real life stories of real life mystics, the grace, blissful transcendence, horror, and confusion that mystics experience is described in radiant detail. Once began, this engaging book is hard to put down. Excellent reading as both fiction and mystical studies.~heidimo