Where have I been
June 15, 2022 • Reflections
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It’s quite obvious I’ve been absent from posting on my blog. It has been six and a half months since my last post.
Over the last twelve months, I’ve invested a significant amount of my energy and time in the creation of my book. That was not the only thing I was absorbed in. Much construction has been taking place at Siva Ashram, in Costa Rica, as well. An update on that in another post later.
The reality for me over the last few months as I pushed to complete the book was that after 4 to 5 hours of working on the book each day I could not squeeze another word out of me for a blog post. But I’ve finally reached the end of the process. A couple of weeks ago I completed one of the final rounds of edits on the book.
I’m honored to have it be published by Portfolio and Penguin Random House. It is set to be released on September 6th, 2022. At present it will be translated into 20 languages and with the possibility of more being added in the coming months. There will be an audio version of the book as well.
The first step in writing this book for me was defining the purpose for doing so. This had to be clear in my mind. I didn’t write the book for the sake of writing a book…that would have been an absolute waste of my time and energy. The purpose to me was to articulate clearly and simply the inner workings of the mind and the practice of focusing it for the goal of living a rewarding life. The book had to convey and empower people with the teachings and tools in a way that readers can easily implement them to create sustainable changes in their life.
Once this purpose was clear in my mind, I poured my heart and soul into writing it. The creation of it required a tremendous amount of focus and willpower on my part. I can easily say it has been one of the biggest endeavors I’ve embarked on in recent years. It would have been very easy to write down all my thoughts on the subject and submit it to the publisher. But I knew that that would not be good enough. So I labored over it and kept refining it until I felt it was as close as I could get it to fulfilling its purpose. This was exhausting and painful at times.
But it was my guru that taught me to do things better than I think I can and to do more than I think I can. Unless we clearly define our purpose for taking on such a project it will be hard to focus our energy on it, and see the benefits of doing so. Purpose drives focus.
If you embark on a big project, spend time first clearly articulating in detail what the purpose of it is. But this need not be reserved for projects only. Bring this act of defining purpose into every aspect of your life including life itself. Define the purpose and let purpose drive everything else. The rewards will be far greater than if you do not do so.
If any of you are interested in pre-ordering my book you can do so here where it is available for sale by major and smaller booksellers.
For bulk orders, please email info@dandapani.org
I’ll share more details in the coming weeks including which countries and languages they will be available in, etc.
Thank you for your patience over the last few months!
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