The author was born and raised in India and studied in the United States. Starting his professional career in New York City in the nineties, he worked several years for US and International companies till 2019. He now lives in Michigan and consults independently. He has studied Vedanta and other faiths for over 35 years.
(Read the Sayings included in the book, or some sample chapters of the “Heart of Christ” here.)
The author’s path of seeking spiritual truth and self-discovery started serendipitously in mid-teenage. He only remembers having some typical teenage-moment about the topic and being surprised by an inspiring answer from his (late) father.
After the incident passed, he continued with his normal studies. He earned degrees in mechanical engineering (BS, and MS), found employment, returned later to business school, graduated, and found employment again. But the one constant of seeking spiritual truth committedly and effortlessly ignited at a random moment in his teenage years by his father, remained always with him. As Dan Millman eloquently wrote in his book, “The Way of the Peaceful Warrior,” there are no ordinary moments in life.
In 1994, while temporarily incapacitated for ten months from being struck as a pedestrian by a drunken car driver, the author discovered two books, the first was, “Autobiography of a Yogi“, by Paramhansa Yogananda, and the second, “The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,” an English translation of the Bengali book, “Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita.” He found the books unlike anything he had ever read before; page after page of soul-stirring descriptions of and from the lives of the two saints, more gripping than any thriller novel he had ever read before. He couldn’t put the book down. When he had finished, he realized something had fundamentally changed in him. It was a major turning point in his inner life. It radically reconfigured his prior understanding of spirituality and especially spiritual love, known as the path of devotion, “bhakti,” in the Indian tradition.
Later, he read from the Christian and western mystical traditions also. The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis, and Seeing With the Eyes of Love by Eknath Easwaran were favorites on Christianity. He found through his readings that Gnostic Christianity was incredibly similar to the Hindu Bhakti tradition. Joel Goldsmith and Thomas Merton in the western mystic tradition were notable in their generally expansive approach.
However, even after all this reading, his search for something more satisfying continued. Even the most poetic Upanishads from whom he drew inspiration like no other books before, did not satisfy his thirst for an experience of the Spirit, until in 2007, he met his personal guru, Swami Shantananda Puri of the Ramakrishna Order. Through him, the author also came to the ashram and the teachings of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. The combination of the words of his guru, and the teachings of Bhagavan Ramana resonated deeply in his heart. The author knew then, that his unarticulated searching had finally come to an end. In the “searing yet cool” shade of his guru’s and Bhagavan Ramana’s teachings, the author began a new phase of meditation and spiritual practice which continues to this day. He writes often on spiritual topics, but mostly for himself as a spiritual sadhana. The “Heart of Christ” is the first book he has published.
You may contact the author at kkh ‘at’ hebsoor.com.
