Mystics and Sceptics : In Search Of The Himalayan Masters

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It is best, in one's sojourns across the Himalaya, to be cautious during chance encounters, for one could well come across a saint, a siddha, a madman or a charlatan. Mystics and Sceptics, edited by Namita Gokhale. comprises essays on all of these.

This uniquely insightful anthology traverses the geography of the Himalayan range. encompassing different cultures and religious traditions in its living legacy. Through myth, legend and anecdotal memory, it comprises narratives of wanderers and seekers, gurus and enlightened souls, tricksters and delusionists. The spiritual seekers include, among others, Guru Milarepa, Neem Karoli Baba and Siddhi Ma, Paramhansa Yogananda, Swami Rama, Guru Nanak, Swami Vivekananda, Haidakhan Baba, Yeshe Tsogyal, Lal Ded and Sri Madhav Ashish. Also discussed are the sacred traditions of the dhuni and chimta, the shakti peeths in the Himalayan region, the trance runners of Tibet and Bhutan, and the Khasi rituals of divination and prophecy.

The stories here are as varied as the flora and fauna of the mountains. Some of them display the resilient scepticism that is the foundation of true belief; others take a leap of faith. There are encounters and quests, wanderings and lost paths, disappointments and betrayals, but they carry the spirit of the seeker, of the search and the continuing journey within them. This book is a tribute to the mysteries of the Himalaya and the mystic secrets it contains.

NAMITA GOKHALE is the author of twenty- one books, including eleven works of fiction. and editor of numerous anthologies. Her acclaimed debut novel, Pare: Dreams of Passion. was published in 1984. Recent works of fiction include The Blind Matriarch, Jaipur Journals and Betrayed by Hope. She is also co-founder and co- director of the Jaipur Literature Festival. She has been recognized both for her writing and her commitment to multilingual Indian literature and cross-cultural literary dialogue. She was the Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters) awardee for 2021, and received the prestigious First Centenary National Award for Literature in 2017.

The Himalaya are sacred to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Growing up in Kumaon, I felt their presence everywhere, in every leaf and cloud, in every temple bell that chimed or clanged across the rarified air, in the mooing cows and leaping langurs and the occasional slithering snakes that were all blessed by the Lord of All Creatures. I saw Shiva in the visage of his consort Parvati, reflected in the rugged Pahari women who went stoically about their everyday chores and were often named after her. I saw Nanda and Sunanda, the beloved tutelary deities of Kumaon, in the strength and sorority of hill women. I imagined a pantheon of divinities observing us from the clouds above, and sometimes interceding in our lives.

I grew up in Nainital in the central Himalaya, where my mother's younger brother, the handsome and unpredictable Mukul Pande, was deeply drawn to the spiritual life. He gave up college and a brilliant future to search for something he knew not what-in the dense forests and steep mountains of Kumaon, in the swift, treacherous currents of the Alaknanda river, in the ultimate refuge of a sannyasin's 'Jal Samadhi-that final immersion in the waters of the sacred Ganga river. In retrospect, one might conclude that the intensity of his passion, the relentlessness of his quest, had left him somewhere shaken up, broken; but I believe he also experienced the ecstasy of those who glimpse some divine vision as the mists part and the grace of Shiva descends to open the third eye.

Outside of the missionary Christian schools where I studied in Nainital and New Delhi, I had the chance through, among others, my beloved Mukki mama, to move outside the blinkered worldview of an anglicized middle-class education to spend time from an early age with seers and saints, sadhus and seekers.

Although many of these spiritualists were deluded, dysfunctional, propelled by addictions and habitual substance abuse, they also had a sense of seen and unseen presences, of wisdom beyond words, of divine understanding, intuitive prowess and mystical powers.

**Contents and Sample Pages**