Nachiketas’ Third Wish - with the immortal tale from the Upanishads of young Nachiketas’ encounter with Yama, or Death, as its point of departure - tells the fascinating story of the world’s major contemplative and meditative traditions beginning with the ancient Vedas, Upanishads and classical works on Yoga and concluding in our time with Heartfulness and the science of Yoga. Besides meditative Yoga the story embraces Buddhism, Christian mysticism and its Greek and Roman origins, and Sufism with its unique poetic heritage. There are separate chapters on the female contemplatives, on paradox, humour, and aesthetics as we enjoy it in Zen, Japanese poetry, and art and architecture, on Mindfulness, and on contemporary contemplative trends as they are conveyed in health, wellness, and management. But this is also the enchanting story of sages and saints, of great spiritual personalities like the Buddha, St. Francis of Assisi, Mira Bai, and Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur. It is a story of great poetry, of deep reflections on the enigmas of life, and of contemplative ways of living that reflect the eternal harmony behind the surface of things. Nachiketas’ Third Wish illustrates how our yearning for the Ultimate is universal, beyond time, space, and cultures, how we all deep within our hearts share in the same immortal essence, how meditation and a contemplative lifestyle can free us from our bonds to suffering, and how in the perennial quest for oneness with the Ultimate, expressed in the different contemplative traditions, we become one with all humanity.
