She considered the question. 'It just made sense. From very ordinary things like cooking, cleaning and gardening, and from everyday emotions like anger, irritation, fear and pleasure, I found that a secret could be coaxed out, a new awareness discovered. For me that awareness has made all the difference between just living and being alive.
In her mid-twenties, Madhu Tandan and her husband, Rajeev, left Delhi to live in a remote ashram amidst the Himalayas. Under the tutelage of the charismatic and mysterious Ashishda, the former English aircraft engineer turned Vaishnav guru, they lived a simple life with a 'soil to soul' philosophy, where every experience was viewed as an opportunity to grow.
Living as a community in the Ashram came with its own challenges. Other than being physically taxing, there were days when life was too perplexing, and when personal dilemmas would leave them questioning the journey. The couple strove through this with resilience, struggling to transcend suffering and discover what lies beyond it. Believing in simple practices such as growing one's own food and meditation, and relying on the powerful role that dreams play in one's life, Madhu and Rajeev navigated their seven years of Ashram life with the conviction that there are no dead ends in life.
First published in 1997, A Way Within-extensively revised and expanded for this edition-is a candid and illuminating account of the inward journey; a quest that is challenging and rewarding in equal measure.
Madhu Tandan left Delhi in her mid-twenties with her husband to settle in a remote Himalayan ashram. Her life there, threaded by her dreams, inspired her first book, Faith & Fire: A Way Within (1997). She has since written three more, Dreams & Beyond: Finding Your Way in the Dark (2009), Hemis: A Novel (2018) and The Logic of Dreams (2022) to wide acclaim.
Madhu has contributed short stories and essays to anthologies, presented papers on religious dreaming at several international conferences, including the Nouvelle Sorbonne in Paris, and Wasan Island in Canada. She was awarded a writing fellowship at Hawthornden Castle, Edinburgh.
She and her husband have made the hills of Sattal their home.
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