Om Swami

Om Swami is a monk and author of fifteen books including best-sellers like Kundalini: An Untold Story, A Million Thoughts, The Wellness Sense, When All Is Not Well, and If Truth Be Told: A Monk's Memoir[1][2][3]

Om Swami
Born (1979-11-30) 30 November 1979
Patiala, India
Alma materWestern Sydney University, University of Technology Sydney
OccupationAuthor
Notable work
If Truth Be Told: A Monk's Memoir
Websiteos.me
Quotation
If your own thoughts cannot provoke you, nothing external can provoke you either. Every external occurrence triggers an internal thought that may alter your state of mind. If you can just be the spectator and not the reactor or an adopter of the thought, the thought becomes powerless.

Early life

Swami was born in North India on the twelfth night of the waxing moon in the month of Margasirsa, according to the Vedic calendar. Showing deep inclination towards spirituality[4] from an early age, Swami studied a range of Vedic and astrological texts, eventually becoming a professional astrologer during his teen years. Quitting his job as a part-time editor for a weekly business newspaper, he left for Australia to pursue tertiary education and later acquired Australian citizenship.

Education and early career

In 2000, Swami graduated with a Bachelor of Business from University of Western Sydney and later, in 2002, acquired Master of Business Administration at University of Technology Sydney. Later he started a software business in Australia and expanded its operations to USA, Canada, UK and India over the next six years.[5] He worked with various companies. Swami later moved back to India and acquired a healthcare company.

Renunciation and spiritual journey

On 15 March 2010, Swami renounced his material wealth[6] and left for his spiritual journey quietly. Heading straight to Kashi, he was initiated[7] into the path of renunciation by a Naga saint in a little village some eighty kilometers away from Varanasi.[8] After spending four and a half months there, Swami left for the Himalayas where he spent the next thirteen months in intense meditation in complete isolation and solitude. During the days of his intense practice, he meditated for up to 22 hours every day including straight 10-hour stretches.[9]

Views

Swami gives his own perspective on enlightenment on his website[10] and in his book If Truth Be Told. "Enlightenment does not mean you have to live like a pauper. It does not mean you have to subject yourself to a life of hardship and abstinence. On the contrary, to be enlightened means to live in the light of love, compassion and truthfulness".[11]

Literary work

If Truth Be Told: A Monk's Memoir is his self-written memoir, published by Harper Collins in December 2014.[12][13] The book was listed as number 6 in the top 10 non fiction books in the country as reported by The Financial Express (India).[14] His fiction, The Last Gambit which was translated as La vie est un jeu d'échecs in French, won the Chronos Prize for Literature (2019) in France.[15]

Books
  • The Big Questions of Life, Harper Collins; 2020.
  • The Book of Kindness: How to Make Others Happy and Be Happy Yourself , Harper Collins; 2019.
  • The Heart of Success, Jaico Publishing House; 2019.
  • The Children of Tomorrow: A Monk's Guide to Mindful Parenting , Harper Collins; 2019.
  • The Hidden Power of Gayatri Mantra, Jaico Publishing house; 2019.
  • Mind Full to Mindful: Zen Wisdom from a Monk's bowl, Harper Collins; 2018.
  • A Fistful of Wisdom: A Monk's light musings on life's serious stuff, Jaico Publishing House; 2017.
  • The Ancient Science of Mantras, Jaico Publishing House; 2017.
  • The Last Gambit, Harper Collins; 2017.
  • A Million Thoughts: Learn all about meditation from the Himalayan mystic, Jaico Publishing House; 2016.
  • When All is Not Well: Depression and Sadness from a Yogic Perspective, Harper Collins; 2016.
  • Kundalini: An Untold Story, Jaico Publishing House; 2016.
  • The Wellness Sense: A Practical Guide to Your Physical and Emotional Health Based on Ayurvedic and Yogic Wisdom, Harper Collins, 2015.
  • A Fistful of Love: Wisdom and humor from a Monk's bowl, Jaico Publishing House; 2015.
  • If Truth Be Told: A Monk's Memoir, Harper Element; 2014.

References
  1. If Truth Be Told: A Monk's Memoir, Harper Element; 2014 edition (4 December 2014), ISBN 978-9351368069
  2. Medha Shri Dahiya (2015-01-03) "Book review of A Monk's Memoir: If Truth Be Told" Hindustan Times.
  3. Somya Abrol (2015-01-09) "A wise man's word". The Tribune.
  4. Ramesh K Dhiman (2015-01-11)"His Tryst With Truth" The India Post.
  5. Meera Bhardwaj (2014-12-30) "A Monk’s Memoir of Spiritual Pursuits". The New Indian Express.
  6. Medha Shri Dahiya (2016-05-07) "Meet The Swami Who Wields a Pen"Hindustan Times.
  7. If Truth Be Told. Harper Element. November 2014. p. 112. ISBN 9789351368069.
  8. Nikhil Varma (2014-12-23) "A monk's take"The Hindu.
  9. Vidya Iyenger (2016-12-23) "The Monk Who Sold His Porsche"Bangalore Mirror.
  10. Swami, Om. "Wisdom". os.me.
  11. (2015-01-11) "The Ultimate Realization" The Pioneer.
  12. City Air News (2015-01-08)"If Truth Be Told-A Monk's Memoir"
  13. Specttrum News (2015-01-08)"If Truth Be Told-A Monk's Memoir"
  14. (2015-02-07) "Top 10: Fiction and non-fiction". The Financial Express.
  15. Chronos, Prix. "Les lauréats du Prix Chronos 2020". Prix Chronos.
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