ODE TO SUDHIR KAKAR

One of MY MENTORS in this lifetime passed away. The great Sudhir KAKAR.

I heard the news this morning and a volcano of emotions ran through me.

A leading figure in the field of cultural psychology and the psychology of religion, for years he has studied the explicit link between modernity and tradition in India, deeply probing culture, social customs and family ties. With a keen eye on the cultural dimensions of psychoanalysis, Kakar challenged the universality of Western models by pioneering a nuanced understanding of the human mind across cultures.

To what extent can psychoanalytic theory that originated primarily within the Western canon be valid when applied to the Indian context?

We can recount the many merits, writings and contributions that my TEACHER had for the psychoanalytic literature of the world.

Probably also thanks to his new translation of the Kama Sutra written for Oxford World Classics and, above all, for Intimate Relations: Exploring Indian Sexuality, published in 1990 and considered a truly revolutionary work because it is able to address a delicate topic such as sexuality. In that volume, Kakar delved into the history and cultural attitudes towards sexuality in Indian society, exploring the influence of religion, social norms, and colonial legacy on intimate relationships and sexual expression.

But today I want to talk from the bottom of my heart about the unique and absolutely extraordinary encounter I had with him in Delhi on January 8TH, 2019 and how he changed my life forever in the 30 minutes we were together. In fact, I want to tell you what I learned from him.

First of all, I learned that certain encounters are destined to change your life in a matter of seconds.

I learned how important it is to open-up to what you feel inside and have the courage to follow that intuition. I remember that I had just finished the book of Sudhir, the Ascetic of Desire, which my sister had given me (Peace be to their souls, now they are together in a higher dimension). And that book had helped me so much to get in touch with the depths of India that I decided to look for Sudhir Kakar. I heard the voice of the inner master in Sudhir's calling but at the time I had no hope that he could respond. I simply looked up his email on his website and sent an email. And he replied to me the next day.

I came back to him almost in awe and he invited me to his work place in Delhi. I went to see him a few weeks later.

Many things deeply stayed with me in that meeting: his shining aura, his peace, his total presence in the conversation we were having, his curiosity towards me, his ability to deeply listen. I immediately understood that a great MASTER was in front of me. He offered me a CHAI and made me talk by only asking questions. Only later did I understand how that meeting changed my life forever.

I learned that what it needs to happen for your growth, will never pass you by and will always happen in a magical and different way of how you imagined it.

I learned from him to be a fantastic Coach because he was one and that meeting served to make me understand that there is a profound and existential connection between being an anthropologist and being a coach. He himself was also an anthropologist, as well as an economist, an engineer, a writer, a psychoanalyst, a mystic.

So, I learned that in life you can be what you are: a symphony of beautiful, different voices that together create a fantastic harmony inside that reflects outside and can inspire others. I learned not to be afraid of being deep, curious, different but to be proud of this and to also inspire others through my Coaching to open to their own INTERNAL SYMPHONY.

I learned that if you want to be a great Mentor, Coach or Therapist or Doctor or Shaman for other people, you need to BE PRESENT and LISTEN to them, you need to tame the need of your EGO to continuously talk and talk and talk.

I learned that No one is a prophet in their homeland and India has never recognized your enormous value but like all great masters you no longer needed social validation. However, the rest of the world where all your books have been translated, recognized you. Your many awards include Columbia University's Kardiner Award, the American Anthropological Association's Boyer Prize for Psychological Anthropology, and the German Order of Merit Medal.

According to the New York Times, Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine and Le Nouvel Observateur, Sudhir Kakar was one of the twenty-five greatest thinkers in the world; while for Die Zeit one of the twenty-one most important thinkers of the 21st century.

Your numerous essays, such as The Inner World (now in its sixteenth printing since its first publication in 1978), Shamans, Mystics and Doctors. And of novels, such as The Ascent of Desire, Ecstasy, Mira and the Mahatma will talk forever and will continue changing lives.

I learned to be grateful again and again for the divine protection that I enjoyed all my life and for the way the Universe always showed me the way to follow MY UNIQUE PATH through the people I met. I learned to believe in intuition, to accept that my truth lies in what I deeply feel in my heart.

I learned to connect dots, life experiences and situations and to understand that LIFE IS A HUGE GIFT happening always FOR OUR GREATEST GOOD even in the challenging situations.

I learned to see opportunities in everything happening to me, not problems. Even in your sad dismiss…

Thank you, MASTER for changing my life forever. I will LOVE YOU FOREVER.

May your BODY rest in peace and your Soul continue to grow the amazing Symphony of this World and Others. Please keep an eye on me from the higher dimension.