I first read Sumana Roy’s How I Became A Tree (Aleph India), when it was published in 2017. Why am I reflecting on it now? I don’t think I can say with any honesty that I have finished reading it. It’s not that I am a slow reader, but that this is not a book one reads as words, but as a river. And the only way to read a river is to immerse oneself and be swept along with it. My journey along its course is still ongoing. It’s a book that causes you to circle back upon itself and run down meandering tributaries many times. It grows like a great banyan, constantly taking root and growing to its own spread and circle within the forest of the mind. Until I read it, I used to think of Herman Hesse as the great western mystic, greatly influenced by the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads and the teachings of the Buddha, in the midst of the raging World Wars. He remains a towering figure of mysticism no doubt. I don’t mean to diminish him by the comparison, but reading these two works, Seasons of the Soul and his oft-cited essay in the German compendium on trees, Bäume: Betrachtungen und Gedichte (excuse my German pronunciation in the podcast) in consonance with Sumana’s, brought home to me the dvaita-advaita of the Western-Eastern lens. I use Hesse and Peter Wohlleben's The Hidden Life of Trees as markers, observational lenses at both ends in their own way to explain why it is essential to read this book knowing how it differs from them and thereby understanding what it achieves. I will not finish reading this book for a long time. Twenty pages later you (or indeed I) may find my insights completely irrelevant and come to a juxtaposition and insight all your own. It is an evolving and evolution-inducing work. Do read it as such.
I hope you enjoy the reflection. It’s just above half an hour long so perfect for a glass of wine and easy evening listening.
Music in the background is Southern Bird from Elements by George Brooks, Gwyneth Wentink & Kala Ramnath. Just a fair use backdrop to a meditative reflection. Do buy a copy of the album too.
I haven’t forgotten about The Great Hindu Civilisation, just bumped it up, and you should have that shortly too.
Books 1.2 Two Truths, or Three, of Being a Tree