Author: Anita Moorjani
Published by: Hay House
ISBN: 9789381431375
Pages: 216
Price: INR 248
A whole new life
This is the story of a woman, that could be the story of any of us. Anita, born and brought up in a traditional Indian household in Hong Kong, grew up with a lot of complexes and low self esteem. Struggling with the many cultures she was exposed to, she grew up to be a girl who was different from the rest. But her constant inner battles and worries made her an unhappy soul, in spite of having everything going great and being married to a person she loved.
The disease that was eroding her thoughts and her spirit manifested physically and she was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph glands. Anita refused to subject herself to the standard course of cancer treatment, namely chemotherapy, and tried a whole lot of alternate therapies, both in Hong Kong and in India. This was more because she was afraid of the daunting treatment modalities of modern medicine than her faith in the alternative sciences. Over the next four years, following her diagnosis, her health continued to worsen till one day, she slipped into a coma. Her husband rushed her to the hospital where the doctors told them that it was too late, the cancer had spread all over the body, her organs had failed and she had less than 36 hours to live. At this point, Anita had the experience that renewed her life. She had an out of body experience, where the meaning and purpose of life became perfectly clear to her. She chose to return to her bodily form, and was healed of her disease. The book is about the lessons she learnt during this state and how they helped her understand life and cure herself.
The book is divided into many small sections and reads like a story; the prose is simple to understand. From the very first page, the reader can easily identify and empathise with the author’s life and her shortcomings. Anita touches a deep chord, and makes us realise that we are all born perfect, and that we are magnificent creatures, who lack nothing. Much of the worry and fear that we have are negative energy patterns. These energies are often not expressed for lack of a suitable outlet. It is only in our minds that we degrade ourselves, think of ourselves as incomplete. Her message to us is to be ourselves, love ourselves, and do exactly what makes us happy, without worrying about the consequences. She concludes by reiterating the fact that fear is the biggest cause of most of our physical and mental illnesses, and if we can get rid of fear, we could get rid of a whole lot of problems plaguing us. According to her, disease is nothing but our own negative energies trapped in our bodies.
Her message to us throughout the book is to be ourselves, love ourselves, respect ourselves, and do exactly what makes us happy. Very often, we feel that if we do what makes us happy, we are behaving in a selfish way. This is how we are conditioned by society. But a person who has no self respect or self love is empty, and cannot give any real love or respect to another person. She concludes by reiterating the fact that if we can get rid of fear, we could get rid of a whole lot of problems plaguing us. And according to her, the best way to do that is to realise our magnificence, realise that we are all perfect souls with nothing to achieve. Her focus throughout is on ‘being’ and not on ‘becoming’, because being is our soul’s perspective, while becoming is the mind’s endeavour.
The book is a must read, especially in today’s highly stressful age, where lifestyle diseases are rampant, and the cures for these diseases are often as bad, if not worse, than the diseases themselves, not to mention the physical, mental, emotional and financial strain that they impose.