'Living Hanuman' is a book written by Pawan Kumar Mishra. It was published and launched in 2019. It is a contemporary commentary on Sri Hanuman Chalisa, the most popular sacred hymn sung by millions of believers across the world. A verse by verse commentary is followed by several questions that allows the seeker to journey within. There are about 300 questions in all which a seeker is invited to
ask himself, the answers of which he/she alone knows! Such an in-journey enables a deep understanding of one's own self. It also can enable one to understand one's path and purpose of life, making one's journey through the Earth, more meaningful. " Live like the sky, give like the Earth" is the central call to the seeker-readers. People are aware of divinity of Sri Hanuman and also know of this hymn with varying degree of familiarity. The hymn is a profound and powerful which holds a rich treasure of wisdom pearls. Though these gems of wisdom are drawn from the Vedas, they are universal in nature, in total resonance with other wisdom/ spiritual/ religious traditions of the world. An understanding of this hymn offers an insight into the sameness amongst islands of religious or other beliefs that currently divide our world. The endeavor is to draw the whole of humanity into a loving embrace through the common thread that binds us all. Sri Hanuman is shown as a monkey. Monkeys do not have any religion. Hence, Sri Hanuman can be taken to be a common logo or symbol for all the varying traditions of the world. Sri Hanuman is a metaphor for breath, which is common to each and every living being, and hence a common thread that runs through each and every bead of a being in this rosary of life! Sri Hanuman is a metaphor for compassion and surrender, for a life removed from one's ego-sphere to one dedicated in the service of the universal eco-sphere. Let us each become aware of the sacredness of our breaths as streams of compassion and joy. Let us join in an endeavor to infuse each and every one with this breath of compassion and service, creating a shift in the spectrum towards a life of Compassion, Contentment, Gratitude, Growth and Integrity.
