Eye of the Revival by Pyotr Levin

The Russian author tells his story from the nineties how coincidence took him to a monastery in Tibet. There, a lama taught him ancient exercises that preserve one’s energy. The monks living there practice them to be immortal.

He mentions of people over one hundred and fifty years, looking no more than fifty. The western society has been hungry for eternal youth for centuries, which is what makes Tibetan practices so appealing. Yet they contradict each other internally:  the west wants to have fun, headlessly run around, however Tibetan practices require mindfulness, ability to sit still and truly spend time with oneself. We’re too busy pleasing our egos or others that we exhaust our energy the moment we receive any. No wonder we age so fast.

The book is about the exercises: how to practice them, when to move to the next, how and when to combine them. It sounds so simple, especially how all is described in such peace like “you just do it and you’ll be all good.” No sweat, no pain, no tears, no struggle. The motive of “the chosen one” can make it harder for the reader to feel alike, and thereby it could be easier to quit, because things in life are rarely as struggle-free as often described.

However, in this case, I don’t believe it was as sweatless – rather the struggle is just not mentioned. Combined with determination that came from limited time and peace that arose from this practice, he might not even have thought that struggle and despair deserved energy by mentioning them.

All negative goes its own way if you don’t try to force it away. All that we fight with, gains energy. All that we accept in our hearts, goes its own way.

The book is originally written in Russian. I read the Estonian translation. English or other readers can get a glimpse of the practice in Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth by Peter Kelder. This describes the five first exercises, Pyotr got to the combination of all seven that form the full practice.

English publishers – a hit is waiting to be translated. Run for it.

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