Living The Yogic Life In A Material World with Karan Bajaj

MP3 Download

Most of us have discovered that life is never a straight line. It actually resembles a series of zig-zags. We zig in order to strengthen our creative gifts. We zag in order to provide a roof over our head and food on the table. This conversation looks at the life adventures of a father, a husband, a writer, a corporate marketer, a world traveler, and a meditation and yoga teacher. Karan Bajaj’s life path has been a quest to answer the question: Does our search for spiritual fulfillment and creativity have to take a back seat to our livelihood? His answer is that he gives himself fully to his corporate work for an average of four years and then takes a year sabbatical to travel and replenish his creative well. This takes some planning and discipline. His practice of meditation and yoga support him in all his endeavors to create a meaningful life. He describes his process: “When I’m working in my corporate life or I’m writing, I’m trying to dissolve all sense of doership and just become a vessel to express myself. In some small way I’m trying to live in a meaningful way even if I’m in corporate environment. I’m trying to get to that point that I spontaneously become a medium for my work.” He also talks about a kind of purity of action and, as an engineer, he describes himself as very left-brained, so that yoga and meditation help to balance him, “[T]hese activities balance me out, make me much more intuitive, and that always has an effect on work and really spirals it up.” (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)

Bio

Karan Bajaj was born and raised in India, and trained as a Hatha Yoga teacher in the Sivananda ashram in South India. He learned meditation in the Himalayas. He’s been named one of India Today’s Top 35 Under 35. He lives in New York City but soon will be returning to India with his wife and young daughter.

Karan Bajaj is the author of several novels, including:

• Johnny Gone Down (Harper Collins 2010)
• Keep Off The Grass (Harper Collins, India 2008)
• The Yoga of Max's Discontent: A Novel (known in India as The Seeker) (Riverhead 2016)

To learn more about the work of Karan Bajaj go to www.karanbajaj.com.

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• How writing helps us to know what we know
• How to create a sabbatical
• What is the deeper purpose to the practice of meditation
• How the practice of yoga is more than a physical practice
• How an accomplished yogi performs actions without attachment
• How we can be creators of art rather than consumers of art
• What it means to be a “venture capitalist monk”
• How he inspires his creativity through recreating his life
• How books in a household effect the ability of children to read

Host: Justine Willis Toms         Interview Date: 6/23/2016         Program Number: 3585

Music Playlist

From Album: Oracle
Artist: Michael Hedges
1996 Windham Hill #CSL 02

Opening Essay: Track 01 The 2nd Law
Music Break 1: Track 05 Jitterboogie
Music Break 2: Track 02 Ignition
Music Break 3: Track 07 Gospel