About this episode
Born and brought up in Mumbai, Gautam faced one challenge after another fairly early in life. He remarks, “As a result, I grew up before my time.” Having to cope with the loss of his father at the young age of 14 gave rise to questions related to death, insecurity, and survival, which would affect most children faced with a similar loss. At the turn of the millennium (December 1999), Gautam’s inherent but latent spiritual inclination surfaced through a series of synchronistic events. Following his mother’s example, he started attending a course in Brahma Vidya (Knowledge of Brahman) based on a system of ancient Tibetan breathing exercises. This course was conducted by his mother’s guru, Justice Dudhat of the High Court of Mumbai. Around this time, Gautam diversified into publishing by setting up Yogi Impressions, primarily to publish his mother Santosh’s book on her spiritual awakening. Santosh Ma’s journey of awakening spanned three years, from 1996 to 1999. Although there was no desire or ambition to publish any other book besides this one, destiny had charted a new course for him, as he was soon to discover. In November 1999, Gautam met Eckhart Tolle, the best-selling spiritual author of The Power of Now, in Hong Kong, while holidaying with his sister Nikki who worked there at the time. He had several interactions with this spiritual teacher over the next few years, courtesy of Nikki and her friends’ proximity to Eckhart, which led to his publishing company bringing out the Indian edition of The Power of Now. Eckhart had said that publishing would be the start of ‘an adventure’ for Gautam, and so it turned out to be. It was at Nikki’s urging that Gautam met the Advaita sage, Ramesh Balsekar, in February 2000. Some of her friends were flying down from a distant country just to meet this modern sage who lived a mere 20-minute drive away from Gautam’s home. Having no conscious interest in the subject, he tagged along one Sunday morning to Ramesh’s residence in Mumbai. On his next visit when Ramesh saw him, he asked Gautam: “Isn’t this the second consecutive Sunday you have come? Be careful young man… this will become your Sunday church!” Little then did he know that he would keep visiting Ramesh over the next nine years to attend his satsangs. During these years, Gautam worked closely with Ramesh assisting him with the editing and publishing of some of his books. In later years, Ramesh encouraged Gautam to write especially after reading an article Gautam had written for India’s leading spiritual magazine on the occasion of Ramesh’s 90th birthday in 2007. It was this gentle nudge that eventually led to Gautam writing his first book based on Ramesh’s teaching – Pointers from Ramesh Balsekar. Since then, Gautam has authored five more books. He is quite perplexed himself at this ‘happening’ as he had no intention of becoming a writer. “At least one doesn’t have to look hard for a publisher,” he adds with a smile. His books have been translated into Russian, German, Spanish, Hindi, and Marathi.. Website: gautamsachdeva.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Summary and transcript of this interview. Interview recorded May 15, 2021. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:04:57 - A Chance Meeting That Changed My Life 00:09:19 - The Search for Peace of Mind 00:13:55 - Control over Action and Results 00:18:19 - Averting Danger in Life 00:22:33 - Layers of Reality 00:26:51 - The Beauty of Unseen Perspectives 00:31:00 - The Threefold Structure of Creation 00:34:41 - The Pragmatic Approach to Challenges 00:39:17 - Acceptance and Karma 00:44:05 - The Goal is All Along the Path 00:48:08 - The Pitfall of Inaction 00:51:28 - Rowing gently along the stream 00:55:50 - The Quality of Witnessing 01:00:10 - Kundalini Experiences and Validation 01:03:38 - Meditation and Nisargadatta Maharaj 01:07:22 - The Power of Wiggle Room and Grace 01:11:55 - The Healing Power of Animals 01:15:28 - The Natural Outcome of the Thinking Mind 01:19:44 - The Beauty of Silence 01:23:40 - Respect for Life and Compassion for All Living Beings 01:27:10 - The Value of All Life 01:30:44 - Life as an Ongoing Surprise Test 01:35:01 - The Power of Being in the Presence of a Sage 01:38:50 - The Age of Truth 01:42:37 - Fear and Duality in Spiritual Thought 01:46:50 - The Funny Driver in a Rental Car 01:50:54 - Finding Peace of Mind 01:54:46 - Awakening the Unconditioned Mind 01:58:22 - Gratitude for Whatever Is 02:03:06 - Farewell and Gratitude