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Beyond Mind: Awaken The Inner Self
548 pages, Hardcover
Published April 10, 2026
About the author
Gian Kumar
23 books31 followersBORN IN BURMA TO A RELIGIOUS HINDU FAMILY, MY LIFE BEGAN AS A PARADOX. I WENT ON TO STUDY IN A BOARDING SCHOOL WHICH OBSERVED STRICT CHRISTIAN PRACTICES. DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE WERE THE HINDU TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS WHICH BECAME THE NORM ONCE I WAS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. BEING A THINKER, THE INHERENT CONFUSION AND DOGMAS UNDERLYING RELIGION DROVE ME FURTHER AWAY FROM MY FORMER BELIEFS TOWARDS SPIRITUALITY. I AM GRATEFUL FOR THIS JOURNEY FILLED WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN ABOUT 'WHO AM I, WHAT IS MY PURPOSE IN LIFE AND IS GOD AN ILLUSION' AND HOPE TO IMPART AS MUCH OF MY EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING TO YOU THROUGH MY BOOKS.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 30, 2026
Beyond Mind is one of those books that invites you to pause, reflect, and spend a little time with your own thoughts. I found myself reading a chapter, putting the book down, and simply thinking about what I had just read. It simply asks questions that many of us carry deep inside but rarely take the time to explore. Questions about happiness, purpose, love, fear, the mind, and who we really are.
It’s a collection of 108 short essays. You don't have to read it all at once. You can open any chapter, read a few pages, and still walk away with something meaningful to think about. I also liked how the chapter titles themselves spark curiosity. Topics like Journey from Confusion to Clarity, Love is Complete, The Meaning of Life, The Secret of Life, The Human Mind, and The Concept of Aloneness make you pause even before you start reading. Every chapter feels like a quiet conversation with yourself.
Gian Kumar writes with warmth, sincerity, and simplicity. You can tell these ideas come from years of personal reflection and a genuine desire to help others find peace within themselves. I also appreciated how the author brings together spirituality, mindfulness, and practical life experiences in a way that feels easy to understand.
The biggest message I took away is that we spend so much of our lives searching for happiness outside ourselves, when the real journey begins within. And true peace doesn't come from achievements or material success—it comes from understanding yourself. This book doesn't promise quick answers, but it does encourage you to slow down, become more aware, and see life from a different perspective.
Overall, this is more than a spiritual book. It's a companion for anyone looking for clarity, inner peace, and a deeper understanding of life. I'll definitely be coming back to a few chapters whenever I need a moment to reflect.
It’s a collection of 108 short essays. You don't have to read it all at once. You can open any chapter, read a few pages, and still walk away with something meaningful to think about. I also liked how the chapter titles themselves spark curiosity. Topics like Journey from Confusion to Clarity, Love is Complete, The Meaning of Life, The Secret of Life, The Human Mind, and The Concept of Aloneness make you pause even before you start reading. Every chapter feels like a quiet conversation with yourself.
Gian Kumar writes with warmth, sincerity, and simplicity. You can tell these ideas come from years of personal reflection and a genuine desire to help others find peace within themselves. I also appreciated how the author brings together spirituality, mindfulness, and practical life experiences in a way that feels easy to understand.
The biggest message I took away is that we spend so much of our lives searching for happiness outside ourselves, when the real journey begins within. And true peace doesn't come from achievements or material success—it comes from understanding yourself. This book doesn't promise quick answers, but it does encourage you to slow down, become more aware, and see life from a different perspective.
Overall, this is more than a spiritual book. It's a companion for anyone looking for clarity, inner peace, and a deeper understanding of life. I'll definitely be coming back to a few chapters whenever I need a moment to reflect.
July 26, 2026
About the Book:
Success arrives. Wealth follows. A good name spreads. And somehow, the emptiness stays. Gian Kumar built "Beyond Mind: A Collection of 108 Essays" around that exact contradiction, drawing on over two decades of spiritual inquiry, quantum physics, and Advaita Vedanta philosophy to trace his own movement from outer achievement toward inner calm.
Unique Aspect:
108 essays, each one standing alone, yet together forming a continuous thread of questions most people quietly carry but rarely voice. Who am I, beyond the body and mind I keep calling mine? That question alone justifies the whole collection.
Themes:
Meaning sits at the center, alongside desire and fulfillment, and the strange tension between them. Kumar keeps returning to why the mind pulls us constantly toward wanting more, even when we've already arrived somewhere we once wanted to be.
Literary Style:
Contemplative and unhurried, blending contemporary philosophy with ancient wisdom and personal experience. Each essay works as its own small meditation, short enough to sit with, deep enough to return to.
The Part I Liked Most:
That opening question hit hardest: what if success, wealth, and a good reputation still leave you feeling lonely and empty inside? It names something so many people feel and almost nobody says out loud.
Why Read This:
Because clarity rarely arrives through more accumulation, and Kumar writes toward the quieter alternative, consolation, warmth, and the strength to sit with life's genuine enigmas instead of solving them.
Recommended For:
Readers drawn to spirituality, philosophy, and mindfulness, especially anyone who has achieved what they were told would matter, and still felt something missing.
Success arrives. Wealth follows. A good name spreads. And somehow, the emptiness stays. Gian Kumar built "Beyond Mind: A Collection of 108 Essays" around that exact contradiction, drawing on over two decades of spiritual inquiry, quantum physics, and Advaita Vedanta philosophy to trace his own movement from outer achievement toward inner calm.
Unique Aspect:
108 essays, each one standing alone, yet together forming a continuous thread of questions most people quietly carry but rarely voice. Who am I, beyond the body and mind I keep calling mine? That question alone justifies the whole collection.
Themes:
Meaning sits at the center, alongside desire and fulfillment, and the strange tension between them. Kumar keeps returning to why the mind pulls us constantly toward wanting more, even when we've already arrived somewhere we once wanted to be.
Literary Style:
Contemplative and unhurried, blending contemporary philosophy with ancient wisdom and personal experience. Each essay works as its own small meditation, short enough to sit with, deep enough to return to.
The Part I Liked Most:
That opening question hit hardest: what if success, wealth, and a good reputation still leave you feeling lonely and empty inside? It names something so many people feel and almost nobody says out loud.
Why Read This:
Because clarity rarely arrives through more accumulation, and Kumar writes toward the quieter alternative, consolation, warmth, and the strength to sit with life's genuine enigmas instead of solving them.
Recommended For:
Readers drawn to spirituality, philosophy, and mindfulness, especially anyone who has achieved what they were told would matter, and still felt something missing.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews