Shunya (Malayalam)

by Sri M.

He appears out of nowhere in a sleepy little neighbourhood in suburban Kerala. He calls himself Shunya, the zero. Who is he? A lunatic? A dark magician? A fraud? Or an avadhuta, an enlightened soul?

Saami—as they call him—settles into a small cottage in the backyard of the local toddy shop. Here he spins parables, blesses, curses, drinks endless glasses of black tea and lives in total freedom. On rare occasions, he plays soul-stirring melodies on his old, bamboo-reed flute.

Then, just as mysteriously as he arrived, Shunya vanishes, setting the path for a new avadhuta, a new era.

This first novel by Sri M is a meditation on the void which collapses the wall between reality and make-believe, the limited and the infinite. With its spare storytelling and profound wisdom, it leads us into the realm of ‘shunya’, the nothingness of profound and lasting peace, the beginning and end of all things.

Genres: Fiction, Spirituality, Philosophy, India, Religion

226 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2019

About the author

Sri M (born Mumtaz Ali Khan), who was born a Muslim, was attracted to Vedic teachings at an early age. He met his Guru at the age of 9 and left home at 19 to live in the Himalayas, where he met many saints and sages before living with his Guru for three years. M has been associated with the famous Rishi Valley School as a former trustee of the Krishnamurti Foundation. Rather than choosing any specific religion or tradition, M teaches the universal essence of all religions.

M is founder of the Satsang Foundation. When asked about the Foundation and its purposes, he responded, “Satsang, which in Sanskrit, translates to holy company. Satsang is important because it is in keeping holy company that we overcome all circumstances and distractions, attain our true purpose of life, and uplift the world. By keeping holy company, not only with saints and sages and with other sincere spiritual seekers, but most importantly and with our True Self, our own Soul, we achieve deeper access and ultimate union with the Divine Essence. That is the goal of all prayer, meditation and spiritual practice, as well as all religions.”

He is a spiritual teacher and Guru to many and he teaches Kriya Yoga, the Upanishads and Sri Vidya Upasana. He lives in Madnapalle, Andhra Pradesh (near Bangalore) and travels around India and the World teaching and taking students on regular Yatras to sacred places.

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 4 out of 5]

- The meaning of the word Shunya is zero, but this is a book with infinite meanings and implications.

- This is a novel telling the story of a saint living in a small village neighbourhood in Kerala and his extraordinary life.

- Shunya had unconventional methods like living in the backyard of a toddy shop and taking strange measures in solving the problems

- He wasn’t the epitome of calmness and gentleness which a saint normally personifies but a person who curses and eccentric and unaffable in many ways.

- I haven’t read too many novels coming under the category “spiritual fiction”, and this one was a fresh experience for me.

- The mysticism, magical realism, spirituality, philosophy and the mystery in this book were entrancing.







- Some of the methods taken by Shunya was a little hard to digest and won’t be acceptable for many who are deep into spirituality.



- The concept of Nothingness was conveyed wonderfully in this novel, and it will be an exciting read for those who are new into the world of spirituality.

[Abhilash Ruhela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am just done reading another book based on spirituality but this time in form of a fictional attempt by renowned guru, Sri M named “Shunya”. This is the first novel written by the author even when he claims to have written many before this one but never got guts to send it to publishers. Shunya is a very intense book which talks about the power of being in a zone which is full of nothingness and is almost like the origin of your creation. Shunya is the name of a character in the book who is also the protagonist of the story. It sounds very weird initially how Shunya practices different theories of his but later on by the 2nd half of the book, you understand his character and style of treating and spreading positivism around.

The writing style of the author is intriguing and keeps the readers hooked with the story. The premises are very unnatural and thus it takes time to get comfortable with the main character as some of his behaviour is actually objectional but yet it brings silence and peace in the life of the stressed human being. The characters are very well handled by the author either Sadasivan, Thambi, Diana or Bhavani. Each one of them have their distinct background and present.

The base of the protagonist being described in a Toddy shop and the way he drinks and does crazy things is a great read. Also, t he way 2nd half of the story is handled makes you think a lot of things about the conditions of different characters. The pre-climax and climax are also okay. Talking about the drawbacks:- The spiritual stuff is kept very simple and does not take you deep into the philosophy. Also, a book of this nature should leave a very big message and impact behind but there is nothing that you will take away with this book except the weirdness of the protagonist character. I will give this book just 2.5* out of 5 for being an average story with no impact at all on the readers.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!

[Karthik Kailash · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rehash of an Avadhoota Swami who calls himself Shunya or 0. Peppered with life changing anecdotes,it's a spiritual book that is explained in a fictional format.

I would recommend a read.

[LakshmiSandeep · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book .

[Anantha Narayanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful experience

The book caters well if you think about ones purpose in life, what's Indian spiritually all about. Presented as a novel, I think the first of it's kind for a spiritual treatise it caters on the subject well.

The hilarious portion was of kuppi saamy (bottle god)

[Priyanka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given 4 stars but that would be because I admire Sri M. If it is just this novel that I must decide on, 3 star would suffice. :)

[Avinash K · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is fluent and the book is very easy to read. However, it falls somewhere between a mild adventure and an attempt at mysticism. Parts of it are like a bad Malayalam serial with all the hocus-pocus. Occasionally you wonder if the author is making fun of the mystic or just trying to point out how society removes the wonders of a mystic and makes it a crass commercial object.
One technique I liked and it fits well here is how the author completes a story in it's fullest flow and then comes back to the present (a-la Run Lola Run). On occasion it becomes a spoiler, but that's either intentional or just the case of having a bad editor.
In many ways as a novel it needs to mature, it seems more like the jottings in a book as made by one of the key characters in the story. I'd like to let it be as it the author's first book. Will try another provided I get it free or zero price (as I did on Kindle), not otherwise... yet.
The book is like the title in many ways. Maybe that was the intent.

[Anonymous · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shunya.
Zero. Zilch. Nothing.
But nobody knows about where he came from and who he really is. The fellow has an unconventional temperament for a sadhu. Shunya settles in the courtyard of a toddy shop owned by Sadasivan and his reputation gradually reaches far and wide. Shunya has a divine aura. A mere mention of Shunya diffuses a unique positive aura around. This power of positivity could be considered the most powerful, influential feat.
He spends most of his time in solitude. He never sleeps. And talks to strange voices in different tongues. He has a penetrating look and apparently can even look into the future.
But with great fame come powerful malices, so some of the megalomaniac politicians and other envious tantric, sadhus try to take him down and make him flee the place which Shunya hurdled with ease. Shunya disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared in the place, but he lived on in the hearts of his beloved people. And he influenced the lives of many.

To the devotees even the excreta of their God is holy. I never understand this sense of attachment of humans.

[Renu Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading. Its spiritual read with simple language. A book, once in hand that you can't put it down till you done reading. It has fascinating stories that guide our steps towards truth and knowledge to collapse walls between Imagination, illusion and reality! With real life like stories, author leads us to domain of 'Shunya', which is beginning and end of all things!

[Hiran Ravindran]

I liked it, don't know why.

[Rakesh Gandewar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling read. Explains the significance of being nothing

Sri M explores the infinite concept of shunya or void through a simple story. Recommended read if you are into mysticism

[Raghavendra T R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mysterious journey of a Saint....Not sure whether its inspired by the real life incidents but a nice read

[ಸುಶಾಂತ ಕುರಂದವಾಡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for timepass read. If you havr already read some fantasy kinda books, this book is not for you. Makes you little bore.

[Sreelekshmi Ramachandran]

ഒരു ഹിമാലയൻ യോഗിയുടെ ആത്മകഥ' എന്ന പുസ്തകം വായിച്ചവർക്ക് അത് രചിച്ച ശ്രീ എം നെ പരിചയമുണ്ടാവും..
ആത്മീയ ആചാര്യൻ, സാമൂഹിക പരിഷ്കർത്താവ്, എഴുത്തുകാരൻ, പ്രഭാഷകൻ തുടങ്ങി പല നിലകളിൽ പ്രശസ്തനാണ് ഇദ്ദേഹം..
ഹിമാലയൻ യോഗി ഒരു ബെസ്റ്റ് സെല്ലറായി മാറിയപ്പോൾ അന്നത്തെ ആ പുസ്തകത്തിനുണ്ടായ ഹൈപ്പ് കാരണം ഞാനത് വാങ്ങി വായിച്ചിരുന്നു.. വ്യക്തിപരമായി ആ പുസ്തകം എനിക്ക് ഇഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടില്ല...

അടുത്ത ഒരു ശ്രമം എന്ന നിലയിൽ ശ്രീ എം രചിച്ച ആദ്യത്തെ പുസ്തകമായ 'ശൂന്യ' കൂടി ഇപ്പോൾ ഞാൻ വായിച്ചു.
ഇവിടെയും നിരാശയാണ് ഫലം..
ഈ പുസ്തകം എനിക്ക് ഒട്ടും തന്നെ ഇഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടില്ല..
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📚Book - ശൂന്യ
✒️Writer- ശ്രീ എം
📜Publisher- eka

[Sujin Balakumaran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shunya is entertaining all the type of readers with his unique approach. Babaji has used all his ingredients to make the story telling interesting with some new techniques and it worked beautifully as always from him. Here in this book you can see a selection of handpicked words than any of the other books and writing style is also slightly different and you can see his creative writing side. Although he denies, he is a seasoned writer and that shows thorough his creation of character, entry of characters, the platform he used, etc etc.. Only thing missing is a chapter with intense description of the Toddy Shop background as introducing it as an epic center and core of different dimensions of a typical village. Keralites readers can easily connect to where he planted the story background, but others will miss the spicy side of a Kallu Shap!!!

More than a Novel, it is a material for a grand intense movie and I am sure somebody will see that possibility and work on it. That way it will get into the mass media to enjoy a plot like this.

I personally think Shunya is a mix of himself and his great master Maheswar Nath Babaji and the plot is handpicked by him from his experience of incidents. Khader is a classic example of that!! Still he says it is a fiction, but somewhere he admitted that all fictions has a reality tint.

Really enjoyed his work and waiting for the Yogini in Jeans!

[Michael Laughrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

For spiritual seekers of any variety, this book is an absolute MUST! I consider it one of the best novels I have ever read, and I have read thousands of them. Also, although "Shunya" is called a novel, I call it "a book of ultimate truth."

Now, you may think "this is well and good, but it sounds too boring and philosophical for me". Personally, it was a thrill a minute. There was never a dull moment.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it 100.

Michael Laughrin

[Amritha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book can be enjoyed only by those who know and love the mystics of India and their way of life. A quick read, my first of Sri M.

[Srikar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Shunya started out interesting, it quickly became unreadable. Maybe it was the writing. Or the many (forced) mystic incidents that try too hard to be mystic. Or perhaps, this is simply not my cup of tea.

[Amit Gandhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shunya by Sri M is a mysterious and captivating journey into the life of a saint. The concept of nothingness is beautifully explored, leaving readers to think if achieving such a state is truly possible. With never a dull moment, the story blurs the lines between fiction and reality, making you question if Shunya is more than just a fictional character? A thought-provoking read!

[Krupa Pandya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completed this amazing spiritual fiction explaining the concept of ZERO 'nothingness'.
'Nothingness' is the source of all the somethings. Give a read to this book to understand this!

[Prashanth Bhat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philosophy in a chocolate wrap. Not that great

[Natasha Muhindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will remain my best read yet! Had me crying at some point. I'm just so deeply touched

[Abhishek Subramanian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable short and easy read about shunya the void who appears out of the void and resides in a small cottage behind a toddy Indian Liquor shop in the town of Thirvananthapuram.

This book also contains influences from other great beings in India. Specially the LSD episode reminds me of Krishna Das.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book. This is my first book by this author.

[Arti Arora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading it. Lot of questions come to your mind as what we really are? At times, i felt what it could be to feel like a Nothingness, though we hear, we read, we are nothing. I am curious to reach that stage.

Must read

Above this Dhruv narrated it beautifully making all characters alive.

[Amit Pamnani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shunya, meaning zero or nothing, it’s all about a person who believes he is nothing, he has no power, he is here in this world for nothing, has no purpose, he cannot do anything. But, is it true?
Here is a story of a person, who looks rugged, looks like a saint, or a lunatic or a mad person, who has infinite powers. He once comes across Sadasivan, a toddy shop owner, he is treated to some food by him, and Sadasivan realizes that his business did very well that day. He strongly believes that it is due to this saint like person that his business improved that day.
Next day, again Sadasivan gives him good hospitality and even offers him to stay at in a cottage behind the toddy shop. From that day, his fortune changes and changes for good.
Slowly and steadily people from all over the area come to know about this Saami, as he is called, and people witness miracles from this person.
The story is all about Shunya, his teachings, and message to the world that we are all here about nothing and for nothing. We do not need to be overly possessive about anything since nothing is ours. That is the beginning and end of peace.
The story is written in a simple language, the characters are realistic, the powers of Shunya though sometimes are doubtable, but it becomes believable with the flow. The story can be described as part mythological, part fantasy, but all in all a good and entertaining book to read.
The story is fast paced, with interesting twists and turns, making the reader intrigued by the moment.
A short read, but an entertaining read is all I can say about the book, and I do recommend to all those interested in fantasy fiction stories.

[Roma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: Shunya

Author: Sri M

Length: 225 pages

Publisher: Westland Books

Genre: Spiritual, Fiction

Summary:

The story is about a mysterious man who called himself Shunya. He enters the lives of villagers suspiciously and disappears mysteriously in the end. The story revolves around his teachings, changes bought by him in the lives, his rise to fame and ultimately his disappearance.

My Take:

The book is a medium paced novel and intriguing. Haven’t read a book like this in a long time now. Each chapter is a short story about his miracles and still calling himself nothing.

Some of the proses have a deep meaning teaching the true essence of life. Though overall the book is medium paced, at some places it does get a little slow.

The characters are beautifully developed and relatable. The narratives are great with the scenes coming to life while reading. This book can be adapted in a great serial. Lots of old stories and beliefs come to life with a simple narration.

My rating for this great spiritual fictional tale is 4.5/5. A must read for spiritual books lovers.

Follow my book reviews on https:/readitbyroma.wordpress.com

[Tandava Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the fact that this book exists, because we definitely need more Sanaatan-Dharma-based fiction in the world. But unfortunately I wasn't thrilled with the actual execution of it. Shunya assumes the madman "style" of being a guru, which means that he is very limited in the actual spiritual instruction he can give to us as readers. There is no overall plot, but rather just a series of incidents and stories around him. That's not inherently a bad format, but in this case it resulted, again, in the reader being somewhat left out. What it seemed to boil down to is simply that people just showed up and got their miracles. It's fun for a bit, but then you just start wondering what you're supposed to get out of it. So it feels a bit more sensational than spiritual. If it had at least been about a real person, perhaps that would have added a helpful dimension to it, but as a novel it feels lacking. Now, I suppose that people who are disciples of Sri M may find benefit in this simply as a way of attuning to him, the author. But I don't particularly find it helpful in a spiritual way.

[Amecop47 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant captivating novel

First of all I must say that the character of Shunya -the void is portrayed in a beautiful fashion. While reading the book one doubts whether Shunya is really a fictional character. All the Leela's of shunya matches those of the real saints. The chapter where Shunya rises after being declared as dead reminds me of one such feat. Carried out by my guru Shri Shirdi Saibaba. Aftermath of the Shunya's disappearance is accurately described. A fake temple build by the same politician who has tried to murder shunya for political gain, imposter declaring himself as new shunya, Thumbi and Diana with Prof.Hawkins setting up a group that spreads shunya's work and teachings far in US while Indians still lost in the fake essence of materialistic practices in the name of spirituality is so real in today's era.
On the whole Shri M sir hats off to you and finally Shunya or Nothing has to merge in Nothingness....
Om Sai Ram 🙏🏻

[Dr Kashmira Gohil · Rating 5 out of 5]

'That which the senses cannot perceive, which even the mind cannot grasp, understand, O' disciple to be the "truth",-said the lines on back cover of the book & I was hooked right then. "Shunya'- He appears out of nowhere in a sleepy little neighbourhood in suburban Kerala. He calls himself Shunya,-the zero. Who is he? A lunatic? A dark magician? A fraud? Or an avadhuta, an enlightened soul? The story was said in very endearing, simple language amidst Kerala people. With few doses of shocking interludes, I deeply enjoyed the narrative. I loved the book. I loved the concept, the 'shunya'-zero, nothingness!! As I said, once a few times, you come upon a gem, suddenly as if on its own at a right time. This was it!! Worth a read. Go read it if you are reading this. you deserve it!! 05 stars for 'Nothing' - the void, which is Ultimately everything!! 🌟🙏

[Niranjan Raman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent plot and engrossing read

Exellent plot with multiple twists and turns. Very difficult to put it down once you start reading. In some ways it is an Indian story with shades of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Will be good to see in a movie. Great blend of fiction and philosophy woven into one story. Each chapter is of optimal length and does not drain the reader. Certainly recommend a reading.