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The Great Misunderstanding
by John David
Discover Your True Happiness With A Simple New Understanding
The Great Misunderstanding shows us that we have been conditioned to believe in duality, perceiving ourselves as separate from the world and from life itself. We try to overcome this separation by changing our lives to be better, or find more love. John David’s book and film deconstruct this false misunderstanding in a simple and direct way, drawing on his public talks, dialogues with students, and situations from daily life. His message is about true freedom, about the profound and life-changing realisation that true happiness, peace and love are to be found inside us.
Sagar –
At the beginning it is explained what the great misunderstanding is. After that the talks of Premananda, an awakened spiritual teacher, run like a thread through the film and explain how you can get closer to awakening.
Pictures and scenes of the daily life of his community are shown along with wonderful pictures of animals and nature and of the river rhine, on whose shore the community lives. You get an insight how such a community supports awakening. And in the end you can see some scenes of an awakening happening to a resident, which comes from another film called “Satori”.
The talks from Premananda remind me always to align my life to the absolute truth. The lovely scenes from the nature and the animals are touching me every time anew and there are some funny sequences of the improvised theatre of the community. The Open Sky House seems to be a great place for creativity and I will surely come to visit it
Melinda Agten –
I found this film to be actually very beautiful, considering it’s made by a group of people who make their own films. It’s not a professionally-made film, and I often found it a bit too amateur, but I must admit I found it having a strange effect on me, of speaking to my heart. All my usual efforts to understand faded away as I was watching, and it spoke to my heart. Simple. It’s about spiritual awakening, particularly about how that process can be helped and nurtured living in a community with a teacher like they are. This is a cool film.
Mikael Nordfors –
I like this books, because it is not only about how to get enlightened and live happily ever after. It also points out some of the problems integrating enlightenment/spirituality in the ordinary life and how to integrate it in your daily life. Very down to earth.
Maria Farenelli –
A book for everybody who is looking for concrete advice, suitable for daily life, notjust esoterical gabba gabba. With a lot of humor premananda is leading through the depths and hights on the way to freedom. A MUST HAVE – not only for advaita lovers. Premanandas natural way is touching. A must read.
Leela –
I felt this book was pretty clear about why we can’t seem to find lasting happiness in our lives. Although it seems naive to me at some points – like sometimes the advice and situations given to make a point seem much easier said than done – I felt it was cutting to what’s important, and what the Truth behind our searching for happiness is. I have actually met Premananda and feel that he lives what he writes about, so in this sense the insights in the book can be taken as something I can apply in my life. Again, the book was sometimes naive and unrealistic to how people really experience and struggle through their daily lives, but it’s full of genuine humour, and a kind of relaxed, insistent message that was very useful for me in my life.
James –
Reading this book is one of those rare times when you can have a whole new perspective on things after just a few chapters. It provides an insight not on how you should be leading your life but how you could be leading your life and the personal advantages that opening your mind to this way of thinking will bring. As such it isn’t prescriptive in the way that a book like this could be, which instantly puts readers off by patronising them that the green definitely IS greener. Rather it is descriptive, opening the door to a wonderful community of people who live, think and breathe what they view as the path to enlightenment and the importance of satsang in their lives in order to attain that path. You are invited in and you don’t want to leave. A hugely insightful and important book from no doubt a very special person. The way its lessons are interspersed with humour also makes the whole journey that much more enjoyable. I wouldn’t pass on this one.
Phoebe –
I did not know what I was looking for until I found this. It is a easily digestible and moving account of a way to discover a different outlook on life. It is full of very valuable words of wisdom but it is not dry or too self-helpesqe! There are some funny anecdotes and you finish it feeling good, maybe I wont go so far as to necessarily say enlightened, but its something to read and think about. Definetly 5 stars! Little preview […]
Bücherwurm –
Premananda writes in this book with very clear words what the great misunderstanding is in our lives. I’m very amazed by the simplicity of the language he uses and yet how deep his words touch you.
Especially when you are interested in Satsang and becoming free, this book shows you in a simple way what you have to do.
There are many different topics. You can find for nearly every life situation a connected interview which can give you deeper insights for your own life.
For example there is a great Chapter about “Love and Relationship”. Here Premananda describes very precisely how everbody tries to find happiness in a relationship.
And how we forget our true longing for freedom in looking out for a partner.
So be sure you can find guidance for every situation in your life in this book.
Last but not least this book is very nicely designed. It has several artworks from the author and many uplifting jokes in it.
I can only recommend this book in all his different facets.
Andrea Milka –
John David covers several topics related to self-Realisation, awakening, being free. Based on Ramana Maharishi‘s practice of self enquiry, John David manages to illustrate the Path to awakening in an understandable and clear way.