This a wonderful parable about an Indian yogi named Neelkanth. We join him from the beginning of his spiritual journey as an 11-year-old boy and witness all the inspiring steps he takes and the holy encounters he experiences along the way. We can draw strength from Neelkanth's experiences which are helpful for our own because he simply went in this inward direction much sooner than most of us. His spiritual readiness can be likened to child prodigy musicians who can play their instruments with masterful precision from a young age.

 

The movie shows us the depth of the call to break free from the familiar. Not only is this shown in Neelkanth's willingness to leave his home town but also in the way he leaves by jumping into a raging river so as not to leave any tracks. His willingness and readiness to take these steps is demonstrated he bows to his sleeping parents and his village before his departure. 

 

On the spiritual journey, many are called to break from what the world would call a normal life. If that is the calling, it’s possible to leave with a sense of gratitude and not carry all the grievances about what could have or should have happened. Those are part of the echoes of the story that somehow we were a victim, that we were mistreated and things were not optimal. A sense of gratitude for everything that seems to have occurred on the spiritual journey is an important step.

 

The ego wants you to become identified with a timeline story because that is its security and how it stays hidden. For it to remain in your mind it must get you to buy into the storyline: birth, death, and everything in between. So what seems to be human life isn't life at all; it's fiction, a trick to keep you from waking up and knowing who you are. That break from familiarity is important. Neelkanth's departure from his family symbolizes the need to step away from the familiar and break free from the ego's pull to carve out a niche to accomplish something. It is an important step on the journey to break free of this impulse to be something in the world.