Spring 2026 · Volume I, No. 1
The Living Canon

The Perennial Review

Wisdom traditions — examined, and applied
Department

Spring 2026

On beginnings, breath, and the canon that keeps returning

All The Flagship Essay Shloka vs. Study Practice In Dialogue Primary Texts Field Notes
Flagship Essay

Narada Muni and the Art of Liberation in Motion

Devotee, cosmic messenger, philosopher, divine mischief-maker. What the wandering sage with the vina teaches about remaining free while wholly engaged in the world.

By Anusha Mishra · 2 min read
Jun 2026
Shloka vs. Study

The breath that steadies the mind

A verse on prāṇāyāma from the Yoga Sutras, set beside what contemporary neuroscience now understands about slow exhalation and the parasympathetic state.

By Anusha Mishra
Jun 2026
Practice

The Protocol: Trāṭaka, the unwavering gaze

Its source, its mechanism, how to begin, what to expect in the first weeks, and the errors that quietly undo the practice.

By Anusha Mishra
Jun 2026
Primary Texts

The chariot of the self, from the Kaṭha Upaniṣad

A passage on the body as chariot, the senses as horses, and the mind as reins — newly translated and briefly introduced.

By Anusha Mishra
Jun 2026
Field Notes

On sitting still in a city that never does

A personal account of keeping a contemplative practice alive amid the noise of modern life — and what the tradition says to those who fail at it daily.

By Anusha Mishra
Jun 2026
In Dialogue

On consciousness, between the lab and the cushion

A long conversation with a cognitive scientist who spent a decade studying meditators — on what the data can and cannot reach.

By Anusha Mishra
Jun 2026
In Dialogue

Three books that take the inner life seriously

A short reading list at the seam of contemplative science and philosophy of mind — what each gets right, and where the tradition pushes back.

By Anusha Mishra
Jun 2026