I recently watched a beautiful show on Netflix about some of the best Pizza chefs in the world. As I watched the series, something became very clear. The show had little to do with Pizza, which was the common thread that united a few remarkable individuals. All of them, without fail, had one singular trait — an uncompromising commitment to the craft. When they all began their journies, no one knew about them. They refined and honed their craft for years until it all came together one day, and they were recognized as artists, not pizza chefs. Some found their joy in making the perfect dough, some in using the highest quality ingredients, and others dipped into their culture to add unique toppings to the Pizza. It took almost all of them ten years of working on their art before they could truly create something worthwhile to offer the world.

As I watched the show, I kept thinking of our mission to revive Sanatana Dharma. Who are we reviving it for? Are we doing the right thing? Are we doing enough? Should we be doing more things?

The answer came almost instantly. We first have to start by reviving Sanatana Dharma within ourselves. Society comes much later. I have lived this philosophy for some time without knowing it. The truth is I have never written for anyone else. Most of the time, I have an idea, and writing is my way of digesting that idea to develop a point of view. Sanatana Dharma is a vast ocean, and many times when we talk about reviving it, we imagine that we need to educate other people about it. The deeper I go into it, the more I realize we need to first revive it within us. As we keep putting in the work to revive it within us, we will start becoming ambassadors for the cause, and nature will find ways to help us contribute to the cause.

Just like the pizza chefs spent years honing their craft until it became their calling card, we need to put in the hours to learn everything we can about SD.

Here are some of the different things I am doing.

• Reading books and listening to talks that are helping me decondition my mind. Sanjeev Sanyal, J Sai Deepak, and Vikram Sampath have been interesting people to read and listen to for the past few months.

• Reading about different aspects of Sanatana Dharma — The easiest thing is to get attached to a particular form of the divine or a certain kind of philosophy. While I am naturally attracted to Advaitha, the Dvaitha and Vaishtha Advaitha are phenomenal schools of thought. Then you have the different Upanishads, Vedas, and Puranas. As the breadth of reading increases, the ability to harmonize what seems incompatible philosophies also increases.

• Writing as frequently as possible: Reading is fantastic, but the actual test of your understanding comes when you write about things. Everything that seems to make sense in your head suddenly falls apart, and you must start hunting for links that bind different pieces together.

All this is important to me because most people talk about reviving Sanatana Dharma without mentioning Moksha or liberation. This has to be the north star based on which the Dharma is discussed and revieved. Otherwise, we risk moving from one set of rituals and practices to another.