By  
on  

From The Editor's Desk: Sylvester Stallone and a Shradh in Haridwar for his dead son

This is not hot off the press. It is news that has been reported before. I read it very recently and am sharing it here because it’s to do with Sylvester Stallone whom I greatly admire and Indian spiritualism in which I am deeply interested.

It seems Stallone set aside the brawn and machismo for which he is known as a Hollywood actor and performed an Indian spiritual ritual as a bereaved father grieving and hurting for his dead actor son Sage.

Sage, 36, was found dead in his LA apartment apparently from a drug overdose. It was later found he had suffered a heart attack. His death left Stallone devastated. The actor kept dreaming of his son and was very disturbed.

It was a Herculean task to come to terms with Sage’s death. So Stallone hopelessly attempted to get in touch with his departed son through mediums who conducted seances in which they communicated with the dead.

Nothing worked. And Stallone kept hanging in there like his boxing hero from the Rocky movies. Then somebody introduced the Hollywood superstar to the Vedic scholar Prateek Mishrapuri from Rishikesh who was in LA.

The sage advised Stallone not to hold a séance because it would be painful for Sage’s soul. Instead, he told the actor to perform a Shradh ceremony meant for the release of dead souls in Haridwar at Uttarakhand.

Since the puja had to be performed by a blood relative, and not wanting to attract the paparazzi and make a mockery of the ritual by coming himself, Stallone sent his brother, wife and two others to Haridwar to perform the Shradh.

It touches me that while there are skeptics among us disbelieving about Indian religious customs and practices, Sylvester Stallone embraced one aspect of our faith in his grief. I hope he has found acceptance. And Sage’s soul rests in peace.

Source: Google News

Recommended