Jangala Yoga and Healing

Check out this talk on Ayurveda and Functional Medicine from my friend Dr. Grasser | Unity Medicine - Integrative Medicine & Ayurveda!

Most Recent Seminar - National Ayurvedic Medical Association The Functional Medicine movement is fast gaining traction with its patient-centered, upstream, systems-based approach which seeks to understand the origins, prevention, and treatment of disease. Functional Medicine doctors are driving much of the modern research which contextually strengthens the ev...

ONE WHO HAS ANY SANKALPA IS NO JNANI

Sometime after I returned home, in October 1937, my two-year old daughter Indira suffered two fits, the second more severe than the first. She became unconscious, all vital organs stopped functioning and she seemed practically dead. The allopathic doctor declared his helplessness and advised ayurvedic treatment. Branding between the eyebrows by an old man with his lighted to***co pipe made the child moan feebly and slightly revived the vital functions. Even so, she did not rally but lay moribund. Two ayurvedic physicians sent for, one after the other, could not be found. At this crisis my eye alighted upon the picture of Sri Bhagavan and I prostrated, saying within, ‘O Bhagavan, all human aid having failed, you alone must save her.’

Getting up, I mechanically opened the drawer, took out a telegraph form and sent an express message praying for Sri Bhagavan’s grace upon the child. The telegraph authorities sent word that the message would reach the ashram at 7 p.m. Precisely at 7 p.m both ayurvedic physicians arrived simultaneously.

My cousin Sri V.V Narayanappa also arrived at exactly that moment and put into my hands an envelope addressed to me, saying, ‘Here is Sri Bhagavan’s Prasad for the child’.

It struck me as a miraculous response of Sri Bhagavan to my prayer. Narayanappa explained that the Prasad I had obtained for him the previous year when he had been seriously ill, and which he had preserved in the same envelope. That day he suddenly felt that he should make use of it for the ailing child. The two doctors consulting together treated the child and assured me that she was out of danger. That night, sleeping beside the child, I had a marvelous dream. I was in Sri Bhagavan’s hall. Sri Bhagavan was reclining on his couch as usual. In front of him stood a dark, fierce-looking person of gigantic stature. Sri Bhagavan motioned to him three times with his forefinger to leave the hall. Obeying his orders, the stranger left.

Then Sri Bhagavan turned to me, called me near and enquired, ‘How is your child?’
I replied, ‘Bhagavan, by your grace she is better’.
Then Sri Bhagavan said, ‘She will be all right. Don’t fear.’ He put his hand on my back. At his touch I thrilled and the dream melted.

The next morning I received the following reply from the ashram:
‘Received your wire last night at 7 p.m and it was perused by Sri Bhagavan. We assure you of Sri Bhagavan’s blessings on the child that she may recover. Pray be not anxious.’
In its reply to my letter relating the above incident and the dream, the ashram authorities wrote:
‘We are glad to note that through Sri Bhagavan’s grace your child recovered from a most critical state. It is Sri Bhagavan’s grace and indicates the mystery of his benign grace and your deep devotion.’

During Christmas, when I again visited the ashram, I asked Sri Bhagavan what he had thought on reading my telegram.

He merely said, ‘Yes, I read your message and also noted that the clock was striking seven.’

I persisted, asking, ‘Bhagavan, did you not think that you must do something to save the child?’

Sri Bhagavan’s reply was immediate and direct: ‘Even the thought to save the child is sankalpa [an act of will or intention] and one who has any sankalpa is no jnani. In fact, such thinking is unnecessary. The moment a jnani’s eye falls upon a thing, there starts a divine, automatic action, which itself leads to the highest good.’

- G. V Subbaramayya

From Dr. Grasser | Unity Medicine - Integrative Medicine & Ayurveda, this is an interesting commentary on the yogic diet found in Swatmarama's, "Hathayogapradipika":

"What we are left with is people saying stuff without any authority on the subject and neophites believing it then following it and then teaching it. We do not live in a context that supports a yoga lifestyle at all in the Western culture. The paradigm we live in doesn’t support it. We are in a culture that is external only and we bastardize and market everything to sell and make money. What we are left with is nonsense that is the western stuff mixed in. In India, yogis only eat rice, ghee, and milk for the most part. This is common knowledge to everyone there and not any secret. This is why it is not needed to be gone into detail in the texts. The orthodox Brahmins eat that way for the most part as well. Specifically the priests. The why of all of this is the most important. It is unknown without learning ayurveda or understanding the culture. Yoga texts do not specify the whys and hows so much because the knowledge is in the culture open and freely. They are raised with it naturally. Vegan is not a yogic diet, at all."

What have you learned about yogic diets from your personal learning and experience?

Juicing, Detoxing diets, Raw food, Vegan diet, etc.... are not in a yogic diet, so what is? and more This is from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika: 15. Yoga is destroyed by the following six causes: Over-eating, exertion, talkativeness, not adhering to rules, i.e., cold bath in the morning, eating at night, or eating fruits only, company of women, and…

How are you celebrating Earth Day?

Great and simple explanation of the Ayurvedic doshas and Ashtanga Yoga's effect on different constitutions. Thanks, Ashtanga Illustrations by Boonchu!

Ayurveda made simple.

"Ayurveda is India's ancient system of health and healing. The word Ayurveda has been translated in many different ways including: "knowledge of life", "science of longevity" or "art of living". Ayurveda is very complex but many of us associate Ayurveda with the doshas, Pitta, Vata, and Kapha. Ayurveda teaches that each individual possesses certain characteristic physical and mental traits that are fixed at the moment of conception and persist throughout that individual's existence. One's constitution is expressed in terms of these three doshas. Most of us are bi-doshic: the one dosha that influences us most strongly is followed closely by a second dosha whose affect is almost as pronounced. The constitutional type is an expression of the organism's energy-flow strategy, in all realms of existence." - Dr. Robert E. Svoboda

Along with diet and lifestyle, the practice of Ashtanga yoga can help bring balance to the doshas. Ashtanga brings warmth and fire to the kapha constitution to increase energy and reduce lethargy. It brings heat and sweat to the Vata constitution to allow the release of toxins through the skin and foster stability of mind. Ashtanga brings breath awareness to the Pitta constitution to cool the raging fire and bring peace to the mind. For all doshas, asana practice compliments the positive aspect of each dosha, while at the same time, teaches us what we need to do to come into balance: breath awareness, stoking the fire, slowing down, getting stronger, getting more flexible, doing more, doing less, realizing we are all the same, and that there is no difference…

Awesome Editor: Jessica Walden
Cartoon guy: Boonchu Tanti, Ashtanga Illustrations by Boonchu

Bwahahahaha!

Yogi Wonka sets it straight:

Wherever I may be, I am always with you.

- Sri Ramana Maharshi to Lakshmi.

Sharing the "house recommendations" for Ashtanga practice from Ashtanga Yoga: Ann Arbor, because it's spot on.

House Recommendations : AY:A2 Here are a few more out-takes from the House Recommendations. The full document is available to regular Mysore students here upon request.

"Will it really benefit you if I tell you what you are? Will you be satisfied if I just tell you? Ask yourself ‘Who am I?’ After questioning you will get the answer within yourself, and that will satisfy you."
-Sri Ramana Maharshi

True wealth is seeing God in all things, true poverty is seeing money in all things.

Honk if you love yoga!

To Yoga..

Last night I met the wealthiest man in Auroville. I started chatting with an eccentric looking Indian man who looked to be about 40, maybe 45 years old and who spoke with an American accent and I asked him where he was from - he gave the typical bohemian traveler answer and said, "I'm from everywhere." I pressed him further and asked why he spoke with an American accent, he said in a nonchalant tone, "Oh, I studied in the States and then worked for some companies."
"What school?" I pressed.
"MIT."
"Oh, I went to Harvard," after this he shook my hand and responded, "Ah, our enemy!"
"No, frenemies!" I retorted and continued, "What kind of companies?"
"Private Equity."
"Which firm?"
"I was an analyst at Goldman then I worked for KKR for about 10 years."
"So what brought you here?"
"I'd had enough. I cashed out."
I was naturally curious to see what his magic number was so I asked, "How much was enough?"
"50..."
$50 million dollars. Wow. That's it, when you've got that much you can earn enough on interest to keep you in prosperity indefinitely.
"...and I'm 33 and still get my carry which will bring in a few more every year for the next decade, plus another 10 coming in from an equity position that will be sold shortly. I'm still getting called by headhunters. One guy in Hong Kong got my number and next thing I know the entire island is calling me. But I don't want to go back. Not unless it's the perfect opportunity. And it's never perfect."
I was impressed. He had achieved the pinnacle of the Ivy League wealth and success trip, all in about 10 years. Nevertheless, he looked completely depleted - his slouched posture, grey hair, and plump figure all belied hours in front of a computer engrossed in models and number crunching, on long calls to New York from Singapore at ungodly hours, probably 80-100 hours per week in the office, frequent air travel, a hotel diet, a bad relationship, the consummate imbalanced business lifestyle.
"Was it worth it?" I wanted to know.
"OF COURSE it was worth it! I'm done!" he shot back.
"So why did you leave?"
"Honestly, about two years ago I started doing sudarshan kriya (a Kundalini yogic/meditation practice involving inhaling while saying So and exhaling saying Ham for around half an hour). A few months ago after my practice I had a realization - I looked at my life and asked, 'What the f**k am I doing? I don't need to do this s**t anymore!"
I was deeply impressed by his accomplishments, but wondered if it was really worth it, to sacrifice youth, health, and peace of mind for money. It was particularly poignant given the frame - we were talking in Auroville, one of the largest intentional communities in the world founded on principles of Human Unity along with ecological and spiritual values, while I am in the midst of trying to figure out what to do after this journey and as I study for a final exam on Financial Accounting in order to prepare myself for the possibility of attending business school. It was an invaluable conversation for me because he has now gone to the logical extreme of what I felt pressured to achieve by family and society - material prosperity. And the funny thing is that now he's trying out the spirit trip - I'd love to have the comfort and leisure of simply not having to care about money, but if it is ultimately unsatisfying in and of itself and you ultimately end up coming back to the spiritual enquiry and journey, then is it really necessary to go through the material trip first? For him that was his dharma - so what I'm trying to do is figure out what my dharma really is. Do I want to go down the wealth trip? It's a huge sacrifice. And if I come out on the other end spiritually unfulfilled, then what's the point? If I go down the spirit path and shun material accumulation in favor of inner development, then what happens if I don't become realized? What happens if I end up at 35 or 40 and want to reintegrate into the material world and need to start from scratch? What would a balance between the two look like? What does spiritually fulfilling, materially rewarding work look and feel like? Interesting meditations on life here in Auroville.

Yoga inspiration from around the world! Jangala Yoga and Healing

Truth.

"How was your day, honey?"

Brahmin Boys Performing Veda Parayana (recitation of the Vedas) at the Sri Ramanasramam in India Brahmin Boys Performing Veda Parayana (recitation of the Vedas) at the Sri Ramanasramam in India

I like the script, I AM. Keep 'em coming!

Thanks to our always awesome Change Maker, Matt King, for this EPIC pic!

Pretty much sums it all up.

"You are not the body or the mind, you are the Self. Meditate on this and all your desires will leave you."
-Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi

"Begin to see the truth. Begin to stand up tall. Become fearless. Become strong. Leave the world alone. It’ll take care of itself. There is a mysterious power that guides the world to its right destiny. It doesn’t need any help from you. If you’re meant to do certain work in the world, it will be done, but you have nothing to do with that. It doesn’t mean that you have to leave your job, or go sit in a cave, or give up your life. Wherever you are, right now is where you’re supposed to be. Just feel, ‘I am not the doer’ and your work will go on. Do not be attached to your work. Do not react to any situation or any condition. Be yourself. Focus your attention on consciousness, and your body will go on doing whatever it came here to do. Everything is preordained. Even when I raise my finger like this, it is preordained. Do not be egotistical and believe that you have any power over everybody or anybody, or that you are the doer. It’s a privilege to have been born on this earth, and the reason you have been born is to find your real Self. Go for it, do it, and become free."
-Robert Adams (devotee of Ramana Maharshi)

Jangala Yoga and Healing

Yoga inspiration from around the world! Jangala Yoga and Healing

Ricard, a globe-trotting polymath who left everything behind to become a Tibetan Buddhist in a Himalayan hermitage, says anyone can be happy if they only train their brain.

Neuroscientist Richard Davidson wired up Ricard’s skull with 256 sensors at the University of Wisconsin four years ago as part of research on hundreds of advanced practitioners of meditation.

The scans showed that when meditating on compassion, Ricard’s brain produces a level of gamma waves — those linked to consciousness, attention, learning and memory — “never reported before in the neuroscience literature”, Davidson said.

Buddhist monk is world's happiest man - TheBuddhism.Net : Worldwide Buddhist Information and Educati As he grins serenely and his burgundy robes billow in the fresh Himalayan wind, it is not difficult to see why scientists declared Matthieu Ricard the happiest man they had ever tested.

Quote of the day during post-practice coconuts: "It's all just devotion to God." Thank you Mysore.
हरी ओम् तत् सत्
Hari om tat sat.

"When Maharajji was near me, I was bathed in love - and because he knew everything about me, that was like I was forgiven. I think prior to that I had a lot of things in my past I didn't want anybody to know, and I always felt that if they knew they wouldn't love me. He knew and he loved me."

"How do I explain who Maharajji was and how he did what he did?...I don't have any explanation. Maybe it was his love of God...I can't explain what it was. I can almost begin to understand how it was he loved everybody, that was sort of his job, he was a saint, saints are supposed to love everybody. That's not what has always so staggered me - what staggered me was not that he loved everybody, but that when I was sitting in front of him, I loved everybody. That was the hardest thing for me to understand, how he could so totally transform the spirit of people who were with him and bring out not just the best of us, but something that wasn't even in us, we didn't know. I don't think any of us were ever as good or as pure or as loving in our whole life as we were when we were sitting in front of him."

Ram Dass talks about Maharaj Ji Richard Alpert was Professor at Harvard University; he worked on research projects concerning effects of L*D. In India he met Guru Neem Karoli Baba, called M...