Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

🍅🌿THE TANGY TALE OF SAUCY TOMATOES 🍅🌱 🍅🌿Similar to the intriguing story of the eggplant, the history and evolution of the tomato is a fascinating journey that spans cultures and continents. Though we may assume the tomato to have originated in Italy, due its excessive use in Italian cuisine, it might surprise you that the tomato actually originated in the Andes region of South America. The ubiquitous cultivation and market presence of the tomatoes globally, makes it hard to conceive that they actually occurred as wild fruits at one point in time. The wild ancestors of the tomato were small, round, and likely yellow or orangish-red. Unlike the eggplant, the wild tomato was already edible, though its taste and texture were quite different from the cultivated varieties we know today. It took a long time overcoming myths about its toxicity before it was accepted as edible. 🍅🌿 🍅🌿The name "tomato" might seem straightforward...

Chapter 5 - Overcoming Obstacles  Day 34  And we should be happy with people who are doing good job, who are meritorious, who have lots of merit and who are blessed. We should become one with them, feel that we are doing the good job with them. Then, the sense of competition disappears and jealousy subsidies.  The tendency to find fault with people who are doing good things will disappear. People have a tendency to find faults if someone is good and blessed or meritorious and doing some good work. At least they have done whatever they have done! The persons, who complain, normally, would not have done much themselves.  Criticism comes from people who do not work. They just criticize others. We should not find fault with people who are doing some good work. We should feel happy about it. Do not find fault, but feel happy for those people who are doing good work. You do this when you will become one with them. If the right hand is doing good job, the left h...

Chapter 5 - Overcoming Obstacles  Day 34  And we should be happy with people who are doing good job, who are meritorious, who have lots of merit and who are blessed. We should become one with them, feel that we are doing the good job with them. Then, the sense of competition disappears and jealousy subsidies.  The tendency to find fault with people who are doing good things will disappear. People have a tendency to find faults if someone is good and blessed or meritorious and doing some good work. At least they have done whatever they have done! The persons, who complain, normally, would not have done much themselves.  Criticism comes from people who do not work. They just criticize others. We should not find fault with people who are doing some good work. We should feel happy about it. Do not find fault, but feel happy for those people who are doing good work. You do this when you will become one with them. If the right hand is doing good job, the left h...

Chapter 5 - Overcoming Obstacles  Day 33  Patanjali said that there can be only four types of people in the world - people who are happy, those who are unhappy, those engaged in good and meritorious acts, and those engaged in bad and demonic acts. Happy people, unhappy people, meritorious and blessed people and sinful people - the four categories. And how do you deal with them? Patanjali said to have maitri - friendliness with all those who are happy. If you do not, you will be jealous. You are jealous of people who are happier than you. But if you feel that you own them and that they belong to you, it does not bother you when they are very happy. You are never jealous about the happiness of someone very close and dear to you.  The jealousy arises when the happy person is not connected to you totally. So, Patanjali said that you should be friendly with them. You can see the same Self in everybody but the feelings will not be the same. It can differ for a begin...

Chapter 5 - Overcoming Obstacles  Day 32  We have considered the 9 possible obstacles in the path of Yoga. There is no tenth obstacle. Every possible obstacle has been included in these nine categories. Patanjali was a scientist. In just a few words, he had said all that was to be said, that needed to be said.  Along with 9 nine obstacles, the 5 indications, or signs of a disturbed mind are mentioned. That is dukha - sadness, dourmanasya - bitterness, angamejayatva - restlessness in the body, or lack of co-ordination in the body, bhrantidarshan - hallucination and irregular breathing - imbalance of your incoming and outgoing breath. When you are happy, or excited, the incoming breath is longer and you are more aware of it. It is more prominent. If you observe the incoming and outgoing breath, you will note that there is a total imbalance. There is a big sigh, when you are unhappy, indicating heaviness and sadness. When you are joyful, you are just aware of you...

Ever wondered why we don't get to see any flowers on the Banyan tree, while it bears fruits!! Banyan is quite an introverted, non-ostentatious species. Its tiny flowers are hidden inside the fruit-like structure that we call the Banyan Figs. These figs are edible but tasteless. And take care as you pluck one, your hands might get covered in a sticky resin/sap. Scientific name: Ficus bengha Common name: Indian Banyan Family: Moraceae Reference  https://www.facebook.com/myplantdiaries?mibextid=ZbWKwL Plants of Singapore

Chapter 4 - Who Is God  Day 31 These obstructions and obstacles cause dukha, sorrow. Dourmanasya means bitterness in the mind. Dukha or sadness gives way to bitterness, dourmanasya. You do not feel good with anybody. There is bitterness with others and there is bitterness with oneself. Angamejayatva comes next. It means that your body is not obeying you, just like a drunkard. A drunkard wants to go to the left but his body takes him to the right. He wants to walk straight, but his body goes haywire. He tries to hold his glass but goes on putting his hand on the table away from the glass.  This lack of coordination between the body and the mind is Angamejayatva. The body does not listen to you. You want to walk but the body does not move. These are the five signs of the obstacles overtaking you - Dukha - sadness, dourmanasya - bitterness, bhrantidarshana - hallucination, angamejayatva - lack of co-ordination of the body, it is not listening to you, shwaasa prashwaas...

Chapter 4 - Who Is God  Day 30 Bhrantidarshan is hallucination. You imagine that you are somebody special. Suddenly you think that you are a superstar. This is a problem with many people. Many seekers practice something and they get some visions.  They get caught up in that vision because that vision is neither completely false, not completely true. It is a mixture of some truth, and some falsehood. So people try to hold on to it. Many cults have been formed because of this.  They have never really understood the obstacles that can come up in the path of Yoga. This is called Yoga Maya. Yoga Maya is a vision that brings a message, an intuitive message. You may be meditating and you will get an intuition to open the door because somebody is waiting for you. And when you do that, you really find that person waiting outside.  And you will get very excited. You will think that God had told you about it. And this will happen again and again. This is because you...

Rosary pea (Abrus precatorius) is a slender, herbaceous, perennial climber in the bean family Fabaceae. The plant is native to Asia and Australia.  🌿The vine usually twines around trees, shrubs and hedges. It has no special organs of attachment. 🌿The leaves are long, pinnate compound leaves with opposite leaflets . 🌿Pinkish-white flowers are produced in tightly clustered racemes, that are much shorter than the leaves 🌿The fruit is a flat, oblong pod with sharp deflexed beak and has a silky-texture. The seedpod curls back when it opens to reveal the seeds. 🌿The plant is best known for its seeds, which are used as beads and in percussion instruments, and which are toxic because of the presence of abrin. Ingestion of a single seed, well chewed, can be fatal to both adults and children. 🌿There are two varieties, one with white seeds and the other with red seeds. The white variety is used to prepare oil that i...

Bracteate Flemingia (Flemingia strobilifera) also commonly known as Wild Hops / Luck Plant is a perennial shrub from the family (Fabaceae), native to India and Malaysia. The plant grows up to 2 m high. It has simple ovate leaves, with wavy margins.  The flowers small, white coloured with purplish streaks and are like typical pea flowers but produced in dangling racemes within overlapping leaf-like bracts. The bracts are persistent and turn brown as the flowers mature.  The fruit is an edible bean. The beans explosively dehisce on maturity to release seeds. Seeds are brown-black with red spots. The plant has medicinal uses in traditional medicine. Its root is used for treatment of epilepsy, hysteria and inducing sleep. The pounded root is also used to reduce fever. The leaves are used as a vermifuge for children. The plant requires full sun and moderate water for growth. Source: http://www.flowersofindia.net/cat.../slides/Wild%20H...

DAY - 24 ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Vipaaka is fruit of the action; consequences of the action. Enjoying or suffering the fruit of an action is not applicable here. This does not touch that core of your being and existence, which is the Lord of creation; that consciousness which is free from this. And Aashaya. Aashaya means latent desires or impressions, opinions, seeds, etc.  So when a consciousness or a being is free from klesha, misery, karma, vipaaka - the fruit of action, and aashaya, the impressions of actions, then that being or consciousness is Eshwara or Lord. And the Lord is not somewhere in the sky but in your heart. It is in every being's heart. Your actions and the events taking place around you do not touch the central point of your life. The central core remains a virgin. Jesus was born to a virgin. This means that Jesus, the Lord was born to this virgin area deep inside you which is untouched by any events or happening in life. पुषवशेष - that special being is the Lord ...

 🌿Sea Bean (Entada spiralis) is a vulnerable species of woody climber from the family Fabaceae, native to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Sumatra.  🌿The woody liana grows up to 25 m long, climbing with support from neighboring trees. 🌿Its leaves are bipinnately compound, with up to 4 pairs of stalked secondary leaflets (pinnules) per primary leaflet (pinna). Its oppositely arranged pinnules have papery leaf blades that are elliptic to drop-shaped, with a notched tip. 🌿Its solitary flowering spikes are 15–20 cm long and arise from the leaf axils. Its white flowers are 5-merous, and either male or bisexual. The flowers are pollinated by insects. 🌿The legumes (fruits) are large, spirally coiled, irregularly segmented, woody pods. The plant can be propagated by seeds. 🌿Its bark and seeds contain saponin which can be used as a substitute for soap and also used in making shampoos, or skin wash to treat a range of disorders including itchi...

CHAPTER - 4  ~ Who Is God ~   DAY - 23  ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  "Asmita" means "me" or "I."  This feeling of "me,  I" is the second cause of suffering.  That is the reason we do the Hollow and Empty process.  When we do it, there is no "I".  You exist as though you are not there.  You exist like a flower; like a cloud.  You exist like the space - free, and hollow and empty, rather than as if you are somebody - "I,  I, me, me." Asmita is feeling what people think about you, what you want from them, how you could take advantage of them, whether they consider you to be good or bad, etc.  This gives you misery.  Nothing else can give you misery - need give you misery.  Your own idea of "me, mine, me, mine," not being one with the existence, having a separate feeling and identity, or having a superiority or inferiority complex give you misery.  In fact, all those people who consider themselves intelligent and...

CHAPTER - 4  ~ Who Is God ~  DAY - 22 ­ Surrendering to the Lord, you can achieve the fully blossomed state of consciousness.  Now, what is the Lord?  Who is the Lord?  Where is He?  It is easy to say surrender to God, but what is God?  Where is God?  Nobody has ever seen God.  What is it that rules this world?  You will find that it is love that rules the world.  The centre core of the existence rules whole universe.  Just like the sun is the center of the solar system and rules all the planets,  love is the core of your life.  Love is beyond your changing body, changing thoughts, and changing feelings.  It is the very center, core, of your existence, which is very subtle and delicate.  It can be called love or anything else.  That consciousness, the core of existence is responsible for this whole creation.  There lies the Lordship.  A bird feeds its young ones because of love.  A flower...

 CHAPTER - 3 ~ Samadhi ~  DAY - 20 ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­This is the most vital sutra. Shraddha means faith.  Faith creates such good qualities in your consciousness. It is made stable, steady and solid.  Doubt in consciousness makes you very vulnerable, fearful, uncertain - fluid. But faith makes you solid.  Faith brings totality in you. It pulls together all the loose ends of your consciousness. It integrates your whole personality.  Doubt scatters and destroys you. It disseminates you and your energy.  It pulls you apart.  Dissemination of energy is doubt.  Consolidation of your energy is faith.  The feeling when you have faith is a form of consolidation; a strength. That is why Jesus also said faith is your strength.  They are synonymous - faith and strength.  When you are strong and bold, you have faith.  When you are weak and feeble, you have doubts.  Doubt and uncertainty are signs of weakness.  Faith is stre...

CHAPTER - 4 ~ Who Is God ~   DAY - 29 ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ And then comes आलय or laziness.  You may be very active but when it comes to doing asanas, postures, exercises or pranayamas, you are lazy and do not do them.  And that laziness can spread to any aspect of your life.  You may intentionally not do something.  Then again, you may feel a heaviness or laziness come over you.  अवरत means being obsessed with sensual objects and not letting them go.  You may be hungry and eat some food.  But after your tummy is full, then there is no point in thinking about food the whole day.  It is the same if you want to see a beautiful place.  Once you see it, your want should subside.  You should not go on thinking about seeing a beautiful place all the time.  All the actions of the sense organs should be limited to some time.  It should be over after that. But thinking about something and being feverish about it all th...

CHAPTER - 4 ~ Who Is God ~   DAY - 28 ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ " ाधयानसंशयमादालयावरतातदशॅन अलध भुमकवानवथतवान चावपेातेऽतरायाः " Vyaadi styaana samshaya pramaada aalasya avirati bhrantidarshana aalabdha bhoomikatvaan avasthi tatvani chitta vikshepaaha aste antaraayaah  The first obstacle is ाध - means illness in the body.  Then comes यान - means illness of the mind - being retarded and having an inability to comprehend, to listen, to understand, to follow, and to practice.  Many of you will become ill when you do a course.  When you start doing some practice or meditation, you will have pains in various parts of your body.  It is an obstruction or obstacle in the path of yoga.  It you are watching television, nothing happens, but if you sit for meditation,your body becomes restless and there are pains here and there.  The next obstacle is संशय or doubt. The mind is bogged down by doubts.  There are three types of doubts. One is a doub...

CHAPTER - 4  ~ Who Is God ~   DAY - 27  ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ " तजपतदथ्भॅावनम्"  This is another important sutra. If you say Japa loudly, the very sound can remind you of that state of feeling during Japa.  For example, if you say mango, the word itself makes your mouth water.  Immediately there is a reaction and there is a feeling.  Saying " Christmas " immediately generates a feeling of celebration and giving and receiving gifts.  So, तजपतदथ्भॅावनम - means that when you say "OM", you remember that totality of your being - that being which is at the very core of this existence,  that life which is free from misery and which is all unconditional love.  The sound "OM" reminds you of the Lord of the Creation.  " ततः यचेतनाधगमोऽयतरायाभावच्" Tatah pratyak chetna adhigamo apyantaraayaabhaavascha. When you reach the core of your existence and when there is a feeling of elevation, consciousness dawns in you.  It is a di...

CHAPTER - 4  ~ Who Is God ~   DAY - 26  ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ " त नरतशयंसवॅवबीजम्"  This indicates that the seed of all-knowing is in that state of consciousness. This is very important.  त नरतशयंसवॅवबीजम्।  The seed of all- knowing is present in a very subtle manner. At this point people get confused.  They wonder that if Lord Krishna knew everything why did He try to pacify all concerned, and try to stop the war three times.  He knew that a war was going to take place. But, He never told Arjuna this, and also that he was going to win this war, he would rule the world. And, if he lost it he would go to heaven.  It did not seem as if He knew everything and, consequently, the result of the war. He did not give the right answers, the right knowledge or the right instructions.  He did not indicate the future results. So if Krishna was Lord and knew it, why did he not reveal it?  This is the second question that comes....

CHAPTER - 4   ~ Who Is God ~   DAY - 25 ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ " स पूवेॅषामप गुःकालेनानवछेदात्" This being, this consciousness is Guru. It is a guide to even the ones who were here before. This is because there is no break in time, as far as the consciousness is concerned. There is something similar in the Bible.  God had said that He was Abraham before and had taught people who were before Him. The same thing is touched upon by Krishna when he told Arjuna that He had taught Ikshvaku and Manu. And Arjuna wondered how could Krishna have taught them? They had been born long ago and Krishna was his contemporary. So Arjuna exclaimed that he was terribly confused already. And that he should not be told those things - that Krishna was a Guru to people who were living thousands of years before Him. How could it be possible? Then Krishna said that Arjuna did not really know Him. That He had come so many times to this world and Arjuna, too, had come many times. He had...

Samadhi ~  DAY - 21 ­  ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ " तीसंवेगानामासः । "  Often we give third, fourth or fifth preference to our practices.  First preference is always given to wordly things - our survival, and last preference to anything that is spiritual.  Then the spiritual growth will be slow. Patanjali said,  "ती संवेगानाम असः"  When you give first preference to your spiritual practices, then it is easier.  The focus of your life should be spiritual growth and peace.  Then, all the other things will be around it.  Your first and foremost commitment in life is to be with Truth, and to evolve in Truth.  This should be followed by your duties and responsibilities, social obligations, etc.  If this is followed it is very easy for you to become aware of your self. ती संवेगानाम असः ।  It is very easy for one who gives first preference; one whose mind really wants to be aware.  Even then, there are three levels of commitment....

CHAPTER - 3  ~ Samadhi ~  DAY - 19  ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Prakriti laya is a big practice. People sit in solitude for years till all thoughts disappear. And all that they are left with is emptiness. You can try doing this as experiment when you are very worried or tensed. Just sit by a flowing river or stream and keep looking at the water. Within a few moments, you feel as though there is a magnetic pull; that your mind is being pulled in the direction of the current. Then, sit on the other bank and do the same thing. Then you'll see that your eye is being pulled in the other direction.  That is why many people who want to jump into a river and commit suicide, cannot do so once they look at the flowing water. Something happens in them at the sight of flowing water. There is a shift, and they can no longer commit suicide. This happens because, by looking at the water, there is a change in the vibrations of their minds, the prana in the system. In a short while...

Chapter 3 Samadhi Day 18 " भवययो वदेहकृतलयानाम्"  This goes more into an esoteric line. Samadhi does not belong to just a particular level of existence. It surpasses that level, too. It goes into other world also. People who do not have a body can be affected by the meditation, too.  When you meditate you are not just bringing harmony within yourself but you are influencing the subtle levels of creation and the subtle bodies at all the different levels of existence in the creation. So, your meditation influences those people who lived hundreds of years ago - their consciousness and their minds.  It influences the minds and consciousness of people who would be living in the future, too. Though, life is there in every moment, it is also infinite. Your life has been here from centuries and will continue to be here for centuries more.  There are different types of yogis. One is called वदेह, means one who does not have a body. You can go on feeling as though y...

Asian pigeon wings (Clitoria ternatea), commonly known by many other names like, bluebellvine, blue pea, butterfly pea, and Darwin pea, is another climber plant belonging to the family Fabaceae. 🌿It is a perennial herbaceous plant, with compound leaves having elliptic leaflets.  🌿It grows as a vine or creeper, doing well in moist, neutral soil. 🫐 The most striking feature about this plant is the color of its flowers, a vivid deep blue, with light yellow markings. Some varieties yield pale blue or white flowers. 🌿The fruits are 5–7 cm long, flat pods with six to ten seeds in each pod. They are edible when tender. 🫛🌿It is grown as an ornamental plant requiring little care when cultivated. Being a legume, its roots form a symbiotic association with soil bacteria known as rhizobia, which transform atmospheric N2 into a plant-usable form (a process called nitrogen fixing), therefore, this plant is also used to...