Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐         🌺 ASHTAVAKRA GITA🌺                      🌿Chapter - 21🌿           ~ Letting Go Of Worries ~                   🌱 Day - 122 🌱 💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐 नाहं देहो न मे देहो बोधोऽहमिति निश्चयी । You are the mind, the consciousness, you are the energy inside the body, you are neither the body, nor this body is yours. The body has come into existence through the parents; they made this body for you and this body will go back to and remain in the world. When you have an eye on this reality, the energy, and the consciousnesses feels itself separate from the body, and experiences the body as a third factor - as something separate, as the second thing, as an object. Then also joy and happiness will dawn on you. You will feel that you are knowledge,the awareness,the light and the consciousness. कैवल्यमिव संप्राप्तो । A...

💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐         🌺 ASHTAVAKRA GITA🌺                      🌿Chapter - 21🌿           ~ Letting Go Of Worries ~                   🌱 Day - 121 🌱 💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐 नाहं देहो न मे देहो बोधोऽहमिति निश्चयी । कैवल्यमिव संप्राप्तो न स्मरत्यकृतं कृतम् ॥ There are only two things that come into our mind; what we have done or what we want to do. When you are in meditation, you may want to do something simple. Maybe you want to put your meditation aside, and do your laundry, pack your bag, or iron your clothes. Thus, you are not able to meditate. The mind is on 'doing' something. What you want to do is insignificant. You know you can do it later. Now these thoughts are restricting your ability to sink deep, dissolve and meditate. You're sitting with your eyes closed but wanting to do something stops you from meditating. Or the mem...

Some common medicinal plants of Bonai Forest Division 1. Parthenium hysterophorus Family - Asteraceae Medicinal uses - Decoction of whole plant is used against inflammation. 2. Desmodium triflorum Family - Fabaceae Medicinal uses - Decoction of leaves is applied externally on wounds. 3. Evolvulus nummularius Family - Convolvulaceae  Medicinal uses - Whole plant is used to kill stomach worm. 4. Tephrosia purpurea Family - Fabaceae Medicinal uses - It is used in the treatment of leprosy. 5. Melochia corchorifolia Family - Malvaceae Medicinal uses - Fruit powder is used to kill stomach worm. 6. Indigofera linifolia Family - Fabaceae Medicinal uses - It is used in the treatment of amenorrhoea. 7. Bauhinia purpurea Family - Fabaceae Medicinal uses - Flower is used in diabetes. Sugimani Marndi (Biodiversity and conservation lab., Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, Cuttack,Odisha) www.aprf.co.in

Some common medicinal plants of Bonai Forest Division 1. Rotheca serrata Family - Lamiaceae Medicinal uses - A decoction of the stem is used as an antimalarial. 2. Begonia picta Family - Begoniaceae Medicinal uses - Paste of young shoot is applied in cuts and wounds. 3. Rauvolfia serpentina Family - Apocynaceae Medicinal uses - It is used to treat severe agitation in patients with mental disorders. 4. Globba marantina Family - Zingiberaceae Medicinal uses - Roots and leaves is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. 5. Sida cordifolia Family - Malvaceae Medicinal uses - Crushed whole plant is used for joint pain. 6. Richardia scabra Family - Rubiaceae Medicinal uses - The extract of this plant is used to cure skin diseases. 7. Aeginetia indica Family - Orobanchaceae Medicinal uses - It is used to treat diabetes. Sugimani Marndi (Biodiversity and conservation lab., Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, Cuttack,Odisha) www.aprf.co.in

Richardia scabra L. Family - Rubiaceae  Common name - Rough Mexican Clover Habit - Herb Habitat - Moist areas Medicinal uses - The extract of the plant is used to cure skin diseases. Sugimani Marndi (Biodiversity and Conservation Lab., Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, Cuttack, Odisha)

Some common medicinal plants of Bonai Forest Division 1. Colocasia esculenta Family - Araceae Medicinal uses - Rhizomes are edible and used in stomach problem. 2. Aeschynomene americana Family - Fabaceae Medicinal uses - Whole plant paste is used in small pox. 3. Mecardonia procumbens  Family - Plantaginaceae Medicinal uses - Powder of whole plant mixed with mustard oil is used against body pain. 4. Polygala arvensis Family - Polygalaceae Medicinal uses - Leaves are used to treat jaundice. 5. Corchorus aestuans Family - Malvaceae Medicinal uses - Leaves are used against headache. 6. Thespesia lampas Family - Malvaceae  Medicinal uses - The root and fruits are used to treat gonorrhea. 7. Arisaema tortuosum Family - Araceae Medicinal uses - It is used in inflammation. Sugimani Marndi (Biodiversity and conservation lab., Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, Cuttack,Odisha) www.aprf.co.in

*Chapter 4 - Honour Desires*  *Day 31* Water and milk mix well and become one. Sugar and water blend well, they have a good relationship. Sugar dissolves and becomes one with water.  Water and lemon juice also blend well together. However, oil and water never go together. While nobody thinks a fruit juice is impure, a mixture of oil and water is called impure.  When the natures of two things do not agree, then they do not bond and the result is treated as impure. If we have that principle of purity, we feel a sense of belongingness with everyone.  The feeling of separation disappears. You can unite with Divinity. You can meet God. When vou experience this, begins to shine in you. It is such a beautiful sutra.  Such energy has no anger or aggression, and only with such energy is love expressed. In this world, there are many types of energy. Many energies are used for destruction, but apashu shakti unites. Any vision depends mainly on the eyes. We perc...

*Chapter 4 - Honour Desires*  *Day 30* You massage your body, decorate it and protect it. In the same way, look after nature because all of nature is your body. Look at a vegetable, which will become your body tomorrow.  The food, which is in the market today, will be in your house tomorrow and will be eaten by you the next day. It all becomes two ways to look at anything.  One is with the heart and the second is with the intellect. If you look at the moon with the heart, it appears alive. But if you look at it scientifically, it is just soil and stone, it can be treated as a planet.  Children only see the moon with the heart, and so to them. It becomes an uncle. A relationship is established. You may look at the River Ganga and say it is just flowing water, and others may see her as "Mother Ganga."  We see her as a mother when we perceive her through our hearts. When seen with the intellect, material things are mere matter, and you cannot see life i...

Chapter 4 - Honour Desires Day 29 Sit and observe that you are the seer and your body the object of sight. If one identifies himself with the seen, he will be unhappy.  A foolish man while watching a movie identifies himself with every character in the film. If the villain approaches the hero to beat him, the man watching the movie starts shouting.  If the heroine starts crying, he also starts crying. Some throw stones at the screen, which even gets torn when enthusiastic fans of certain heroes and heroines throw tomatoes, eggs and so on at the screen. Generally, this happens in villages. Since the screen is torn, no further films can be screened. So the hero must win.  Otherwise, if the person who the audience loves gets defeated the screen will be torn. This happened when MG Ramchandran acted in Tamil Nadu.  People lost their minds by identifying with the characters. Their feelings went out of control. Life is a mixture of intellect and feelings.  ...

In July 2018, i came to Canada to join my husband and was filled with mixed emotions as i left my family, friends, job, independence and teachers behind. Though i was thankful to Gurudev that i got the opportunity to travel to Canada to experience a new country and culture but i had my doubts about finding a new job. After learning from friends in Canada, that it takes minimum 6 months to find a job here and that i might want to start working in a departmental store, at stations ( not de-meaning any jobs). I was really sad deep down inside as i have financial responsibilities, missing my financial independence. I started doing my sudarshan kriya, meditation and Guru-Puja Chanting every single day. After two and a half month, i got my working visa.I have started applying to so many places, but no response. Then one day, i reached out to HR of Accounting Firm and next morning i saw a reply from her for an interview. I had only 6-7 hours to prepare for the interview. I was sca...

I would like to share this beautiful experience of mine that made me realize the importance of Sankalpa, and how a pure desire truly manifests. One day while we were taking a walk, my husband said to me “Wouldn’t it be nice to purchase a school and run it?” We both had always been in favour of education to all, as we believe that it is extremely essential in order to be self sufficient in today’s world. So we made a strong Sankalpa in our minds that we wanted to teach and educate in a big way, and we then surrendered it at the Lotus feet of Sri Sri. To our utmost joy and surprise, just within a weeks time, we got a call enquiring whether we were interested in looking after the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar pre-university College. This was like a dream come true, so perfect! We had fulfilled our desire to educate children, the Art of Living way. Once our work at the college had concluded, we humbly requested Gurudev to put us into some other Seva. We waited as He told us to. We belon...

I had heard Guruji saying "If we take one step, then the nature will take ten steps". I have seen the knowledge given by Guruji becoming reality in my daily life many times. I would like to share one of the recent events. In my country, every year volunteers participate in a run to raise funds for the humanitarian projects by International Association for Human Values (IAHV). I received the invite to participate in the run. Although I was very keen to raise the funds for IAHV via this run, I did not register because I had sprained my ankle and was not sure if I would be able to run and therefore did not want to take up a place unnecessarily. A couple of weeks prior to the run, my ankle had healed sufficiently, so I checked if there were any places available for the run. I was told that all the places were taken and my name will be put on the reserve list. My wish to raise funds was very strong but I didn’t quite know what to do. Few days later I spoke with one of ...

Once two bus fulls of Naxals drove from Anantapur, in former Andhra Pradesh. They came with all the bombs in the bus. They drove 16 to 17 hours to come here. They stayed only for 4 hours.         In those 4 hours what transformation they went through, people could not believe it. They asked, "Is this true?"         The same people went back and gave it all way. They became farmers, business men and went into social service.          Anger and violence catches on to another person. Suppose someone is angry in your house it catches on to you, right?         Love is more powerful. Love has so much strength to heal the whole planet. It is only through love that you can make people realize that we are one family. - Gurudev Sri Sri..

Question - Gurudev, if our parents come first, then why do people become Sanyasis (one who has renounced the material world)? Gurudev Sri Sri - See, it is an individual's choice and a matter of personal interest when choosing a particular lifestyle. It is not a compulsion for everyone to become a Sanyasi. Neither is it a compulsion for everyone to get married and have children. Some people feel that they are happy by themselves and can work tirelessly for uplifting others and be devoted to the divine. So if someone feels this way in their heart, then they become a Sanyasi. Then they do not feel the need for a companion, or a life partner. They many times feel that why should they marry and disturb the life of someone else when they are happy and content with themselves and wish to go on serving people. Parents should not force their children to get married.

Question - Gurudev, do you think world citizens are closer or further from the virtues of trust and compassion with the advent of modern technology and entertainment? Gurudev Sri Sri - You must know that there are a lot of people in the world who have not even seen a cell phone, or a television, so you can't generalise this. As I said, if you move around the world you will find different types of people. They are people who are living in the 17th century even now. But one thing is common with everybody, love, compassion and a sense of belongingness. In fact, it is much more in the rural areas, in those remote areas of the planet where they don't have any access to media. They have that humanism, they have the human values. They connect with people, there is sincerity in them.

Question - Gurudev, what is the significance of Ganesh Chaturthi?  Gurudev Sri Sri - Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on the day on which Lord Ganesha is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is worshipped as the supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. Though it is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the symbolism behind the festival is much deeper. The essence of Ganeshji is brought out beautifully by Adi Shankara. Though Ganeshji is worshiped as the the elephant-headed God, the form (swaroop) is just to bring out its parabrahma roopa. Ganeshji is described as ‘Ajam Nirvikalpam Niraakaaramekam’. This means that Ganeshji is never born. He is Ajam (unborn), he is Niraakaar (formless) and he is Nirvikalpa (attributeless). Ganeshji symbolises the consciousness which is omnipresent. Ganeshji is the same energy which is the reason for this universe, from which everything is mani...

Question - Gurudev, why is that you always suggest to take part in satsangs and sing along? Is there any significance behind this? Gurudev Sri Sri - It is so wonderful when we all sing together, isn’t it? That one who becomes so totally immersed in Shabda-Brahman (Om) attains the Parabrahman effortlessly. So whenever bhajans are being sung and when there is kirtana, we must join in and sing wholeheartedly. By being so totally immersed, all our worries and miseries disappear, any disharmony in life vanishes and life becomes full of joy and harmony again. There is disharmony in life because of stress, restlessness and feverishness from cravings and aversions in the mind. To get rid of these negativities, we all should listen to wonderful music for a few minutes every day. We should all sing, whether we know to sing properly or not, it does not matter. It surely is going to benefit you.

It’s been quite a while since I wanted to write about my experiences with the Art-of-Living, but I was waiting for that one great miracle to mention over here. I have been reading the experiences of other devotees as well, and it fills my heart with immense joy to know that they too share quite similar, yet completely unique miracles, of our beloved Guruji. Few months back when I lost my wallet in the bus and then somehow got it back due to Gurudev’s grace, I was filled with so much gratitude and love, and I thought that this one would be worth sharing. But then I found that something on the same lines had been shared by another devotee. So I kept waiting for another big miracle to happen. And then I realized something, something very beautiful. But before that, let me start from the beginning. My journey with the Art of Living started in October 2009. Being the only child, I was having great difficulties in opening up to people and making new friends. Somewhere, I always f...

*Guru Gyan:* _(Shiv Sutra_6.2)_ पंचभूतों का मिलने का बिछड़ने का प्रक्रिया है जन्म और मरण। लाखों अरबों करोड़ो कणों से हमारा शरीर बना है और जिस दिन हमारे शरीर के कण अलग होना चाहेंगे तब शरीर समाप्त हो जाएगा। प्रेम इस सृष्टि के कण कण मे व्याप्त है ...वही एक तत्व है जो सब को पकड़ के रखा है और वही एक तत्व है सबको अलग अलग करता है। जब हवाई जहाज से या दूर से जब समुंदर को देखते है तब लहर का पता नहीं चलता है ....पर जब पास आकर देखते हो तब लगता है कि यहाँ एक नही, यहाँ अनेको लहरे है और वह बार बार उठते रहते है। इसी तरह से सृष्टि को भी देखो....भूत के पृथक और संयोजन से सृष्टि बनी है...इसका कोई बनानेवाला नही है। ऐसा नहीं कि किसी ने सृष्टि बनाया और कई जाके बैठ गया। नदी को अगर आप देखोगे तो प्रवाह दिखता है पर एक और दृष्टि से देखोगे तो वह एक वृत्त है... नदी सागर का अंग है, सागर अंग बादल और बादल का अंग है नदी। एक पंखा देखोगे तो एक चक्र नजर आएगा। इसी तरह इस सृष्टि को भी देखोगे तो आपको समझ आएगा कि इस सृष्टि को किसी ने बनाया नही...ये अपने आप मे लहर उठ रही है और गिर रही है। यह अपने आपमें होनेवाली चीज ह...

*Guru Gyan:* _(Shiv Sutra_6.1)_ भूतसन्धान भूतपृथक्त्व विश्वसंघट्टाः। ये जो सारा संसार है वह वस्तुओं का मिलन और उनके अलग करने से हुवा है। पांचो तत्वों के मिलन और अलग होने से यह सारा संसार बना हुवा है...यह विज्ञान का मूल सूत्र है। ये विश्वास की नहीं पर विज्ञान की बात है। विश्वास का अर्थ यह है कि पहले सिद्धांत को मान लो उसके बाद उसे जानने की चेष्टा करो। पर विज्ञान यह है कि पहले जान लो फिर उसे मान लो। शिवसूत्र कहता है कि वैज्ञानिक दृष्टिकोण से देखो। अध्यात्म और विज्ञान कभी भी विरोध मे नहीं थे इस देश मे। यहाँ जितनी भी अध्यात्म और विज्ञान की चीजें रही वो सब विश्वास की नहीं बल्कि विज्ञान की बात रही... इसको जानो, परखो, खुद अनुभव करो....जबतक खुद अनुभव नहीं करते हो तबतक मानो भी नही, ये भी बोला गया है।  Shiv Sutra_6.1_ Bhootandhan Bhoothapakatva Vishvasaghatta. The whole world is evolved from the mixture and separation of things. The whole world has been created by the union and separation of the five elements ... This is the basic formula of science. It is not a matter of faith b...

*Guru Gyan:* _(Shiv Sutra_5.3)_ तर्क से विज्ञान, कुतर्क से अज्ञान और वितर्क से आत्मज्ञान। वितर्क का अर्थ है कुछ ऐसे विचार जिसका कुछ उत्तर नहीं होता। जैसे की मैं कौन हूँ....यह प्रश्न ही काफी है। ये प्रश्न पूछते पूछते आप गहराई मे उतर आते है...उसका उत्तर शब्द से नहीं मिले वह वितर्क है। कोई व्यक्ति सो रहा है औऱ खर्राटे ले रहा है तो उससे कोई उत्तर की जरूरत नही होती। किसी ने पूछा कि आपने भगवान को देखा क्या ? तो उसपर चुप रहना ही उत्तरर है। मुँह खोला, बोलने लगे गए तो विकार शुरु हो गए। मौन जो समझा सकता है वहाँ वाणी नहीं पहुँच सकती है। ऐसा जो तत्व जो तर्क के पकड़ में नहीं आए उसको कहते है....आत्मतत्व, वितर्क। मैं कौन हूँ... ऐसा पूछते जाओ तब जो उत्तर मिलता है वह मैं हूँ। यह प्रयोग है, समझनेवाली बात नहीं है। प्रयोग अनुभूति का विषय है, समझ का नहीं। अनुभूति समझ के परे है तभी तो उसको अनुभूति कहते है। प्रयोग अनुभूति का एक छोटासा हिस्सा है। अनुभूति के लिए अंतर्मुखी होना जरूरी है। वितर्क हमें अंतर्मुख कर देता है...मैं कौन हूँ, ये जगत क्या है? ...ये पूछते जाओ... पूछते पूछते सारे उत्तर समाप्त ह...

*Guru Gyan:* _(Shiv Sutra_5.2)_ अगला सूत्र है वितर्क आत्मज्ञानम्। तर्क, वितर्क और कुतर्क। तर्क से विज्ञान बढ़ा है, तर्क नहीं होता तो विज्ञान नही होता। विज्ञान का आधार तर्क है...जैसे तर्क बदलता है वैसे भी विज्ञान बदलता है। कुतर्क से अज्ञान ही बढ़ता है। वाणी से, विचार से जीत होती है पर वह वास्तव में नहीं होता है....उसे कुतर्क कहते है। लगे ऐसा की आप जीत गए पर वास्तव मे जीते नहीं है ....यह कुतर्क का लक्षण है। तर्क से जीत गए, वादविवाद मे जीत गए मगर वह सत्य के विरोध मे है यह है कुतर्क। कुतर्क से अज्ञान, दुःख, दर्द, पीड़ा होता है, समाज मे हिंसा बढ़ती है। आदमी कब तर्क से कुतर्क मे उतर आता है यह समझता नहीं है....यह जान लेना ही बुद्धिमानी है। तर्क महत्वपूर्ण है, मगर अटल नहीं है, हमेशा वैसा ही नहीं रहता....बदलता रहता है....रासायनिक खाद और किटकनाशक का उदाहरण। एलोपेथी और आयुर्वेद उपचार का उदाहरण। तर्क से विज्ञान, कुतर्क से अज्ञान और वितर्क से आत्मज्ञान।  Shiva Sutra_5.2_ The next sutra is Vitarka Atmgyan. Logic, argument and sophistry are three types. Science has progressed through logi...

*Chapter 4 - Honour Desires*  *Day 28* Since ancient times in India we have been told to be useful to others and to wish wellbeing to all. After meditation, your consciousness is uplifted.  During meditation, there may be no desires, but once you finish meditating, wish for everyone's wellbeing.  You may fear desires, but when you have overcome fear, why would you desire petty gains? Let happiness be wide-spread and unlimited.  Desire for this happiness and for the prosperity and well-being of all. Even in the Jain tradition they say, desire for bliss or happiness.  Buddhism proclaims, may all be happy, this is the desire they express. Both have the same meaning.  All the religions of the world, m including Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, have the same wish for everyone's happiness.  Thus, desire continues, and we cannot say that this wish is the start or end of desire. Desire is continual. It has no end, just like having food.  You ...

*Chapter 4 - Honour Desires*  *Day 27* When you honour desire, those desires that are necessary get fulfilled and those that are unnecessary fall away. This is the story of Kanyakumari.  Shiva is not somewhere in Kailash, but has come very close and stopped. The desire was expected to be fulfilled, but stays unfulfilled.  There is an important difference between these two positions. Any desire, once fulfilled, takes you right back to square one, to where you were before the desire arose.  Another meaning of this is that desires once fulfilled do not end, but continue forming one after another. These desires multiply and never stop.  That is why it is said that Uma, the virgin, is the energy of desire. Observe the desires that arise again and again. Desire forever remains a virgin.  The Ganga originated with a desire to meet the sea, but has this desire been fulfilled? If it was fulfilled, then why does the Ganga still flow today?  Just as h...

*Chapter 2 - Key Points Of Effective Management* *Day 2* Do we really understand the difference between motivation and inspiration? By and large, employees in various enterprises are motivated to perform better by the annual increment. Sometimes, an additional incentive is given during certain festivals. This is especially true in developing countries. But such approaches are short-lived and have a temporary effect because the motivation comes from outside. Inspiration on the other hand, which comes from within, is more effective and long-lasting. When people are inspired in the workplace, they work enthusiastically and do an excellent job. We have conducted workshops in many organisations around the world, such as the World Bank and Shell Oil and many more. We call this workshop APEX - Achieving Personal Excellence. It has had amazing results.  People who have attended it have developed abundant energy and great enthusiasm. They have re-discovered their inspiration to ...