Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Love and Lust  In love even an object gains life. Stones speak to you, trees speak to you, the sun, the moon and the whole creation becomes alive, Divine. In lust even a living being becomes a mere object. You want to use even people like objects. Here are some salient attributes of love and lust. They are so different yet so close! If you find more you may add to the list. Lust bring tension Love brings relaxation Lust focuses on the part Love focuses on the whole Lust brings violence Love brings sacrifice In lust you want to grab and possess In love you want to give and surrender Lust says all I want you to have is what I want Love says I want you to have what you want In lust there is effort Love is effortless Lust causes feverishness and frustration Love causes longing and pain Lust imprisons and destroys Love liberates and sets you free Lust demands Love commands Lust gets you mixed up and confused In love you are focused and spaced out!! Lust is only dark and mono...

Many of us do not know Sanskrit well. If you read any of the 108 or 1008 names in praise of the Divine the Lalita Sahasranama or Vishnu Sahasranama - and read the names of the Divine written there.  You will feel like closing your ears after hearing the gross descriptions of the various body parts - huge buttocks, hefty thighs, large breasts, the goddess with breasts like an elephant's head.  Why were these descriptions used? Had the rishis lost their minds that they would think like this? Were their minds so sick? These questions come up.  Only those who are daring and have clear, pure minds can say such things. You may have a Vrataratna mald. If you open it, you will see that it contains praises of each and every limb.  In any vrata, or observance, whether of Ganapati, Vara Lakshml, or Svarna Gauri, the practice is to worship every limb of that form of the Divine.  Worshipping in this way, the mind, which is attracted to a particular body part, is liberated f...

Once a A Swami went and stayed as a guest in an elderly gentleman's home in Kanpur. Since the son and his wife both worked outside the home, this elderly man did all the household chores like sweeping and looking after the children.  When the son returned home in the evening, he would scold his father, and once even slapped him in front of the Swami.  The Swami felt pity for the elderly man and asked him, “Why do you struggle so much? I feel bad for you. Come stay at my ashram where I'll look after you and you'll live comfortably”.  “At this age, after having lived 70 years, why do you stay with your son who abuses you? Why lead such a life? Please, come."  The old man, who until this point had been pouring out his sorrows, suddenly became enraged and said to the Swami, "Did you not have any other home to break apart? Why did you come only to my house?”. “Go find some other house to ruin. If I leave the house, what will happen to the children? What will happen to ...

Knowledge can be acquired through analysis and logic. This is what science is. Analysis comes from logic. Knowledge of objects can be experienced, but knowledge of the self is only possible through vitarka.  If you want knowledge of the self, then drop logic and apply yourself to vitarka, or special logic. This logic does not destroy anything.  Spiritual knowledge and vitarka find unity in everything. It sees fullness and understands things as they are. Knowledge of the self is an all encompassing vision.  It is the pinnacle of vitarka. With Vitarka we create questions that have no answer. You can ask yourself, "Who am I?" This question is very complex.  Merely asking this question will take you to such depth. Vitarka has no answer in words. You can know that a person is asleep from his snoring.  If that same person gets up and tells you, "I am asleep," it will mean that he is not asleep. Similarly, if someone asks you, "Have you seen God?" It ...

Question : Gurudev, many times, someone says something unpleasant to me, but at that time I do not know what to reply back. Later on, I keep on thinking about it again and again for a long time. I think, maybe I should have said this. ~ #Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar Ji : That is where the knowledge helps. I know it goes on eating your head for a long time. That is when you should say, ‘Everything is nothing. All this will disappear. All these people are nothing, and they are all going to disappear one day’. See, the brain keeps giving some opinion here and there, and this tongue which has no bone goes on blabbering. What is the big thing? Those sounds which came from their mouth and reached our ears, need not rattle our mind. See it scientifically. That’s why both gyana (knowledge) and vigyana (science) are important. From both angles if you see, nothing really matters. Knowing this brings you that inner strength to move on with a smile.