Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Chapter 2 - Honouring The Practice  Day 10  The craving for any of the sense objects or celestial heavenly places that the mind gallops towards is an obstruction. Any expectation in meditation is an obstruction.  You may have heard that someone had seen a light or somebody coming from heaven and taking them by hand. So, you sit with your eyes closed and wait for an angel to come or to have a light shine on you and then to burst into million stars.  All these ideas and thoughts become an obstruction. If you have dispassion, you will feel that you are not giving up anything for nay of these pleasures. Your desire for pleasure or happiness will make you unhappy. If you examine yourself whenever you are miserable or unhappy, you will find that your misery is due to your desire to be happy.  Craving for happiness brings misery. If you don't even crave for happiness, you are happy. You crave for happiness and you invite misery. When you don't care for happ...

This week we take up the study of plants from another family that falls in the order of Sapindales. That is the cashew and mango family, Anacardiaceae. Today's post is about Kedondong ( Spondias dulcis) also known as Hog Plum or June plum, is a fast-growing, tropical tree that can reach up to 20 m high. It is valued for its edible fruit that is a drupe containing a fibrous pit.  The tree bears pinnately compound leaves with oppositely arranged elliptic-oblong leaflets, which are finely toothed toward the apex.  The flowers are small and inconspicuous, with white petals and are produced in panicles. Its oval fruits, about 6–9 cm long, are borne in bunches of 12 or more on a long stalk. Over several weeks, the fruit fall to the ground while still green and hard, then turn golden-yellow as they ripen. It is a very nutritional food containing Vitamin B,C, and A. In West Java, its young leaves are u...

Chapter 2 - Honouring The Practise  Day 9 The mind gallops towards the world of five senses. If you just be quiet, close your eyes, or open ur eyes, or do anything, where does your mind go? It goes towards the sensne of sight. It is the same for the sense the smell, taste, sound, touch.  And this craving for any of these experiences in the mind can prevent you from being in the present moment. Vairagya is retrieving your senses from the craving or from the thirst for something back to its source for a few moments. Then, you will feel that however beautiful a scene is you are not interested in looking at it.  However great the food, you feel that it is not the time for it, that you are not interested in tasting it then. However melodious the music maybe, you do not want to listen to it at that time. It may be wonderful to touch something but then you are not interested in touching it or feeling it at that time. Vairagya may be present for even a few moments....

Syzygium aqueum is a tree of family Myrtaceae native to Malaysia, Southern India, New Guinea and Queensland. Its common names include watery rose apple, water apple, Jambu air and bell fruit. The tree requires heavy rainfalls. In the Philippines, it is locally known as tambis and is often confused with macopa (Syzygium samarangense). The tree is cultivated for its wood and edible fruit. The fruit is a pear shaped, fleshy yellow or red berry which is bell shaped, has a waxy peel and crisp, juicy pulp. The fruit has a very mild and slightly sweet taste similar to apples, and a crisp watery texture like the inside of a watermelon. Fruit is generally seedless, but sometimes may have 1-4 small seeds. It is a staple of Southeast Asian fruit stands, where it is inexpensive while in season. It does not bruise easily and may be preserved for months in a household refrigerator. The fruit skin is rich in Vitamin A. In the past, Malaysian women who had given bir...