Maui Yoga & Ayurveda Blog
- 2011-09-05Paths to Truth
- had several responses to the blog on 'Atha', and we thank all those who wrote in. Thomas has added one more meaning to 'now' 'Now' means having tried everything else and failed, come to Yoga, I will help you. [Thank you Thomas for this contribution], I would like to respond to this. The classical text, Brahmas?tra, also known as Ved?nta, by Veda Vy?sa, starts with the word 'ath?tah'. 'Anta' means end or conclusion, so Ved?nta, is the conclusion of 'Veda'. Atha+tah is generally understood as you have studied all other darsan?-s [there are five others]; having seen the shortcomings in them, 'now' come to Ved?nta, which will provide a lasting solution. In this post I will discuss the purpose of s?tra ...read more
- 2011-09-05Pancha Karma
- the patient is strong and the disease is weak, use panchakarma directly. When the patient is weak and the disease is strong, strengthen the patient and weaken the disease before doing panchakarma. From Dr. Robert E. Svoboda ...read more
- 2011-09-05Yogas?tra - a perennial treasure
- Thursday a group of us meet at 'Yoga Raksanam' for an hour long lecture/discussion on Patajali's Yogas?tra. We began in February 2007, and having explored the first chapter, are now at the 16th s?tra of 'S?dhanap?da', the second chapter. With the desire of some of us, to take this satsangh to another level, share learning and insights, invite meaningful discussion of this profound text, was born this blog. Yogas?tra is a sanskrit text in the 's?tra' format. The word s?tra means 'to show the direction', a subtle pointer rather than a long-winded declamation. A book to be called a s?tra must adhere to six basic principles. Among them, 'solp?k?aram' and 'vi?vathomukham' are the most important. Solp?k?aram - solpa means minimal, standing ...read more
- 2011-09-05Satya - Seek and Speak the Truth - 1
- is a part of Yama, the first anga or limb of Ast?ngayoga. It is the second [ the first being Ahimsa ] of the five Yama-s that are prescribed. The focus of Yama is to improve our relationship with friends, relatives and fellow living beings. Its aim is to establish harmony in our life, harmony with our surroundings. Satya should be understood in this spirit. Yogas?tra written in s?tra form does not offer much of an explanation. Sage Patanjali just mentions satya without elaboration. This gives rise to a lot of lively discussion and interpretations from different learned authors and practicing yogis. These varied opinions on satya can be classified into three major categories. We will now look at the ...read more
- 2011-09-05?raddha - The motive force
- single largest motive force for the practice of yoga is ?raddha. Patanjali introduces the idea of ?raddha in the first chapter. The journey of yoga is long and involves crossing several stages one by one in a gradual progression, with each stage serving as a stepping stone for the next. He recognizes that there may be a few individuals who skip such a methodical progress and scale higher planes easily. They have a headstart over others, skim over several steps and bulldoze through the process. They are called Bhavapratyaya - people endowed with special powers. Many learned commentators are not overawed by these people. According to them such progress is not commendable. Since the achievement is not based ...read more
- 2011-09-05Atha - The Auspicious Beginning
- the first word in Yogas?tra signifies an auspicious beginning - so we will begin our discussions with the word Atha. Atha means a variety of things - indicative of a new tide, a change in scenario, the beginning of an enquiry, a quiet prayer, a vow taken by both the teacher and the student. Patajali thus begins his definitive text with a word that packs a host of these, and many more ideas. However the most popular and simple meaning is 'Now'. Many scholars translate the first s?tra as 'Now starts an exposition on Yoga' What does the word 'Now' mean? Is it a temporal meaning, the time that a clock indicates that is referred to, or is it something more than that? ...read more
- 2011-09-05Are Ayurveda Medicines Safe ?
- Story ... The December 14, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association included a report of research done at Harvard by a team led by Robert B. Saper, MD, MPH,(1) that exploded across the U.S. and even overseas. The news resulted in worried patients calling their Ayurvedic practitioners for assurance that their recommended herbal protocols were not those containing toxic metals. In turn, practitioners were turning to their herbal suppliers for confirmation that the herbs they offered were safe. Lets take a look at this report and discuss some of the issues that have been brought up by the research. Included with this discussion are reports on safety practices supplied by various domestic herbal companies and excerpts from articles ...read more
- 2011-09-05Satya - To seek and speak the truth -2
- are on Satya - a Yama which leads to three broad categories of interpretation. We have spoken about the first category, where Satya is to speak the truth unalloyed by any other consideration, in the previous post. This appears too be 'straightjacketed' and also impractical. Satya has to follow the lead of Ahimsa [not hurt anyone], but this approach will lead to the opposite on many occasions. So the proponents of Ahimsa reject the idea of speaking out exactly what is on one's mind and approach Satya in a much more practical way. In this context there are two words in Sanskrit - Rtam and Satyam. Rtam is absolute truth and Satyam is the spoken truth. The spoken word ...read more
- 2011-09-05Gold Molecules May Destroy Prostate Cancer Cells
- cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation are often untargeted and can entail serious health risks. However, a new treatment method may sidestep some of these health consequences by using gold molecules to destroy cancer cells. A description of the unique method appears in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Unlike many traditional chemotherapeutic treatments, which release toxic chemicals into the bloodstream, the new technique employs targeted molecules that bind directly to prostate cancer cells. Each gold-based molecule is covered with peptide chains that facilitate binding to the cancerous cells. Without these chains, the molecules would be quite toxic. However, once injected into the blood, these golden compoundswhich are shaped like popcornsnare up to 50 cancer cells around them. The ...read more
- 2011-09-05Ignorance
- is no real ignorance. Ignorance is only the inability to accept what is put before us as the truth. We call it prejudice. Remove prejudice, wisdom comes automatically. Taken from the Book "Heart Speak 2005", Chapter "Dedication, Devotion and Love", pg. 59, by Revered Chariji ...read more
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