Ayurveda & Spirituality with Alakananda Ma

‘Maitreyī, my dear,’ said Yājñavalkya, ‘I am going to renounce this life.’ Allow me to finish between you and Kātyāyanī.[2] Thereupon Maitreyī said, ‘Sir, if indeed this whole earth full of wealth be mine, shall I be immortal through that?’ ‘No,’ replied Yājñavalkya, ‘your life will be just like that of people who have plenty of things, but there is no hope of immortality through wealth.’ Then Maitreyī said, ‘What shall I do with that which will not make me immortal? Tell me, sir, of that alone which you know (to be the only means of immortality)Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch 2In what might be the most extraordinary episode in all the Upanishads, Sage Yājñavalkya shares the knowledge of the Self with his beloved wife, Maitreyi. His simple, direct and affective teaching style contrasts with all the dialogues we see with male disciples.Listen to Ma expounding this favourite passage. Brihadaranyaka Part 3 If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Do you suffer from hyperacidity? Learn how Ayurveda can help.Amlapitta, known as acid indigestion or dyspepsia, is a common and widespread condition of painful or difficult digestion, often accompanied by symptoms such as nausea, heartburn, bloating, belching and stomach discomfort.How does Ayurveda describe acid indigestion?What are its causes?Diet for acid indigestionLifestyle changes for acid indigestionHerbs and treatments for acid indigestion Acid Indigestion If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Before a society can be considered well-ordered, creative, and consonant with human dignity, it must be based on truth…Human society…demands that men be guided by justice, respect the rights of others and do their duty. It demands, too, that they be animated by such love as will make them feel the needs of others as their own, and induce them to share their goods with others, and to strive in the world to make all men alike heirs to the noblest of intellectual and spiritual values. Nor is this enough; for human society thrives on freedom, namely, on the use of means which are consistent with the dignity of its individual members, who, being endowed with reason, assume responsibility for their own actions.Pope John XXIII Pacem in Terris ("Peace on Earth") On establishing universal peace in truth, justice, charity, and liberty.TruthPeace cannot be built on a lie, nor on denial.Truth and reconciliation commissionsThe hypocrisy of nationsJusticeThere can be no peace without justice, and there can be no justice without peace—MLKNo justice, no peace—BLMIf you want peace, work for justice— Pope Paul VILovePeace is not compatible with hatred. Peace depends on love and a real care for the flourishing of othersLibertyWithout freedom there is no peace because freedom is inherent to our natureHow have people down the ages risen up against oppression?If you want to read the blog about German War Baby Baerbel, it’s here: The Four Pillars of Peace If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Cicero says, friendship is agreement in things human and divine, with good will and charity. But there are many circumstances where we do need to be friends with people we disagree with.As society becomes more polarized, friendship with those we disagree with becomes ever more pertinent to consider.   Different levels of friendship: GeneralAcquaintances, neighbours, congregation members, activist circles  Family  Spiritual friendsAre there no nos? Are there places we draw the line? Love is more important than views MutualityAnd much more. Friendship with those we disagree with If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Om. There was a man of the Garga family called Proud Bālāki, who was a speaker. He said to Ajātaśatru, the King of Kashi, ‘I will tell you about Brahman.’ Ajātaśatru said, ‘For this proposal I give you a thousand cows. People indeed rush saying, “Janaka, Janaka.” I too have some of his qualities.’Today we learn about the caste system and the tension between scholarly and practical knowledge. How do the kshatriyas, the warriors and kings, bring a new freshness and relevance to ancient knowledge?Hear the fascinating story of Shukadev and King JanakaEnjoy the revalatory dialogue between Gargya and the King of Kashi.Will Gargya earn his thousand cows? Or will practical wisdom trump scholarly knowledge? Brihadaranyaka 2 If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Throughout an individual's lifetime, each dosha has its time of predominance. Kapha governs childhood; pitta, maturity; and vata, old age. Thus, during the latter years of life, there is a tendency towards vata imbalances, such as memory loss, disorientation, paranoia, tremors, rigidity, cracked and quaking voice and stooped spine. The condition known to Western medicine as Alzheimer's disease constitutes, according to Ayurveda, a drastic and accelerated form of this vata provocation of old age.How does Ayurveda see Alzheimer’s?What are the causes of Alzheimer's, according to Ayurveda?How has the increased pace of life and rate of change affected us?How can we prevent dementia?Are there beneficial Ayurvedic treatments? Ayurveda for Alzheimer's If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

So-called artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean. Nor do they have a moral conscience, since they do not judge good and evil, grasp the ultimate meaning of situations, or bear responsibility for consequences. They may imitate language, behavior and analytical skills, or even simulate empathy and understanding, but they do not understand what they produce, for they lack the affective, relational and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom.Pope Leo XIV Magnifica HumanitasLet’s take a look at the Pope’s encyclical on AI in the context of our series on friendship.How social media has changed the definition of friendshipAI not truly neutralTech bro ideology and human dignityTranshumanism and PosthumanismArtificial friendshipBlake and God the human race Friendship in the Age of AI If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Friendship is that virtue by which spirits are bound by ties of love and sweetness and out of many are made one.St Aelred, Spiritual FriendshipSt Aelred, a twelfth Century English monk, offers us extraordinary teachings on creating spiritual friendship. Alakananda Ma has journeyed with these teachings since discovering them fifty years ago, and shares her unique insights.Learn how you can create spiritual friendship with a four-step process of choosing, testing, accepting and perfecting friendship. Spiritual Friendship If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

In the beginning, this (universe) was but the self of a human form. He reflected and found nothing else but himself. He first uttered, ‘I am he.’ Therefore he was called aham. Hence, to this day, when a person is addressed, he first says, ‘It is I,’ and then says the other name that he may have. Because before all this he burnt all evils, therefore he is called puruṣa—the Person.Brihadaranayaka Upanishad Ch1 Fourth BrahmanaOur journey through the Upanishads has brought us to the magnificent Brihadaranayaka Upanishad, the Great Forest Teaching.Today, we’ll learn about the creation of the world from the self and unpack the mahavakya or Great Saying, aham brahmasmi. Brihadaranyaka 1 4 Aham Brahmasmi If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

All of us want to live a long life, but the longevity we picture for ourselves is one of robust health, vitality and continued independence. We do not picture ourselves languishing in a nursing home or needing help for the most basic activities of daily living. Yet 15% of adults over sixty-five (not counting nursing home residents) do suffer from frailty syndrome, rising to 33% and beyond in the over eighties. Worse still, 45% of elders are pre-frail and experience difficulty in carrying out activities of daily living.  What is frailty and how do we avoid it? How can we stay strong and avoid the ravages of old age? Discover:How to prevent frailtyHow to reverse frailtyHow to support a frail elderLiving well as an active elderA five point plan for frailty preventionHow to make the most of your golden years Ageing Well with Ayurveda If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

“The best way to invite friendship is to become your own best friend.”Learn how to befriend your own mind and overcome self-hatred using simple and effective methods.The breath—your dearest friendBefriending your own mindLoving-kindness for yourselfSelf-empathy Making Friends with Yourself If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

“During the process of ethnic cleansing and genocide, destruction of foodways is an important feature. We may think of the slaughter of the bison that formed a key aspect of the genocide of Native Americans, as well as the uprooting of olive trees in occupied Palestine.Let’s look at cultural erasure by assimilation  and cultural appropriation through the lens of humus—or should we say, humus bi tahina.”Growing up in a small town in England in the 50s, and then in a provincial town in the 60s, I was mainly familiar with a standard working class British diet, the foods my mother’s ancestors cooked-- Yorkshire pudding, apple crumble, rhubarb pie and so on. But our table included foods not eaten in other households in Melton Mowbray—matzoh, challa, sesame halvah and latkes, foods my father introduced. And at Granny’s house we enjoyed kosher dill pickles, pickled herring, matzoh ball soup and kugel. Granny prepared an array of Eastern European Jewish foods—none of which included humus. Through the lens of humus, discover how you can use your own kitchen to fight cultural erasure with food. HumusWars If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Prajapati once said: ‘The Self is free from sin, free from old age, free from death, free from sorrow, and free from hunger and thirst. It is the cause of desire for Truth and for commitment to Truth. This Self has to be sought for and thoroughly known. The person who has sought for and known the Self attains all worlds and all desires’.Both the gods and the demons came to know from people what Prajāpati had said. They said, ‘We shall search for that Self, by knowing which we can attain all the worlds and whatever things we desire.’ With this object in view, Indra among the gods and Virocana among the demons went to Prajāpati, carrying fuel in their hands.Chandogya UpanishadWhat happens when the king of the gods and the king of the demons meet up at the hermitage of Prajāpati, the Great-Grandfather? This fascinating story is the grand finale of our journey through Chandogya Upanishad. Fasten your seatbelt for takeoff! Chandogya Upanishad 5 Indra If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.