Towards Kaivalyam 4

Menstruation Practices in Hinduism : What & Why?

UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal 3 is Good Health and Well Being, and today I will talk about some traditional practices and customs pertaining to menstruation called Ritu Kala Samskara in India that further this goal, yet these are very misunderstood or not known at all.

I did not want a celebration you know when my periods started, I was not yet thirteen. Typically we did not talk about it in our times in India even with friends, am happy as this keeps one’s childhood intact and innocence alive, once you start your monthlies, you are even if you want it or not a sexual being, hormones will work and …you will respond to everything sexually….I was happy to be oblivious, and assumed dramatically at the first sign of blood, that I was dying of cancer, and did not tell ma for 2-3 days…and then cried when she said this is something to celebrate…I was horrified…I was studying in a catholic school then…listening to too much about sin and stuff…so I asked her not to tell anyone, pleaded in fact…some sort of internalized repression I suppose….otherwise this onset is celebrated beautifully and is seen almost on par with a wedding ritual especially in the south of India as is evident here:

The girl in question is dressed in all finery, given gifts of saris and jewelry, elders bless her, she is anointed with perfumed oils and her hair dressed with fragrant flowers….with henna on her hands and feet…she sits in the center of the celebration like a queen, while older women sing songs and young ones look at her with admiration. Invitation cards are sent out so relatives and friends can attend this very important function. Meals are served for everyone, all are fed with special sweets and savouries. Alas! I missed out on all that. I grew up studying in schools that were very removed from my indigenous culture, where such customs were derided and mocked. Such an event is etched forever in memory and will bring happy tidings to anyone who undergoes something like this. Menstruation and its onset will not be met with rejection (and therefore associating it with pain, psychosomatically) but will be accepted as a normal course of life, in fact something that is extra special. This linking of a party with her puberty will make it an exciting event for her during an awkward stage of her life, she might remember it with fondness even, definitely not something to be ashamed of as this article says.

So anyway Amma (my mother) put me on a diet – only yellow mung dal for a YEAR! No spice…she said, certain ‘cooling’ foods like mung and raagi if taken now would prevent cramps later she said, and she is SO right…except for the regular yuckiness and discomfort that most girls feel in the first few months after the onset of their chums, I did not thankfully face other serious issues like most of my girl friends did. I liked the idea that I could rest during this time…I don’t like to cook or pray or do yoga even, it is a great break from my routine, I take it as a mini holiday every month. This continued even after I came to the US, and I was pleasantly surprised to read the Red Tent and to see that these practices were common among orthodox Jews of yore, where the pheromones made sure every female in a closed community was menstruating at the same time! So all the tribes women sat in a tent specifically meant for this purpose and had fun…chatting…gossiping….some ‘me’ time for the hard working ladies, that is oh! so fashionable today too! Amma was following age old customs and rituals associated with menstruation, that was handed down to her from her ancestors, her mother, her grand-mother…and she passed it on to me, in the way she raised me, in the manner in which she responded to my bloody situation. 

A short video here talks of one such ritual as practiced in Tamil Nadu, India, while the practices enjoined by Ayurveda  (alternative health system indigenous to India) are listed below in this paper:

http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jdms/papers/Vol14-issue2/Version-2/R014228287.pdf

“Rajaswala paricharya helps women respond healthily to the drastic physical and psychic changes during the menstrual cycle and in relieving most of the associated symptoms of menstrual cycle.”  

In laypeople’s terms what the above paper is trying to tell us is that it has researched into the positive effects and benefits of following a certain code of conduct involving diet and other daily habits during menstruation, and has found that the Ayurvedic recommendations on what to eat, how to be, and when to sleep etc have in fact helped decrease the various symptoms that we normally associate with female periods. Calling it PMS (used derisively and mockingly too at times) with all conviction, pronouncing a lifetime sentence on young girls without even looking at the various alternatives available in indigenous cultures has become the norm for the lack of knowing any better. The above study uses a small sample yes, but I can give anecdotal examples of my own adolescent years and how sticking to a certain diet and following a certain regimen helped me, prevented cramps and other menarche related health issues that women these days take it as par for the course! If only we were a bit more receptive, and less dependent on corporatized systems especially pharmaceuticals that have overrun natural holistic knowledge systems, by calling them unscientific, non-standardized. While the allegation may hold true in parts, one cannot and must not reject an innocuous code of conduct which brings in vast benefit to womankind without any extra cost, except perhaps a certain discomfort due to changes in life-styles and routine on a monthly basis. 

“Menstrual problems like PMS, lower back ache, lower abdominal pain, nausea etc have become so common now-a-days that they are termed as associated symptoms of menstruation. Ayurveda the eternal system of medicine has nowhere mentioned these symptoms as normal associated symptoms of menstruation. In fact it mentions that the menstrual cycle should be devoid of unctuousness, burning sensation and pain.”

Raja Parba: Odisha’s unique festival celebrating the earth’s womanhood

Mensuration of Mother Earth. A very unique and beautiful ritual that is celebrated in India is that of Rajaparba, in the Indian state of Odisha. Mother Earth is a goddess, the sacred feminine who will, true to her womanhood, menstruate once a year, a time when all ploughing, sowing, tilling is taboo, and women and girls play about in decorated swings, with mehendi on their hands, flowers in their hair…an out and out feminine festivity involving Planet Earth. Despite all the negative press that menstruation in India seems to get, it is a celebratory affair, with the onset of menstruation being thought of as a mark of womanhood. 

Sinu Joseph’s work in this area covers a lot of ground in how menstrual health and hygiene in India, especially in rural India, which is way ahead and more woke than what we assume it to be. Women planting paddy saplings, village women who have no option but to work day in and night, know. They drape their simple cotton saris in such a way that it forms a loose loop and collects their menstrual blood. They are conscious and aware of their bodies and what changes take place in them, they are attuned to it, and eat/ sleep accordingly. They have much more wisdom regarding sex, sexuality, and menstraul hygiene than city-bred Indian girls! After all they have a sisterhood, they sing together when they work, they pray together, bathe together, they advise one another on pregnancies, and in-law issues. She is of the opinion that the lack of such natural, wholesome camaraderie, and shared experience is causing untold harm to urban females who take recourse in pills and drugs sadly

Menstrual Health of India | Sinu Joseph | TEDxMSRIT

Here are some more articles by Sinu Joseph on this subject:

Swarajya article by Sinu Joseph which talks of why India does not need a sanitary napkin revolution.
Mythripeaks article by Sinu Joseph which talks of how people like the Padman are minting money selling ‘shame’.

There is a lot of propaganda surrounding how horrible feminine hygiene is in India especially rural India – and how all NGOs suddenly want to save ‘poor Indian rural women’ from this torture of inaccessibility to pads and suffering under superstitious belief systems….Sinu Joseph’s research which Ted pulled down citing lack of research (haha) more than amply conveys this is NOT so. This push for pads which by the way are NOT biodegradable NOT environmentally green or recyclable are being pushed for profits, like they did with Diapers or Coca-Cola before. 

What did women use before pads, I am living proof of an upper middle class woman who grew up before pads – we used old saris, re-used and filled with rolled cotton for better absorption (or sometimes not), and we washed these cloths after use, and sun dried them….no infection nothing…this is what the left in the West advocates nowadays…..so why these double standards for India? And look at the horrible trash generated with this use and throw system when we don’t have proper garbage collection and disposal systems in most places…how unhygienic is THAT for everyone? To have bloodied napkins strewn about.

Nithin Sridhar’s series of articles in IndiaFacts and his recent book on this, a compilation of all these articles, is a great place to start to learn about what it meant to menstruate in India as a Hindu, and he explores other traditions too:

Menstruation Practices in Hinduism : What & Why? – A Talk by Nithin Sridhar

Hindu View of Menstruation- II: Menstruation as Austerity and Self-purification

Here is the first part with link to all six parts by Nithin Sridhar on Menstruation in India, Hinduism, and across cultures.

In Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in Anaikatti while I was studying there in 2012-13, certain women would not go to the temple certain days, including me, obviously everyone gets to know when you are a regular temple goer and don’t go but yes everyone knows and they are very gentle, very understanding about it, no one makes a fuss or says haw haw to ridicule, be snide, nothing….nothing…it is a mature stand on a normal biological phenomenon. The priests would know too of course, and appreciated the fact that you stayed away, they do so much seva/ service to the moorti/ deity, they are grateful when you keep the aagama shaastras/ ancient texts in mind and avoid coming to a sacred space with your excreta, your body fluid damp in a pad, stinking. It is like, would you go to any special place, say an important seminar or a party, with shit in your diaper? This is a question of simple neatness and hygiene that is all. Some women would go despite being told all this because they did not come from this tradition or wanted to rebel…..no one stopped them…no one questioned them…it is one’s aastha/ belief after all……ritual purity holds a high place in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist sacred spaces, and those who desecrate this belief system just to confront or be a social justice warriors are missing much nuance. 

shaastras/ scriptures talk about shaucha, it is a non-translatable from samskrutam/ Sanskrit and means a kind of ritual purity, it definitely does not mean that women are impure when menstruating – else why would you have Ambubachi mela in Kamakhya to celebrate Kamakhya devi’s menses for 3 days or more? and the Kerala Chenganoor Bhagavaty temple also celebrating this? We don’t think of menstruating as impure or that women are sinful …that is never the idea in Hinduism, on the contrary, we are the only pagan living religion and spiritual tradition that whole heartedly worships the female form…how can we be discriminatory? States such as Assam, Bengal, and Kerala also follow tantra in how they run their temples, so these tend to be more particular viz menstruation.

NO one checks at any temple if you are menstruating or not…it is your shraddha/ trust, simple, onus is on yourself. I was at the Sivananda Ashram in Bahamas, non-Indian yoga practitioners and teachers were telling us NOT to do certain aasanas/ poses that were upward bends if one was on one’s period – halaasana and other aasanas, why? How is everyone ok with such advice, and how come no one questions it? Coz if you do so you will know physiologically speaking that it does not feel right, and you will NOT do it again! that is why! Rishis lived an observant life, they looked at various phenomena for eons, and told us what works what does not...rishikas/ female rishis too, so it is foolish to agitate and bring up the word discrimination every time just because one has no knowledge of this complex science. Disagreement is fine but not ignorance!

Have you seen Jogulamba maata in a temple in Andhra? She lies in deftly carved stone with her legs wide open! People go and pray to this aspect of devi/ goddess, so evocative of the feminine…people don’t go with a sexual attitude, smirking or mocking or cracking sexual jokes but with respect and reverence and awe for what sexuality can bring – life! Unfortunately we as a civilization are moving away from the spiritual, and running towards the material, the body, the physical, the juvenile. We have moved away from a very fine sensuous aesthetic which was filled with beauteous philosophical and spiritual expressions, without embarrassment, shame and guilt towards sexuality, to revelling in the crass, the crude, the bestial, and the adharmic/ not in line with righteousness. 

Not everything about the past may be good or useful, but using those aspects that help us meet our current objectives is definitely something we ought to look into.

Towards Kaivalyam 3

Sacred Ecology For Rains and Water – Related Customs and Traditions in India

There are temples dedicated to the nine planets as deities even today in India i.e. the navagrahas, many a time within a regular temple complex which is actually dedicated to another main deity. There are also numerous sun temples from Konark, Modhera, Arasavalli, to Martand and Multan even though the latter two have been plundered and destroyed by Islamic invaders. Yet we do not find many temples dedicated to Varuna or Indra, the presiding devatas/deities of waters and rain. It is another matter that Ganga is worshipped as are all other rivers with great reverence, and there are regular aaratis/ worship with lamps, conducted morning and evening along all major river banks be it Narmada, Krishna, Godavari, Kaveri, and of course Ganga/Ganges, there is not really any temple dedicated to only Varuna devata. In a country that relies so much on the monsoons, and the rains for agriculture and sustenance, it is indeed a bit surprising. To make up for this people have devised various other ways to evoke nature, imitate it perhaps, and to appease the devatas. In that context the wedding that was conducted between two frogs in a grand way in Udupi, Karnataka, India, was re-enacting of an age old custom prevalent in these parts, and lo! there have been heavy rains since in these parts…so much so that some have asked the said frogs to be divorced now, to put an end to the showers! 

Only those who live in the desert or arid regions with scarce water resources can truly understand how sacred every drop of water is. To prevent such a stark situation from descending on us – like it is already happening in metros like Chennai and Hyderabad, where water tankers need to be brought in to sustain growing populations, and incessant construction – our ancient seers ie rishis pondered over human greed and came up with a solution. In fact they came up with myriad answers on how to prevent, and also handle such a crisis but they all stem from the one main aspect; wherein we are taught that all water is holy, and that we must treat it as such. Therefore all customs and rites associated with water, water bodies, rivers, oceans, and most importantly rain, involve evoking Varuna the lord of the Waters, and/ or Indra, he who carries a Thunderbolt, the lord of the Rains. Therefore it was heartening to note that in Udupi, a sea-side town in Karnataka, citizens conducted a wedding between two frogs, in all glory! Yes, with street music, guests, dancing, food, gold and silver jewelry, the mangalasutra/the chain that symbolizes and formalizes the wedding, the works! Why frogs? Well, frogs are harbingers of rain, croaking before and during the monsoons, they go with the wet season, they are auspicious indicators of waters descending from the heavens. While many city-bred folk mocked it, I think this is a brilliant way for people to think more ecologically and sustainably. If it involves such folk customs, where is the harm? Critics said that it was an unwilling marriage! Ha! Like anyone asks permission from frogs when they cut their legs to eat them? For me this custom embodies a subconscious appreciation, and deep understanding of climate patterns, and a step towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 i.e. ‘Climate Action’, and the manner in which this is being achieved is via unexpected partnerships, which is an indicator for SDG 17, i.e. ‘Partnerships for the Goals’.

Frogs are married in Udupi, Karnataka, India

आपो वावान्नाद्भूयस्तस्माद्यदा सुवृष्टिर्न भवति व्याधीयन्ते प्राणा अन्नं कनीयो भविष्यतीत्यथ यदा

सुवृष्टिर्भवत्यानन्दिनः प्राणा भवन्त्यन्नं बहु भविष्यतीत्याप एवेमा मूर्ता येयं पृथिवी यदन्तरिक्षं

यद्द्यौर्यत्पर्वता यद्देवमनुष्यायत्पशवश्च वयासि च तृणवनस्पतयः

श्वापदान्याकीटपतङ्गपिपीलकमाप

एवेमा मूर्ता अप उपास्स्वेति ॥ ७.१०.१॥

“Water is greater than food. Therefore, if there is not sufficient rain, living beings fail from fear that there will be less food. But if there is sufficient rain, they become happy because there will be much food. This water, by assuming different forms, becomes this earth, sky, heaven, mountains, gods and men, cattle, birds, herbs and trees, all beasts down to worms, midges and ants. Water itself assumes all these forms. Meditate on water”.

Samikshayantu tavishA prudAnvo ApAm rasA oshadhimihi sachantAm Varshasya sargo mahayantu bhumim Prithag jAyantAm oshadhayo viswrupAh

Atharva Veda 4.15.2

By the grace of mighty ones and auspicious donors, let the essence (rasa) in the waters come to the herbs. Let the gushes of rain gladden the earth; Let all forms of (medicinal) plants be born here and there.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1136978891946414080.html

Importance of water and how the Vedas view it – by UgrA

The above chants, and prayers signify the traditional call for SDG 6 i.e. a desire for ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’, and the various injunctions against wastage of water, dirtying water tanks, temple wells, or community water sources point towards SDG 12, which is ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’. Using water with reverence and thrift was something we grew up with – not letting a tap flow without a bucket beneath it, being satisfied with a bucket bath (as showers were considered wastage of water), and offering water at the altar to the deities and ancestors everyday is more than ample proof of such a thought process.

Apart from the praise and paens to water and rains in the scriptures, we find that such reverence and understanding of spiritual ecology seeped into every sphere of Hindu life. Here is another example, which I found on the net, someone posted this picture on Twitter with the following note: These are a common sight in Shivamogga district on village tank bunds. These were erected particularly on tank bunds to symbolize that the tank/lake should overflow as her fertility & his virility. All for good rains! This is from Ulavi.

ನಿರ್ಭಾವುಕ‏  @nirbhaavuka 

Traditionally water was conserved in various ways from rain water harvesting, to building tanks, ponds, aquifers, and ground water harvesting. Rani-ki-vav in Patan, Rani Sagar in Jodhpur, Ugrasen-ki-baoli in Delhi are some of the examples that showcase not just our expertise in water management but also in architecture. These structures are some of the most beautiful in the world even today. Women in Uttarakhand after their wedding first pray at the family water source, cleaning up water bodies before the offset of the monsoon is a ritual in Rajasthan, water deity Varuna is invoked during every major festivity, and pooja/worship in a Hindu household in a kumbha, a sacred pitcher, without which no ritual is complete. Tourists throng to attend the famous Ganga aaratis/worship with lamps along this holy river when they come to India, this is a full-on display of our love and affection for a great river goddess, for the nourishment, and medicinal gifts she provides us. 

https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/art/drops-of-wisdom/article27298044.ece

Preserving water in ancient India

While in Yucatan I saw that the Cenotes are also very revered, these underground bodies of fresh water pools teeming with fish and medicinal properties, worshipped as sacred by shamans and the locals, are similar to the Vavs in India or the Baoris in a way. In India, many of these ground water, under water storage step-wells and ponds were built and maintained by royal women, as water was, and still is a women’s domain.

Today in rural India, especially in dry regions like Rajasthan, one can see women walking miles to get water for the household balancing pots a-high on their dupatta/ scarf laden heads. Worshipping of water sources, water bodies, water containers exists in all parts of India among Hindus in various diverse customs. Whether it is Gangaur a festival where women are cleaning water tanks, or Bhawai nritya where women dance with 7 pots of their heads, it is all about water, and who better to know it, and celebrate it in various ways than those who know the value of it due to its dearth. Water awareness via such customs, and festivities is a stepping stone to water accessibility. By making water accessible to women, one not only empowers her (as she now has more time for herself), but also a whole community, as families, elders, children, animals, and plants come under her care. SDG 5 which promotes ‘Gender Equality’ is thus taken care of, while at the same time being cognizant of what will follow, which is SDG 10 – ‘Reduced Inequalities’.

Water management as such was the responsibility of the whole community. Rani-ki-Vav in Patan, Ugrasen ki Baoli in Indrapastha….the Modhera Vav are all such exquisite architectural wonders that lead us into the netherworld of naagas/ underworld spirits so to speak, welcoming us with their stories in stone. Underground water reserves are essential for a population, and culture to thrive and this was well understood in conserving all water in unique ways. The irrigation system in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka, where water was pumped upto a palace on the mountain is a magnificent feat and an engineering marvel to this day.

When tradition marries ecology there is always good news especially in India – a rare turtle has been bred and nurtured in a temple in Assam, a North Eastern state. Turtles are worshipped as one of the avatars of Vishnu – kurma avatara is Vishnu in the form of a tortoise/ turtle, hence revered in temple ponds etc So when this particular species took shelter in the sacred precincts it was well protected in all senses, and not just that, they grew in numbers too. More such initiatives are welcome, tapping into the Hindu reverence for all beings big, small, human, animal to partner in conservation efforts is a great way for species conservation, and for fulfilling SDGs 14, and 15 i.e. ‘Life Below Water, and Life on Land‘.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/assam-temple-bids-adieu-to-turtle-hatchlings/article27957482.ece

Kurma avatara in Hayagriva Madhab Temple in Assam

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/india-black-softshell-turtle-extinct-temple-hayagriva-madhava-hindu-vishnu-a8953621.html

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/in-assam-temples-stave-off-extinction-of-turtles/article26163446.ece

Given this ancient culture of worshipping and celebrating water and all its avatars, Prime Minister Modi too expressed his concerns about the water shortage in India, and requested people to take care of the environment by planting more trees, as they bring in the rains. In his blog he talks of a simple procedure that can conserve water – by filling up unglazed pots with soiled water, and burying them deep in the soil, near the roots of plants, this can work like drip-irrigation, and there is no need to water the plants for at least a week! Via both his blog, and monthly radio/ TV address to the nation on June 30th 2019, PM Modi talks of innovative techniques in conserving rain water, and wishes for people to get together along with local panchayats and gram sabhas / government bodies at the village level, to work towards water conservation and usage. His call towards this can be interpreted as a call towards SDGs 9 and 16 – ‘Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure’, and also, ‘Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions’. Unless there is water for all especially in a densely populous country like India, there are bound to be water wars.

https://www.narendramodi.in/a-daughter-a-tree-and-a-teacher-3036

PM Modi on conserving water

Mann ki Baat, June 30th 2019, from 18.35 on water and its connection to our culture. Here PM Modi talks of various distinct ways in which water is conserved in India traditionally, yet despite so many indigenous water related activities, only 8% of rain water is conserved, considering the amount of rainfall in the country. Towards this end he has started a new Ministry – The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation for Water – solely for this purpose. Many farmers. and their local governmental bodies have started taking his message seriously, and are working towards conserving more rain water.

Finally, let us end with this happy positive video. Here we see the archakas/ temple priests, and Veda pundits from the Chilkur Balaji temple in Hyderabad (my hometown), pray to Varuna for plentiful rains by standing waist deep in water for two hours, and chanting mantras in his praise/ Sanskrit words with strong vibrations that bring desired results. The chief priest says that there is 37% rainfall deficit in the state, and that unless there are rains, there can be no growth of vegetation or crops, hence no food. Rains bless everyone, and their prayers are for the whole world, everyone. May The Rains Bless Us All. SDG 2 – ‘Zero Hunger’ is totally dependent on a rain drop.

Towards Kaivalyam 2

I came across this article and it got me thinking….

Vegetarianism might be growing in the US, and in the West, but it is decreasing in India. In India people who avoid eating meat, or other animal products are abused, derided, and mocked at for being brahmanical or not being modern, not keeping up with the times! Personally, I have noticed the mushrooming of various Shawarma and Arabic food joints in Hyderabad, in areas which are predominantly Hindu, a rare sight a decade ago. Chicken BBQ places, non-vegetarian restaurants have all sprung up as a defiance against what is perceived of as backward ways of Hindus or some kind of food imposition, dictatorial behavior by the ‘upper castes’.

So, when people ask me in the US why most Indians don’t eat meat, it is an interesting answer – those who ask such a question really have no time for nuances and want a quick one line response so they can get on with it…onwards to the next cocktail topic – but it has made me think why. For starters Ayurveda or other shastras (texts which are treatises and compilations of thousands years of study on a certain subject, put together in a very specific, if you will, scientific manner) recommend certain foods for certain individuals – it depends on your body type first and foremost. It also depends on where you live, your geography. And your daily lifestyle, your daily activity, work load, type of work, etc This is your physical life, and your physical body that is being nourished. Since Hindus were experienced in looking within, and their main goal as we saw is the first post is always moksha (free from all fear and insecurity and the living in the One-ness, here and now) – there are food recommendations for those who are on the ‘path’ to moksha.

Sattva is an essential must have quality for a human to develop, such that s/he can move closer to god-like qualities, and realize the knowledge that s/he is IT (god is not s/he, has to be beyond all gender to be truly transcendental and immanent), the idea that I am a whole and not some small being with a certain limited name-form that causes fear of others, and therefore insecurities galore needs to go, and this goes by developing sattva – i.e a sum total of qualities that help oneself especially the mind to remain calm, look inwards, to introspect, to reach out to help others spontaneously, to revel in learning, and spirituality, plus not dwell on profiteering etc. In plain words only by developing those characteristics that resonate with the highest ideals such as universal love, acceptance, non-violence, sacrifice, and such like can any human hope to be ready to gain the understanding that s/he is nothing but sat-chit-aananda (truth-consciousness-bliss).

This profound absolute truth that ‘I Am That’, a complete Self, is made possible by our cleansing ourselves of various malas (impurities – mental, physical, emotional) that accrue through our karma (thoughts, actions, feelings) – all acts that are unthinking, and untenable for spiritual growth. Ayurveda, which literally means science of life, age-old indigenous Hindu medicinal system, says that a part of the food we eat goes into making our physical body yes, but the subtle part of the food goes into making our subtle body – which is what the mind is. And this is what we are protecting as a spiritual aspirant – we are making this fine, subtle, and ready to receive abstract conceptual grand truths which is not easy to do if our mind takes in the fruits of fear, terror, anger, and other negative emotions in the living beings that we destroy to satisfy our taste buds. Animals release negative energies and chemicals (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8q8984/why-animals-that-died-scared-taste-bad) at the time of being slaughtered and these enter our bloodstream and cause various diseases, sicknesses physically, but for a spiritual aspirant what is more detrimental is the psychological damage that is caused by the consumption of such foods.

What we eat, when, how, from where, all these hold great importance for a vaidika (a person who follows the vedic injunctions) – such a person is mindful – where is my food coming from, how is it being prepared, how am I consuming it, am I sharing or not? Have I hurt something in this process, how may I minimize the violence involved, is there a way to do away with the violence…all these are questions which must be asked, and have been asked many eons ago! The culminations of such enquiries are the shaastras (treatises written in all branches of science, arts, philosophies etc) which encourage braahmaNaas (those who are on the path to ‘know’ one-Self) to avoid all meat, mushrooms, eggs, onion, and garlic. Obviously without being mindful or going within, without making sure that no praaNi (being) is hurt just to satisfy my desire to ‘try new things’ because ‘I am bored of the same old cuisine’, there can be no Self realization, as this goes hand in hand with letting go of our small micro selves and accepting our bigger macro Self which is all encompassing.

With latest ecological trends, and scientific journals proving this theory right, that a plant based diet is healthy for the individual and the planet, the West has caught on and is up on the game, not so Indians who are trying to fight perceived ‘food fascism’ (to their own detriment, alas!) 

One thing though which I could not understand for many years was why mushrooms were not part of the Indian sattvic cuisine, even today orthodox Brahmin families will not eat it, the answer to that mystery was found in this book, ‘fungi (mushrooms) are the foundation of the forests’, this is a fascinating book which talks about how mushrooms literally pour life into old growth forests, and how plucking one can cause harm and injury to the whole undergrowth, they form an intricate underground system unseen and hidden normally! They actually send signals to one another when something like this happens, and ‘talk‘ of the impending danger. One could argue that mushrooms nowadays, especially those that are grown commercially are not disturbing any forest so why not eat them? Another factor in Ayurveda as well as sattvic diet is that one tries to cause as less harm and violence as possible, eating is an act of violence by any measure, but by consuming plants that are less evolved in the food chain (possessing lesser consciousness) is far better than eating mushrooms, which as we see from this book and otherwise hold a higher slot in the scheme of things as compared to bacteria or virus.

MUST READ!

(you can directly go to myceleum : 10.00 mycorrizhal network if the rest is not as interesting)

How trees talk to each other | Suzanne Simard

If you are asking me why sattvic diet has no eggs either – well they are embryos having potential to grow into a full fledged beings, plus onions and garlic too like eggs are tamasic in nature, i.e they cause tamas (laziness, dullness, heaviness) in the body. Tamas is that quality in foods that has been observed over ages to cause one to be slothful and lazy, while sattvic foods cause alertness, brightness, and calmness in the mind. Chillies, spices, and peppers all cause rajas in our bodies and minds – angry, passionate, active energies urging us to be reactive. This video gives more details of the various food types and some Ayurveda concepts.

Towards Kaivalyam

June 3rd 2019

I have decided to record daily reflections on how I connect to the world around me, the sacred relationship that I have with nature, with other people, with various beings, and how my cultural, religious, as well as spiritual belief system encourages social, psychological, mental, ecological, and physical well-being. Could not have started on a more auspicious day. Today is June 3rd 2019. It is a Monday. Very innocuous on the face of it. ‘Rainy Days and Mondays’, went that song by Carpenters, where they were made to cry! Most people do that even today, blaming others, groaning about getting up, to face yet another week ahead, with the same chores, same bores at work, but to me today is special since I have decided that it shall be so. I shall consciously link myself to the grand esoteric truths around me, with studied intention, I shall drive away the angst that entwines people who are socialized into thinking so. So what did I do first thing this morning?

For months now I have made it a habit to NOT jump out of bed with a start, but be a bit more meditative, to take my time to rub my hands in glee (am alive another day!), chant ‘karaagre vasate lakshmi’, and then think of all the burden that Bhudevi faces, hence ask her forgiveness before stepping on her with, ‘samudra vasane devi..’. To this ritual I’ve added a page of Valmiki’s Ramayana before I do anything else – not even a glass of water. Unfortunately, it is in English that I read, having been robbed of a normal Hindu education by Lord Macaulay since the late 1800s. This is Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati ji’s commentary, my spiritual guru, of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, hence it is not deracinated as most other English commentaries are.

Now that I am up, I will go to the altar post ablutions, chant my favourite mantras, do pooja, offer naivedyam, do some basic soorya namaskaara asanas, quickly do 108 kapalabhatis and get ready for the day. Especially breakfast! Chanting makes one very hungry, the stomach starts to rumble – but it also makes one smart – read this for yourself here in this Scientific American article. Anyway, I chant not for the benefits but because I love to. That it provides mental and physiological benefits is incidental. That not many women know how to chant mantras anymore, that this knowledge was lost to women for centuries due to Islamic invasions and British colonization is no secret, but what is probably not widely known is that now there are many teachers willing to teach, yet they are very few takers! After all when Oracle becomes a computer language from a Greek prediction, it is no wonder that most modern women would rather be in IT than in a chanting group on weekend. The chanting takes me about an hour or so.

Now breakfast is not a hurried affair as in most households, I like to eat well, eat piping hot food, and in silence. A throwback to my ancestry I suppose. Food is sacred as is everything and everybody for a practicing Hindu. When I cook I chant hymns, so that the food is infused with good energy, and then without tasting at all, all through the cooking process, I offer the cooked food first to the deities, to my gurus, to the beings around me, and only then can I eat; ‘praaNaaya svaahaa…’. Even when I eat this food that goes in is feeding the devata inside, the agni devata – jaTharaagni. And I eat in silence because I savour each morsel that will be transformed into my body, my muscle, my blood, my thoughts, my excreta. This food is sustaining me and all the forces around me, for this I am grateful! So I chant, ‘brahmaarpaNam‘ before a meal. Sharing food with neighbours and animals is a bit tough in USA, you can’t just randomly offer food to just anybody here, although I have done that in flights too and was politely refused, so I have devised my own way. I store the first morsel of my meal, without tasting, in a small bottle, and at a very ‘convenient time’, leave the same for the squirrels, birds, and other creatures near a tree! This is like bird feed except that it is not just for the birds!  Hindus in Bali prepare elaborate plates of offerings called the Canang sari, and leave it outside their homes, as do Thais in their altars at the entrance of their houses.. More about the philosophy behind it called pancha mahaa yajna in another post.

What I usually eat is hot idlis or dosas, probiotics! Yes! The ingredients are rice and urad dal, soaked, ground, left overnite, made into pancakes with sesame oil the next day…so the whole process takes 3 days from start to finish, but this is the US, so we just buy store bought batter, and the cooking time is only 15 mins from start to finish after that! You get a variety of ingredients now – Ragi, 9 Grain, Mung Dal batter – all very Ayurveda friendly, which I can talk about in depth later.
But today is Shani Amavasya, also called Somavati Amavasya! Very special because Shani’s birthday is on a Monday. Shani or Saturn is the son of Soorya, the Sun God, he usually causes difficulties for people and is a hard task master, teaching them via tough love. He has been causing a bit of a pain in my life too and am thinking a bit of propitiating might help my case. Mondays are my fasting days anyway, I also like to keep ‘mauna vrata’ on these days, since there is no energy left to talk, engage in banter, when there is no food intake. If am working from home it is easier but if I am outside, or in office, I avoid initiating conversations and cut conversations beyond basics. I have seen that I am loathe to speak on Tuesday after a whole 36 hours of vocal silence. I am still emailing, texting, mentally chatting with myself…which is something I need to work on.

Anyways, here I am not eating, not speaking, and wondering how best to celebrate Shani’s birthday. Since it is a no moon day, it is a day traditionally dedicated to ancestral worship which occurs fortnightly on every new moon and full moon. Feeding someone, offering help, charity, daanam is considered appropriate. Since there was no cooking happening dropping off food – rice, beans, sauces, at the local food shelter was the next best alternative. In the name of one’s pitris, just as Mexicans do during their ‘Day of Dead’, we offer food and drink at altars so that the dear departed are remembered and thanked for giving us life and knowledge. When we value tradition, lineage, ancestors, ancients this way, we remain rooted in this manner, we feel watched over, looked after.

Twice a day bath is a must, although I make sure not to waste too much water and to be mindful of conserving renewable resources, water is one of the five divine forces, pancha bhoota, that helps me in cleansing, I recognize this with a prayer each time I shower, ‘gange cha yamune devi…’. After I am purified of all the dirt and delusions that I have accumulated through the day, I sit down for my evening pooja, it is a great de-stresser after a whole day at work, trust me! Offering the five elements back to the deities, expressing one’s gratitude to the elemental forces is one of highlights of my daily routine. Flowers for worship are aesthetic, pleasing and fragrant depicting the prithvi tatvam, teertham represents the jala tatvam, deepam, and arati are agni tatvam, dhoop stands in for vaayu tatvam, and finally chanting which represents sound is an example for ether, sound is primeval, first there was sound! It is when the microcosm that is me – my body mind complex has a chance to actively make friends with the macrocosm which is but my scaled up imprint do I feel in tune with the whole, no longer alienated.

Again cooking is not just for me to fill my stomach but also to feed the deities, the rishis, the pitris, the beings around me, so cooking is not something we do for a party once in a while, or because ‘I enjoy cooking’, but because it is connected to the ritual of giving, of sharing, of feeding, of being in a position of a contributor as my guru would say, a house is not a home if the kitchen fires are not burning everyday he would add. For a while I cooked a rice cooker pot of khichDi – rice, lentils, veggies, nuts, spices and oil, at work during break, and fed my colleagues and myself, which felt good because sharing of food in enjoined in our shashtras – Taittiriya Upanishad, The Bhagavad Geeta, the Ramayana, Mahabharata, all talk of annadaanam as a great ideal, that which must be done on a daily basis, food was never sold till recently, say a 100 odd years ago, it was considered paapam – an act for which you accrue bad merit, en cashed at a later stage. The idea that annam is brahman, that the ultimate is contained in a grain of rice, a la Blake’s ‘..the world in a grain of sand’, is telling of a culture that holds food, cooking, and feeding at a premium.

Usually my dinner diet is 2 parathas – of wheat, or other carbohydrates with a koora prepared in the Telugu style. I avoid curd/ yogurt at night as this increases phlegm in the body, I also avoid greens at night…these instructions came from my mother, who learnt all this from HER mother who learnt this from…plus Ma studied nutrition in India, which covers a lot of Ayurvedic principles too.

Finally, to rest! But not without taking Swaminiji’s online Vedanta class first 9.00pm to 10.00 pm is Swaminiji’s class on Satashloki by Vidyaranya. Vedanta has a special place in my heart, it has helped me overcome subjectivity and through that most of the subjectivity lead issues such as depression, worry, anxiety, fear, insecurity. Hence whenever I get a chance to study ‘live’ either in person or online I take it up. Vedanta like all classical Hindu traditions is taught by a guru who embodies what they teach, hence once you have found a guru that fits/suits you, stick around and notice the Cognitive Behavioral Therapeutic change that takes place in your mind, we will start to notice how we can experientially transform our lives via yoga, meditation, chanting, prayer, eating right, doing right, and ultimately via connecting to all that is around us without feeling alienated – a huge problem in today’s fast paced world.

I close my eyes with a chant, ‘raamaskandam…’ and bid adieu to the day that went past, assured of a day well spent. Without gossip or unnecessary chatter, without ill will to any one, without envy, jealousy, greed or delusion. But Alas! I did lose my temper, my cool, a few times and THAT I must manage more in the future.