August 2020, Taste of life, VOLUME 5 / 30 Jul 2020

Nature is a great companion

A PHOTO ESSAY SOHAM DESRIAUX lives on Réunion Island, a French Department in the Indian Ocean, known for its volcanic rainforested interior and beautiful beaches and coral reefs. At the age of 15, he is already sharing his creative flare for photography and multimedia, showcasing the natural beauty of his homeland. I have always been passionate about photography. I have so many friends and am very active in outdoor activities. I never really realized the importance of my mum’s advice, when she used to say that I should learn to be joyful and satisfied in my own company. I should feed my well-being when I am alone as well. However, during this confinement, this came to be, as I had no choice but to learn how to be well and joyful – alone. I tried to be creative in a safe way. I decided to use my love for photography. For these macro photos, I have used my phone and a home-made macro lens I built by dismantling an old broken camera. I am blessed to live on a beautiful island, where we have many endemic flowers and insects. I’m fascinated by how inanimate things come to life after the rains, and in the early morning dew. What I have learnt through this period of quarantine is that I am never alone; nature can be a great companion. I can be quiet and full of joy and wonder. I also have a YouTube channel portraying the aerial drone videos I have produced: SkyView by Soham https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORo5m_7RK7qwWQT0BzJ18g Article & Photographs by SOHAM DESRIAUX

August 2020, Focus, VOLUME 5 / 30 Jul 2020

The four eternal truths

DR. SIMMI VALECHA shares her own journey of discovery, and how she found her purposes and joy in life. She also shares her four eternal truths, and how she has realized them in her life. Beyond every boundary; beyond every identity; there is a realm of Pure Consciousness, eternal and limitless; where only Love echoes. Let’s find each of us there. Once there lived a musk deer in the hilly green region of the Himalayas. The snow-clad peaks, exotic valleys, beautiful meadows, rivers and glaciers; what else one could ask for? But the deer was unhappy, and the fragrance of his own musk, a valuable and extremely fragrant salve found in the navel of the musk deer, was making him excited and restless. The deer went sniffing under the trees, running across the forests searching for the source of the fragrance. His efforts were futile, and one day he died, angry and dissatisfied. His soul left the body, and the fragrant musk remained in his navel. This is our story. Most of us are unhappy and frustrated. We feel helpless and insecure, always hoping that something magical will occur in the near future that will make us happy and complete. We believe in destiny and fear the unpredictable. This search for “something complete and absolute” initiates our faith in a stone figure (a deity in a temple), and halts at some church or mosque, but never ends. Isn’t it that all this while we’ve been trying to locate the ring in the wrong place, the place where it was never lost? This is my story, too. I grew up in a Delhi-based middle-class family of staunch believers in the conventional system of education, class and status quo. At 19, I chose to marry against my parents’ wishes. Annoyed and frustrated…

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August 2020, Interview, VOLUME 5 / 30 Jul 2020

Service, simplicity & songwriting – part 1

With an Ivy league education, this MTV rap/hip hop star was living the American dream and working on Wall Street when the events of 9/11 unfolded in front of his eyes. Giving up the corporate world, NIMO PATEL decided to pursue his passion for music in LA, but a chronic health issue led him to seek Ayurvedic treatment in India. He stayed back for 6 months to volunteer at the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, and continues to this day working with the slum children of the city when he’s not working for his own non-profit organization, Empty Hands Music. VANESSA PATEL caught up with him in June to learn more about his mantra, “Service, Simplicity & Songwriting.” Q: Hello, Nimo, so happy to have this opportunity to chat with you. How are you doing during this lockdown? NP: Wonderful! Breathing, and deep breathing, doing good. You know, it’s a time of reflection and introspection, to reflect on the way we live, how we interact with each other, with humanity. It’s really a blessing. There’s so much suffering going on, so this is a gift of transformation. Obviously, we will get through this suffering, but hopefully, we can use it for the betterment of humanity. So, collectively and individually, this is a gift in many ways, although in the short term it’s tough to digest. How are you doing? Q: Doing well. As you said, using this time to reflect. And one of the things I realize is that we don’t need a lot of the stuff we’ve accumulated in our lives. You already started this process several years ago when you took up a life dedicated to service. So, when you did a U-turn from your previous lifestyle and did a ‘material’ cleanse, would you say this was a spiritual…

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August 2020, It changes everything, VOLUME 5 / 30 Jul 2020

Raising consciousness – part 3

In April 2020, BRUCE LIPTON spoke with UDAY KUMAR about the transition our planet is going through right now, and what we need to do to raise our consciousness to the next level. In part 3, he goes into more detail on quantum physics, conditioning, positive and negative thinking, immunity, and how we can enable a loving world. BL: Quantum physics is based on the culture of Hindu science, and that is why so many scientists from India are working in the realm of quantum physics; it’s cultural programming, they are already predisposed to it. This is a really important part of the programming process, and then putting consciousness back in. People have no idea that they’re playing these subconscious programs at every level, for example in the field of health, from cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease – all these are due to stress. In cancer, less than 10% is connected to heredity, and type 2 diabetes is all about lifestyle. So, what’s relevant here? We have been conditioned to believe that the weakness in our health is just part of our biology, and that’s absolutely and totally incorrect. We have become weak because of people programming our biology, taking away our power. A standard, classic example of losing power is when children are sick. What is the message and what is the action? “Oh, you’re sick, you have to go to the doctor.” Mommy’s sick, she goes to the doctor; daddy goes to the doctor when he’s sick. So, what is the programming of the child? The first programming when it comes to health is, “I’m not in charge.” We give power over my health to the doctor. If that’s your programming, 95% of the time you’re operating with the belief that “if the doctor says it’s X then I’m…

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August 2020, Be inspired, VOLUME 5 / 30 Jul 2020

A user’s guide to living – part 8

THE ART OF GRATITUDE DAAJI continues his series on everyday living, introducing the seventh universal principle of the User’s Guide, which is to let go of revenge, resentment and retaliation for any wrongs done, and instead develop the art of gratitude, which includes both being grateful and giving thanks. This seventh principle allows us to transcend reactive, negative thinking when things don’t go our way. As we evolve, it becomes a fantastic tool to help us accept and trust in life, whatever it brings, so that we can soar into higher and higher states of consciousness. Principle 7: If you are feeling wronged by anyone, do not wish for revenge. Instead, think this comes from God and be grateful. Are we wired for revenge? Yes and no. Most of you will know of Roald Dahl’s books for children, the tales from the Mahabharata, and Grimms Fairytales. They are beloved by children and adults alike around the world. And yet they are tales filled with sweet revenge, often based on moral judgment. The bad guys always get their just desserts in the end, but along the way, many people suffer because of revenge. Think of what happens to the greedy selfish children in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! They are all punished in very twisted and fantastical ways. Only Charlie, who is generous and pure, is lauded. A cursory glance at popular literature and media reveals that revenge is generally admired, glorified, and justified. In fact, revenge is a leading theme in most movies and fiction. In every Marvel film, good finally triumphs over evil, and there is always an element of retaliation in the final outcome. In fact, there is a fine line between revenge and the upholding of dharma, and it is all in the intention. Is retaliation done for the…

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August 2020, Taste of life, VOLUME 5 / 30 Jul 2020

Queen of the night

DR. V. RAMAKANTHA is a former Indian Forest Service officer and member of the Green Initiative at the Heartfulness Center at Kanha Shanti Vanam in India. Having spent most of his working life living in forests and jungles, in tune with the natural world, he shares his knowledge about some of the amazing medicinal plants of India, starting with Parijata, the Queen of the Night. Botanical Name: Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L. Family: Oleaceae Common Names: Night Jasmine, Coral Jasmine Parijata is known as Coral Jasmine owing to its snow-white flowers with coral-red tubes. This small ornamental tree, with its heavenly-scented flowers and drooping branches, is found all over the Indian subcontinent, with a special name in every language. It flowers almost the whole year round, and is known as Night Jasmine because the delicate blooms open by evening and falling off soon after, leaving a carpet of flowers in the morning. This gives it the epithet “Queen of the Night.” Mythology Rajanī-hāsa, “the one who forms the night’s smile,” is one of the Sanskrit names for Parijata, and there is a story behind this name. Parijata was a beautiful princess who fell in love with Surya Deva, the Sun God. Initially, Surya Deva, who rode the fiery chariot in the sky from east to west, did not take a fancy to the princess, but over time, he was won over by the single-minded devotion of Parijata, and he left the sky and came down to Earth to spend some loving time with her. Now, the Earth was not a conducive environment for Surya Deva so, after spending a few seasons, he left for his original abode, albeit reluctantly. Heartbroken, princess Parijata tried to follow her lover, but the intensity of the heat from the Sun God burnt her to ashes. Moved…

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