Spiritual Magazine | Wellness Magazine

September 2020, Taste of life, VOLUME 5 / 30 Aug 2020
Threads of life
Something There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but is not always quite the something you were after. —J.R.R. Tolkien Fear It is said that before entering the sea a river trembles with fear. She looks back at the path she has traveled, from the peaks of the mountains, the long winding road crossing forests and villages. And in front of her, she sees an ocean so vast, that to enter there seems nothing more than to disappear forever. But there is no other way. The river cannot go back. Nobody can go back. To go back is impossible in existence. The river needs to take the risk of entering the ocean because only then will fear disappear, because that’s where the river will know it’s not about disappearing into the ocean, but of becoming the ocean. —Kahlil Gibran Rivers By the rivers of Babylon, where we sat down. Yeah, we wept, when we remembered Zion. … Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart, be acceptable in thy sight here tonight. —Boney M. Sorrow Sorrow … It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place. … Maybe you are searching among the branches for what only appears in the roots. —Rumi Threads of life O Servant of God, where do the Ida, Pingala and Sushumna nadis go when the thread of life breaks? One who holds the thread is beyond time, but where does he live? The thread is neither tied nor breaks. Who is the master and who is the servant? Only He knows his secret as He is the Eternal. What…

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Focus, September 2020, VOLUME 5 / 30 Aug 2020
The heartful chef
VIJAY SADHU is a perfectionist. Whether he is standing in the kitchen of one of his many successful restaurants in the United States, competing with Bobby Flay, or simply sitting in meditation, Chef Vijay determinedly puts his heart into everything he does. The result? Great food that is filled with love, hardearned and well-deserved success, and a daily effort to show up as his best possible self. Sitting at a table at Fausto’s, Kanha Shanti Vanam’s Italian Restaurant, he shares more about his passion for cooking and his journey of becoming a chef with MAMATA VENKAT, how finding a Guru and diving into spirituality changed his attitude in the kitchen, and how all of his experiences have shaped his most important role: being a parent. Q: Chef, how did you discover your passion for being in the kitchen? VS: My experience was very different. I was more into dancing when I was growing up, and I was part of a band that my friends used to have. I moved out of home when I was 15, and from that age I never depended on anyone. I was a dropout because of the band. We were performing a show in a hotel in Hyderabad, and the venue was right next to the kitchen. I was smelling the aroma and air of beautiful food, and I said, “Oh my gosh, this is so incredible!” My eldest brother was a chef. My parents were worried about me. They were like, “What is this guy? He doesn’t want to go to school. He doesn’t want to go to college.” I was very careless. I didn’t really worry too much. I said, “Take it as it comes.” I started liking cooking, food, and serving people. There was no grandmother inspiration or mother inspiration. I’m…

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Interview, September 2020, VOLUME 5 / 30 Aug 2020
Service, simplicity & songwriting – part 2
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. In part 2, VANESSA PATEL continues to learn more about him and his mantra “Service, Simplicity & Songwriting.” NP: I really appreciate this idea of “Who are we?” Gandhi is a humane figure we’re connected to in lineage, but there are also Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Mahavir, the prophet Mohammed – all these amazing souls have come and gone, and yet the same suffering exists. No major spiritual revolution has engulfed the planet. So, who are we to judge the small, itty-bitty work that we’re doing, the little song that you might put on YouTube, or the service project that you might have done? Everything, in a sense, is beautiful, don’t get me wrong. But, do what you feel is right in your heart without any burden or weight, because it’s powerful, and so meaningful. And yet, so meaningless. In the honoring of humanity and the honoring of all beings, we do our karma work without holding on to it, without making it feel important or creating any maya around it. That is the spiritual process of a karma yogi, and that’s why spiritual practice is at the core of service. Even this lockdown, I feel, is a blessing, because it has…

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Be inspired, September 2020, VOLUME 5 / 30 Aug 2020
A user’s guide to living – part 9
HAPPINESS, FOOD AND RESOURCES DAAJI continues his series on everyday living, introducing the eighth universal principle of the User’s Guide, which explores our relationship with the material resources we use every day, especially the food we eat and the money we earn. He explains the importance of being happy to eat whatever we receive, and the importance of the integrity by which the food has come to us. For example, has the money used to grow the food and buy the food come from honest and pious earnings? As a starting point, this eighth principle helps us to redefine our relationship with food: how to eat it and how it has come to our table. DAAJI explores the integrity of the process, and many other concepts that bring awareness of our relationship with the material world and nature. When we go deeper into this principle, we delve into the interplay of matter, energy and the Absolute state, and how food can be divinized to a higher vibration so that it can also cure both physical and spiritual ailments. In fact, this principle addresses the network in which our three bodies are enmeshed with the natural world. Our current state This century, we have been forced into a crisis management approach to resources, having woken up to the destruction of our environment and the inequality in the circumstances of various peoples on Earth. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations are an attempt to address these problems, and help us work together to turn the tide. The first three of the 17 SDGs directly address issues around money and food: 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere. 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for…

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It changes everything, September 2020, VOLUME 5 / 30 Aug 2020
The new children
TERRAN DAILY begins a series of articles that offer parenting and teaching tips for today’s children. She sets the scene by explaining the consciousness shift we are undergoing from a mechanistic worldview to a systems worldview, and how as adults this changes the way we nurture our children. Children are different now. People have probably been saying that for centuries, maybe because the adults who say it see things from such a different perspective than when they were children. Or maybe it’s true, that each generation of children is different from the last generation, as humanity evolves. But really, children are different in the last 50 years or so, and may be becoming more and more so, because humanity is not just slowly evolving but has reached a critical juncture where it must either change with lightening speed or largely disappear. If you are a parent or teacher, you will probably know the New Children well. They are gifted in many ways. Have you not been amazed at the words that come from the mouths of very young ones – the wisdom, the confidence, the understanding of things that took older generations much longer to learn? Perhaps you know children who are gifted with psychic or healing abilities, or are exceptionally musically or artistically talented? Or those who can do amazing things on computers with little or no instruction? Have you noticed how connection with nature has become an intense need for many children, as important as eating, sleeping and playing? Maybe you know children who are extremely empathic and compassionate, or others who are warrior spirits with high integrity, fiery determination and no tolerance for hypocrisy or manipulation? These are the New Children, magical in many ways, but often a challenge for their parents and teachers. These New Children…

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THIS MONTH'S EDITION

It changes everything

A love letter to the future – part 1

in It changes everything, September 2020, VOLUME 5

“What we do now echoes in eternity,” said Marcus Aurelius. The transition of the past few months has been stressful but also a time to remove obsolete habits, to rebuild...

The heartful strategist – part 7

in September 2020, Thought in action, VOLUME 5

So far in this series, RAVI VENKATESAN has introduced the Heartful Strategist framework, and explored how our consciousness results in the strategies we adopt, the choices we make, which in...

The heartful chef

in Focus, September 2020, VOLUME 5

VIJAY SADHU is a perfectionist. Whether he is standing in the kitchen of one of his many successful restaurants in the United States, competing with Bobby Flay, or simply sitting...

A user’s guide to living – part 9

in Be inspired, September 2020, VOLUME 5

HAPPINESS, FOOD AND RESOURCES DAAJI continues his series on everyday living, introducing the eighth universal principle of the User’s Guide, which explores our relationship with the material resources we use...

Balance

A user’s guide to living – part 8

Taste of Life

Interview

Service, simplicity & songwriting – part 2

in Interview, September 2020, VOLUME 5

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...