Interview with B. K. S. Iyengar

Yoga: A Path to Wholenes by Corinne Schuman

Many consider B. K. S. Iyengar, now 87, the world's greatest living yoga master. Named one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" by Time magazine in 2004, he is the author of the bestselling yoga book of all time, "Light on Yoga," first published in 1966. Iyengar lives in India, and although he retired from formal teaching in 1984, he still serves as an advisor and an inspiration to students around the world.

What yogic practice allows us to do, he writes in his most recent book, "Light on Life," is to "rediscover a sense of wholeness in your life, where you do not feel like you are constantly trying to fit the broken pieces together." He describes yoga as an inward journey that can lead to happiness and inner peace. Corinne Schuman recently interviewed Mr. Iyengar via email for Beliefnet.

- In "Light on Life" you write of the yogic system as a vehicle to enlightenment. Do you think yoga has something to offer people of any faith, even those who don't believe in and aren't trying to attain enlightenment?

- Yoga has a lot to offer to people, whatever [their faith]. It has no geographical boundary, gender, caste, or religion. As each of us is susceptible to physical problems as well as mental, emotional, and intellectual problems, yoga can help us recover from these wants. It is an art to practice, a science to ponder over, and a philosophy that shows us the ways of right living.

Whether one believes or not, it enlightens one in giving physical health and lightness in mind, emotional stability, and clearness in thinking.

- For many Hindus, yoga is a way of life. For many Westerners, it's often just a great way to stretch, strengthen, and relax. What is lost when yoga is stripped of its spirituality and treated like just another exercise class?

- Life has two facets. One is the physical; the other is spiritual. The physical facet of life is a concrete visible part of the life force recognizable through the organs of action, senses of perception, and the mind. The other facet of life is the self or the soul, which is mercurial and abstract.

Naturally whether one is [Eastern or Western], he or she believes in what they see, and after grasping the visible sheath of the body he or she naturally tries to evolve to reach the source of all movements. [Then they can advance] by refining the intelligence to experience the second part of the facet of life. That is the core of the being, or the self.

I do not think that the essence of yoga which is meant to touch the self is lost in leading one’s life towards the core. For me the body is the concrete visible self, mind is the subtler self, and 'self' is the subtlest of the subtle.

This is the gradation or hierarchy in the field of yoga. Not all practitioners can jump to that highest level. They have to climb, step by step from the physical sphere to reach the spiritual sphere. If it is treated as exercise it is not the fault of yoga but of the practitioners.

- Are there benefits people will get no matter where their minds are?

Those who activate their muscles as they should be activated do feel a sense of benefit in yogic movements. It is possible to derive the benefit of lightness in the limbs of the body or freshness in mind, even if their mind is not in yoga.

In yoga the attention of bringing the mind to focus and correct the wrong movements of the body is very important. Hence without the attention of mind and religiosity in the practice, the benefit of integration of body, mind, and self is not possible. A casual attention brings a casual result, and intense, attentive practice gives intense benefits.

- What are your thoughts on the widespread trend of yoga across America? Is this a good or a bad thing?

- My friend, I am happy that yoga—whether it is in physical form, mental form, or spiritual form—is spreading.

- What do you make of modern iterations and trends like "hot yoga" or "power yoga"? Do you think these are creative innovations or poor substitutes for more a traditional practice?

- I am not here to comment on other yogic names, as yoga students should learn not to criticise but to trace their own weaknesses and correct them.

- For those who are not familiar with your style of yoga teaching, in what ways is it different than other types of practice?

- Yogic principles of any style are the same. As the trunk is one but the branches are many, yoga is one but adaptations may vary. One who takes any style of yoga experiences the same transformation. My style of practice is not different than others except in alignment of the motor nerves with the sensory nerves. [This requires] intellectual reflection and skillful actions without distorting even the minutest part of the anatomical structure of the body, so that the bones, joints, muscles fibres, the energy, the mind, and the intelligence [are in] harmony and the life force touches all the concerned layers of the body.

How can yoga help with specific physical ailments, such as lower back pain?

- Human anatomy is God-made at birth and becomes man-made as he grows. Yogic practice helps one to understand the divine anatomy and not the habituated anatomy formed by one's habits and manners. Each asana [posture] has to be performed correctly in order to [rectify bad habits]. While performing asana one has to judiciously adjust the anatomy without distorting the muscles or joints. If there is anatomical distortion then it is not an asana. That is why my emphasis is on alignment, which is a guide for enlightenment.

- The use of props–pillows, blankets, belts, or blocks—is central to your teachings. Can you describe their function?

- The use of props, pillows, blankets, blocks, or belts is not central to my teachings. As true teachers are rare I developed these props to guide practitioners to get a sense of right direction so that they do not commit mistakes. [They also help] those who are stiff, confused, physically shaky, or who have disabilities and cannot perform independently.

These props do two things at the same time: [they help with] the extension of body and relaxation of the mind—together these are the key to meditation.

As they guide the body in the right direction the feeling of well-being is felt in the body and elation of freshness in mind is experienced. This naturally leads one to experience equipoise and oneness in body, mind and self.

- Could you choose a pose that you feel you’ve learned from and explain the physical, emotional, and spiritual effects you’ve experienced from it?

- It requires pages and pages to write on it. If you read the whole book you can get the answer to your question. This much I say here: the physical strength, mental strength, nervous strength, and intellectual strength should balance evenly by working in concord with all parts of the body, so that the core of the being, the intelligence, and consciousness concurrently and uniformly move with all parts of the body. If the body is the field then the intelligence of the self is the gardener who ploughs the field using asana as instruments.

Dietary Questions from "The Ayurveda Encyclopedia" of Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha

Eat to 1/3 capacity of stomach, drink 1/3 and leave 1/3 for God.
                                                                         (Ashtáñga Hridayam)

Preparation. Eating warm (cooked) foods enlivens the enzymes for easily and quickly digesting food, promoting Apána Váyu, and removing Kapha. However, when food is overcooked, its life force becomes depleted. Further, cooking with too much heavy oil can weaken the digestive fire. Food is best eaten when cooked or steamed rather than uncooked; it is more nutritive and building. Also, persons on spiritual paths, (i.e., practicing sádhaná (meditation) and following a guru or spiritual guide), generally need not follow such drastic rawfood measures. Eating raw food causes roughness among persons on the spiritual path. It is true that raw foods have enzymes to remove toxins, but they do not adequately build the tissues. Fruit is better fresh and uncooked. Microwaves damage the lifeforce. Restaurant food is generally over- or underspiced, and not as good as a home-cooked meal. Cooking over a wood fire is best. Cooking on a gas stove is better than cooking on an electric stove.

Quality. Sattwic: organic, fresh, homegrown, freshpicked, and raw dairy foods are advised. It is not advisable to eat foods that are rotten, under or over cooked, burnt, unripe, over ripe, stale, or junk food. Other harmful foods include those that are canned, artificial, rancid, and prepared with additives, preservatives, or artificial colors. Finally, frozen foods that contain steroids and chemicals (milk and animal products usually have steroids, chemicals, and preservatives in them) should not be eaten.

Quantity. A proper quantity of food is easily digested, promotes longevity without afflicting the doshas, and helps Apána Váyu. Food, when eaten, should fill one-third of the stomach size or capacity. Liquid, when taken after meals, also should fill one-third the stomach size. The time to drink liquids at mealtime varies with the individual. Heavy or obese persons should drink before meals. Underweight or thin persons should drink liquids after meals, and persons of normal weight should drink with their meals. The remaining one-third of space in the stomach helps digestion. The key is moderation and regularity. Váyu doshas need to eat every 3 - 4 hours. Pitta persons generally have good digestive fire. Kapha constitutions need to eat less. Ultimately, the stronger the digestive fire, the more one can eat. (Less food is better with a fever.

When Hungry. Eat only after the previous meal has been digested. Otherwise, the digestive product of the previous meal becomes mixed with the new food, instantly aggravating all the doßhas. The digestive fire/enzymes have to act upon the food for some time in order to digest the food. Then, the body needs time to restore the digestive fire/ enzymes for the future. If a person takes food before digesting the previous meal completely, the food will not digest properly. The undigested food is pushed along the GI tract by normal peristalsis, imbalancing and aggravating the doähas.

Combinations. Combining vegetables with fruit or milk can cause digestive problems. One needs to be careful while eating or choosing food. Different combinations may be harmful. Its not advised to combine sour tastes with milk, eat cold items after ghee, eat equal amounts of ghee and honey, or eat fish products along with dairy (these unhealthy combinations create subtle toxins). Other aggravating foods are too hot and too cold, or too light and too heavy. Stew and curry are more digestible than individual vegetables cooked and eaten separately. Váyu— the fewer combinations the better (they like combining foods, though it is not good for them).  Pitta— does best with combinations      Kapha— is between Váyu and Pitta.

Spices. Delicious tastes improve digestion, strength, senses, complexion, and a healthy weight. They are easily digested and help Apána Váyu. The use of spices stimulates the secretions of digestive enzymes. Over-salted, under-salted, or sour seasoning is to be avoided. Foods that are too tasty increase rajas (aggravating the blood). Foods that are too bland cause tamas (suppressing agni). Váyu—does well with rich and moderately strong spices.  Pitta—needs only mild spices. Kapha—does best with light, strongly spiced foods.

Frame of Mind. A relaxed, calm mind promotes easy assimilation of food. This makes the mind more sattwic. A nervous, anxious, angry, noisy, and rushed mind makes the food harder to digest. Smoky environments are also harmful when eating. Silence is good, but there is no need to be too serious. A prayer of gratitude to the Creator and Supplier before a meal, or offering the food to benefit humanity and the creation of beings is advised. Chew food properly to digest and absorb nutrients.

Time. Daylight hours are the best hours to eat. Váyu—dawn and dusk (smaller, more frequent meals—eat every 3 to 4 hours) Pitta—at noon, largest meal (three meals daily) Kapha—daylight hours, breakfast is skipped make lunch the large meal After meals, it is good to take a short, easy walk. Some say napping while lying on your left side helps digest foods This causes breathing through the right nostril or “solar” breathing, which increases the digestive heat or fire in the system. Other authorities say napping after meals is unwholesome. Activities such as exercise, swimming, or sex are not recommended just before or after meals. Smoking disperses and dulls the agni (digestive) fire.

Season and Geography. Eat foods and herbs according to season (i.e., do not eat cold and dry items in the winter, or hot and pungent items in the summer). Eat foods and herbs according to geography (do not eat hot and dry items in a hot dry desert, or cold and oily items in cold and damp climates).

 Miscellaneous. Do not ingest equal amounts of ghee and honey simultaneously (it becomes a subtle toxin). Do not break with eating habits (e.g., someone who generally eats cold and sweet things should not suddenly start eating hot and pungent items). Herbs, diet, and lifestyle are recommended to balance the doßha, but also should be in harmony with one’s own habits. Intake of substances that aggravate the dosha and state of one’s strength is ill advised. Eat after clearing the bowel and urinary bladder, and only when hungry.

 Drinking (except lassi buttermilk [yogurt and water], and medicated herbal wine to stimulate digestion) is not recommended during the meal, but is all right afterwards.  Drinking alcohol after meals causes hyperacidity unless it is medicated herbal wines for Váyu and Kapha. Astringent or herbal teas are all right after meals, but coffee promotes indigestion, hyperacidity, or ulcers.

Desserts (especially cold) are heavy and sweet, and suppress digestive fire, causing fermentation and indigestion. They are better before meals, as sweets are the first taste to be digested. Having raw foods and salads at the end of the meal is better for digestion. Other authorities say a little sweet after meals promotes digestion.

Age/Gender these characteristics may bring excess to one’s dosha. Therefore, reduction of doshas may need to be considered at different ages, and for different genders. Kapha reduction is predominantly used from birth to age 15, and for women. Pitta reduction is primarily from age 15 to 55 years old, and for men. Váyu reduction occurs at age 55 and over.

 Áma: For 1 or 2 weeks, spices and a light and cleansing diet are followed. Spices are given to digest the undigested food or áma and cleanse the entire body. Sugars, oils, meat, and dairy are avoided. Then, one returns to their dosha diet, staying on the light side until áma is completely gone. Different books offer varying dosha food lists. Ultimately, persons will have to decide whether any specific food is good or aggravating their dosha.

Maha Shivratri: The Night of Shiva

Maha Shivratri, the night of the worship of Lord Shiva, occurs on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna. It falls on a moonless February night, when Hindus offer special prayer to the lord of destruction. Shivratri (Sanskrit 'ratri' = night) is the night when he is said to have performed the Tandava Nritya or the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction. The festival is observed for one day and one night only.

Here're three reasons to celebrate Shivratri:

1. The absolute formless God, Sadashiv appeared in the form of "Lingodbhav Moorti" exactly at midnight on Maha Shivratri. That is why all Shiva devotees keep vigil during the night of Shivratri and do "Shivlingam abhishekham" (coronation of the phallic idol) at midnight.

2. Lord Shiva was married to Devi Parvati on Shivratri. Remember Shiva minus Parvati is pure 'Nirgun Brahman'. With his illusive power, (Maya, Parvati) He becomes the "Sagun Brahman" for the purpose of the pious devotion of his devotees.

3. It is also believed that on Shivratri, Lord Shiva became 'Neelkantham' or the blue-throated by swallowing the deadly poison that came up during the churning of "Kshir Sagar" or the milky ocean. The poison was so deadly that even a drop in His stomach, which represents the universe, would have annihilated the entire world. Hence, He held it in His neck, which turned blue due to the effect of poison. Shivratri is therefore also a day of thanksgiving to the Lord for protecting us from annihilation.

The 14th shloka of Shivmahimna Stotra says: "O three eyed Lord, when the poison came up through the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons, they were all aghast with fear as if the untimely end of all creation was imminent. In your kindness, you drank all the poison that still makes your throat blue. O Lord, even this blue mark does but increase your glory. What is apparently a blemish becomes an ornament in one intent on ridding the world of fear."

Origin of Shivratri:

According to the Puranas, during the great mythical churning of the ocean called Samudra Manthan, a pot of poison emerged from the ocean. The gods and the demons were terrified as it could destroy the entire world. When they ran to Shiva for help, he in order to protect the world, drank the deadly poison but held it in his throat instead of swallowing it. This turned his throat blue, and since then he came to be known as 'Nilkantha', the blue-throated one. Shivratri celebrates this event by which Shiva saved.

A Festival Significant for Women :

Shivratri is considered especially auspicious for women. Married women pray for the well being of their husbands and sons, while unmarried women pray for an ideal husband like Shiva, who is the spouse of Kali, Parvati and Durga. But generally it is believed that anyone who utters the name of Shiva during Shivratri with pure devotion is freed froyom all sins. He or she reaches the abode of Shiva and is liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

Shiva Rituals:

On the day of Shivratri, a three-tiered platform is built around a fire. The topmost plank represents 'swargaloka' (heaven), the middle one 'antarikshaloka' (space) and the bottom one 'bhuloka' (earth). Eleven 'kalash' or urns, are kept on the 'swargaloka' plank symbolizing the 11 manifestations of the 'Rudra' or destructive Shiva. These are decorated with the leaves of 'bilva' or 'bael' (Aegle marmelos) and mango atop a coconut representing the head of Shiva. The uncut shank of the coconut symbolizes his tangled hair and the three spots on the fruit Shiva's three eyes

Bathing the Phallus:

The phallus symbol representing Shiva is called the lingam. It is usually made of granite, soapstone, quartz, marble or metal, and has a 'yoni' or vagina as its base representing the union of organs. Devotees circumambulate the lingam and worship it throughout the night. It is bathed every three hours with the 5 sacred offerings of a cow, called the 'panchagavya' - milk, sour milk, urine, butter and dung. Then the 5 foods of immortality - milk, clarified butter, curd, honey and sugar are placed before the lingam. Datura fruit and flower, though poisonous, are believed to be sacred to Shiva and thus offered to him.

"Om Namah Shivaya!":

All through the day the devotees keep severe fast, chant the sacred Panchakshara mantra "Om Namah Shivaya", make offerings of flowers and incense to the Lord amidst ringing of temple bells. They maintain long vigils during the night, keeping awake to listen to stories, hymns and songs. The fast is broken only the next morning, after the nightlong worship. In Kashmir, the festival is held for 15 days. The 13th day is observed as a day of fast followed by a family feast.

http://hinduism.about.com/od/festivalsholidays/p/mahashivratri.htm

Physical and Mental Properties of the Six Tastes from "The Ayurveda Encyclopedia" of Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha

 The symbols V, P, K stand for Váyu, Pitta, and Kapha. For example, VP- K+ is read the followingway: Váyu and Pitta are reduced; Kapha isincreased.

Sweet VP- K+ (sugar)

   Physical: Strengthens tissues, good for com-plexion, hair, throat, sense organs, ojas, children, and the elderly. It heals broken bones, effects lon-gevity, is an emollient, expectorant, and a mildlaxative. Sweet tastes build the body, increasebreast milk, and are difficult to digest. 

   Mental: Provides contentment and is harmoniz-ing. 

   In Excess: Causes overweight, indigestion, dia-betes, fainting, enlarged glands, and cancer.

Salty V- PK+ (V+ in excess) (table salt, seaweed)

   Physical: Clears channels and pores, improvesdigestion, produces sweat, enhances taste, pen-etrates tissues, causes lacerations, and bursting oftissues and abscesses.  

   Mental: Sedative, calms nerves, stops anxiety 

   In Excess: Increases blood, causes balding, grayhair, wrinkles, thirst, skin diseases, herpes, weak-ens body strength.

Sour V- PK+ (yogurt, wine,pickles)
   Physical: Good for the heart, digestion, relievesburning sensations, satiating, moistens, is easilydigested, oily, dispels gas, nourishes, relieves thirst,aids circulation, aids all tissues except reproduc-tive, maintains acidity.
   Mental: Awakens the mind and senses.
   In Excess: Flabbiness, loss of strength, blind-ness, giddiness, itching irritation, pallor, herpes,swellings, smallpox, thirst, fevers.

Pungent K- P+ (V+ in excess) (hot peppers, chillies, wine)
   Physical: Heals throat diseases, allergic rashes,skin disorders, edema, ulcer swelling; dries oili-ness, fat, and water; promotes hunger, taste, anddigestion; eliminates doßha excesses, breaks uphard masses, expands body channels.  

   Mental: Opens the mind and senses.
   In Excess: Causes thirst, fainting, tremors andpains, depletes reproductive fluid and strength.

Bitter PK- V+ (alum, goldenseal, neem)
    Physical: Heals anorexia, parasites, thirst, skindisorders, fever, nausea, burning sensations,cleanses breast milk and throat, is easily digested,promotes intelligence, and is drying.
    Mental: Clears the senses the emotions.
    In Excess: Depletes tissues.

Astringent PK- V+ (alum, oak, bark)
    Physical: Cleanses blood, stops bleeding, sweat,diarrhea, heals ulcers, is drying, difficult to digest,causes indigestion, tightens tissues, heals prolapse.
    In Excess: Causes gas, thirst, emaciation, lossof virility; obstructs channels, causes constipationand pain in the heart area, inhibits digestion.

Agni, The Lord Of The Fire And Sacrifice

Agni is one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire, the messenger of the gods, the acceptor of sacrifice. Agni is in everyone's hearth; he is the vital spark of life, and so a part of him is in all living things; he is the fire which consumes food in peoples' stomachs, as well as the fire which consumes the offerings to the gods. He is the fire of the sun, in the lightening bolt, and in the smoke column which holds up the heavens. The stars are sparks from his flame. He was so important to the ancient Indians that 200 hymns in the Rig Veda are addressed to him, and eight of its ten books begin with praises dedicated to him.

Agni is closely associated with Indra, and is sometimes said to be his twin brother. Thus Dyaus Pita and Prthivi are named as two of his parents. But he has many more. Sometimes Kasyapa and Aditi are his parents; another time he is the son of a queen who keeps his birth secret from her king. He was born, like Indra, in full power and vigor. Agni is also said to be the son of ten mothers who are all sisters; these are the ten fingers of man. Another story tells that he consumed his parents when he was born, as they could not provide for him; this is symbolic of the fire born when two sticks are rubbed together which quickly are burned up by it. Dawn and Night are his sisters, his wife is Svaha, and he is the father of Karttikeya.

When Agni was born, the gods conspired to establish a sacrifice. And they wanted Agni to became their priest, they wanted him to give this sacrifice. But he was afraid, "When I lift up the sacrifice and sacrificial fire burned down, then will end my life." And he ran and hid from the gods in the waters. But when Agni disappeared, cheered demons, because there wasn't any lights on the Earth, that overlocked the darkness of the night, and the night was given to the demons in undivided ownership. "We must find Agni", - said the gods leaded by Varuna, the lord and ruler of the night and water, and went in search of. A fish issued residence of the god Agni - she was concerned about the heat that spreaded in the water. In anger Agni cursed her - and by the power of his curse since that time the fish become the prey for people who use it as food. Varuna called Agni: "Come back! Manu, who had escaped from the flood, should accomplish the sacrifice to continue the human race on the Earth. Who besides you exalt his sacrifice to the gods? Come, O Agni! "Agni said:" There was sacrificial fires on Earth who died. I ran like a buffalo from the hunter's arrow because of fear of death. I'll be back, if you give me immortality. " The gods said, "You will our immortal priest, O Agni, Brahma is mercy. You will always be revered in rituals and the victim will belong to you. The universe will forever honor you. " Agni returned and along with his brother Soma he becomed the lord of sacrifices.

When Agni is described in anthropomorphic form, he sometimes has two faces which are smeared with butter. He has seven fiery tongues and sharpened, golden teeth. He is red in color, with black eyes and wild, black hair. He has seven arms and three legs, and seven rays of light emanate from his body. He either rides on a ram, or on a chariot, pulled by goats or sometimes parrots.

Agni loves all his worshipers equally, and so is loved in turn by all of them. He visits everyone's hearth, no matter if they are rich or poor. He is the mediator between the gods and mankind. He is a great consumer of Soma. When people use fire, they must face it toward the proper direction for different uses. When facing East, the fire should be used for sacrifices to the gods; when facing South, the fire should be used for sacrifices to the Manes or spirits of the dead; a cooking fire should always face toward the West. The proper offering to Agni, and hence all the gods, is ghee, which is clarified butter. Agni also had the power to impart immortality on mortals, as well as remove all sins at the time of one's death.

Ayurveda healing from "The Ayurveda Encyclopedia" of Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha

    [...] Thus, Áyurveda offers a unique view of the energetics of taste: six tastes (the initial taste, its hot or cold energy, and its after taste), how tastes are related to the doshhas, organs, diseases, and emotions and their special properties. It is a complete science of the mechanics and energies of nutrition. Further, it reveals a causal relationship between food and health; how one feels is greatly decided by what one eats. As discussed earlier, Áyurveda aims to remove the cause of an illness. Rather than ‘curing’ a specific disease, this science addresses the balance of the whole individual. It always considers the three levels of health: body, mind, and external causes. This chapter has examined the Áyurvedic view of how the tastes and energies of foods play a direct role in creating health or illness.  

   Life habits (external) are considered another essential Áyurvedic healing measure when life style changes are gradually adapted. In the original Áyurvedic texts, people are cautioned to gradually change their habits. Starting or stopping habits (even healthy ones) too suddenly, causes shock to the system. In the chapter on the seasons, a subtle seven-day transition period between seasons is noted and utilized to help people avoid disease during the shift. In the spiritual texts, we find similar wisdom about the transition points at sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight. It is suggested that these are points of weakness and that the person is better advised to spend these transitional times in sádhaná (meditation). [Astrologically, the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 16th days, starting with the new and full moon cycle, are also transitional days best suited for sádhaná —or at least reduced activity.]    

    Even for a healing science that suggests vegetarianism to those who are healthy, Áyurveda does not advise giving up meat “cold-turkey “ (no pun intended). Even if a food is bad for one’s constitution (e.g., one’s favorite vegetables or desserts), or good for their doshha, gradual stopping and starting of any life habit is advised. Gentleness is the key. Similarly, if one too radically undertakes a detoxification program, one may experience uncomfortable cleansing, like diarrhea or excess toxins aggravating the body as they come out. Áyurveda has the unique position of offering a healing process that does not have to make one feel bad before feeling better; one needn’t feel punished for changing to a healthier way of life. Thus, healing becomes enjoyable. It makes life better, simpler, more natural, and it enhances spiritual growth as well. It may take some months before a healing effect is felt. Making one or two changes for health, and consistently following them, is better than experimenting here and there without a foundation for growth and healing. The Áyurvedic motto is, “no pain - no pain.” Also, people often look for quick healing— magic medicine that allows them to continue with their bad habits. In fact, illness is a sign (i.e., a teacher) that life is not being lived in balance. Herbs are a food supplement, not magic pills that instantly remove discomfort. Some people may be impatient with this ‘gradual’ lifestyle development, but it is enhanced lifestyle and not a quick, topical cure that Áyurveda achieves.

    Chronic indigestion also needs a slow change. One week of kicharí (rice and beans) may be needed for those with severe conditions. Again, some people may be disinclined to make changes, but the alternatives (i.e., illnesses) are less pleasant. Eventually one finds a food plan that feels comfortable. As discussed earlier, food essence rises through the channel to the brain, so it is crucial that wholesome foods are taken for its sattwic (pure) essence. Organic is also very good. Sattwic essence positively affects the mind. A completely Sattwic mind is the first stage of samádhi (Saibikalpa).

Prakriti-test from "The Ayurveda Encyclopedia" of Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha

    Another Áyurvedic dosha analysis tool is a self-test filled out by the patient. The self-test questions reflect the patient’s total life span (not just the new or current symptoms caused that day, week, or year). Some practitioners offer two different questionnaires, one to learn the prakriti and one to learn about the cause of the illness (vikriti). (During consultation discussions the current illness(vikriti) is discussed.)  
    To find out one’s dosha, questions are asked about the patient’s mind, body, and emotional well being. Below is a sample of the questions that offer insight into the patient’s prakriti (nature).
   [Note: V stands for Váyu, P stands for Pitta, and K stands for Kapha.] After checking the category that best describes one’s total life experiences, the practitioner totals the number for each category V, P, K. The result will decide the dosha. For example, if there are 10-V, 20- P, and 30- K, the person is a Kapha dosha. If the sum is 25-V, 25-P and 10- K, the person is Váyu/Pitta dosha. If the sum is 20-V, 20-P, and 20-K, the person is Tridoshic. Separate totals for the mental and physical questions reveal any differences between thedoshas of the mind and body.

Outer Conditions

Frame:
V- tall or short, thin, bony
P- medium, average development
K- wide, stocky, stout, big, well-developed body

Weight:
V- low, protruding veins and bones, can’t keepweight on; may be heavy but with fluctuating weight and spongy tissues.
P- moderate, muscular; excess red meat and greasyfoods add excess weight.
K- heavy, hard to keep weight off, obesity

Head:
V- thin, long, small, unsteady, stiff necks
P- moderate
K- stocky, large, square-ish, steady

Hair:
V- curly, brown, dry, coarse, sparse, full bodied
 P- straight, blond or reddish, early gray or bald, soft, fine
 K- oily, thick, very wavy, dark brown or black, lustrous, abundant

Forehead:
V- small, wrinkles
P- moderate with folds
K- large and broad

Face:
V- long, thin, wrinkled, small, dull
P- moderate, sharply contoured
K- large, round, fat, pale, softly contoured

Skin:
V- thin, cold, rough, cracked, dry, prominent veins
P- warm, pink, freckles, acne, moles, moist, rashes, easy sunburn, delicate, sensitive
K- thick, cold, smooth, white, soft, moist, oily, edema, fatty

Complexion:
 V- dull, darkish brown, lackluster
 P- flushed, reddish, freckled, glowing, discoloration
 K- pale, whitish

Eyes, Lashes, and Brows:
V- small, dry, brown, unsteady
P- medium, red, thin, green, piercing, light sensitive
K- wide, oily, white, attractive, prominent, cry easily, discharge in eyes, steady but dull focus

Nose:
V- thin, long, and pointed, small, dry, crooked
P- average, sharp, and pointed
K- thick, firm, big, oily
 * Nose, eyes, and complexion will vary depending on racial/cultural characteristics.

Lips:
V- thin, small, dry, unsteady, darkish, biting
P- medium, soft, red
K- large, thick, oily, smooth, firm, attractive

Teeth/Gums: (varies according to hygiene)
V- thin, small, dry, rough, crooked, spaces, buck teeth, receding gums
P- medium, soft pink, gums bleed easily
K- large, white, attractive, thick, soft pink, oily

Neck:
V- thin, long, loose tendons
 P- moderate
K- large, thick, square

Shoulders:
V- small, thin, flat, hunched
P- medium
K- broad, thick, firm

Frame:
V- small, thin bones
P- average
K-large bones

Upper Torso:
V- small, thin, narrow, underdeveloped, doesn’t gain weight easily
P- moderate, wiry
K- large, broad, well developed, overdeveloped, gain weight easily

Arms:
V- small, thin, long, low development, bony el bows
P- moderate, wiry
 K- large, thick, round, well developed, fleshy

Hands:
V- small, narrow, dry, rough, cold, unsteady, fissured, lines, bony knuckles
P- moderate, warm, pink
K- large, thick, cool, firm, oily, square, unlined

Legs:
V- very short or long legs, thin, bony knees, runs and walks a lot, walking coordination is unsteady
P- average
K- large, stocky, can stand for long periods

Thighs:
V- thin, narrow
P- moderate
K- fat, round, well developed, cellulitis

Calves:
V- small, tight, hard
P- soft, loose
K- firm, shapely

Feet:
V- small, thin, rough, long, dry, unsteady, fissured, need to be oiled daily
P- moderate, soft pink, good circulation and complexion
K- large, thick, firm

Joints:
V- small, thin, dry, unsteady, cracking, prominent
P- moderate, loose, soft
K- large, thick, well built

Nails: (mineral absorption)
V- small, thin, dry, rough, cracked, fissured, dark
P- medium, soft, pink
K- large, thick, white, smooth, oily, firm

Sweat/Odor: (vegetarians sweat less than meat eaters do)
V- odorless, scanty
P- strong smell, profuse, hot
K- pleasant smell, moderate when exercising, cold

Feces:
V- scanty, dry, hard, painful, or difficult, gas, constipation
P- abundant, loose, yellowish, burning diarrhea
K- moderate, solid, pale, mucus in stool
* Pitta persons with fevers get constipation. Kaphas may get constipation but stool is not hard.

Urine:
V- scanty, colorless, bubbly, difficult
P- profuse, yellow, red, burning
K- moderate, whitish, milky

Inner Conditions

Appetite/Food:
V- erratic, variable, eats quickly, likes warm, oily food
P- sharp, strong, eats moderately fast, likes cold food
K- low, constant, eats slowly, likes warm, dry food

Taste:
V- sweet, sour, salty, oily, spicy foods
P- sweet, bitter, astringent, raw or steamed, bland foods
K- pungent, bitter astringent, spicy, non oily foods
 * Áma (toxins) in the system causes one not to follow the above natural inclinations.

Circulation:
V- low, variable, palpitations, aggravated by wind, cold, and dryness
P- excellent, warm, aggravated by heat, fire, and sun
K- slow, steady, aggravated by cold and dampness

Life Pace:
V- fast, unsteady, erratic, hyperactive
P- moderate, purposeful, goal-oriented
K- slow, steady, regal

Endurance:
V- low or fluctuating
P- moderate to high, heat intolerance, pushes until one burns out
K- strong, steady, slow starters, moderate performance

Disease Tendency:
V- nervous and immune system diseases, pain, arthritis, mental, bones
P- infections, febrile, blood, inflammatory diseases, yellow or green mucus
K- respiratory diseases, clear or white mucus, edema, and obesity

Disease Resistance:
V- poor, weak immune systems
 P- moderate, infections, bleeding
 K- good, strong immune system, consistent

Medicinal Healing Tendency:
V- quick, low dosages, nervous reactions
P- moderate
K- slow, higher dosages

Pulse: (quality is the most important thing)
V- 80-100, irregular, rapid, snake-like quality
P- 70-80, wiry, frog-like quality
K- 60-70, slow, warm, steady, wide, swan-like quality

Sexual Nature:
V- variable, strong desire but low energy, few children
P- moderate, passionate, domineering, quarrel some
K- constant, low, devoted, many children

Pain: (blocked or wrong movements in the srotas cause the severest pain)
V- severe - sharp, shocking, disruptive, churning, beating, throbbing, tearing, variable, colic, migratory, intermittent
P- moderate - burning, steaming, swelling, bleeding
K- mild - heavy, dull, constant, congestion

Fever:
V- moderate heat, variable, irregular, thirst, anxious, restless
P- highest heat, burning, thirst, sweating, irritable, delirious
K- lowest heat, dull, heavy, constant

Discharges:
V- noises (joint cracking, moaning, sighing), gas
P- blood, bile, yellow or green pus
K- mucus, clear or white pus, salivation, water

Mouth:
V- dry, astringent taste
P- bitter, pungent taste, salivation
K- sweet, salty tastes, excess salivation, discharge of mucus

Throat:
V- dry, rough pain, constricted esophagus
P- sore, inflamed, burning
K- swollen, dilated, edema

Stomach:
V- frequent belching, and/or hiccuping, feeling a sense of constriction, variable appetite, less secretions
P- cancer, ulcers, burning, sour or pungent (eructations) belches or hiccups, excess appetite, heart burns
K- slow digestion, sweet or mucoid belching, nausea, vomiting Liver/ Gall

Bladder:
V- dry, rough, irregular activity, scanty secretions
P- soft, inflamed, abscesses, increased activity, excess bile, gall stones (most liver and gall bladder problems are Pitta related)
K- enlarged, heavy, firm, little bile, lower activity

Intestines:
V- dry, distention, gas, constipation, disorders of peristalsis
P- excess secretions, inflamed, ulcers, abscesses, tumors, cancer, bleeding, perforation, rapid peristalsis
K- coated with mucus, obstructed, edema, tumors, distention, slow peristalsis

Initial Signs of Disease:
V- variable, irregular rapid onset
P- high fevers, moderate onset
K- constant, slow onset from congestion

Mental Traits Sensitivities:
V- noise
P- bright lights
K- strong odors

Voice/Speaking:
V- low, weak, whining, monotone, quick, talkative, rambling, imaginative
P- high, sharp, clear, precise, organized, detailed, orators, moderate, argumentative
K- deep, tonal, singers, slow, silent

Dreams/Sleep:
V- flying, running, fearful, light sleep
P- fighting, in color, moderately deep
K- romantic, water, few, heavy, deep sleep

Mind/Senses:
V- fear, anxiety, apathy, sorrow, delusion, unconsciousness, insomnia, needing heat, strongly dislikes cold things, loss of coordination indecisive
P- violent, delirious, dizzy, fainting, needing cold, poor senses, intoxicated, restlessness, heated head, impatient, hot tempered, critical
K- calm, lethargic, stupor, excessive sleep, slow perception, desires heat, dull, inert

Memory/Learning:
V- quick to learn ideas but also forgets quickly, likes to study many things but becomes unfocused, learns by listening
P- focused, penetrating, discriminating, goal oriented, learns best by reading and with visuals
K- slow to learn but never forgets, learns by association

Nature:
V- adaptable, quick, indecisive
P- penetrating, critical, intelligent
K- slow, steady, dull

Memory:
V- understands ideas quickly, then forgets quickly
P- clear, sharp
K- slow to learn, but once learns, never forgets

Faith:
V- erratic, rebellious, changeable
P- leader, goals, fanatical
K- loyal, constant, conservative

Emotions:
V- anxious, nervous, fearful
P- angry, irritable, argumentative
K- content, calm, sentimental

Habits:
V- travel, culture, humor, eccentric
P- politics, sports, dance, competitive
K- water sports, flowers, cosmetics, business, lazy

Mental Disorders:
V- anxiety attacks, hysteria, trembling
P- rage, tantrums, excess temper
K- depression, sorrow, lethargic

The 13 Natural Urges from "The Ayurveda Encyclopedia" of Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha

Áyurveda, we have already said, emphasizes gentle and natural methods. To highlight this, Áyurveda notes that certain bodily urges are natural and necessary for proper health and functioning of the mind, emotions, and body. The result of suppressing these natural urges creates serious health problems.

13 Natural Urges and the Results of Suppressing Them 

1. Sleep: Insomnia, fatigue, headache, deranges the vital force.

 2. Cry: Eye disease, allergies, light-headedness, heart disease (suppressed emotions). 

3. Sneeze: Headache, facial nerve pain, numbness, weak senses, lung disorders, and respiratory allergies. 

4. Breathe: Coughing, asthma, shallow breath, low vitality, heart disease.

 5. Belch: Cough, hiccups, anorexia, difficult breathing, palpitations. 

6. Yawn: Tremors, numbness, convulsions, insomnia, harms nervous system, deranges Váyu. 

7. Vomit: Nausea, anorexia, edema, anemia, fever, skin diseases, damages Kapha. 

8. Eat: Low appetite and digestion, malabsorption, light-headedness, deranges the whole body and mind, suppresses the agni fire and Pitta.

 9. Drink: Dryness, deafness, fatigue, heart pain, bladder pain, lower backache, headache, damages Kapha and Váyu.

10. Urinate: Kidney and urinary system derangement, difficult or painful urination, bladder pain, lower backache, headache, deranges Váyu and Kapha.

 11. Ejaculate: Weakens the reproductive and urinary systems, penis and testes pain, swollen prostate, difficult urination, cardiac pain, insomnia, malaise, Váyu derangement.

 12. Defecate: Weakens the colon, excretory and digestive srotas, causes constipation, abdominal weakness, abdominal distention, headaches, muscle cramps, deranges Váyu. 

13. Flatulate: Causes constipation, difficult urination, abdominal pain, distention, weakens Váyu, air wastes are absorbed into the bones and marrow, aggravating arthritis and nerves.

 It is for these reasons that Áyurveda advises that people follow nature’s call, living naturally and gently, without straining or forcing

Interview with Robert Svoboda, from Wild Yogi Journal

Dr. Robert E. Svoboda is an American author and ayurvedic doctor who gives lectures and courses around the world, related to the subjects of ayurveda, jyotish, tantra and Eastern religion. He is author of eleven books, including Prakriti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution (1989), and the Aghora trilogy (1986, 1993, 1997) about his mentor, Vimalananda, and the Aghori sect.
Robert Svoboda is the first Westerner ever to graduate from a college of Ayurveda (in 1980) and be licensed to practice Ayurveda in India. Lived in India 1973-80 and 1982-86. Since 1985 he travels the world lecturing, consulting, teaching and writing. He has served as Adjunct Faculty at the Ayurvedic Institute, Albuquerque, NM, and Bastyr University, Kenmore, WA.
This interview was taken on 1st Ayurvedic Conference in Moscow, Russia, where Dr. Svoboda gave lections.

Ilya Zhuravlev: We all read your book about Aghora and how you studied this Tantric or Agamic tradition. As we know, we can divide the Hindu tradition in two parts: the Vedic and Agamic knowledge. They are not opposite to each other, but are parallel ways.

Robert Svoboda: Yes, because after all the Agamas have emerged from the Vedas.

Ilya: I have spent about 12 years in India and talked to many Indian pandits. They usually would say that to follow the Vedic tradition one should be born as a Brahmin or a Hindu; but to follow the Agamic tradition it does not matter where one is from or which is your native culture. One can join this tradition and study within it. As we are seeing now in the West, this traditional Indian knowledge has become more and more popular. But as it’s coming to the West it assumes a new form, because the people who have a western mind are trying to transform it according to their goals and habits. At the same time in India most people have lost interest in this traditional knowledge. They are trying to be more western; they are trying to build a consumption society. So we can see in general that the knowledge is moving from the East to the West. I was in California a few times and I saw a lot of people practicing yoga, at least physical yoga. They were trying to follow a vegetarian diet, to study Ayurveda, sing bhajans and kirtan and so on. So what do you think about the moving of knowledge from the East to the West? What is your opinion about it?

Svoboda: Certainly, it is moving in a superficial form. The clothing is moving, the external version is moving. Whether the internal version is moving or not it is a different matter. It is good to practice Ayurveda, it is good to worship the Gods and Goddesses, it is good to do bhajans. Of course, depending on what your own personal development is, that will determine how, in what way and how well you will be able to connect to that tradition and bring it to life inside yourself. So if you are singing the praises of Krishna, this is always good, but if you actually want to generate a connection between Krishna who lives in the world of archetypes and yourself, you have to be able to connect to the world of archetypes. That is not so easy, and most people in the West have no clue, that that is necessary, because they have no clue of what that means. They see the image, they see Buddha here, but they don’t see what the image represents. Its one thing to see with this physical eyes, it’s another thing to see with this spiritual eye. It’s a way different thing to see with spiritual vision. It is much more difficult, but it also produces a much more accurate picture of what that reality really is. So the problem that I see in the West is that, especially in places like the USA, where I am from, is that a person will obtain this much knowledge and immediately think that they have a large amount of knowledge. And then start to act on the basis of what they think, they posses. Instead of having this much knowledge and realizing that in fact this is only this much knowledge and the amount of where you can go there is where you came is much bigger than where you’ve already gotten. Also I think it’s very important to distinguish between what most people in the West think about knowledge, and what the Indian concept of knowledge is. In the West the knowledge is something that is tangible, is material, it is something that can be transferred easily, can be bought and sold; or as in India real knowledge is something that is a living being – is a Vidya. So when you think of Vidya in just in a general sense it means a body of knowledge, but when you think of Vidya in the traditional sense, it means the embodiment of the potential knowledge that exists in the Universe. So Ayurveda is a bunch of techniques and theories and practices that have been accumulated over many centuries in a way that we think about Ayurveda. But the Ayurvidya is the Shakti that has inspired the development of Ayurveda. It’s inspiring the spread of Ayurveda into many other countries. And has to posses an individual before that individual can actually act as a vehicle for healing energy to move into the world.

Ilya: As we know the traditional way of transmitting knowledge is the Gurukula system – from person to person, and this is the traditional way of studying Ayurveda also. But we see in the modern world most of the knowledge is transmitted by media. You talked in your lecture about the transmission of knowledge by media.

Svoboda: But let’s not call that knowledge, let’s call that information. So yes, information is being transmitted by media. The problem that I had 40 years ago when I was studying Ayurveda is that the amount of information in English was very small, and even the amount of information in other languages which was not so great. So I had to put a lot of attention into obtaining the information. But I was also fortunate enough to be able to assist people, to have people to assist me, to turn that information into knowledge. Nowadays it’s a different problem: there is plenty of information that how do you turn it in into knowledge. So, If you are not so fortunate as to have a person who is going to guide you personally, then you have to do it the old tried and true way which is: you take one piece of information that appears to you that many people have told you is real information, then you have to try it out in yourself. Then you have to have personal experience what we call in Sanskrit “Anubhava”. Then you have to have personal experience, then you know. My favorite proverb is in Italian: “Il moldo migliore per imparare. Espatindo la testa contro il muro”. “The best way to learn something is to beat your head against the wall”. Then you know: that is the wall, this is my head, and when I beat my head, this is the result. Then you are never unclear. Someone else can say: you should go beat your head against the wall. And you can say: “I’ve done that already”. So when you don’t have someone to assist you, then you have to try things out on your own. And you should always try the most basic and simple and less dangerous things out on your own first. And then you have to pay attention to how your organism reacts to taking in new information and converting it into knowledge, and then you start to get a prospective on how the next piece of information can be integrated, and then slowly you can develop some momentum. And then automatically if you can attract the attention of the Ayurvidya or whatever Vidya you are trying to attract, then automatically at some point you will ran into somebody who can teach you more. You may have to be patient, that’s why we call people who are not well and need to get cured, we call them a patient. We don’t call them impatient, because that’s not going to help them. They have to be patient, if they want to get well. A person who wants to learn has to be patient; you will not learn over one weekend, you will not learn over one year, may be 12 years will be not enough, we don’t know. But you have to focus not on how much time it is going to take, because you don’t know, you have to focus on actually making sure that you integrate each piece of information that you are trying to integrate. And then move ahead from there. This is why nowadays when I personally study yoga; I like to study with Mr. Shandor Remete. And I like him because he is a very focused guy. And he is very interested in prana, and he is not interested in trying to show off, at least not any more. It may have been when he was younger, but now he is very focused on simply making sure that people understand how they need to move the prana in their bodies in order to get some benefits. Otherwise there is no use.

Ilya: He studied from different sources: Indian yoga, Chinese martial arts, Kalaripayattu, Bharatnatyam dance, and he is making his own system by mixing this.

Svoboda: He says it’s his own system. He is not trying to pretend that it is not his own system. So let’s remember Yogi T. Krishnamacharya: did he add anything to what he was taught? It’s pretty clear that he added something from English exercises. And for that matter the people that he learnt from, did they add anything from some other traditions possibly? We don’t know, but why not. And where did those things come from? Did they come from nowhere or did they come from people experimenting and possibly being taught by we don’t know who: the Tibetans, the Chinese, a bunch of bears and monkeys – we don’t know. So at least Shandor is saying: “This is my own system”. This is Shadow Yoga. He is not saying: “This has come down from the man in the Himalaya that you won’t be able to meet because he is the way over apparently, only I can meet him”.

Ilya: This is what I mean by how the western mind transforms the tradition. Of course you said that for some people it’s just a fashion, like an ethno fashion, but we are talking about maybe deeper things, for example we were born here in the Western world. Russia is maybe half-East, half-West and we have influence of both cultures here. Because we have interest in this Eastern tradition, it means we have some samskaras, like it’s written in “Bhagavat Gita”: “Who practiced yoga before will be reborn, and will start to feel an interest in these practices, even without a teacher, through his/her own samskaras”. But why were we born here? Maybe, because we were not satisfied completely with the traditional way of transmitting knowledge like it happens in the East. Maybe some things became very rigid in the East. And we got more opportunities, have the opportunity to combine the different sources. Like for example the traditional Indian people they could not study some Chinese things or some shamanism of South America, something like ayawaska. And in our position - we have opportunity to combine this knowledge. What Shandor is also doing, he combines.

Svoboda: Now of course, he’s combining, after studying with Mr. Iyengar for 20 years and studying with Patabhi Jois for 7 years and studying martial arts for many years.

Ilya: And became disappointed …

Svoboda: And became disappointed but after studying very thoroughly. What happens to a lot of people, they don’t study thoroughly. They study for 6 months, for 3 months, for 2 years, they are picking up a little bit; they are not necessarily having it actually be integrated into themselves. Then they add in some other staff and they’re cooking it and add in some chili powder and fry for a little while and try to dish it out to people. So it’s like any other kind of junk food, it may be tasty, but are you going to digest it and what kind of disease will you get from it? That remains to be seen, we will find out. So in my opinion, if you want to change your tradition, first you have to actually be able to tap into the tradition. I spent 6 years at the Ayurvedic College in Puna, being bitten by bed bugs morning, noon and night, in the bed, in the desk, in the cinema hall, in the train etc and having to go through riots and strikes and miserable weather and all kinds of other stuff. And in addition to that had to search out the people who actually had some connection to the tradition and not just the ones who claimed they did. So after being there for many, many years then it was easier for me to know exactly what parts of the tradition still exist, what kind of people had them and how to tap into those traditions. And then having taped into the tradition felt like I was connected enough to add that I had a connection to it and felt like it would guide my own experiments and doing something with that tradition. It was only then that I decided it would be useful to try to express it in a way that was not the same as what I had been taught.

Ilya: Yes. But what to do there are so much people who want to study and it’s not possible now to have Gurukula relationships for everybody.

Svoboda: Let’s go back to the “Bhagavad Gita” … (17:39). What does Krishna say? He says: bhanuman, which means “many, many, many, many” after many, many, many, many births, only then does the person say: “God is the only thing. God is everything. There is nothing but God”. Finding a person like this is extremely very difficult. Rather than try to think that you are going to grab hold of this tradition and you are going to be able to immediately convert it into some form that everybody else can make yourself including you. Start with one thing, implement it into your own life, see what it does and before you start trying to think about teaching other people make sure that you are benefiting from whatever it is you are learning. And make sure that whatever it is you are learning, is actually transforming you in some way. And then ask yourself what really is my dharma? That’s why we talk about dharma, artha, kama and moksha? People nowadays focus a lot on artha and kama. So, it’s fine, it’s good to focus on artha and kama, but in the context of dharma, that’s why they put dharma first, otherwise they‘d put dharma somewhere else. The point is you should be in the position to know what your personal dharma is. Is it your dharma to go out and try to tell people that this is the new way to do these things? Or is it not your dharma? Are you sure you are in the position to know that? And it is not always easy to know. If it was easy, it would all have been figured out a long time ago. It is not easy, in fact just because somebody in, let’s say in India, belongs to a certain tradition does not mean they are enlightened. In the context of the tradition may be very good, but maybe they are using slave labor or seducing all the female students or doing something else. So you can easily have a situation when somebody is very much connected to the tradition but the rest of their life is a calamity. And I’ve seen this with many students of Mr. Iyengar, for example, and I’ve studied with many of his teachers and I took classes at his Institute for more than once, for month at a time. And a lot of the people who claimed to be his style teachers have picked up a lot of the information that he provides but they also picked up his anger, and how is that benefiting them or anyone else?

Ilya: This is a part of his ahamkara, his personality.

Svoboda: Yes. This is part of his ahamkara. Just because you have a teacher it does not mean that you can take everything that the teacher does, without using your discernment, your viveka, your buddhi. So you don’t want to pick up all the parts of the ahamkara that are not good, which is why Vimalananda said again and again to me: “Just because I say something, do not think I am the Bible or the Veda or the Koran or something, it could be that I am saying it out of one of my own limitations”. Look out it carefully, evaluate it, if you need to restate it for yourself, take out the part that is not true for you, that is not real for you and only keep the part that is real. But of course, you have to be in the position to know what is real, what is not real and not simply say: “Oh, this does not apply to me, because Guruji says: “I can decide what applies to me”.

Ilya: A lot of my friends asked me: “If you meet Robert Svoboda, ask him was Vimalananda a real personality or was the “Aghora” series of books maybe half fiction or something like this. “

Svoboda: Whatever he told me and he was a real personality, he lived in Bombay and yes, I know his family and yes I know many people who know him, Doctor Vasad Lad knew him well, my friend Doctor Fred Smith who teaches at the University of Iowa knew him well. So he was very much a real person, he was not a combination. His Guru Maharaj I knew well. You can see his Guru, his samadhi (burial place) is near Vishakhapatnam in India.

Ilya: It was when your “Aghora” series was translated to Russian it became extremely popular like the Carlos Castaneda books. And some people even compare the Aghora series to the Castaneda books but in an Indian background. First you became very famous among Russian readers through the “Aghora” series and then when the books on Ayurveda and Jyotish were translated also.

Svoboda: I’ve read almost all the Carlos Castaneda books. And many of them I liked quite bit. Whether or not Don Juan and Don Henaro were real, many of the things they said were real. So I’m interested in that, maybe they were real, maybe they were not real. I did not meet them, so it does not matter to me. What matters is is what they said that something feels true, not only here, but down here. Human beings have only been using rational thought for 10 thousand – 20 thousand years, emotional thought probably for quiet a while longer but intuitive thought since the last several million years.

Ilya: You mean the Manipura.

Svoboda: I mean the Manipura. What really has made people humans, what has made humans human is the fire. That’s why the first word in the Veda is “Agni”. It was the fire which allowed us to have many different food sources, allowed us to stay awake at night, kept the wild animals away and acted as something that suddenly provided us with a totally different perspective on things. Because normally in city you don’t see fire, you can walk out to the Moscow River: there is the water, there is the earth, there is the air, there is the space – but we don’t see the fire. How often do you see fire? Very rarely. You see the sun, but the sun is not fire. And normally when you see fire it’s not good, it’s burning things down. So the ability to harness fire was the major turning point other than standing upright, but that had happened many millions year ago. Whether it was deliberate or not, we don’t know. But we know that harnessing fire was deliberate. What has led to where we are now is fire, and where is the fire focused in the body?

Ilya: In Manipura. And also I have a question. I think you know about Past Life Regression practice. I have studied in the Michael Newton method, do you know about it?

Svoboda: I’ve done one Life Between Lives session. I thought what I got was very helpful and useful. And I know other people who have done more than one and still find it useful.

Ilya: We can read in Yoga Sutras couple of times that during meditation a yogi could see his/her past lives but Patanjali does not give any techniques how to get it. And this technique which is very helpful, I believe is very helpful for spiritual growth, comes from the Western psychotherapists. In my opinion, it’s like a meeting point of two cultures. And also there are Western people who have deep interest in dharma and spiritual knowledge. It means they have some samskaras maybe they were in this Eastern culture before in their past life. So do you find it helpful also?

Svoboda: Yes. And I find Chinese medicine helpful and I think that Ayurveda would be benefited; I think learning acupuncture would be a good thing for many Ayurvedic doctors, because after all it’s a way of using the prana in the body. And personally I am very fond of ayawaska, me personally. And I think it is a very fine thing, except that of course like anything else it can be misused. If you have some shaman who is more interested in doing black magic, then that person can cause all kinds of troubles. Many of the shamans in South America do nothing all day long except protect themselves from other shamans or attack other shamans, what is the benefit there?

Ilya: The same thing we can find about vamachara tantrics in India.

Svoboda: Yes, there is black magic all over India; there is a black magic all over Malaysia. Everywhere you look, you get to a place and you are able to do something that is different than what the average human does, a small number of people will use it for good, and the rest of the people will either destroy themselves with it or kill other people with it. It’s the way it’s always been.

Ilya: You talked about the ahamkara diseases. I’ve read in your book that some terminal diseases like cancer, for example, are diseases of ahamkara. We also know that a lot of spiritual teachers in India, like Ramana Maharshi, for example, or Ramakrishna or Swami Sivananda – they died not from old age, they died from such terminal diseases. Maybe Sivananda not from cancer but Ramana Maharshi did. I’ve heard two versions or explanations: some people explain that they took bad karma from their disciples; some people explain that they became so powerful in Atma Gyan, so they stopped identifying with their physical bodies and the physical bodies left, like a horse without a rider. So what do you think and what does Ayurveda prescribe on how to keep the balance between Atma Gyan and a healthy ahamkara?

Svoboda: In the case of Ramakrishna he deliberately on one or two occasions took some karmas from one of his disciples. Vimalananda used to say that he got throat cancer, because he let out too many secrets that God did not necessarily want to let out. Ramana Maharshi, of course, people would say: “You’ve got cancer. And he would say: “Yes, only the body, why you make such a big noise about it?” Certainly it’s quite physical for people of this level to take on the karmas of their disciples or other people. That certainly Vimalananda would do it periodically. But the fact is that the more you are connected to that world, the less interest you have in this world. There is no good answer for how to maintain balance. What I have found is even if you try to remain completely balanced on the border between that world and this world there will be a preference in one direction or another, and may be a very small preference. And different people have different preferences. As it has happened in my life, it started out happening this way before I understood what happened. My preferences are slightly in this direction. Because I have to be responsible for a lot of different people, so I have to be able to function in this world at a moment’s notice. Other people that I know, who are very close to this are slightly in that direction; and they have to put a lot of energy into maintaining their harmony and balance without simply letting go and becoming completely disconnected. So you have to find somewhere near that point but inevitably either you are going to be slightly above or slightly below. There is going to be a slight preference for the one or the other. It’s very rare to find people who are exactly right on top of the knife edge and can stay there indefinitely. If you can do it, that’s great. It’s almost always there is a slight preference.

Ilya: Here is my friend from Greece; she came from Greece just to see you. She has also a few questions.

Angelina: Yesterday you said that among others the Ganas represent all disembodied beings. Would worshiping Ganapati be an ideal remedy for the condition known as Pitru Dosha and Jyotish? What would be the correct method of doing that? Can you give us some specific guidelines?

Svoboda: Ganapati would be good for any non physical personalities including Pitru Dosha, but really for Pitru Dosha it’s better to do what they call Tarpana. In my Prakriti book I have a small description of Tarpana.
And it just so happens that the time for doing that this year is starting. So the Ganesh festival is starting on Monday and will go for ten days, and there will be a full moon. And then the two weeks between the full moon and the new moon it’s the time to do ancestor worship. And it changes of course every year. But this year it’s that two weeks. So ideally you have some black sesame seeds, milk and water.

Ilya: Also I have a question about Rasayanas and this part of Ayurvedic knowledge. We know that Rasayanas are not merely medicines. They are more advanced substances that increase the lifespan and also maybe develop some spiritual capacities. What do you think about it?

Svoboda: It’s to increase Rasa, and remember Rasa can mean taste, Rasa can mean water, Rasa can mean any of the tissues, Rasa is emotion, but Rasa is also aesthetic taste, like the sort of flavor that you get from music or from art. So Rasayana in its most advanced version is to connect to the flavor that God is experiencing and to become part of that flavor and to taste that flavor everywhere in your existence.

Ilya: In the Patanjali Yoga Sutras we read that you can get Samadhi through various ways: mantras, meditation (dhyan) and aushadi – some substances, or some herbs. Nobody knows exactly what Patangali means. Maybe he means Rasayana or maybe some other special thing. What do you think about it?

Svoboda: People used to ask Vimalananda: “Where we can find the soma that’s mentioned in the Veda?” And he used to say that soma you ‘re never going to find, because you have only located if you are already immortal. Because it’s immortal already. So forget it. What you can do though is you can find a nididrabya, which means something that is not soma but will have a similar effect inside you. And then you can use that, it will not transform you the way that soma does, so completely and totally, but if you work with that it will progressively transform you as much as you can be transformed. For him he used Whiskey, Scotch Whiskey, for me I like very much Ayawaska, taken with some other things to alter the effect slightly. Different people have different things that they use. Some people will use cannabis; some people will use other substances. Even arsenic trisulfide is a very fine potential Rasayana but of course it’s very poisonous. Mercury is a very good Rasayana, it’s also very poisonous. You have to be very careful when you start using things that are very strong and very poisonous so that you only get the good effect and not the bad effect. But it has to be a personalized thing, because the real soma you and I – as human beings, we are not going to locate.

Ilya: Do you know about Raseshvara Sampradaya? It’s a school of the Shaiva tradition mentioned by the American born guru Shivaya Subramuniyaswami in his book.

Svoboda: I’ve heard of it.

Ilya: I’ve heard also, but nobody knows exactly. I tried to research for many years.

Svoboda: So again. If these people want to locate you for some reason, they will. And they will do that at the time they are in the mood to do that.

Ilya: I asked some very high Shaiva Guru in Karnataka, one of the Head of Lingayat or Virashava sampradaya, who has a big ashram in Varanasi also. And he also said that they are living somewhere in Karnataka. It is described in Subramuniyaswami book that there is a Shaiva school which is making these Rasayanas and this is their main sadhana – to prepare Rasayana and to use them for spiritual purposes. India is still mysterious.

Svoboda: Very mysterious. And the people that are really doing these things they don’t want to be bothered. So they are not going to let you find them. We would take the train from Bombay to Puna with Vimalananda and he would point over there and he would say: ”Look in there, there is a Siddha Ashram”. But you could be standing on top of them and you would not see it, because the door to it, it’s not like that door, it’s the door that requires you to move into a different dimension. And unless you can get into that dimension at the moment the door is open you are never going to see it. You could be existing in the same space with them and it would do you not good. So which is why he used to say: “You have to bide your time. It’s very difficult to bide you time, but you have to bide your time and at the moment if you’re patient enough then you will get some result”. But we don’t know how long that will take.

Ilya: Yes, just a few lifetimes.

Svoboda: That’s what he said: “If it’s important then you find a way, if it’s not important then go to something else”.

Ilya: Through Past Life Regression it’s become easy to accept that you can have a few lifetimes. May be also one question about raw food and raw diet, which has become very popular among Western yogis now. What is your opinion about it? According to traditional Ayurveda it’s not good, it increases too much Vata. But I saw there are a lot of people who have been using it for many years, 20-30 and they feel well.

Svoboda: The thing is that one or two people, or ten people can use it for 20 or 30 years, most of the people that I see they do it at the most 6-7 years and then their bodies are not getting enough nourishment and either they continue and get sick or they go back to eating something else. Vimalananda had me living on only fruit and dairy products for 6 years. I would have continued for longer but he send me back to the US and it was very cold where I was and I could not get warm. But I still often, will just live on dairy or on fruit only for a few days or a few weeks. And I think it’s very good provided that your organism gets what it requires. I mean that’s part of this thing of being able to maintain. You have to maintain your organism doing whatever it is that you need to do sufficient so that it will be stable enough that you can maintain your connection and amplify your connection, without it causing you to become completely Vata aggravated. Cause then the connection will be broken or your body will die or there won’t be consistency and you won’t be able to sustain.

Ilya: But most of the people who feel well they practice yoga very hard.

Svoboda: Because there is no alternative. If you want to do that, if you want to extract the Prana from there, you have to invest many hours a day doing that. I don’t have the luxury of that I have a lot of people around the world that I have to deal with. So I’m interested in addressing as many as my own rnanubandhanas makes possible, so I don’t have to do it later, why not doing it now, because it’s very easy to do it now. The airplanes will take you everywhere. Only since the last 50 years that we’ve been able to achieve easy moving from place to place.

Angelina: In “Aghora” you mentioned that Tantra purifies the elements within one. What effect would this purification have on the Prana and on the Doshas? I mean can you practice Tantra to get well or to balance your Doshas?

Svoboda: You can. What’s important in Tantra is you have a clear idea of what result you want to get. Tantra is all about deciding what you want to achieve and achieving it. It may have nothing to do with becoming enlightened; it may have something to do with “I want to become well and I can’t figure it out how to do it otherwise, so I’m going to invoke Lord Shiva and I’m going to have him transform me somehow”. Then you figure out what kind procedure you want to do and you move ahead and you do it. So often what happens is people start to purify the elements and they start to feel that they are becoming free from the limitations of the material world and then they get very excited and proceed directly in that direction and then their bodies fall apart. But they don’t care. Some people start to do that and their bodies start to fall apart and they do not care and then that’s a problem. So again, as Vimalananda said: “It’s better to take things slowly”. So you can educate your body as to how it’s going to have to live with this connection to more intense energy. He also used to say: “When you are walking on the road, remember that the road never gets tired, you will get tired but the road is never tired, the road is there, the road will always be there, if you want to come walk on it, the road is happy, if you don’t walk on it, the road is still happy. The road did not ask you to walk on it, the road did not ask you to try to stand on your hands while you were walking on the road. Road it’s just there. It’s an impersonal force.” So, the elements are impersonal, they don’t dislike you, but they also don’t necessarily like you. If you stick your finger into the electric socket, the electricity does not want to kill you, on the other hand it will kill you. Because it’s: “Sorry that you put your hand in there but; its job is to move a bunch of electrons and you happen to be there and you stuck your finger in there, so sorry, but now you’re dead”. So it’s the same way with the 5 elements. You should realize that they are impersonal forces, and if you want them to work with you, you have to respect them.

I am very fond of the volcano on Hawaii. But A few years ago I forgot and ended up offering Her quite a bit of blood actually. It was good; I mean She is a blood drinking Goddess after all. But still if you forget that She is who She is then you will remove. So it’s the same thing with the 5 elements which is why in India they have gone to such an effort to personify so many things, to personify Ganesh, who is the personification of the Earth element, and to personify Agni in various forms like Narasimha or like the God Agni rides around on a ram or whatever. And so that in fact you can interact with them in a way that is familiar to you as a human and have them relate to you in a little more reasonable way than if you just try relating to them as cosmic powers.

Angelina: So Tantra will not necessarily give you health?

Svoboda: No, not at all. Very often you will see people who are very good at Tantra whose health is terrible. They’ve ignored their bodies entirely and focused only on achieving what they decided they wanted to achieve.

Ilya: And also coming back to the question of ahamkara diseases: of course on a physical level we can talk about the imbalances of all three Doshas, for example in case of cancer. But we should start from curing ahamkara. We can talk also about such things as depression, for example, it’s also ahamkara disease. What are the traditional methods to cure the Ahamkara?

Svoboda: The really traditional way is to … because the job of ahamkara is to identify. Ahamkara says: “My name is John and I live in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski”. The nature of ahamkara and Kundalini for that matter is to identify with things. It identifies with your name and with your address and what you do and what you like to wear, how much you like to drink, what you like to eat. And all these things you collect together and say:”This is who I am”. And this is why in traditional India they have given people Gods and Goddesses, Devatas, Devis so you will focus on them and little by little your own personality will become dissolved and their personalities will become present in you more and more until eventually your own personality will be very small and that personality will be much bigger. And of course the problem is that it happens frequently, as frequently as it ever happens. In this process while you are replacing your personality with that personality, your personality may be resistant and it may say: “Ah, now I have become so and so”. So then you are talking instead of you are pretending that the deity is talking when actually it’s just you talking. Then you get into big trouble.

Ilya: You talk about developing bhakti?

Svoboda: And that’s why Vimalananda always use to say: “Don’t try to become too big, much better to bow down”. Instead of saying: “I have become Shiva, the Entire Universe, first I am the deputy of Shiva and I am attempting to eliminate any of my own will power and simply allowing the pattern of reality that Shiva represents to work through me”.

Ilya: It’s called divya chikitsa in Ayurveda?

Svoboda: This is part of divya chikitsa.

Ilya: This is the problem for Western mind, because to accept panchakarma, different Ayurvedic medicines it’s easy, but if you were born in left brain culture, rationalistic, it’s not easy to accept spirituality.

Svoboda: What happens in the Russian Orthodox Church? Do you have icons? Are you focusing on the icons? Are you bowing down to Jesus? How is this different?

Ilya: Orthodox people do it, but I don’t know about yogic community, they have no well connection with Christianity.

Svoboda: You must have read “The way of a Pilgrim” and “The Pilgrim continues his way” about “starets” (Russian term for old ascetic monk) . And the “Filokalia” which I believe is Greek and was written by a bunch of monks many, many years ago. And it describes exactly. And if you want more modern there was a guy who was called… he went by the title Daskalos which apparently means “teacher” but his real name is Spiros Sati or something like that and he lived in Cyprus. The guy that I know, who is a Cypriot, but who lives in the US and met him and wrote a lot of books about him and his work. The first one is called “The Magus of Strovolos” and was written by Kyriacos Markides. And it talks about this very similar to what is going on in Indian tradition in Greece or by the way in Cyprus and apparently may be in Athos.

Ilya: We can say that the main medicine is the devotion?

Svoboda: According to Vimalananda that was the best medicine of all, the best rasa.

About Spirulina (Arthrospira plantesis)

Spirulina is a simple one-celled microscopic blue-green algae with the scientific name Arthrospira platensis. Under a microscope, spirulina appears as long, thin, blue-green spiral threads. The odor and taste of spirulina is similar to seaweed.

Spirulina can be found in many freshwater environments, including ponds, lakes, and rivers. It thrives best under pesticide-free conditions with plenty of sunlight and moderate temperature levels, but it is also highly adaptable, surviving even in extreme conditions. More than 25,000 species of algae live everywhere - in water, in soils, on rocks, on plants. They range in size from a single cell to giant kelp over 150 feet long. Macroalgae are large like seaweeds. Microalgae are microscopic. Ocean microalgae, called phytoplankton, are the base of the ocean food web. Spirulina is often deemed the most nutritionally complete of all food supplements, containing a rich supply of many important nutrients, including protein, complex carbohydrates, iron, and vitamins A, K, and B complex. It also has a high supply of carotenoids such as beta carotene and yellow xanthophylls which have antioxidant properties. It is also rich in chlorophyll, fatty and nucleic acids, and lipids. Thus, spirulina has countless uses as a supplement for maintaining good health and for preventing diseases.

Spirulina is the richest beta carotene food, with a full spectrum of ten mixed carotenoids. About half are orange carotenes: alpha, beta and gamma and half are yellow xanthophylls. They work synergistically at different sites in our body to enhance antioxidant protection. Twenty years of research proves eating beta carotene rich fruits and vegetables gives us real anti-cancer protection. Synthetic beta carotene has not always shown these benefits. Research in Israel showed natural beta carotene from algae was far more effective. Natural is better assimilated and contains the key 9-cis isomer, lacking in synthetic. As suspected, natural carotenoids in algae and vegetables have the most antioxidant and anti-cancer power.

Spirulina is an ideal anti-aging food; concentrated nutrient value, easily digested and loaded with antioxidants. Beta carotene is good for healthy eyes and vision. Spirulina beta carotene is ten times more concentrated than carrots.

Iron is essential to build a strong system, yet is the most common mineral deficiency. Spirulina is rich in iron, magnesium and trace minerals, and is easier to absorb than iron supplements.

Spirulina is the highest source of B-12, essential for healthy nerves and tissue, especially for vegetarians. Having said that, there does seem to be lots of evidence that the Vit B12 is in a slightly different form than that which can easily be absorbed by Humans, so it is debatable how much good this B12 will do you. It seems to be only the B12 there is this absorption issue with though, and the rest of the nutrients do seem to be bio-actively available to the body.

Healthy Dieting with Spirulina

About 60% of spirulina’s dry weight is protein, which is essential for growth and cell regeneration. It is a good replacement for fatty and cholesterol-rich meat and dairy products in one’s diet. Every 10 grams of spirulina can supply up to 70% of the minimum daily requirements for iron, and about three to four times of minimum daily requirements for vitamins A (in the form of beta carotene), B complex, D,and K. By itself, it does not contain vitamin C, but it helps maintain this vitamin’s potency.

Spirulina is rich in gamma-linolenic acid or GLA, a compound found in breast milk that helps develop healthier babies. Moreover, with its high digestibility, spirulina has been proven to fight malnutrition in impoverished communities by helping the body absorb nutrients when it has lost its ability to absorb normal forms of food.

Another health benefit of spirulina is that it stimulates beneficial flora like lactobacillus and bifidobacteria in your digestive tract to promote healthy digestion and proper bowel function. It acts as a natural cleanser by eliminating mercury and other deadly toxins commonly ingested by the body.

Spirulina also increases stamina and immunity levels in athletes, and its high protein content helps build muscle mass. At the same time, it can curb hunger that may develop during the most demanding training routines. Thus, it indirectly acts as an effective way to maintain an athlete’s ideal body weight.

The Disease Fighter

As well as beta carotene, Spirulina contains other nutrients such as iron, manganese, zinc, copper, selenium, and chromium. These nutrients help fight free radicals, cell-damaging molecules absorbed by the body through pollution, poor diet, injury, or stress. By removing free radicals, the nutrients help the immune system fight cancer and cellular degeneration. In some findings, spirulina has helped reduce oral cancer tumors in laboratory rats, and may thus provide a big medical breakthrough in cancer treatment.

Spirulina’s ability to reduce the bad cholesterol LDL in the body helps prevent the onset of cardiovascular diseases, such as hardening of the arteries and strokes. It also helps lower blood pressure. While not clinically proven, spirulina may also protect against allergic reactions and liver infection.

Research confirms Spirulina promotes digestion and bowel function. It suppresses bad bacteria like e-coli and Candida yeast and stimulates beneficial flora like lactobacillus and bifidobacteria. Healthy flora is the foundation of good health and it increases absorption of nutrients from the foods we eat, and helps protect against infection. Spirulina builds healthy lactobacillus, aiding assimilation and elimination and relieving constipation.

Removing Toxins

In 1994, a Russian Patent was awarded for spirulina as a medical food to reduce allergic reactions from radiation sickness. 270 Children of Chernobyl consuming 5 grams a day for 45 days (donated by Earthrise Farms), lowered radionucleides by 50%, and normalized allergic sensitivities. Today we are subject to an onslaught of toxic chemicals in our air, water, food and drugs. Our bodies need to continually eliminate these accumulated toxins. Spirulina has a completely unique combination of phytonutrients - including chlorophyll, phycocyanin and polysaccharides, that can help cleanse our bodies.

How to Take Spirulina

Spirulina is now commercially available in tablet or powder form. Some health tonics contain spirulina as part of their ingredients. A simple daily regimen for spirulina involves taking a 500 mg tablet four to six times daily.

Sources for these forms of spirulina are normally laboratory-grown. Harvesting spirulina from more natural settings has posed a challenge because of possible contamination from toxic substances that cannot be removed from the product. Hopefully, more eco-friendly and safer ways to cultivate the algae can eventually be developed and perfected.

Uses

AIDS/HIV, arthritis, athletic nutrition, enhancing natural cleansing and detoxification, supporting cardiovascular function and healthy cholesterol, strengthening the immune system, improving gastrointestinal and digestive health, reducing cancer risks with antioxidant protection, general and long term health.

Precautions and Contraindications

While it has a very high nutritional value, spirulina may also cause some side effects. Some individuals may suffer from allergic reactions to this algae, including rashes, hives, and difficulty breathing. Some commercial versions of spirulina supplements may have also been contaminated with toxic substances during production. It is therefore absolutely critical to buy spirulina only from reputable sources.

People with the rare metabolic condition phenylketonuria (PKU) are not able to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine, and therefore should avoid taking spirulina. Likewise, people with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, or lupus should not take spirulina, as it could stimulate the immune system and worsen the condition. Spirulina may also counteract the effectiveness of certain medicines, such as prednisone, which are commonly used for treating asthma and other inflammatory diseases.

While spirulina may appear safe at large doses, healthy adults should seek a doctor’s advice for the right dosage. Children and pregnant or nursing women should also consult a doctor before taking spirulina.