Yog

We have been overstuffed with too much information and pre-conceived notions. We have stopped listening to our own body and that, I suspect, is the intention of the booming Health Industry. 'You are too ignorant to know how you are. Leave that to the doctors, to the pathological reports to decide.' Once you have done all your checkups the industry can throw figures at you to demonstrate how unhealthy you are and then swallow you into their own machinery. Finally your own mind will be convinced and it will take up the noble responsibility of persuading the body that it is sick. The body would have no choice but to comply and the illness, which was a mere number on a piece of paper, would become real.

Listen to the body. It is more intelligent than the mind. Because the mind has been conditioned by customs, beliefs, social norms and scientific doctrines besides being brainwashed by existing systems. The body is more natural, more raw and more a consequence of a long evolution.

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We allow our minds to drift with the tide. We should instead train it to connect more to the body. Let us start by giving up the idea that there should be general lifestyle laws for all. Nature is a game of abundant diversity. Each one of us is physically, mentally, intellectually and emotionally so different from each other that fixing 'normal' generalised parameters for heartbeats, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, uric acid, thyroid, etc seem more like a conspiracy than life-science.

Like in all relationships we should love our body without being obsessed about it. Obsession and attachments spoil relationships and the same is true for the body. A restrained distance gives us understanding and perspective. Our taste buds may nag us for fast food but the basic character of our body could well be averse to it. We should be able to listen to the deeper voices within.

Each human body is unique and different from the other. My body may need to take more glasses of water per day than yours. A man who toils in the fields the whole day may require more amounts of food than the one who spends hours in front of a computer screen. And the human body is not exclusive. Its character is deeply connected with the individuality of a person, his mental tendencies and intellectual faculties. Human nature has been classified into three attributes, Satwik or spiritual, Rajasik or ideal and Tamasik or physical. Habits may vary according to these attributes. Nature invites each one to find his own rhythm and to flow by it.

My diet, sleeping schedules and bathing habits may be completely different from yours but that is not a problem as long as our respective paths take us to the realisation of our own potential.

Enjoy without indulgence. Free yourself from the burden of worries. Surrender your will to the divine and live fully with the moment. Tune your lifestyle to the purpose that you have set for yourself. A happy mind will host a healthy body.

'You must be vegetarians,' visitors enquire. 'Yes, we are strict vegetarians on most days. But once in a while we are profoundly non-vegetarians. On rare occasions we may also be vegans. But we have no problem with being non-vegans.'

Gurumaharaj's formula was simple, 'Eat whatever that suits you, whatever that you can digest effortlessly, whatever that will not hamper your meditation and creativity.' There are, he pointed out, vegetarian bodies and non-vegetarian bodies. Fried, fermented, fatty and spicy vegetarian food can be like poison. Using turmeric for fish and yoghurt for meat will neutralise the side-effects of animal protein. Cooking and eating are not merely physical activities, they are also mental engagements. Food has to be enjoyed for us to be properly nourished. Too often have we seen the dull depressed faces of ashramites who take the same bland and insipid food for months without end. They often grumble and quarrel over petty matters, they become cynical and develop chronic ailments. When we deny ourselves the taste of life we start to suppress our desires. And sooner or later these suppressions find outlets through body pain and disease.

IMPRESSIONS

Visitors fail to spot any 'religion' in Maramia and that, we feel, is an achievement. No wake up bells at dawn for chantings and prayers. No ritualistic routines and fixed meal times in the kitchen. No marks on the forehead and no beads between fingers. No visiting hours and pre-conceived programmes. And yet there are stimulating discussions and inspired creativity, unhurried activities and cheerful service, a passion for meditation and a commitment to the Path. No order is imposed and yet there is no sign of disorder. Time is not our Master and yet we are in rhythm. We do not announce silence and yet there is a quiet, natural tranquility. We do not move around like religious robots but there is a cheerful and introspective grace in our daily activities. We do chant and pray and sing but only when we are in the mood.

Our individualities are nurtured by natural principles, like the movement of the sun, the cyclical rhythm of the seasons, the tides in the river or the blossoming and withering of plants, the moods of our breathing and our appetite for experiences. We tune into these principles with our daily habits to harmonise our inner nature with Nature around us, to liberate the micro towards the immensity of the macro. A morning swim in the Ganges, light meals in the afternoons, exciting sports in the evening, once in a while a stimulating film in the night and lots of contemplation and studies, reflective writings and songs, sharing and absorbing.

We advocate yogic healing and natural therapies both for ourselves and for others. We encourage asanas and pranayama, auto-urine treatments and body therapies, homeopathy and herbal cures and various types of purification techniques to clean the toxins in the body. We suggest little changes in diet and try to understand our relationship with the sun and the weather, the strength of restraint and the meaning of life. We offer Vastu suggestions for households and businesses so that we become more keenly aware of our kinship with the elements. Humankind has had enough of doctrines, theories and philosophies. But we can never outlast our need for a vision which can always draw our attention to the larger picture. The idea is to discover, recognise and appreciate our role in the great Universal orchestra.