Have you heard of Chaimacolate? It is pronounced Chai-Ma-Co-Late

Of course, you have not! I just made this term up to describe the Super Rich Energy drink that I have been taking off and on for the last year.

Before writing this article for the exotic recipe of Chaimacolate, I did a Google search on it. There is no such word that I could find. Until now, that is.

I am the discoverer and founder of the modern Super Chaimacolate! That is why I call it Luthar’s Chaimacolate. I give myself complete and full credit for discovery, creativity, and finally the synthesis of key ingredients to come with this incredible concoction.

According to me, Chaimacolate is a special and smooth drink which might have only been suitable for the gods in ancient Greece,  India, China, or other places in the world wherever they lived.

If we still had Kings and Czars, I am positive that a drink like Chaimacolate would have been reserved for Royalty only. Laws would have been passed by monarchs and rulers that the ingredients for Chaimacolate be hoarded in well guarded warehouses under the full protection of the Royal Knights.

I created Chaimacolate after many trials and errors with a variety of ingredients and have tried it on myself for the last year. Only after having assured myself that Chaimacolate is something truly and totally special, am I sharing this with the world at large.

What are the general ingredients of Luthar’s Chaimacolate and how is it made?

In this article, I will share the basic ingredients needed for this sacred and divine drink. Here they are.

1. Loose leaf tea (not tea bags)

2. Spices needed to turn tea into Chai (such as dry Ginger, Black Pepper, Pepper Root, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves and others in the right proportion). you can usually get a combination of most of the Chai spices from an Indian grocery store.

3. Pure Organic Raw Cacao Powder (very low in fat, carbohydrates, and calories, and in its natural state unmixed with anything else). I use a small portion only.

4. Organic Maca Powder (low in calories but adds to the flavor, richness, and vitality of the drink). I use a small portion only.

5. Stevia (I use one of the better brands). Stevia is derived from plants and is sold in many places including health food stores. In its pure form, it has virtually no calories and carbohydrates. I find it to be an absolutely wonderful and an amazing  natural zero calorie sugar substitute. I have been adding stevia to my drinks and my personal experience is very positive.

6.  Either one of the following types of  organic milks (Soy milk, Almond milk, Goat milk, Hemp milk, Cow milk ) are fine. These are commonly available in the supermarket or health food stores.

My preference is unsweetened Soymilk because it is very low in carbohydrates and  adding it to the recipe makes the drink rich.

Those are the basic ingredients. I usually make Chaimacolate on the weekends in the morning, when I have more time to savor this drink and sip it slowly. It goes down so smoothly and brings little piece of heaven to this earth.

Even if I am very tired and drowsy when I get up in the morning, after drinking Chaimacolate, my body is all warmed up and feels very fluid in its movements. It is a lot easier for me to exercise and stretch after I have had a few cups of strong Chaimacolate.

I also feel uplifted and in a positive state of mind after the drink. I attribute that to the combination of strong Chai and also the raw organic cacao powder.

What I really like about Chaimacolate is that even though it is super smooth and dark rich drink which goes down like nectar, it is very low in carbohydrates and calories.

More on Chaimacolate in future articles with different variations on the recipes.

Please keep in mind that I am a professor and an amateur vegan cook and not a health care practitioner. Check with your doctor to see if this super rich and exceptionally fantastic drink, fit only for the gods and royalty, is right for you.

Related Articles

• Sri Ramana on Book Knowledge with comments from Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• The True Heart: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• The Method of Deep Body Relaxation: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• Tips for Career and Stress Management in the Workplace: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• Krishna, A Transformational Servant-Leader: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

There is nothing that is really apart from another thing. That is the greatest delusion man suffers, finding separation in this world.  You have never been apart from Divinity, never ever.  You are eternal,  immortal, as Divinity is, and you have never been separate from that.

This is something we can easily understand intelectually, as we can see that the physical reality in which takes place our cognition of our own existence is just a vacuum in which different particles interact with each other in miraculous ways, and that It which brings together this manifestation is the Real Self we speak about. Because the manifestor and the manifestation cannot happen separately, if there is a manifestor, there is a manifestation, like with fire and heat. One does not happen without the other, and they are not separate.

Now realising this in daily living is a complete different ball game. Most of us are householders in the sense that we are not sadhus, or renunciates that are fed by the charity of others and that dedicate themselves to mull over The Divine or Self. We are householders and require of the actions of the so called ego in a way a sadhu will probably never understand.

Our  little ego self has assumed a separation, although the ego self exists only on borrowed light of the real Self within.  The ego self assumes that it is the thing that does everything.   You  would say even now, “I will get up from this chair and walk to that door.”  What “I” are you talking about?  Who is doing the walking? You mean I, John or James or Jack or Jean or Jane, is getting up from the chair and walking through the door.

But for such to happen everything else happens now.

Has it ever occurred to you that I am not the doer; it is not I that am walking to the door from this chair?  There is an infinite power that permeates this little small I of mine that makes me walk to the door.

At every moment of our waking state or sleeping state, we are adding  importance to the little ego self, which is  manufactured by the various thoughts in our minds. What is thought?  Just a combination of various factors surrounding you or within you that have formed themselves into a certain pattern.When we were born, to that particular family, a mother  took us between her arms and smiled at us with such love. Thus, imprints started to be created in a machinery (mind) we have no control whatsoever. That bag of imprints create patterns. And we believe to be the patterns, while what is being while we walk, is something else, yet not separate.

We have a family to look after, children, husband and others things and we have to dedicate most of the day to actions in which the ego gets so involved, yet our life happens in one day, just that one day. The life of this day is were I am cognizing the existence of my particular energy pattern and this manifestation in which it takes place.

And this very energy, thinking itself to be the real self, finds itself separate from that which is divine. Even the ego self is divine, for illusion would not be there if there was not the factor of non- illusion.  Illusions are superimposed upon reality, actuality.  Everything is real to you because your senses can perceive them.  Your eyes see, your hands feel, your tongue tastes, your ears hear, your nose smells.  So many things around us seem totally real, but if you go down to the essence of them, are they really real?  Is it not like a mirage in the desert that a thirsty man sees, and the more he chases after the mirage, the water, the more tired and weary he becomes until he collapses?  That is exactly what man is doing in this desert of life.  He is chasing mirages.  And by chasing mirages, he distorts his thinking abilities and creates greater and greater confusion in his mind.

Like lifetime after lifetime, one day after another have created the memories, impressions or samskaras with which you cognize your existence this very moment. Which is were existence, the manifestor within its manifestation, eternally abides.

In this day we live in, we meditate and lead ourselves towards the universality, and then we start acting, which is our main part of the day, then as the day starts coming to an end, we meditate again, and perhaps dedicate some time to words of wisdom reading the scriptures or good books, or listening to a recorded satsang. Then we have dinner and as in a lifetime, we retire, we dedicate some time to our little ego before he is just about to dissappear in the deep sleep of the death of that day, to be born again the following day.

The history of a life happens in the life of one day

Action and meditation are not different, because meditation will bring the purity in action that will make action into a meditation (i.e. non-action in action).

Now, what do we do to integrate self and Self in actuality?

What we do is renounce.  Renunciation does not mean renouncing the actions and responsibilities of life, like looking after one’s children or one’s husband.  But the selfishness attached to the actions is to be renounced.  Then meditation goes deep, where everything, all action and all thought, is nothing else but meditation.

There is a misconception that you sit down for half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening, and you say that you are a meditator.   That is just to charge up your batteries.  But that must last through the 23 hours of the day during your sleep and during your waking hours filled with activity.    Therein you will find the secret of inactivity in activity, as the Gita  says, and activity in inactivity.  The selfishness attached to the actions is to be renounced.  Then meditation goes deep, where everything, all action and all thought, is nothing else but meditation.

You want to meditate so as to find that oneness within yourself where the mind, body and spirit can become integrated.  That is good, that must be done; but it must also find its expression in your daily action.  What is the use of a seed of a beautiful flower if it is not planted and is rotting away?   Just as within the ground the seed explodes, within you the very explosion or renunciation of selfishness makes the tree grow.  That seed has to be exploded. It means you are getting rid of that little ego self, attaching no importance to it whatsoever, and then you experience the now of life. You experience what is.

We live life in the seemingly real, but not in the actual.  In daily life one has to go through so many activities.  But if it could just be remembered at the back of the mind, and with practice it comes, that “I am not the doer.”   The little ego self is not the doer: the doer is He.  When you have that idea, you become non- attached to your actions, and therefore any action you perform will not add any more samskaras to your mind.  You gradually become samskara-free, free of impressions which imprison you.

Your actions and your thoughts become non-binding, and then you enter the realm of freedom. That is the meaning of liberation, self-realization–or, in other terms, unity consciousness, where the act, actor, and the action become one.

Even washing dishes, or sitting behind a desk with a pen, is a form of meditation.  Thought forces are working away, and yet inside you are still.  You feel that unity expressing itself in whatever work you are doing, and that work becomes effortless, restful.    You do not develop stress.  You do not develop tension.  You are relaxed, and that is how we can go on and on and on.  Even all kinds of sicknesses or diseases or incapacities of the body do not bother us.

It is a new world to be awakened to, and that new world is the nowness of life. Have you ever watched yourself performing any action?  Have you watched yourself from the higher level of your mind?  Then you will find that the action just goes on automatically.  You are the observer.  And even as you sit here now, look at the amount of activity that is going on within you without your being aware of it.  You are breathing and you are not aware of it; your heart is beating, and you are not aware of it.  Your motor nerves are functioning, and you are not aware of it.  The various cellular systems in your body, the glandular systems, all the systems, are functioning, and you are not aware of it.  Do you see?  Why can this not be extended to the awareness of the grosser actions we perform in life?  If this awareness is developed, then you will know the meaning of peace.  And peace can only come with ease.

The body might be wracked with pain. The body will feel it; but if you become the observer, the pain is so so much lessened.  For the real self within you is without pain or suffering.  It is only the ego self, which is nothing but a patterning of thought forms, that knows of pain and suffering.  So what is here in the mind?  Nothing but confusion.    I have to pick up this glass.  Now I have to think, “Shall I pick up this glass or not?” Why must I think that? Pick it up.  Do you see?  Most of the energy we expend in life is by thinking useless thoughts.

So we trouble ourselves, and nothing else in the world can ever trouble us.  Nothing.  If you can find that freedom by non-attachment, then let the problems come and go.  Why must I let the boat of this life be tossed around on those waves?  I’m going to sit on the seashore and watch those waves.  And what will I find?  I will find beauty in that movement of the waves, and I will hear the sound of those waves which will have a great calming effect upon me, so harmonious. If you want the waves, you make waves.  If you want calm, you find calm.   Act! And if the action is unselfish it will not produce a reaction.

This is a revolutionary, philosophical truth. You won’t find it in any of the Vedas or Upanishads, because they maintain that for every action there is a reaction.  Whatever you sow you reap.

If the action is unselfish there will be no reaction, because the unselfish action will not cause an impression in the mind to  erupt again as an effect upon you. That is the secret of existence.

Everything is true–all opposites are true–but you got to go to the full cycle to understand that. Where there is the manifestor there must be a manifestation.  But what to do with the manifestation is entirely left to us.  Everything is joyful and beautiful if only we can cognize it, not with the mind but with the heart.  With the core of one’s personality which is the heart.

Once you touch the live wires of the heart, you are touching the unmanifest.  You cannot reach the core of your personality by touching the senses that compose you–all the indriyas (hearing, tasting, smelling, and all the organs) and the subtler ones which in Sanskrit are called jnanindriyas.  Therefore meditation is important to dive deeper within ourselves and to touch the core of the personality, the core of yourself.  Then you will find that life and Divinity are not separate because in the first place there has never been any separation.

And the recognition of that eternity comes through what? Through the ego self. The ego is not even to be thrown away, but to be used for the purposes of cognition.

And why is this stupid little ego of mine playing the fool with me now like the thirsty man in the desert? You could never eradicate the little ego self, the individuality, while you are still in the body. That will remain. Do you think a drop of water dropped into an ocean loses its individuality? No.  It does not.  It merges away, but that drop is still there in that ocean, so here individuality merges with universality. One can live as an individual and simultaneously as the universal force, that which is real.  And  then you accept all the fun that life gives.  For all is fun and nothing else but fun; all is joy and nothing else.

Why do we find a situation painful?  Because we dive into the mind and go through the cubbyholes in the subconscious and find another experience that in turn triggers some other experience, and another experience, and those all combine there.  And then the subconscious mind translates itself into the conscious mind and says, “This is pain,” or “This is ugly.”  So where does the ugliness come from?  Not from the object.  The ugliness comes from the impressions or samskaras that are already there in the subconscious mind.  And the only way to get rid of this is through meditation, where we burn the seeds of karma so they don’t grow.  We use that universal force that gets rid of all the karma.   This is the message for this century and the next six centuries to come: Do not feel guilty of the things that you have done, or the things that you have caused to have been done, for you can go beyond it all.  It can all be discarded like a dirty garment.  It can all be washed away under the shower of that light that is deep down within us.  We must never say, “Oh, my baby is crying so I cannot sit down to meditate.”  True, you must look after the baby.  But let the baby’s cry become a meditation to you instead of disturbing you. And you comfort the child with love, and is meditation not something that generates that love?

You have been given an opportunity there to generate love. Vivekananda tells a nice story.  He says you sit down to meditate and the door bell rings.  You get up from your meditation, you answer the door and do whatever is required, come back and sit down again to meditate.  But remember one thing:  regard yourself getting up and answering the door and coming back to be also a part of your meditation.

The separation we find between life and God is just a creation of our own minds, like a projection on a cinema screen.  Here on the screen you will have thousands of people killed in a war or whatever.    Many times people go to a cinema and they see a sad scene and they start crying. Handkerchiefs come out and yet they know that it is not real; it is just a picture being projected. But you get yourself involved in it.  It affects your emotions, triggers off something in your mind, below the conscious level, and then tears come rolling down.  But what would happen if you never had such an impression in the mind? Then you will not cry, for you are still aware that this is just a picture there.

So what do we have to do to rub away these impressions is to draw out that powerful light, that beam that will banish the darkness.  The little flame which is the ego self has no force or power next to the bright sun.  And if the action you do is performed unselfishly, then you are a karma yogi.  And when you perform this action unselfishly, naturally there will be devotion to those actions and you will automatically become a bhakti yogi. Now when you combine bhakti and karma, naturally some understanding dawns within you, and you are jnana yogi.  Thus, all these different yogas combine.  They interpenetrate within each other and that leads you on and spurs you on to do spiritual practices, which are raja yoga.

We suffer with life’s challenges, yet we will not overcome the hurdles without going through them. The pot can only be cleaned up by a thorough scraping with steel wool so that the next meal that I cook in this same pot will not have the smell or the taste of the previous meal.  So, so simple.

The purpose of existence is to exist.  That’s the purpose.  The purpose of existence is not to find God; He is already there.  He has always been there in your life.  And when you find the purpose of existence is to exist and know the meaning of existence, you know God, because God is existence. Let the mind just be centered in the heart, in meditation and spiritual practices.  We say spiritual practices because they are practices to be made practical in daily living.  Then spiritual practices really and truly and very quickly find their fruition.

I teach meditation in Barcelona and Asturias (Spain), if anyone is interested is very welcome. Every Wednesday at 19.30 hours. Free entrance.

More interesting articles

• Google’s G-Mail and APPs Strategy Gets an A-: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• A Dance Ballet on Gautama Buddha: By Vinatha-ji
• Who Would I be If Not For You? By Jim Atwell
• Brainwave Entrainment And Atma Vichara: By Bob Graham
• Nome – a leading American teacher of Ramana Maharshi’s Self-Inquiry: By Richard Clarke

I joined Twitter just to see what all the fuss is. I knew my colleague Michael Roberto is on Twitter already and he posts interesting stuff about Business. Mike has become the first person that I have started to follow.

I don’t have any followers yet on Twitter. However, if you decide to follow me, I will do my best to have excellent and exceptional thoughts once or twice a day! I will be happy to pass these on.

You can find me on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/harshluthar

More interesting articles

• The Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi website
• Ahimsa – The Antidote to Fear: Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• What Is Tantra? By Sri S.N. Sastri
• The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil: By Dr. Mourad Rashad
• How to Help Haiti Relief Efforts

Acupuncture has a known history that goes way back at least 2500 years. Today, we, the acupuncture physicians, use disposable stainless steel needles, while back then stone needles were obviously handier. They were later exchanged for needles made of other exciting kinds of materials, such as bone and bamboo. I think we will stick to the stainless steel needles for now, no pun intended.

Needles might be a sensitive issue for some of you. To be honest, I’ve never had a strong fear of needles, but the thought of sticking dozens of needles into my body did not appeal to me at all. This until I’ve come to realize that those needles are hair-thin and most of the times you can barely feel them. But above all, the benefits and the relaxation already felt during the treatment needs no further convincing. How bad can it be if many of my patients even fall asleep during the 20 minutes of staying with the needles in?

How come some people fall asleep during the treatment? It seems like there is a decrease in the delta and theta waves activity, resulting in sedation. No wonder acupuncture is so effective against insomnia, anxiety, and addictions.

Acupuncture points have originated from distress areas. What is it that we instinctively do when we experience pain? Apply pressure! From pressure point to acupuncture points, we now have over 1000 recorded acupuncture points with over 300 commonly used.

I can already see another question coming: how does acupuncture work? Well, for some people the empirical evidence spreading over thousands and thousands of years is more than enough. However, if scientific evidence works better for you, I do have a few explanations.

One of the most common objective effects of acupuncture is the pain-relieving effect, which is achieved by raising the pain threshold and increasing the amount of endorphins released into the blood. Would you believe it if I told you that acupuncture has been used for surgical anesthesia? It is yet true! Headaches, toothaches, backaches, and the like are nothing compared to surgery, wouldn’t you say so?

Furthermore, acupuncture can increase the levels of dopamine and other neurotransmitters, which may affect many diseases such as Parkinson’s.

People are awed when told that sometimes, similar point combinations are used to treat for instance low and high blood pressure, or other antagonistic disorders such as diarrhea and constipation. This happens because of the very important role of acupuncture of homeostasis effect. It regulates the internal environment to reach the desirable state of balance. It does so by acting on the nervous and the endocrine system, having a strong action in normalizing the functions of our body.

By enhancing our immune system we cannot go wrong. Acupuncture excels here as well! We could call acupuncture our long-term safe antibiotic, as it can potentially be used for infections. However, the best approach is prevention and by having acupuncture treatments one will have an increased number of white blood cells to block all the potential infections.

One of the most important effects of acupuncture is that it can tremendously speed up the recovery process in patients with paralysis due to stroke or other causes. How amazing is that? When many therapies tend to fail in these cases, acupuncture sticks to its goal. How does it do that? By stimulating certain cells from the spinal cord and cranial equivalents. Does that mean that the acupuncture needles will be inserted somewhere around the spinal cord? Not exactly so; rather scalp acupuncture is highly effective for these kinds of treatments.

Extensive research is being conducted at the moment and we could take each of the above explanations in turn and fill books over books with more details. Anyway, the bottom line is that acupuncture works. And if it is not for the fact that is has been the main modality for literally billions and billions of Chinese or that there is plenty of scientific research that shows its benefits, how about you trying acupuncture? I bet you won’t be disappointed!

Reference: Jayasuriya, A. (2006). Clinical Acupuncture. India: B. Jain Publishers Ltd.

My website: www.elitehealthplex.com

My blog: www.elitehealthplex.blogspot.com

Damiana Corca, DOM, AP, Dipl. O.M., Dipl. C.H.

Doctor of Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture Physician

Board Certified in Oriental Medicine

Board Certified in Chinese Herbology

Western Family and Consultant Herbalist

Candidate, Board Certified Classical Homeopath

Related Articles

• Chinese Herbs in a Nutshell by Dr Damiana Corca

Today, we see that the New Age spiritual business is literally a circus. There are so many gurus and many different types of “spiritual masters” offering a variety of services and products including enlightenment, super natural miracles, healing, and so forth. This is nothing new and in every age there are such people.

The path of Yoga has many branches and not all of them are the straight path to Self-Realization.

Bhagavan Ramana

I find amusing that many of the so called “spiritual masters” who claim affinity with Bhagavan Ramana (to  bolster their own status) actually teach things which are completely opposite of what the Sage of Arunachala taught.

There are a few “gurus” who even say that they are in touch with Bhagavan Ramana at the psychic level. Sri Ramana, in his own life time, explicitly pointed out the absurdity of such claims and dismissed such “gurus” as not worth paying attention to, if one’s goal was Self-Realization.

For those aspirants, whose sole focus is on Self-Realization, it is always best to rely on the authentic teachings of Sri Ramana from original sources.

I give below a short excerpt from Aurthur Osborne on Bhagavan’s view of psychic powers. Aruthur Osborne was a great Bhagavan Ramana devotee who spent time with the Sage of Arunachala and felt his grace.

From Aurthur Osborne:

Bhagavan Ramana sought to free us from psychic as well as physical desires, and he therefore disapproved of all freakishness and eccentricity and of all interest in visions and desire for powers of any type.

Bhagavan liked his devotees to behave in a normal and sane way, for he was guiding us towards the ultimate Reality where perceptions and powers which men call “higher” or “miraculous” are as illusory as those they call “physical”.

A visitor once related to us in Bhagavan’s presence how his Guru died and was buried and then, three years later, returned in tangible bodily form to give instructions. Bhagavan sat there completely indifferent and evidently unimpressed. It was as though he had not even heard.

The bell rang for lunch and Bhagavan rose to leave the hall. Only at the doorway Bhagavan turned and quoted:

“Though a man can enter ever so many bodies, does it mean that he has found his true Home?”

Bhagavan Ramana

In part from the Maharshi Jul / Aug 1992, Vol.2 No.4.

Please note that for the Aurthur Osborne excerpt, I took only a small part of the original  and edited it slightly and added pictures of Sri Ramana to make it more readable. Harsh K. Luthar

Related Articles

• Remembering Bhagavan Ramana: By Krishna Bhikshu
• Professor and the Sage – Part 2
• Three Methods for Self Realization: By Sri Ramana Maharshi
• As I Saw Him: By S.S. Cohen
• As I Saw Him: By Sadhu Arunachala

****************************************************************

MY FIRST darshan of Bhagavan Sri Ramana was in January, 1921 at Skandashram, which is on the eastern slope of Arunachala and looks like the very heart of the majestic hill. It is a beautiful quiet spot with a few coconut and other trees and a perennial crystal-clear spring. Bhagavan was there as the very core of such natural beauty.

Bhagavan Ramana as a young person

I saw in him something quite arresting which clearly distinguished him from all others I had seen. He seemed to live apart from the physical frame, quite detached from it. His look and smile had remarkable spiritual charm. When he spoke, the words seemed to come out of an abyss. One could see immaculate purity and non-attachment in him and his movements. I sensed something very refined, lofty and sacred about him. In his vicinity the mind’s distractions were overpowered by an austere and potent calmness and the unique bliss of peace was directly experienced.

This I would call Ramana lahari, ‘the blissful atmosphere of Ramana.’ In this ecstasy of grace one loses one’s sense of separate individuality and there remains something grand and all-pervading, all-devouring. This indeed is the spirit of Arunachala which swallows up the whole universe by its gracious effulgence.

There were about ten devotees living with him there, including his mother and younger brother. One of them was Vallimalai Murugar, who for a while every morning sang the Tamil songs of the Tirupugazh with great fervour. These well-known songs, the remarkable outpourings of the famous devotee, Sri Arunagirinatha, are songs in praise of Subrahmanya. When he sang, Bhagavan used to keep time (tala) by tapping with two small sticks on the two rings of an iron brazier of live coal kept in front of him.

Fumes of incense spread out in rolls from the brazier, suffused with the subtle holy atmosphere of Bhagavan. While Bhagavan’s hands were tapping at the brazier thus, his unfathomable look of grace gave one a glimpse of the Beyond in silence. It was an unforgettable experience.

There was also a devotee from Chidambaram, Subrahmanya Iyer, who often sang with great fervour Tiruvachagam, hymns in praise of Arunachala by Bhagavan, and songs in praise of Bhagavan also. One morning when he began a song with the refrain, “Ramana Satguru, Ramana Satguru, Ramana Satguru Rayane,” Bhagavan also joined in the singing. The devotee got amused and began to laugh at Bhagavan himself singing his own praise. He expressed his amusement and Bhagavan replied, “What is extraordinary about it? Why should one limit Ramana to a form of six feet? Is it not the all-pervading Divinity that you adore when you sing ‘Ramana Satguru, Ramana Satguru?’ Why should I not also join in the singing?” We all felt lifted to Bhagavan’s standpoint.

Bhagavan Sri Ramana in relative youth

The inmates of the Ashrama used to get up at dawn and sing some devotional songs in praise of Arunachala and Bhagavan Ramana before beginning their day’s work. Niranjanananda Swami told Bhagavan that I could recite hymns in Sanskrit, and Bhagavan looked at me expectantly. Seeing that it was impossible to avoid it, I recited a few verses in Sanskrit.

When I had finished, Bhagavan gently looked at me and said, “You have learned all this. Not so, my case. I knew nothing, had learned nothing before I came here. Some mysterious power took possession of me and effected a thorough transformation. Whoever knew then what was happening to me? Your father, who was intending in his boyhood to go to the Himalayas for tapas, has become the head of a big family. And I, who knew nothing and planned nothing, have been drawn and kept down here for good! When I left home (in my seventeenth year), I was like a speck swept on by a tremendous flood. I knew not my body or the world, whether it was day or night. It was difficult even to open my eyes – the eyelids seemed to be glued down. My body became a mere skeleton. Visitors pitied my plight as they were not aware how blissful I was. It was after years that I came across the term ‘Brahman‘ when I happened to look into some books on Vedanta brought to me. Amused, I said to myself, ‘Is this known as Brahman’!”

As advised by Bhagavan, I engaged myself in non-stop japa, day and night, except during hours of sleep. And I studied Sri Ramana Gita in the immediate presence of Bhagavan, drinking in the import of every sloka in it. Bhagavan explained to me his own Hymn in Praise of Arunachala. Even during his morning and evening walks I used to follow him, hearing his explanations of his inspired words.

I shall not pretend that I understood everything that Bhagavan said but there was the spiritual exhilaration of his company in solitude and that was enough for me.

Source:  Maharshi Newsletter, Sep / Oct 1991. Vol.1 No.5. Please note that I edited and reduced in size the original article to make it more readable. I also added Bhagavan’s pictures.

Related Articles

• HarshaSatsangh: The Largest Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi Group on the Web
• On Death and Dying: Words of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
• Essential Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
• As I Saw Him: By Sadhu Arunachala
• The Method For Self-Realization: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

Faceless Goddess of the night that lives behind the veil

What coy reserve you have, will Love of life and living ever prevail.

I know what you look like, I know how you feel.

For I live in your mirror and see you every day.

Detach yourself from this obsession with formlessness

Why must I live apart from you?

I am your heart and you are my soul.

I am you, formlessness attracted to form.

Your reflection is alive and I want to play.

Can the sun ever catch its shadow?

Or shall the shadow always watch the reflection of the sun?

Much Love

Jim Atwell

Related Articles

• Lovers Love Completely: The Goddess Mystery. By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• Shiva and Shakti-Jnaneshwar
• Split In Two: By Jim Atwell
• I AM The Moon: By Jim Atwell
• My, You Have Changed: By Jim Atwell

Verizon customers have been waiting to get an iPhone for several years. Most have stayed loyal to Verizon due to Verizon’s wider network. However, the hope has been kept alive that when AT&T’s exclusive hold on the iPhone ends, Verizon will add the iPhone to its offerings of smart phones.

Verizon for its part, has firmly had the “we are interested but certainly not desperate to get the iPhone” strategy in place for several years.

Verizon chairman and CEO Ivan G. Seidenberg has been suggesting for sometime now that they have iPhone on the radar. Here are two quotes from Business Week (October 26, 2009).

“This is a decision that is exclusively in Apple’s court,” said Seidenberg. “We obviously would be interested in any point in the future they thought it would make sense for them to have us as a partner. And so we’ll leave it with them on that score.”

“We have expanded our base of other devices,” explained Seidenberg. “So our view is to broaden the base of choice for customers and hopefully along the way, Apple as well as others will decide to jump on the bandwagon.”

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/10/verizon_still_w.html

Consistent with its general orientation of offering a broad set of alternatives to customers, Verizon has recently been pushing phones with Google’s Android software as a competitive alternative to Apple’s phone.

Verizon wants to dance with Apple but feels Apple must ask it to. Meanwhile, everyone waits.

Despite Verizon’s playing it cool about the iPhone, Verizon customers are increasingly frustrated by not having the option to get the iPhone while staying on Verizon’s better network. However,  It seems like things are now about to change and that Verizon and Apple collaboration is imminent.

Verizon ended the quarter with 222,927 employees, 7,413 fewer than it had in September.  Chief Financial Officer John Killian said the company cut 13,000 jobs on the wireline side last year, and expects a similar number of cuts this year. Customers are giving up their lines in favor of using only cell phones or phone service from cable companies

The wireless business is what is expected to continue growing. It seems to me, and probably many others, that Verizon now needs the iPhone as part of its overall wireless strategy and smartphone options.

Apple, on the other hand, surged in quarterly profit and revenue.  Apple reported a quarterly profit of $3.38 billion, or $3.67 a share, up from $2.26 billion, or $2.50 a share, a year earlier. Revenue increased to $15.68 billion from $11.88 billion.

“The growth was fueled by strong sales across most of Apple’s product lines as iPhone shipments more than doubled and Macintosh computer sales climbed 33%.”….”What this demonstrates is the strength of Apple’s brand in good and bad times,” said Bill Kreher, an analyst with Edward Jones.” For more details see the Wall Street Journal (January 25, 2010).

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703808904575025482977609658.html

While Apple continues to be successful, it can see the hand writing on the wall. Verizon customers are not going to switch in masses to other carriers for the iPhone. Logically, Apple has to be feeling the pressure from its customers and shareholders for opening up the iPhone to Verizon and possibly other carriers to gain more customers.

Today (January 27, 2010), Apple will unveil its Tablet. The Apple Tablet is said to run iPhone software.

According to an Apple Partner, McGraw-Hill’s, the Apple Tablet being unveiled will be based on the iPhone operating system.  CEO of McGraw-Hill, Terry McGraw stated the following on CNBC yesterday (January 26, 2010):

Yeah, Very exciting. Yes, they’ll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while. And the Tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now is we have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95% of all our materials that are in e-book format. So now with the tablet you’re going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35088082

So if the Apple Tablet will run on the iPhone software, will Verizon sell the Tablet to its wireless customers?  Will Verizon tell the customers that the Tablet is just a different looking iPhone.

Bizarre scenario? One never knows. Also the power of marketing should not be underestimated.

If Verizon customers can make wireless calls from the Tablet, it may open up a new market for Apple. Of course the Tablet would not fit in anyone’s pocket. On the other hand, many Verizon customers who have been waiting for an iPhone for the Verizon network might find that, at least for now, that is the only way to go.

Well, we are all waiting for the Apple announcement later this afternoon. Let us see what comes up!

Related Articles

• MOTORAZR(2) V9m
• Verizon’s XV6800: Still In The Testing Phase? By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• Verizon’s XV6800 Release Date: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• Verizon’s XV 6800 Mystery Solved? By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• Where is Verizon’s XV 6800? By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

But what if for the sake of your health you would be forced to banish coffee from your life or at least cut down your daily ration? I bet you would feel at a loss how to do this! Don’t worry, alternatives do exist. Our dear plants are here to save us once again!

Allow me introduce you to the “coffee of the poor” – Dandelion root. It was suggestively called the coffee of the poor because the less wealthy people never had access to coffee beans. Growing at every corner of the street, Dandelion has become the official substitute in some cultures, just like green tea is the energy booster and coffee replacement for many Chinese.

The concept of a food of the poor reminded me of how in the past poor people would eat brown bread because it was cheaper, while rich people would eat white bread, which was more expensive and some think tastier but, as we all know – much less nutritious. Growing up in a farm, we would eat only the pulp of potatoes and feed the peel to animals. How ironic! I could go on and on with other similar examples but my lesson here is that sometimes we have to use common sense above all. And Dandelion root, once the coffee of the poor, is really a precious gift for everybody. Let’s see why!

If I were to pick one single herb to detoxify and build the health of the liver, Dandelion would be my first choice. There is nothing more amazing than using our daily cup of dandelion coffee to get us going and help get rid of the toxins accumulated in our body at the same time. This brings the concept of having of cup of – let’s call it “dandelionee” – to a different level. Forget coffee! Let’s just have a cup of dandelionee!

Still not convinced? I have a question for you then. Would you like your skin to look healthier and younger? I am taking a second wild guess and bet your answer is yes. Dandelion is your hero again, as it is a blood purifier. To understand what has this to do with your skin we need to look at the Chinese medicine wisdom. Dandelion root has cold properties and as many of the skin problems have been observed to show a hot nature in many of the patterns shown in patients, it can beautifully do its job. And again, by virtue of its detoxifying qualities, dandelion can easily affect the skin. This is a fact that both Western and Chinese Herbology agree upon.

Want to add a few coffee beans to dandelion? Why not! If you just want to lower the dosage of coffee beans and not necessarily cut it out, you could combine the two. Besides, there are on the market herbal coffees already combined with different flavors, such as vanilla, hazelnut, etc. So why not combine all of these, have very little coffee beans added or even none, and have as a result a heavenly coffee.

I know you are now ready for your cup of “dandelionee”. All you need is roasted dandelion roots. Just use the root as you would use the coffee beans, be creative and adjust the dosage per your taste. However, be cautious and consult a health care provider if you have ever had any biliary ailments.

Dandelion can definitely teach us a lesson or two. Amazing therapeutical effects, gives us a big hand in the morning, and let’s not forget that blowing on dandelion’s parachute-like tuft of hair is the favorite game of many children.

Enjoy it and let health come back into your life!

More on my blog: www.elitehealthplex.blogspot.com

Damiana Corca, DOM, AP, Dipl. O.M., Dipl. C.H.

Doctor of Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture Physician

Board Certified in Oriental Medicine

Board Certified in Chinese Herbology

Western Family and Consultant Herbalist

Candidate, Board Certified Classical Homeopath

More interesting articles

• Nature of Reality: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
• Advaita and Western Neo-Advaita-A Study: By Alan Adam Jacobs
• As I Saw Him: By Sadhu Arunachala
• Ahimsa and Compassion: By Harsha (Harsh K. Luthar, Ph.D.)
• ULLADU NAARPADU (also spelt as Ulladu Narpadu): Comments By Professor V. Krishnamurthy

I LOST MY HUSBAND when I was sixteen. I went back to my mother’s house and lived there as a widow should, trying to pray to and meditate on God. My mother’s mind too was devoted to the spiritual quest and religion was the main thing in her life.

Once we went on a pilgrimage to Kaveri Pushkaram and on our way back we stopped at Arunachala. There we were told that a young Brahmin saint had been living on the hill for the past ten years. The next morning we went up the hill along with others with whom we were travelling. At Mulaipal Tirtha we cooked our food, ate and had some rest. Then we went further and found the young Swami near Virupaksha Cave. There was a brick platform at the entrance of the cave and he was sitting on it. As soon as I saw him, I was at once convinced that God Arunachala Himself had come in human form to give salvation to all who approached Him.

Bhagavan Ramana

He was about thirty at the time, and wonderful to look at; he was bright and shining like burnished gold, his eyes were blooming and clear, like the petals of a lotus. He looked at us for a long time. The peak of Arunachala was towering over our heads, the huge towers of the temple were below and an immense silence surrounded the Swami. Then the ladies started whispering. One wanted to pray for a child for her daughter-in-law who was barren, but another was saying that the Swami was too exalted for such worldly matters. Finally the Swami was told of the young wife’s sorrow. He smiled and lifted his folded hands to the sky as if saying : “All happens by the will of the Almighty.”

We returned to Nellore and the impression of that visit faded away. I did not even dream at that time that my life would be spent at the feet of the Swami.

When I was thirty-one I went to Rameshwaram on a pilgrimage and on my return journey I stopped at Tiruvannamalai. I learned that the Swami was then living at the foot of the hill. That afternoon we went to see him at his Ashrama. There was a thatched shed over his mother’s samadhi and a tiled hall for meeting the Swami. He was seated on a couch and about a dozen devotees were on the bare floor. We sat in silence for ten minutes and returned to the town.

Bhagavan’s presence gave me the experience of inner silence and mental stillness, but away from him I could not regain it and I spent a year vainly trying to free myself from all thought. Some friends were going to see Sri Aurobindo’s Ashrama at Pondicherry and they took me along. They were to stay there for a week. I was not much impressed and went for a short visit to Ramanasramam. A learned Shastri whom I knew appeared in my dream and asked me: “Where was the need for you to go to Pondicherry? Entrust yourself to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He is God Himself. He will surely lead you to salvation.”

But even such a clear dream was not enough. I cherished a plan of going to Benares and spending my life there in holy austerities. I decided to go to Bhagavan, learn from him how to meditate, and then leave for Benares for good. My friend Parvatamma decided to join me in the spiritual adventure. Accordingly we went to Tiruvannamalai and rented a house. In the afternoon we took cashew nuts and sugar candy as an offering to Bhagavan and went to the Ashrama. We placed our offerings on a stool before him and sat down. The cow Lakshmi happened to be lying near Bhagavan’s sofa. She got up and began to chew our precious offerings. Bhagavan looked on and said nothing. His attendant, Madhava Swami, did not even look. We thought it might be impious to disturb the cow, but soon I got exasperated and exclaimed, “Please remove the cow !” Madhava Swami replied: “Why? I thought you offered those sweets to Lakshmi !”

The next day at noon I was again at Ramanasramam. His midday meal over, Bhagavan was reclining on the sofa and explaining a verse from the Bhagavad Gita to Sri Ramiah Yogi. As no one else was in the hall, I gathered courage and asked: “What is Atma? Is it the limitless ether of space or the awareness that cognizes everything?” Bhagavan replied: “To remain without thinking ‘this is Atma‘ and ‘that is Atma‘, is itself Atma.” He looked at me and I felt my mind melt away into nothing. No thought would come, only the feeling of immense, unutterable peace. My doubts were cleared.

Every day I would visit Bhagavan and listen to his talks with the devotees. Deep in my mind there was the same rock-like stillness, immensely solid and yet strangely vibrant. Bhagavan was one day reading and explaining Tirupugazh in Tamil to Alamelammal of Madura. I did not know Tamil and I could only look on. I saw a change in Bhagavan. A light was shining from within him. His face was radiant, his smile was beaming, his eyes were full of compassion. His words reverberated in the mind and were instantly and deeply understood. All my being was carried upwards on a current of strange vibrations. The memory of this experience is ever present in my heart. A great joy has remained with me that I was privileged to sit at the feet of the Divine Being.

It was ever like this with him. Whoever went to him, he would go down to his level; his words and gestures, even the intonation of his voice, would adapt themselves to the make-up of the people around him. With children he was their playmate, to family people – a wise counselor, to pundits – a well of knowledge, to yogis – the God of will, the God of victory. He saw himself in them and they saw themselves in him and their hearts would be bound to his feet in everlasting love. All who came to see him would be charmed by his love and kindness, beauty and wisdom, and the overwhelming sense of unity he radiated like fire radiating heat. To some he would grant a special vision, invisible to others; with some he would openly discourse. Crowds would gather round him and each one would see him differently. Even his pictures differ. A stranger would not guess that they are all of the same person.

In daily life he avoided all distinction. At work and at food he was one of us. But in the hall, seated on the sofa, he was the great Lord of Kailas, the Holy Mountain. Whenever Bhagavan would enter or leave the hall, we would all get up respectfully. One could see that he did not like so many people being disturbed because of him.

Once Bhagavan had jaundice. He had to be put on a fruit diet, but he would not eat fruit unless all ate, and in equal quantities too! Where could we get such a lot of fruit? Yet he was adamant and would leave his share untouched unless he saw an equal share on everybody’s leaf-plate. Those who say that a sick man needs special food and must not give trouble, miss the point. Bhagavan was not sick. His body had jaundice, that was all. He wanted to impress on our minds that under no condition must a man have a greater share. Our learning this lesson was more important to him than the cure of his jaundice.

With time he ceased working in the kitchen, but we could still find him in the dining hall. When all would leave after food, he would linger on his seat and we would collect around him and chat and listen to his precious words. He would teach us and guide us and we would forget the years that passed and be again the happy crowd of yore.

We were women, simple and uneducated. It was our love for him, a reflection of his love, that chained us to his feet and made us stay. For him we gave up hearth and home and all our earthly ties. We only knew that we were safe with him, that in some miraculous way he would take us to our goal. He himself was our goal, our real home. More than that we did not know or care. We were even slow to learn the lesson of equality to man and beast which he was so anxious to teach us first. To us he alone existed. The radiant form of Ramana was enough for us. We did not know that it was not enough, that a human soul must learn to embrace the universe and realize its own presence in every living being. We would concentrate too much on him and resent his compelling us to enlarge our little circle.

Although physically he is no more with us, he still directs us, as in the past. He will not let go his hold on us until we reach the Other Shore. This is our unshaken faith. We may not always be conscious of his guidance, but we are safe in his hands. Sri Krishna, in His mercy became a cowherd to teach simple milkmaids the way to salvation. Similarly Bhagavan, the same supreme Being in another form, took to cooking in order to save a few ignorant women. With his eyes he served his devotees the food of the spirit, with his hands-the bread of life.

Bhagavan Ramana

Source: Maharshi Newsletter Nov / Dec 1991, Vol.1 No.6. (As I Saw Him series). Please note that I selected only certain excerpts from the original and did some edits and added pictures of Bhagavan Ramana to the article.

Related Articles

• Sri Ramana on Self-Realization
• Sri Ramana Maharshi On Why Effort Is Needed for Enlightenment
• Three Methods for Self Realization: By Sri Ramana Maharshi
• Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi: by Alan Adams Jacobs
• You Are What You Eat