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SPIRITUAL INDIA BY TOLIS ART
Rishikesh, a town in the foothills of the himalayas also know as the gateway to himalayas. It's a pilgrimage place since thousands of years, some say since more than 10'000 years where the yogi's gather before they continue their journey in to the mountains on their path to the ultimate liberation. Rishikesh is situated along the river Ganges which is considered as the holy river in India and also called Mother Ganga. In this town there is no meat, no eggs and no alcohol thus no killing of animals, just a place where one can find peace if you wish so.
Sadhguru, a yogi and a mystic, a man whose passion spills into everything he encounters, named one of India's 50 most influential people, in the video says, that Indian culture was engineered to lead people to the spiritual process, and for its preservation. Here you can read full interview:
PRESERVING INDIAN CULTURE BY SADHGURU
Culture is a happening thing. Nobody can preserve it as it is. It is evolving all the time. Nothing wrong with that; if it's evolving naturally, people making choices and making certain changes with their lives, it's perfectly okay but when your culture is being engineered by commercial forces and certain very aggressive religious forces some amount of stopping and preserving also needs to happen, isn't it? If naturally it's evolving, people are making their choices to eat differently, to dress differently, to do things different it’s perfectly okay but commercial forces are engineering culture for their benefit, if you don’t stop it then you know when you open your tap tomorrow coco cola will come, water will not come. I am telling you it's not far away. Already it's happening in India; if we went to a restaurant they won't serve you water, they’ll serve you Coke or Pepsi. So for commercial forces are anyway having budget to change your culture; having a strategy to change your culture. When it is so I think you should also have a strategy not to allow that to happen. How it is done, is a questionable thing.
Whatever you called as moral policing - it happened in crude ways; so yes, everybody is disgusted with that but in some form of education, some way it must be done. It's very easy to sell sleaze, you understand. And very easily you can catch the youth and make that the culture of the land in no time. Whatever… see I want you to understand this. When you say culture, there’re different types of cultures in the world. If culture is just a social norm, if culture is just a certain way people are living because of climatic conditions, because of other influences, that’s different. I want you to under…understand this culture was engineered to gradually lead people towards their spiritual process, always, right from ancient times, every aspect of your life how to sit, how to stand - everything was engineered to slowly lead you towards a spiritual process and I think that part of the culture has to be preserved. I don’t care how you dress, what you do but there are many aspects of culture which are essentially a yogic science implanted into people’s lives so that without even knowing you are practicing yoga, you are practicing yoga. This was done thousands of years ago.
Right now what we are trying to do is just that once again. The idea and the mission of Isha is not to just go on teaching programs and programs and programs. Our idea is… why we limited ourselves to geographically to Tamilnadu alone is because we want to see in a generation or two that yoga is not a program. Like a mother teaches a child to brush his teeth like that yoga should happen in their homes. Brushing your teeth is a certain culture, isn't it? There are some people who don’t have such things. So this was brought into your life because of the benefits that it has. Similarly various other practices and norms were brought into your hou…life because of the benefits that it has for human well-being. Now some commercial force is coming and removing everything for their benefit; if you don’t stop it in some way they will take away everything.
So some amount of control is definitely needed. If people are making their choices and slowly evolving into something else that is nobody’s business. Okay? That is nobody’s business. Every human being has a right to choose and change his life the way he wants but right now I want you to understand most human beings are not choosing; they are being forced to make choices, isn't it? The commercial establishments, the marketing departments are larger than the production departments in most companies and they are just campaigning; and of course there are religious forces who are campaigning to change the culture and the basic flavor of the demographics in the country. If you don’t do some kind of stoppage, it must be done gently, sensibly but unfortunately because saner voices in the society never speak; the crude ones get on to the street and do the job. That's all that’s happening because saner voices never speak. If saner voices speak there’ll be no room for all those street goons to take up these jobs. It need not be policed but education is needed, definitely, isn't it? Yes or no? Education is definitely needed, what is the significance of doing what we have been doing for these thousands of years - this education is definitely needed. Because the education is missing somebody is trying to educate you on the street with a stick in their hand. So because you and me have not taken the responsibility of educating people properly somebody is trying to do it in their own way; it's unfortunate but that’s how it will happen. That is how it will happen if we don’t do it the right way.
"So when it comes to culture does it have any significance at all?"Definitely it has. Right now India as a nation is an extremely diverse population. We speak different languages; we eat different kinds of food; we dress differently; we think differently; we look different; our colors are different; ours… you know ethnic backgrounds are different; everything is different. So what is the common thread that binds us to make us a nation? If you take away the cultural fabric of this nation there is nothing to hold this country as one nation, please see this. The only commonality in this country is there is a cultural thread which somehow collects; whether you are a Tamil, or you are a Bengali, or (you) a Punjabi or a Gujarati there are a few cultural aspects which string us together. If you remove this, after sometime you will wonder why should be one nation; why can't I have my own Tamil nation? Already the idea has come, isn't it? Isn’t it so? Already the idea is being propagated or no? It is only because there is a cultural thread which binds us we can still say this is one nation; otherwise you will see if you… if you damage the cultural fabric which gives us some sense of commonality then you will wonder why should we be in one nation; you will try to break it. And every time you try to break a nation it is going to happen in cruel ways; it never happens gently. You have seen the India - Pakistan partition; now you are seeing what's happening in Sri Lanka. It always happens in extreme pain. So we don’t need that once again. We have had it 60 years ago and that’s enough.
In my world the most important thing is "be your self and do your thing". We don't need to invent a story, you are the story. The more natural you are the better. Visit TolisArt.com
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Ayurveda trails is using the symbol of mudra as reminder, healing is in your hands. We are creating a small collection of highly specialised ayurveda resorts run by passionate ayurveda experts, who want to keep authentic healing knowledge for modern world.
What is ayurveda? How is this ancient medical system connected with yoga, meditation, healthy food, relaxation in nature and modern life style? Ayurveda Trails is dedicated to everyone, who would like to travel and search answers to these questions.
NAVARATRI
Festival of Nine Goddesses
Navaratri is a nine night festival that honors the Mother Goddess in all her manifestations. The worship, accompanied by fasting, takes place in the mornings. Evenings are for feasting and dancing. Each day has a different ritual associated with it.
ONAM
The Harvest Festival in Kerala
Onam is the most popular festival in Kerala. It can be traced to the primitive harvest festival and also to the myth regarding King Mahabali - the benevolent asura ruler who brought peace and prosperity to his country. It is celebrated in August and September.
The importance of the feast to the Kerala's Onam celebration culture is captured in the famous Malayalam proverb: Kaanam Vittum Onam Unnanam - which means: One must have the Onam lunch even by selling one's property, if need be.
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Manaltheeram Ayurveda Beach Village, gives you an opportunity to pamper yourself with a heavenly experience. Enter the world of holistic healing and let Ayurveda and meditation restore your physical, mental, spiritual and emotional equilibrium.
MANALTHEERAM
Dr. Hemalatha Manoj
In Manaltheeram, we believe, that Ayurveda is a divine science of life, our hands should be pure to treat a patient. Sometimes we are not able to cure every one but it is important not to make any mistakes from our hands. We pray to God.
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HARIVIHAR HERITAGE
Dr. Sri Kumar
Harivihar, abode of the divine, is a 170 year old painstakingly restored royal heritage homestead located in Calicut. It offers unparalleled experience of staying in a heritage ambience and benefit from the goodness of Ayurveda and Yoga, two great contributions of India to mankind.
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Green gram is a powerhouse of nutrition. It has high nutritive value and can be consumed by anyone for improving health. Hence, this superfood is one of the most vital detoxifying agent as well as an energiser that helps to enhance the immunity of the body.
KAIRALI - THE AYURVEDIC HEALING VILLAGE
There is no better place to get inside nature and rejuvenate with natural medicine than the sweet scented forests of Kerala's Pala trees. Time spent at this jungle paradise will allow you to experience the authentic healing practices of India.
A collaboration of Vimal Chandran with Ajay Menon and a tribute to Avial. These series of films, photographs and illustrations we made inspired from Kerala, they celebrate Kerala’s unique landscapes, art and culture.
