A couple of weeks ago, one of my teachers, Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, passed on. He was one of the best Ayurvedic teachers, practitioners and innovators. While most Ayurvedic practitioners focus on balancing the doshas (balancing the body for ongoing health), Vaidya went far beyond that. The cookbook we worked together on acknowledged that by the time most Westerners discovered Ayurveda, the tissues of the body, dhatus, had been compromised by years of neglect and worse which led to the source of the problems that brought Vaidya’s patients to him. Vaidya spent his life developing recipes to Ayurvedically heal existing problem areas, and as far as I know, this made him unique as an Ayurvedic Practitioner.
Nancy and I met Vaidya and Melina when they came north to visit with his patients. Over the course of about 5 years, we hosted the Mishras and his friends, guests and patients 3 or 4 times a year for consultations and meals that he shared with all who came. It was a delightful and insightful time. The cookbook grew out of those gatherings. Nancy credits Vaidya for her recovery from a bicycle accident that left her in a coma from which the doctors did not expect her to return home.
Amazingly, Vaidya’s warmth, concern and caring outshine even his prodigious professional accomplishments. When most Ayurvedic practitioners (the good ones, anyway) examine the pulse, it always
feels to me like a searchlight comes on to look at one aspect after another in the pulse. With Vaidya Mishra, however, there was no need for a searchlight. When he looked at the pulse, all the lights came on: there was no darkness. When you have that kind of ability, it is possible to see, at the faintest level of the pulse, someone’s soul. Of course with pulse diagnosis, it’s always reciprocal. In order for Vaidya to see your soul, he had to be willing and able to bare his own. I think that’s where the warmth, concern and caring came from.
feels to me like a searchlight comes on to look at one aspect after another in the pulse. With Vaidya Mishra, however, there was no need for a searchlight. When he looked at the pulse, all the lights came on: there was no darkness. When you have that kind of ability, it is possible to see, at the faintest level of the pulse, someone’s soul. Of course with pulse diagnosis, it’s always reciprocal. In order for Vaidya to see your soul, he had to be willing and able to bare his own. I think that’s where the warmth, concern and caring came from.On the occasion of his passing, I simply wanted to invite anyone who remembered how special those gatherings were. Needless to say, we filled the house with two over-flow tables for lunch.
Here are some images and moments from our get-together.
