Dharma in Ayurveda – Celebrate Memorial Day! – your SV Ayurveda Newsletter May 27, 2021 – #20, Vol 11

Most – if not all – of our holy-days in the USA have become commercial shopping holidays, symptomatic of our obsessive consumerism! How can we bring back meaning and heart into the holidays? Perhaps if we took time to look deeper, into the spirit of the occasion, there is much that could inspire us? Memorial Day celebrates the men and women who died during military service. But the USA is a young nation of immigrants, and perhaps Memorial Day does not resonate on a personal level because our ancestors did not live on American soil nor die for its freedom, so how can Memorial Day still hold true significance? Maybe it can be a reminder of the value of one’s duty: the duty one must fulfill towards nation, family, others, and self, with great sacrifice at stake, even death. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Bhagavad Gita where Lord Krishna advises a disconsolate Arjuna of the urgency of fulfilling his duty or dharma after having gained yogic consciousness:

But how do you know what is your dharma? Isn’t that the eternal question? Ayurveda does offer insight in this context. It says that we can neither fulfill dharma – whatever it is, nor enjoy life in any of its aspects or achieve yogic enlightenment, unless our body is free from “roga” or dis-ease. So perhaps our first duty is towards ourselves? Perhaps that is our primordial dharma?
To follow the timeless daily code of conduct as given in Ayurveda, dinacharya, so we can keep our bodies – this vehicle for spirit – well-functioning. Because only when we are in balance in body and mind can we then attempt to be true to ourselves by embracing who and what we already are here and now. And only then can we act for the greater societal good. But watch out: sometimes we tend to have romanticized unrealistic images of what we think we should accomplish…. What if taking measures not to step on an ant were as dharmic as saving a sinking boat? Dharma does not equal heroism. Beware the self-aggrandizing impulses of the ego in the name of self-sacrifice: this is a-dharma at its best! What is dharma then? It is what you are destined to do or be – right here right now – whatever that is. That’s it. Being the best of who you are by taking care of the vehicle that’s your body, that is your dharma. And sometimes that is all that you need to do. Just be. Be you. And that’s enough.

Because even the smallest most insignificant action on your part can have a cosmic impact: remember the “Butterly Effect.” The flapping of a butterfly’s wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world…. We are not alone. We live in a world where each one of our actions impacts the whole universe. All we have to do is be true to ourselves and our mere blissful and balanced presence will generate waves of bliss and balance around us for all. Science confirms this. So this Memorial Day, may we all re-discover our duties towards our selves first so that we can then celebrate others – dead and alive… Namaste! 
In our 7th Spring Detox session we covered the most insidious and prevalent of all toxins: EMF. Vaidya Mishra has revived the ancient knowledge of how Ayurveda helps us address these invisible toxins that have become prevalent in our modern culture. James presented the in-depth knowledge and shared memories and anecdotes from Vaidya’s courses as well. We closed our session with “chair Surya Namaskar” and “Nadi Shodhana Pranayam” – thank you Evangeline! Next week is our last session and we will discuss strategies that will help you stay on track after you conclude your SVA Spring Detox. In addition, there will be plenty of recipes recipes recipes – we are all just a bunch of foodies!
Did you miss signing up for detox this Spring? No worries, you can catch up in Autumn 2021. We will be announcing our next seasonal detox shortly. We look forward to having you join us.
Namaste!

We want to help you protect your purchase – there’s been an increase in lost/stolen packages.
To protect your shipment – in case your shipping address is not secure – we have now added the “signature delivery” option upon check-out on www.chandika.com and we highly recommend you select it to ensure your package is guaranteed to reach you after it leaves our warehouse. Kindly note we are unable to replace stolen/misplaced packages once they are confirmed delivered by the carrier of your choice.

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