This lively discussion will create a foundational framework for how these traditional healing practices can be woven together with the modern understanding of trauma to help us gain resilience in our lives.
Tāla is a common term used across several kalās in India: music, dance, visual arts, and architecture. It can mean the span (of the palm), the floor (height) of a building and the musical beat (time measure). In this session of Vedic Threads, friends and colleagues– artist Drdha Vrata Gorrick and artist/dancer Vinay Srinivasan join Drs. Ramkumar and Claudia in this Vedic Threads session to share how tāla brings meaning as well as definition to their practice of their respective kalās.
Indian scriptures suggest householders—or perhaps all people—engage in five major daily yajñas (sacrifices; worship) that gradually and increasingly connect us to and nourish an interconnected whole. Vijayalakshmi Vijayakumar has taken pañca mahā yajña to practical and great lengths and is scheduled to join Drs. Ramkumar and Claudia in the July 07 session of Vedic Threads to discuss this ancient practice that we can apply in modern times and ways.
Robert Moses and Dr. Scott Blossom will join Drs. Ramkumar & Claudia for a discussion on how we work with obstruction of the circulation of prāṇa through haṭha yoga practice and the role that the mind (manas) plays in the process. Scott and Robert will share with us the benefit we can experience when we use the mind to focus prāṇa on marma points (points where prāṇa stagnates in the body), and devotional practices like puja or prayer to resolve karmas that may be obstructing free-flowing prāṇa, or simply on circulating prāṇa.
We will explore the intersection between Jyotiṣa (Vedic astrology) and Indian music. There is an upāya, or Jyotiṣical remedy, which prescribes a specific rāga (Indian musical composition), based on a person's natal birth chart, to bring more harmony to the life of that person. We will explore related ideas about about time, measurement, distance, emotion, and nakṣatras (constellations).
On Thursday, Sept. 21, 10-11:30am ET (New York time) Drs. Ramkumar & Claudia are warmly inviting anyone at all that would love to see what we've been up to for the last year, to join us, Satsangam's teachers, advisors, and the Vedic Threads Membership-based course participants, at no cost, for a special session to celebrate the conclusion of the first incredible year of Vedic Threads. This is and continues to become a beautiful community, in great measure because of the heartfelt participation, depth of knowledge and spirit of curiosity of every one of of the incredible instructors and participants.
With all the turmoil and chaos of the modern age, it is timely to give attention to emotional health. In this course the astounding Carolina Prada--performer of Indian dance and martial arts forms, helps us out. She gives us a road map, exploration, demonstration and coaching around the nava (nine) fundamental rasas (emotions), according to the Indian rasa theory. We explore and experience them through guided reflections, introspection, meditations, breathing exercises, the practice of gestures and gesticulation, as well as movements of the body as a whole, and its various specific parts– like the eyes, eyebrows, lips, cheeks, hands, shoulders, chest, etc.
The word varṇa is commonly translates as, “caste” --a translation that does not do justice to the context in which it was originally used in Vedic scriptures. While today we understand that this concept can be understood to be inherited by birth and used by one group to oppress another, there is a different point of view (to which we subscribe) for which we can find support in the śāstras. In this view, we all may contain or embody each of the 4 varṇas in the course of our lives and experiences, depending on what we are focusing on, our intentions, and spending our time on at any given point in our lives. There is also the idea, which we appreciate, that we are all born in with tamasic (baser) tendencies but, through our actions, we can evolve into a more sattvic (pure) mode of being. From this point of view, we do not inherit a high status—but that is the birthright for all of us, and attainable through self-purification.
In these two sessions, Drs. Ramkumar & Welch are joined by Kapila Venu ji, a practitioner of Kutiyattam (“Koodiyattam”), – one of the oldest living theatre traditions in the world. She has studied multiple Indian art and dance and theater forms, including Mohiniyattam dance. Kapila ji joins us to talk about the role and connection of vāyu, bhāva (emotion) and rasa (flavor). In these art forms, vāyu represents the movement of the life force through the body and mind, and is a medium through which to explore emotion and demonstrate the scope of human experience. We plan to discuss the differences between and nuances of prāṇa and vāyu; bhāva and rasa; how traditional performance practices weave these threads together, and the role they play in mental health.
Sound, in the form of drumming, chanting, recitation, repetition of mantra, singing, instrumental music, and the ringing of bells has been an integral part of devotional traditions since ancient days. The various qualities and practices associated with sound exert a variety of effects on our well-being. During the five days of the retreat attendees will enjoy direct experience of the very different effects of these distinct manifestations of sound
Simran Lal joins Drs. Ramkumar & Welch in this Vedic Threads session to talk about bhāva and bhāvana. One could say that bhāva and bhāvana is what makes this world go round. Everything in this manifested world begins with a thought; Everything is a manifestation of our intentions. Bhāva is one’s inner world - intentions, feelings, desires; and bhāvana is the outer expression of those - in what we say, how we express ourselves, how we conduct ourselves in society. Yogis advise us to align our bhāva with our bhāvana (what in modern day parlance is what we call ‘authenticity’), and to make them śuddha (pure). Our persistent thoughts and the way we perceive the world shape us. To refine them (make them śuddha) is the birthright, and the highest aim of each of us.
Professor of Sanskrit & Classical Indian Religions Fred Smith, joins Dr. Ramkumar & Dr. Welch to talk about "itihāsa" or, "history". Itihāsa also is used to specifically refer to the two monumentally influential epic poems of ancient India: the Mahābhāratam and the Rāmāyaṇa. The very fact that the word, "history" is used in a context where, in the West we might use "mythology", “epic”, "story" or, "poem" can lead us into curious conversation. Hopefully this will be the case.
Rose Baudin joins Drs. Ramkumar & Claudia to share her love of Abhinavagupta and Lal Ded, two mystic luminaries, and how their works and spirits have influenced her life and yoga practice of over 50 years.
Theyyam is an ancient form of worship found only in northern Kerala in India. A designated theyyakkaran – "a Theyyam man (or woman)" – calls the formless deity down from heaven and ‘carries’ the deity by providing him – or her - with a body and therefore the ability to interact with their devotees. Pepita Seth has lived with and studied the people and practice of Theyyam for 20 years and shares experiences and wisdom around this with Drs. Ramkumar & Claudia
Along with the 8 branches of Ayurveda that apply to humans, we can understand that, depending on the teacher, there are 2 or 3 other branches: one covers agriculture or farming (kṛṣi Ayurveda); one plants & trees (vṛkṣa Ayurveda), and one animals (mṛga or paśu Ayurveda).
Saṅkalpa translates as, “intention” or, “determination”. Ayurveda physician Dr. Vignesh Devraj ji plans to join the Vedic Threads community for the first May session to explore the role of saṅkalpa in medicine—from the patient’s experience as well as the doctor’s. This can relate to the way a practitioner and the patient approaches the doctor/patient relationship; the roles of medicine, the doctor, the patient, hope, compliance; what is whose responsibility, and to the outcome itself. Some of these insights are likely to apply to life in general as well as to medicine.
Join Satsangam's team, including Drs. Robert Svoboda, Fred Smith Ramkumar, Claudia Welch, Scott Blossom, Kimberly Kubicke and the rest of the satsangam team and friends, in Taos, New Mexico to delve into the therapeutic dimensions of storytelling. The retreat is designed for those who cherish stories, as well as for anyone seeking to understand how to construct or choose stories that act as the right medicine in varied situations.
Dr. Mala Kapadia, Director, Interdisciplinary Research Initiatives, Anaadi Foundation, Palani, Tamil Nadu, Bharat joins Drs. Claudia Welch & Ramkumar--and the Vedic Threads community to discuss how the pandemic era has created, unveiled and exacerbated mental health concerns that persist. It has been a strong wake-up call to humanity. In the post-Covid, “new normal”, we are prompted to evaluate the strength of our health, happiness and immunity, and question how we are living and what indeed is and supports these things.
Radhasharandas Rajesh Shinde ji will join Drs. Claudia Welch & Ramkumar and the Vedic Threads community to introduce us to India's ancient art of geomancy and help us consider how to apply some of this knowledge in our modern lives.
Join Drs. Anuradha Choudry, Ramkumar and Claudia in Vedic Threads to explore the role of paramparā (tradition) & dṛṣṭi (perspective, worldview, vision) in ancient vs. modern education, to consider what has been lost, and what we might wish to restore.
In this session, we welcome Hanuman Dass, founder of Go Dharmic, a non-profit organization engaged in humanitarian and environmental initiatives. We will explore the concept of dharma within Sanātana Dharma, focusing on its role as a guiding principle for ethical conduct and service. Go Dharmic's activities, such as establishing school libraries and computer labs in India and Nepal, distributing meals globally, and environmental conservation efforts like planting mangroves in the Sundarbans, provide practical contexts for discussing how dharma influences personal and communal responsibilities. This discussion aims to enhance understanding of dharma's impact on individual actions and societal welfare.
Abhinavagupta was a living example of the value of the study of multiple disciplines, as he studied the schools of philosophy and art of his time under the guidance of as many as fifteen (or more) teachers and gurus. He authored seminal works on poetry and drama as well as extraordinarily profound and influential philosophical works.
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