Satsangam

Animal, Plant and Agricultural Ayurveda
2024-04-04 - 2024-04-18 | Satsangam
These two 1.5 hour live, online sessions (April 04 & 18, 2024) are part of Satsangam’s Vedic Threads’ ongoing membership-based course with Drs. Ramkumar & Welch. Schedule details available on your class page after registration.
In the first session, Sanjeev Kumar Kulangara is scheduled to join us.
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). (Alternatively, we could understand there is just mṛga or paśu Ayurveda and kṛṣi Ayurveda–which covers plants, trees and agriculture). There are some sub-branches for specialization of mṛga or paśu Ayurveda for some animals– like Ashwa Ayurveda for horses, and Gaja Ayurveda for elephants.
There is a subset of these various branches of Ayurveda that join them together, working symbiotically to benefit all, without inflicting any violence on animals. This is called, go adharid kṛṣi or, cow-based agriculture. According to the principles outlined by, “father of agriculture,” Subhash Palekar, there are 3 factors necessary for success in this method: 1. Health; 2. Mindset and, 3. Native cattle. Together they yield, “zero-budget” farming practices that nourish the land, cows, other animals, and humans.
Sanjeev Kumar Kulangara has worked with these practices for seven years. He learned from his guru ji, Swami Nirmalananda Giri Maharaj, and continues to learn with masters of these methods as he works with of the Ayurveda eco-village vaidyagrama’s cows—and other animals– in Tamil Nadu, India. Here he protects and nurtures rare breeds of cows, including anaganmala kulan—a breed of small cows from Anaganmala—that number only around 200 in the world.
Sanjeev ji joins us in Vedic Threads to share these practices and provide a window into the inspiring results, using real-life examples.

Theyyam: Carrying the Deity with Pepita Seth
2024-03-07 - 2024-03-21 | Satsangam
These two 1.5 hour live, online sessions (March 07 & 21, 2024) are part of Satsangam’s Vedic Threads’ ongoing membership-based course with Drs. Ramkumar & Welch. Schedule details available on your class page after registration.
These March sessions are dedicated to Theyyam. In the first session, Pepita Seth is scheduled to join us.
Seriously, you must check out Pepita ji’s intro video on the Team page. She is 81, sharp, deep and has an incredible amount of wisdom and experience to share. She intends to share with us some of what she has learned while writing her new book (20 YEARS in the making): In God’s Mirror: The Theyyams of Malabar.
The ritual of Theyyam is an ancient form of worship found only in northern Kerala in India. It is believed to be somewhere between a thousand and two thousand years old. Its complex beliefs and practices belong exclusively to families of hereditary practitioners. As soon as the designated theyyakkaran – a word literally meaning a Theyyam man – completes the required preliminaries he will call the formless deity down from heaven. It is then that the theyyakkaran ‘carries’ the deity by conceptually providing him – or her – with a body and therefore the ability to interact with their devotees. While every Theyyam deity must follow their assigned rituals, they invariably dance to express their joy at interacting with the devotees who flock to receive their blessings. This is an important aspect of Theyyam, and explains why it draws people. While some may approach simply to receive the deity’s blessings, others will seek answers to their troubles, an interaction that often involves serious one-to-one discussions.
We welcome you to join us in heartfelt conversation on these themes, in our twice-monthly Vedic Threads membership-based course. For 35 USD/month you have access to two live 1.5-hour sessions/month with Drs. Ramkumar, Welch, world-class guest instructors, dedicated participants from all over the world, and more than 40 hours of content from previous sessions.

Abhinavagupta & Lal Ded (Lalleshvari): Mystic Poets in Daily Life
2024-02-01 - 2024-02-15 | Satsangam
These two 1.5 hour live, online sessions (February 1 & 15, 2024) are part of Satsangam’s Vedic Threads’ ongoing membership-based course with Drs. Ramkumar & Welch. Schedule details available on your class page after registration.
These February sessions are dedicated to Abhinavagupta and Lal Ded.
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.
Lal Ded was a mystic poet in the Kashmir Shaivism tradition and are said to be the earliest compositions in the Kashmiri language.
Rose Baudin, long time friend and colleague of Drs. Ramkumar & Claudia shares her love of these two luminaries and how their works and spirits have influenced her life and yoga practice of over 50 years.
We welcome you to join us in heartfelt conversation on these themes, in our twice-monthly Vedic Threads membership-based course. For USD/month you have access to two live 1.5-hour sessions/month with Drs. Ramkumar, Welch, world-class guest instructors, dedicated participants from all over the world, and more than 40 hours of content from previous sessions.

EAY Information Session July 25
2023-07-25 12:00 (America/Halifax)

EAY Information Session June 13
2023-06-13 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Denver)

Yogic Threads: Relevance of Yoga & Ayurveda in Healing Trauma with Scott Blossom, Arun & Anjali Deva
2023-05-11 12:30 - 13:30 UTC
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.
Join us as we explore the following questions:
How can Yoga and Ayurveda contribute to healing trauma?
What is the historical lineage of healing trauma in these traditions?
Why do Yoga and Ayurveda relate to each other?
How do you understand the process of healing with Yoga and Ayurveda?
