Vedic Remedies for Modern Spiritual Crises

Identifying, Navigating & Resolving Emotional Disequilibrium Through the Lens of Daivavyapāśraya (Treatment of Spiritual Maladies)

Josh Schrei of The Emerald podcast, Fred Smith, Ramkumar, Claudia Welch, Emily Glaser & the rest of the Satsangam Team. Special Yoga practice with Scott Blossom.

While in the west we may consider spiritual crises to be a lack of fulfilment, meaningful living or a general feeling of being adrift, in India, spiritual maladies include curses, reaping of bad karmas and becoming possessed, among other disorders. We could write this Eastern view off as superstitious and backwards, until we look more closely at the utterly harmful or disruptive thoughts and beliefs that motivate many of our actions. 

When we shine a closer light, we see how the Western and Eastern views relate, and how we are hard-pressed to find anyone not possessed by something, whether that be an idea, belief, substance, person, planet or personality. Bringing the unconscious into conscious awareness can be a step towards dispelling harm in these arenas. Traditionally, treatment includes the recitation of mantras, wearing roots and gems, auspicious acts, offerings, gifts, oblations, following religious precepts, atonement, fasting, invoking blessings, falling on (the feet of) the gods, pilgrimage, etc. Which of these treatments may we effectively include in the modern world? What is possession? What possesses us? Once we see ourselves as porous beings, how do we work with that?

Drs. Ramkumar & Welch–hosts of Satsangam’s Vedic Threads membership course– join with special guests Fred Smith, Josh Schrei, Scott Blossom, Emily Glaser and the rest of the Satsangam team, to explore these ideas.

Scott Blossom, whose thirty years of studying Haṭha Yoga included more than ten years studying semi-classical Indian dance forms based on the Dance of Shiva, leads us in movement, breathing, and meditation practices to help illuminate how therapeutic possession relates to somatic yoga practices.

Emily Glaser presents an overview of how each of the planets, in turn, possess us in various ways, according to the understanding of Jyotiṣa.

Course Instructors

Ramkumar

Dr Claudia
Welch

Frederick
Smith

Josh
Schrei

Scott
Blossom

Emily
Glaser

You might find this course interesting if you

  • Are interested in Vedic Knowledge systems
  • Find your thoughts, emotions or attention scattered, fragmented, or disturbed
  • Have free-floating anxiety
  • Are interested in what influences your thoughts, emotions, attention, experiences and perspectives
  • Are curious what is meant by, “spiritual crisis” in Indian thought
  • Are curious what Indian thought and knowledge systems and perspectives can offer as a way of making sense of and restoring balance to our internal and external experiences
  • Are interested in how yoga practices work therapeutically with our sense of identity

This course consists of:

  • seven pre-recorded video sessions: 8 hours of lecture and 2 hours and 20 minutes of movement, as follows
    • Session 1: Panel Session with Ramkumar, Fred, Josh & Claudia (2.5 hours)
    • Session 2: Movement: Dance of Shiva; Part I with Scott (70 minutes)
    • Session 3: Jyotiṣa Session with Emily (1.5 hours)
    • Session 4: Panel Session with Ramkumar, Fred, Josh & Claudia (2 hours)
    • Session 5: Q&A Session with Emily, Scott, Ramkumar, Fred, Josh, Claudia, (1.5 hours)
    • Session 6: Movement: Dance of Shiva; Part II with Scott (70 min)
    • Session 7: Closing Session with entire Satsangam Team (30 min)
  • one handout that may take about 10 minutes to read
  • one quiz that may take about 30 minutes to complete

That is, a total of 11 actual hours (13.2 50-minute academic hours)

By the end of this course, if you have assimilated the material, you may be able to:

  • Have deeper understanding of humans as porous beings, constantly changing and changed
  • Have an understanding of a perspective of how human intellect, emotions and experience is organized according to Indian knowledge systems
  • Have new tools to harmoniously navigate internal and external realities
  • Have a new understanding of the role possession might play in your life
  • Understanding the role of rituals to enhance our identities and heal the psychological split between human and more-than-human world
  • Gain insight into the role of the body-based practices for healing the mind

By the end of this course, provided participants have learned and assimilated this material, they should be able to:

  • List the components of trividha dukha
  • Distinguish the difference between perspectives on spiritual maladies from Western vs. Indian perspective
  • Recognize the basic category of ādhibhautika disorders
  • Recognize the basic treatment strategy of yuktivyapāśraya
  • Recognize the basic category of ādhyātmika disorders
  • Recognize the basic treatment strategy ofsatvāvajāya
  • Recognize the basic category of ādhidaivika disorders
  • Recognize the basic treatment strategy of daivavyapāśraya
  • Identify the possible role ahaṃkāra (personality) might have in the context of spiritual malady
  • Identify the role possession plays in spiritual malady, according to an Indian knowledge system-based perspective
  • Locate emobodied practices and rituals in ādhibhautika disorders
  • Locate emobodied practices and rituals in ādhyātmika disorders
  • Locate emobodied practices and rituals in daivavyapāśraya

Registration

$300

Questions?
Email us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to help!