Ma 2015 ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 3cdn.isha.ws/private/FF/Isha-Forest-Flower-May-2015.pdf · Ma 2015...

ISHA FOREST FLOWER | 3 May 2015

In Conversation with the Mystic

Raise Your Food Consciousness

Mark Hyman in Conversation with Sadhguru

Mahabharat

Part 6: The Origin of the Chandravamshis / The Mantra of Revival

News & Events

‘Homegrown Tales’

Isha Home School Book Release

CHIT SHAKTI MAHABHARAT

6 16

Isha Hatha Yoga

Part 17: How to Connect to the Sun 4

Lead Article

Chit Shakti

Sadhguru on the Power of the Mind

6

Musings

Eleven Shrines – Two Objectives

Sadhguru on the New Shrines at the Isha Yoga Center

Yoga for the World

Sadhguru Shares His Vision for the International Day of Yoga

Zen Speaks

Mind Like a Mirror

Isha Recipe

This Month: Mung Dal Chaat

Upcoming Programs and Events

Isha Yoga – Program Highlights

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12

16

13

CONTENTS

Sadhguru on the Power of the Mind Part 6: The Mantra of Revival

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4 | ISHA FOREST FLOWER May 2015

Questioner: Namaskaram, Sadhguru. In Surya

Kriya, what is the significance of pressing the

knuckles of the thumbs into the Anahata?

Sadhguru: Whether it is Surya Kriya, Surya

Namaskar, or Surya Shakti, you must generate

a certain emotion towards the sun. That is

because what your emotion is focused on,

you can easily keep your mind on too. This

is how devotion works. If you emotionally

connect to something, it is easy to keep your

mind and attention on it, and naturally, your

energy moves in that direction too.

The sun is constantly making connection with

you. This whole solar system is powered by

the sun. Only because of that, life is possible

on the planet. Our very body structure is

based on this. Hatha Yoga is about sun and

moon, which are important factors. It is a

combination of these two impacts upon the

planet that has produced the human body.

The sun is the source of life energy. The prana aspect of you is a physical form of energy. In

the process of creation, the first physical form

of energy that manifests in the human system

is referred to as prana. There is another

dimension to the human system which is non-

physical in nature and non-pranic. Prana is

still physical. All the pranic energy in this solar

system is essentially generated by the sun.

Without the sun, there is no prana. Without

the sun, there is no warmth. Without warmth,

there is no life. The very way we check whether

you are alive or dead is by seeing whether you

are warm or cold.

We want to activate the sun element within

you. If something is dried in the sun, it can

burn. In a way, the object or substance

absorbs the rays of the sun and then becomes

capable of producing energy. If there was no

absorption of the sun’s energy, nothing could

burn, nothing could give warmth or light. For

the body to heal itself, we have to generate

warmth. In this context, samat prana is an

important aspect of creating health in the

system.

How to ConnectPART 17

ISHA HATHA YOGA

to the Sun

In our January edition, Sadhguru

explained the fundamentals of Surya

Kriya. Here, we zoom in on a central detail

that is relevant for all three sun-related

practices – Surya Kriya, Surya Namaskar,

and Surya Shakti.


The process of living is constantly taking a

toll on every cell in the body. They say the

average age of the cells in an adult human

body is 7 to 10 years. Every day, old cells are

dying and new cells are being created. The

number of cells that die in any given day can

be drastically brought down if your samat

prana is high. Similarly, the number of new

cells that are being created in a day can be

drastically increased if your samat prana is

high. The amount of samat prana you have

essentially depends on the amount of the

sun’s energy within you. One way is to try

to generate it within you. Another way is to

make use of the sun outside to activate this

process within you.

Surya Kriya is to activate the internal sun, but

you stimulate it by using the external sun. If you

want to establish a connection with the external

sun, or with anything for that matter, you need

attention, emotion, and energy moving in

that direction. Otherwise, you cannot make a

connection to anything – whether it is a human

being, a plant, an animal, or a substance.

When your attention, emotion, and energy

are not connected to anything around you,

you are like a separate existence by yourself.

And that’s how most people live.

One aspect is to open up the Anahata, which

is an important part of the human system. It

is the meeting point between the lower three

chakras and the upper three chakras. Its symbol

is two equilateral triangles. An upward-facing

triangle and a downward-facing triangle meet

to form a complex pattern. On one level,

creation begins from there – not the physical

dimension, but another dimension of you that

distinguishes you as a human being.

This is why it is called “Anahata,” which means

“unstruck” – an unstruck sound. Generally,

it takes two things to strike a sound. But at

the Anahata, there is an unstruck sound. To

activate that, you have to bend your thumbs

in such a way that the knuckles are pointed

and you press them into the Anahata. That

way, you create a certain emotion towards the

sun.

Likewise, when you feel a pleasant emotion,

you naturally place your hands on the

Anahata, because that is where it begins. You

want to activate your emotional dimension

because without focusing your emotions

on something, your mind cannot stick to

anything. What you focus your emotions on,

that is where your mind will be. Otherwise, it

is difficult to keep your mind set on one thing.

Excerpted from a talk by Sadhguru at the Isha Hatha Yoga School.

For dates and details of hatha yoga programs, visit www.ishahathayoga.com

The Hatha Yoga Teacher Training program is an opportunity to be trained in classical hatha yoga devised by Sadhguru. Upcoming dates: 31 July to 25 December 2015 at the Isha Yoga Center in India.

For more information, please send an email to [email protected] or call +91-83000 97444.


buddhi will not take you beyond limits in any

way, because it can only function based on

the data that is already there. It is not capable

of accessing anything beyond that.

The next dimension is called manas. Manas

has many layers to it. But manas is not just the

brain – it is right across the body. Every cell

in the body has a phenomenal memory – not

just of this life but of millions of years. Your

body clearly remembers how your forefathers

were a million years ago. Top to bottom, there

is manas – this is called manomaya kosha. In

every cell in the body, there is memory and

intelligence, but no intellect. Intellect is only

in the brain.

In English language, everything comes under

one banner called “mind.” The idea that

intelligence is only in the brain has produced

human beings whose consciousness is

seriously constipated. What is in the brain

is intellect, not intelligence. Intelligence

and memory are right across your body.

But people have never been trained how to

use this intelligence. Instead, they use their

intellect for everything. No wonder whatever

job you give them, they are stressed out. The

whole weight is on only one dimension of the

mind out of sixteen. It is like loading a sixteen-

wheeler truck and trying to drive on only one

wheel – you can imagine the stress! That is

what today’s world is going through.

People may be using other dimensions of the

mind marginally, unconsciously, but they are

not trained to use them. They have only been

trained to use their buddhi, or their intellect.

They are very smart. They know everything

about everything, but they do not know how

to figure their own life. They do not even know

how to sit here peacefully and at total ease

within themselves. If there is true intelligence,

the first thing that you need to figure out is

how to make life happen. You know how to

make the world happen, but you do not know

how to make your life happen. You do not

know how to conduct your mind. You do not

know how to conduct your energies. You do

not know how to conduct your emotions.

People do not even know how to conduct

their body.

If you ask people to become fit, they become

tight. If you ask them to live in a more natural

way, they become fat. They do not know how

to conduct their body, mind, emotion, energy –

nothing. Where is the intelligence? There is only

intellect. Intellect looks good only in comparison.

Suppose you are the only person on the planet,

your intellect will not mean anything. Only

because there are a few idiots around you,

you shine. By itself, intellect will not be of any

consequence.

The intellect directly connects with the third

dimension of your mind, called ahankara.

Ahankara is sometimes translated as ego, but

it is much more than that. Ahankara gives

you a sense of identity. Once your ahankara

takes on an identity, your intellect functions

only in that context. It is important to function

beyond the intellect, because the intellect is

seriously enslaved to your identity.

Our identities, such as belonging to a certain

nation, community, or whatever else, are

necessary for our survival in a particular

society. But you cannot think beyond this

because you are functioning only from your

intellect, and the intellect takes its sustenance

from ahankara. Only along the axis of ahankara,

the intellect can function. The intellect cannot

transcend this, because that is its nature. But

there are other ways to know life beyond the

identities we have taken on for our survival in

the world.

The fourth category of the mind is called

chitta. Chitta is mind without memory –

pure intelligence. This intelligence is like the

cosmic intelligence – simply there. Everything

happens because of that. It does not function

out of memory – it simply functions. In a way,


what you call cosmos is a living mind, not in

the sense of intellect but in the sense of chitta.

Chitta is the last point of the mind. It connects

to the basis of creation within you. It connects

you with your consciousness.

Chitta is always on – whether you are awake

or asleep. Your intellect comes on and goes

off. Many times it fails, even when you are

awake. If chitta or the intelligence within you

was not always on, you could not stay alive.

Try to conduct your breath with your intellect –

you will go crazy. Chitta is keeping you alive,

keeping you going, making life happen. If you

touch this dimension of your mind, which is

the linking point to one’s consciousness, you

do not even have to wish for anything, you

do not have to dream of anything – the best

possible thing that can happen to you will

anyway happen.

When you touch this dimension of the mind,

it means God becomes your slave – he works

for you. You know, yogis say, “Shiva is my

servant. He does everything for me.” In a way,

otherwise, I would not be here. Once you

know how to consciously access your chitta,

everything that is needed will simply happen

in the best possible way. If you go by your

intellect or your buddhi, today you think “this

is it,” tomorrow morning you think “that is it”

– like this it goes on endlessly.

Once you know how to consciously keep your

chitta on, once the Divine is your servant,

when someone really efficient is working for

you, you do not have to do anything. Simply

sit; the best things will happen – things that

you could not imagine. People always think if

their dreams come true, their life will be great.

I think that is a very poor life, because you

cannot dream about anything that is not at all

in your experience. My wish and my blessing

for you is things that you could not dream of,

things that you never thought possible, must

happen to you. What you did not dream must

happen to you – that is why you should not

dream.

Instead of seeing how to delve deeper into

yourself, you go on projecting stupid ideas

into the world. People think that is a great

thing to do. Last time when I was in the US,

and someone said to me, “Sadhguru, how

do you manifest all this?” I said, “I do not

manifest anything. I am just fooling around. I

got a very efficient partner [Shiva]. I simply

leave it to him, and it happens.”

Chit Shakti is about touching the dimension of

your mind that is pure intelligence – unsullied

by memory, unsullied by identification. It is

beyond ahankara, beyond buddhi, beyond

judgment, beyond divisions – simply there,

just like the intelligence of existence that

makes everything happen. If you access this,

you do not have to worry about what happens

or what does not happen. It will happen in a

way that you never imagined possible.

Once you have access to your chitta, it is

also a multi-pointed telescope. It makes

you see things that no one else can see – in

every direction. It is your crystal ball. It is a

magnifying glass that brings the very core of

life close to you. For everyone else, it is far


way. Everyone thinks the Divine is somewhere

up there. Where exactly, no one knows. All

they know is, it seems far away.

The moment you start looking at life through

your chitta, where there is no memory, there

is no karmic substance and no division.

Suddenly, the Divine is right there, bang on, in

your face all the time. You cannot miss it.

We first offered Chit Shakti in a different form.

In about six weekends, I taught a program

about establishing the power of the mind. By

the fourth, fifth weekend, 80% of the people

could move a folded paper from one place to

another without touching it. When I saw this,

I thought this is dangerous. If they can do

this, what all they will do, I knew. So we only

did one such program. Since then, we offer a

milder version of Chit Shakti.

The idea of Chit Shakti is not to keep asking

for things. The idea is that if the physical

arrangements of life happen easily, you

can dedicate more time for your spiritual

wellbeing. It would be stupid if just because

it happens easily, first you want to be a

millionaire, then you want to be a billionaire.

The main intention is that your physical life

happens more easily, that it does not take

your entire time to handle it, so that you will

have time to close your eyes and sit. Please

make use of it for this purpose.

The “Power to Create” meditations for Peace, Love, Health, and Success (also known as “Chit Shakti”) are available at the Isha Download Store – ishadownloads.com


Questioner: Namaskaram, Sadhguru. In

different places in the ashram, shrines have

been put up. What is the purpose of these

shrines, and why are the lingas covered in

vibhuti – so that we cannot see them?

Sadhguru: We have not put up too many –

only eleven. This is a technological aspect. It is

like, you subscribe to some telecom company,

let’s say Airtel – that means the air is telling

you things. The only thing is you must pay

your subscription fee. They have a base station

somewhere, but there are towers everywhere

to enhance the transmission. The shrines have

a similar purpose.

We placed the Dhyanalinga, Linga Bhairavi, the

shrines, and everything else according to the

geography of the yoga center. Fortunately, we

have a huge natural wall of a mountain behind

us, which is a cascade of Grace by itself. And

we put our life into making the Dhyanalinga.

It is transmitting heavily, but those who have

not paid their subscription fees may only

experience it as a “big black peanut,” as one

American lady put it a few years ago. There are

others who are going into nameless ecstasies

sitting there.

Life delivers to you depending upon the

extent to which you are receptive and

sensitive. We all may live in the same world,

but every human being does not experience

life the same way. For one person everything

is fantastic – for another person everything is

horrible. And there are of course people who

are in between, periodically swinging from

one end to the other. Today it is fantastic –

tomorrow it is horrible. Day after tomorrow

again it is fantastic. This is not only so in

the world – in the yoga center too. Because

people have transmission problems, we have

established these solidified mercury lingas to

further enhance the transmission.

To the second part of the question – “Why is it

covered with vibhuti, because you don’t want

us to see the linga?” If that was so, we would

have dressed him up. The idea is we want you

to take something of the reverberation. This

sacred ash is made of certain substances.

It is in contact with the rasa linga, and you

can take it in eleven different places. So if

you are one of those who do not pay your

subscription fees, which means you never go

to the Dhyanalinga or the sadhana hall, to see

that even you don’t miss it, we have put up

these shrines.

These eleven shrines certainly enhance the

whole situation phenomenally. Especially on

cooler days or in the early morning, you can

observe that. You must visit all the eleven

shrines early morning somewhere between

03:40 to six o’ clock – you will see they are

glowing in their own way.

They are located strategically in certain

places that are geographically significant for

the ashram terrain. Another aspect of it is

to provide you many opportunities to bow

down. Don’t just do it eleven times a day – you

MUSING

Eleven Shrines - Two Objectives

Sadhguru on the New Shrines at the Isha Yoga Center


must do it a million times a day. Every time

a cloud moves, the breeze moves, another

human being comes, a dog comes, a cow –

anything, a tree moves, your breath moves

in and out – bow down. Bow down to every

dimension of life, because all of it is superior

to your intelligence.

The way this breath is happening, how

simple air goes in, gives what it has to give

to nurture this life, goes out, gets into a

tree, gives what it has to give to the tree –

this transaction is going on for millions of

years. We are still breathing the same air

that the Adiyogi breathed 15,000 years ago!

Obviously, he has left a signature on the

air that you breathe. Many beings have. Of

course, there have been many lousy ones

too. But it is the same air, maintaining itself

pretty well, for a million years.

If we do not mess it up too much for another

billion years it can go on – the same air. No new

air is needed. No new water is needed. The

same things can go on forever – it is a fantastic

design. Right now, we are beginning to think

about doing things in a sustainable way – none

of the things we do is sustainable. Nothing that

we have created is sustainable – at the most,

it lasts a little longer than it used to earlier.

So, one thing is to learn to bow down, to be

reverential, not towards a particular thing –

simply to be reverential.

I would like to see that if the garbage truck

comes, you make way the same way as when

my car comes. Then it is a real ashram. Devotion

and reverence are not about something or

someone else – they are about you. They are

to change the quality of who you are, to bring

that sweetness of emotion into you every

moment of your life. If you maintain this one

thing, the rest becomes very simple.

If you do not look up to anything, you do not

look down on anything, you simply look at

everything the same way, you will experience

a profound involvement with life. There is no

need to look up to anything or to look down

on anything. But it takes a certain amount of

awareness and discipline, a certain amount of

evolution within yourself to look at everything

the same way, without distinction. Until you

get there within yourself, at least look up to

everything. This will transform you.

The eleven shrines are also in that direction.

Wherever you go, there is an opportunity for

you to bring back this sense of devotion within

you. Not towards anything. The Dhyanalinga

does not need your devotion. He does not

care whether you are devout or not. Whatever

the hell you are, he just transmits. If you are

receptive – fine. If you are not receptive, it will

go only skin deep. If you are receptive, it will

go all the way.

Being devout is about you, not about

something else. The Creator does not need

your devotion. I really do not need your

devotion – it is a nuisance for me. Indians

come and pull my legs – Americans come and

try to hug me. But if you have no devotion

in you, you are a lost case. It is not about

doing something for someone. It is about

transforming yourself. The eleven shrines are

there to enhance this sense of devotion.


Yoga for the World

Sadhguru Shares His Vision for the International Day of Yoga

A lot of things are being planned for the

International Day of Yoga. One thing is, in

cooperation with the External Affairs Minister

and a few other prominent schools in yoga,

we will make a presentation at the United

Nations on 21st of June. Another thing is to

raise awareness that it is important it is done

precisely and correctly. Above all, we want to

make the world understand that yoga is not

an exercise system. It is a profound form of

evolving a human being. It is about a very deep

understanding of the human mechanics – not

only of the physical dimension but of all aspects

of a human being.

Bringing this awareness is more important

than lots of people doing yoga for one day,

and then they give it up again. For someone to

pursue something, it must inspire them. They

must feel either in their mind, in their body,

or in their emotions that this is something

worth investing their time and energy in. To

get them to see the profoundness of yoga,

the nature of the offering is important. That is

when the world will take to it.

Yoga is not another kind of religion, nor do

we want to spread our brand. Human intellect

is evolving in a certain way right now. Never

before in the history of humanity could such

a large number of people in the world think

for themselves. All these millennia, there were

only a few people who thought reasonably

for themselves. For the rest, a scripture or a

teacher would dictate what they should think.

For the first time, large numbers of people

think for themselves. Whether they think

straight or not – this is a big step.

Human intellect is blossoming like never

before. Consequently, there is no room for

belief systems anymore. No matter how

strong the religions of the world look today,

in the next 50 to 150 years, they will all fall.

“Don’t worry. Believe me. I will take you to

heaven. Everything will be great there. It

doesn’t matter that right now you are in hell.

There, everything is going to be good” – this

whole idea will not sell anymore. As every

child in the world starts receiving education,

starts thinking for themselves, can access

information by themselves, keeping people

under control and telling them, “You got to

do this, otherwise you won’t go to heaven,”

will not work anymore.

Earlier, in pursuit of wellbeing, people

have looked up. This has brought a lot of

hallucination – people have imagined all kinds

of things. And it has created continuous wars

between one kind of heaven and another kind

of heaven. They are fighting over a God or a

heaven that both of them have not seen, but

they are willing to fight to death. In recent

times, there has been a shift towards seeking

wellbeing from the outside world. In the

process of seeking wellbeing from the world,

trying to take the juice of life from outside, we

are destroying the very source of our living –

the planet itself.

The message of yoga is this: “Not up, not

out – in. The only way out is in.” We are 7

billion people, and it is expected that by

2050, we will be 10 million people. Whatever

the number of people – if we seek wellbeing

from within, we are not in conflict with

anything. If we look up, we are in conflict. If

we look out, we are in conflict. But if we look

inward for our wellbeing, there is never any

conflict – not in the world, not within us. This

is a successful process, and its eco-friendly.

On 21 June 2015, the United Nations’ International Day of Yoga will be celebrated across the world for the first time. We will update you on upcoming events and activities for this day in the June edition of Isha Forest Flower.


IN CONVERSATIONWITH THE MYSTIC

Raise Your Food Consciousness Mark Hyman in Conversation with Sadhguru

American physician, medical adviser for Bill and Hillary Clinton, and New York Times best-selling author Mark Hyman came together with Sadhguru at the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences on World Peace Day last year to explore matters of health and wellbeing. Here is the first excerpt of their refreshing insights on the “power of the fork,” as Hyman put it – or we could say the right hand in South India. Read on to find out what this is all about.

Mark Hyman: Thank you, Sadhguru, for inviting

me and having me here on World Peace Day.

As I was thinking about the biggest threat to

world peace and the solution, it occurred to

me that it is something that could fit in your

pocket. And if we get it right, with this one

tool, we can cure chronic diseases, which are

on the rise across the globe. Over 50 million

people a year die from lifestyle-preventable

diseases, compared to 20 million who die

from infectious diseases.

It is not only the single biggest threat to global

economic development, costing 47 trillion

dollars over the next 20 years – which is more

than the annual gross domestic product of the

six largest nations combined – it also threatens

our oceans, our soils, and our air. It is one of

the biggest contributors to climate change, to

political instability, and to the lack of ability

to actually take care of our population across

the globe. And yet, if we get it right with this

one tool, we have the ability to solve all these

problems.

Do you know what this tool is? It’s in my

pocket. It’s a fork. Because what we put on

the end of our fork determines everything

about our world. It determines what happens

to our health, to the lands we grow our food

on, the air we breathe, and the water we drink.

It determines the stability or instability of

governments and societies around the world.

Still it is something that nobody is really talking

about. When we talk about threats to world

peace, we only talk about ISIS and instability


in the Middle East, which is certainly real and

important as well.

Nobody is talking about this other issue, yet

it is the single biggest problem facing us as a

human race today, which is how do we create

a healthy world? Because a healthy world is

a peaceful world. A world where we are sick

and overweight, and burdened by disease and

the cost of those diseases, is a very unstable,

unsafe, and un-peaceful world. So, today we

are going to talk about some of these issues,

hopefully provide some context, and some

solutions for it as well.

Economic issues and health issues are

connected, and we see this increasing

economic burden in our society. We are

spending 2.8 trillion dollars on healthcare

this year, which is about 16% of our economy,

and 84% of it is for chronic diseases like

diabetes, heart diseases, obesity-related

illnesses – lifestyle-preventable problems.

And yet, our healthcare system does not

address it, because it seems like the solution

is outside of the doctor’s office – it is more

in our own hands, in our own hearts, and in

our own minds. So, one questions is, how

can we get more empowered about taking

this into our own hands? I’d love to hear

your thoughts about this.

Sadhguru: Welcome and namaskaram to

everyone. Today being the World Peace Day,

let’s talk about food in the context of either

peace or violence. Essentially, we treat our

bodies violently, we live violently, and then we

expect the world to be peaceful. The world

is quite peaceful without the human beings.

It is only the way we live upon this planet

which creates violence. As Mark mentioned,

there are very violent, brutal situations on the

planet, like battles or wars. They need to be

handled – there’s no question about that – but

the everyday violence with which we live also

needs to be addressed.

Every year, we are killing 53 billion land animals,

and over a hundred million sea creatures. When

we cause so much violence, we being healthy

and peaceful is not going to happen. Not just

the quality of the food we consume – how we

consume, how wantonly or how consciously,

is very important. There is a whole lot of talk

about what to consume, but there is hardly

any guidance or effort to bring awareness to

people as to how to consume food. I just read

somewhere that 20% of the American meals are

consumed in a car.

Traditionally, in the East, we have always been

taught how you should be when food enters

your body, what condition you should be in,

what posture you should be in, how you should

approach it – these are very big things in the

East. If 20% of the meals are eaten in cars,

maybe another 20% is eaten in bars! I don’t

know how many people actually sit at the table

and eat a meal consciously, with a certain sense

of involvement with the food and the people

around them. I think there is enough knowledge

about the content of the food today in the world,

but still, people are yet to make the necessary

changes, apart from a few cosmetic ones maybe.

Apart from the content of the food, which

definitely has a big impact, how you consume it

is equally important. Whether you eat an animal,

a vegetable, or whatever else – essentially, food is

a piece of life. Something that was a life by itself

becomes a part of you. One life transforms itself

into another – that is what eating means. It is not

just digestion – it is one life fusing into another.

The quality of the food that we eat determines the quality of our health, and the awareness that we eat our food with also determines how that

food is metabolized by our body.


When you put another piece of life into you,

how it merges with your body and what this

produces depends on how you keep your

chemistry while you eat. How you should

be, when you should eat, in what posture

you should sit, and how you should welcome

the food into yourself – these things are

completely ignored today. Right now, the

battle is about what to consume. That itself is

a big challenge, and Mark is taking it up.

Mark Hyman: It’s very true. Actually, if people

consciously ate the food that they are

currently eating, they probably wouldn’t eat

it anymore. In fact, there was a patient who

was desperate to lose weight, but he was very

busy. He said he had to go to Burger King

every lunchtime, order two big whoppers,

and quickly eat them. I told him, “I want you

to mindfully eat each bite, taste it, and really

enjoy it.” He came back a few weeks later and

said, “I tried it. It was disgusting. I couldn’t

eat it anymore.” Since we are often eating

unconsciously, we are not even aware of the

effect on our body. I think the power of food

is enormous both to cause disease and to

cure disease. The quality of the food that we

eat determines the quality of our health, and

the awareness that we eat our food with also

determines how that food is metabolized by

our body. Those are real phenomena.

And the problem in this county is that the

food industry has literally hijacked our food

system and has produced factory-made

science projects that are highly addictive and

that create disease. And the ways in which

we grow them have huge impacts on our

environment – degrading our soils, our water

supply, and our air. The industrial agriculture

contributes greatly to climate change, and

the food we grow from it has an enormous

impact on our health.

The processed foods are full of sugar and

flour. The average American eats 152 pounds

of sugar and 146 pounds of flour every

year, which acts just like sugar in the body.

Combined, this is about a pound a day of sugar

and flour. This causes heart disease, cancer,

type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s, which they

now call type 3 diabetes. Sugar and flour can

cause depression, even infertility, and acne.

But even though they have an enormous

impact on our health, they are the main food

we eat in this country.

A lot of the calories we eat come from sugar –

up to 20%. I think we have to look at the food

system, how it affects us, and how we can

bring about a shift. Making the right choices

every day about what we put in our body is

a very revolutionary act. I think we all need

to start a revolution in our own kitchens, in

our own bodies, in our homes in order to

shift the tide, to change the world towards

a more peaceful state. Because the way we

currently eat is driving so much of the health

disturbances, the economic instability, and

ultimately the political instability and threats

to peace.

We all have that power, at every single meal.

We can vote three times a day with our fork,

and this has an enormous impact beyond

your own health. Probably the single most

important and powerful thing you can do

every day is figure out what you are going

to put on your fork, and the choice is yours.

You can’t always control how much you eat

because that is driven by hormones and

brain chemistry, which is regulated by the

quality of the food you eat. If you eat sugar

and processed food, it actually makes you

hungry and slows your metabolism. If you eat

real food, it changes your natural regulatory

mechanism, so you don’t overeat. You eat

the right amount of food, and so you stay a

healthy weight.

We will bring you more of this conversation on food, health, and individual as well as global wellbeing in upcoming editions of Isha Forest Flower.


King Sudhyumna Goes HuntingOne day, King Sudhyumna went hunting in

the forest that Shiva and his wife Parvati lived

in. Looking at the animals, she said on a whim,

“My love for you is such that I feel these bull

elephants, these lions with their huge manes,

these peacocks with their fabulous plumes

are all an insult to you. I want you to make this

forest in such a way there is no other male

but you.” Shiva was in a romantic mood. He

said, “Okay. Let everything in this forest turn

female.” Everything in the forest turned female.

The lions become lionesses, the bull elephants

become cow elephants, the peacocks became

peahens, and King Sudhyumna turned into a

woman.

He looked at himself – a brave king, who had

come hunting in the forest, had suddenly

What happened so far: Brihaspati, the priest of Indra and Guru of the Devas, was philandering around. His neglected wife Tara fell in love with the moon god Chandra, and the two began a romance. Brihaspati implored her to come back, because he would otherwise lose his position as the chief priest of Indra. Reluctantly, Tara returned, but she was pregnant by Chandra. Infuriated, Brihaspati cursed the child to be neither man nor woman. Budha, who represents

the planet Mercury, was born.

MahabharatMahabharatPART 6

The Origin of the Chandravamshis / The Mantra of Revival

become a woman. He cried, “Who did this to

me? Which yaksha, which demon, cursed me

like this?” In great despondency, he searched

around. Then he found Shiva and Parvati in

romance. He fell at Shiva’s feet and said, “This

is not fair. I am a king. I am a man. I have a

family. I just came hunting, and you turned

me into a woman. How can I go back like

this?” Shiva said, “I cannot take back what I

have done, but I can correct it a bit. We will

make it in such a way that when the moon is

waning, you will be a woman. When the moon

is waxing, you will be a man.”

The Chandravamshi Dynasty Is Born

Sudhyumna refused to go back to his palace.

He stayed in the forest and became known as

Ela, who for one half of the month was male,

for another half of the month was female. One

day, it so happened that Budha and Ela met.

It was a perfect match. Both of them were

male and female in equal measure. Between

them, they had many children. These children

were called Elas. These Elas became the first

Chandravamshis.

In the tradition of the kings in this country,

there are Suryavamshis and Chandravamshis –

descendants of the sun and descendants of

the moon. They are distinctly different types

of people. The sun people are conquerors –

clear-cut, black-and-white kind of people.

Chandravamshis are different every day.

MAHABHARAT SERIES


Kacha was received as a disciple, and he

proved to be a worthy disciple. He served his

master, took every instruction, and was very

much a part of everything. Shukracharya had

a daughter whose name was Devyani. Devyani

looked at this young man and slowly fell in

love with him. But he was not focused on this

young girl. Whatever she did, she could not

draw his attention for even a moment. He

could not be distracted from the purpose for

which he had come, and the Asuras knew he

had come for the Sanjeevini.

The Asuras Assault Kacha

One day, Kacha was grazing his master’s cattle

in the forest. The Asuras pounced upon him,

killed him, tore him into bits, and threw him to

the wild animals. When in the evening, only

the cows came back but not the boy, Devyani

was heartbroken. She went to her father and

cried, “Kacha has not come back. Someone

has done something to him. Wherever he is,

you must bring him back to life.” Giving in to

his daughter’s plea, Shukracharya used the

Sanjeevini to bring Kacha back to life.

When he was asked what happened, Kacha

described how the Asuras pounced on him

and killed him. Shukracharya said, “Be careful.

The Asuras don’t like you, because you are

from the enemy camp. Still I am treating you

as my disciple.” After a few days, Kacha went

to pluck flowers for the morning worship. The

Asuras caught hold of him, killed him, ground

his flesh and bone, mixed it with salt water in

the sea, ground his organs, and mixed a little

bit of it in Shukracharya’s wine. Unknowingly,

Shukracharya drank it.

When Kacha again did not turn up in the

evening, Devyani hollered. But Shukracharya

said, “It looks like it’s his destiny to be dead. He

is dying too often. There is no point in bringing

him back. Someone of your intelligence,

someone of your breeding, someone of your

exposure to life should not be crying about

life and death. This is something that happens

to every creature. Let him be dead. Reviving

someone too often is not good.” But Devyani

was heartbroken. “Either Kacha comes back

or I will drown myself in the lake.” Not willing

to allow that to happen, Shukracharya said,

“Let’s do it one last time.”

Kacha Learns the Sanjeevini Mantra

When Shukracharya tried to use the mantra,

he felt a rumbling in his stomach. It was Kacha.

Shukracharya got furious. “Who did this? Is

this also the Asuras’ work? How can they do

this?” From within his stomach, Kacha narrated

the whole story – how the Asuras killed him,

ground him, mixed him with salt water, and

how they took the organs, ground those, and

mixed some of it with the wine. Shukracharya

became very angry. “This is going too far, that

they put him in my belly now. Either I have

to let him stay dead, or, if I bring him back to

life, I have to die.” He thought, “Maybe I must

resign this job and join the Devas. I am being

treated too badly. How dare they put this boy

in my belly?” But Devyani cried. She said, “I

am neither willing to live without Kacha nor

without you. If one of you dies, I will drown

myself.”

Shukracharya told Kacha, “You have

succeeded in the mission for which you came.

You wanted to know the secret of Sanjeevini,

and you are a deserving candidate. Now I will

teach it to you. Then I will use it to revive you.

You will burst out of my body, which will lay

me dead. Then you use the Sanjeevini mantra,

bring me back to life, and you start a new life

elsewhere.” Shukracharya used the Sanjeevini

mantra, and like a rising moon, Kacha grew in

his stomach and burst out of him. Shukracharya

fell dead. A scream went up from Devyani.

Then Kacha used the Sanjeevini mantra and

brought Shukracharya back to life, bowed

down to him, and was about to leave. Devyani

said, “You cannot leave. I love you.”

To be continued


Upcoming Programs and Events

Date Program Place Contact

4–25 May 2015

21-Day Hatha Yoga Program

Isha Yoga Center,Velliangiri Foothills, Coimbatore – India

94878 95918 [email protected]

6–26 May 2015

Yoga MargaIsha Yoga Center,

Velliangiri Foothills, Coimbatore – India

0422–2515464 / 94890 [email protected]

11–15 May 2015

Nature Awareness Program

(Age: 9–12 years)


94443 [email protected]

14–17 May 2015

Inner Engineering Retreatt



14–17 May 2015

Bhava Spandana with Sadhguru

Isha Institute of Inner-sciences,

McMinnville, TN – USA

[email protected]

17–21 May 2015


(Age: 9–12 years)



23–27 May 2015


(Age: 9–12 years)



27–30 May 2015

Guru Pooja TrainingIsha Yoga Center,

Velliangiri Foothills, Coimbatore – India


28–31 May 2015

Inner Engineering Retreat



31 May 2015Nanvai Uruvam Ceremony with

Sadhguru


94425 04655 [email protected]

2 June 2015Yantra Ceremony

with Sadhguru



These programs are conducted in English, unless indicated otherwise.Current at the time of print, however subject to change. For full program schedules and updates, please visit our website: www.ishafoundation.org.

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