03 Jan Q&A SESSION FROM 03 January, 2021
Session Summary:
Dr. Svoboda & Dr. Welch address the following topics and questions in this order:
- “My question is then what is God? How do I structure my learning so that I can be so sure of what I am looking at/sensing is God that I can dispel doubt, and keep my eyes only on God? What steps do I take? With whom do I study to bring a worldview I can be that comfortable and sure about?”
- Issues related to entering the vanavāsa / vānaprastha āśrama (the third of the four stages of life) and the relationship between the human microcosm and the macrocosm
- the relationship between muscle and bone tissue and the physiological nature of bone loss
- exploration of why there is physiological (natural–as opposed to, “pathological”, which is a state of disease) lightening of the body as we age.
Some notes & things referred to in the session:
Fifth chapter of siddhasiddhaantapaddatih is on the unity of pinda (microcosm) and pada (macrocosm): “…after having acquired true knowledge beginning from the macrocosm and ending with microcosm, the esteemed siddhayogi should merge with paramapada (siva or the Supreme). SSP:V:1
Thus the person is equal to the universe. Whatever formed entities are found in the universe, they are also found in the person and vice versa. The learned people want to see the phenomena with this angle. Caraka Saṃhitā: Śārīrasthāna:IV:13
Please read Chapter 16: “Osteoporosis” of Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life. You can read an excerpt of the osteoporosis chapter, from where Dr. Welch read about the different percentages of bone loss that happen at different times in a woman’s life.
Also, regarding dhātu nutrition and flow, while we are taught predominantly that the early dhātus progressively nourish the later ones, that is not the only way that flow goes. The strength of the later dhātus affects that of the earlier ones as well. To visit or revisit dhātu nutrition and formation, you can take this standalone lesson on dhātus from Foundations of Ayurveda Part II.
These calls were recorded live with Dr. Claudia Welch & Dr. Robert Svoboda, for alumni of our “Foundations of Ayurveda Part I“, “Part II“, “The Planets” and, “Pratyāhāra: Turning Attention Within” complete courses (sorry, not for stand alone a la carte lessons). If you are not an alumnus of any of those courses, you are still welcome to listen to or share these sessions, but you may find them a bit confusing, as they relate to material covered in those courses.
We intend to offer Q&A sessions for alumni a couple times yearly, and post those sessions here. Once you are a registered student of one of these courses, you will receive emails letting you know when live calls are scheduled, how to join them, and be invited to submit questions on course content. We hope you find these sessions useful or interesting. Or both. Thank you for being here.