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 the following: The pandemic era has created, unveiled and exacerbated mental health concerns that persist. It has been a strong wake-up...
Saṅkalpa translates as, “intention” or, “determination”. Ayurveda physician Dr. Vignesh Devraj ji plans to join Drs. Claudia Welch & Ramkumar and 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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
by Dr. Claudia Welch Personal Experience When I was 19, I went to live in Benares, India to study Ayurveda… I thought. It was a year-long program through the University of Wisconsin, and the heftiest program requirement was to write a 100+ page research paper. I planned...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
In Indian wisdom traditions, the words for, “mind” (manas) and, “heart” (hṛdayam) seem interchangeable in certain contexts. And sometimes not. What are the differences and connections between the two? Why is this important or meaningful? Is the heart concurrently a physical, mental and energetic organ?...
Schedule and registration for these two 1.5 hour Live Online Sessions 13 & 14 (06 & 20 Apr, 2023) here: Vedic Threads: Satsangam's Online Membership Course with Drs. Ramkumar & Claudia Included in a traditional list of the 64, “arts” (kalās) of India we find, handicrafts,...
रागादिरोगान् सततानुषक्तानशेषकायप्रसृतानशेषान् औत्सुक्यमोहारतिदान् जघान योऽपूर्ववैद्याय नमोस्तुतस्मैः Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayam:I:1 rāgādi-rogān satatānuṣaktān-aśeṣa-kāya-prasṛtān-aśeṣān autsukya-mohāratidān jaghāna yo’pūrva-vaidyāya namo’stu-tasmai //1// Obeisance be unto that unique and rare (incomparable) physician [that’d be God] who has completely eliminated limitless diseases that are closely associated with and spreading all over the body and mind, perpetually causing...
ऋ॒तं च॑ स॒त्यं चा॒भी॑द्धा॒त्तप॒सोऽध्य॑जायत ṛtaṃ ca satyaṃ cābhīddhāt tapaso 'dhy ajāyata Truth was born and the order of truth from the kindled fire of energy of consciousness. Rig Veda 10.190.1 I’ve been reflecting on the relationship between the Sanskrit words, “satyam” and, “ṛta” or, “ṛtam.” Satyam: The Chandogya Upanishad tells us...