Author:Anuradha Vashisht

1.Philosophy of life and how I came by it As I have understood and experienced life, there are only two philosophies to live by. Either we live a life of total surrender or we do not. There is nothing in the middle. I don’t think we come by a philosophy; it just grows on us as we go through life. More than a year ago, when I was moving towards life-threatening illness (I was not fully aware of it then), and when almost everything else around too seemed to go wrong, my Guru, Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath, seeing what lay ahead, told me: “Just trust your Guru is with you.” From that day on, it has been a life of total surrender. It never occurred to me that I arrived at a philosophy. Something came...

To live and fulfill

Posted on August 8, 2015

Life creates, destroys and recreates itself each moment and fills all creatures and the creation with a throbbing effervescence. This alone is the purpose of life. As the river flows to merge into the ocean, thus we live to connect to the source and find the purpose of our life. What we do in our lifetime is merely the itinerary we draw for ourselves as we move towards our destination. By Anuradha Vashisht I look at the sun as it bathes me in its bright golden light, and ask: “What is the purpose of your being?" Its beaming rays throw back the question to me. “Don’t you know? To give life and sustain it. I have been doing it for eons—from the beginning of creation. The river playfully saunters along, tickling my feet....

Life

Posted on August 8, 2015

I was in the thick of furious activity when Suma’s voice reached out to me from Bombay. She wanted me to contribute to the Life Positive anniversary issue as an ex LP deputy editor. I knew I would have to bend over backward even to do a short write-up. Moreover, at the face of it, my just about six-months stint at Life Positive in a 15-years journalistic career appeared rather brief to be considered much in a life-span. But for one who has experienced transformation in a moment, half-a-year could compress journeys of countless lifetimes. So where does that leave me? At my desktop, of course! But it took me five days to find that gap in a demanding schedule, where I could pause and meditate on those hectic months of...

The music of silence

Posted on August 8, 2015

We have to penetrate the cluttered noisiness of our mind and the world around us to reach where absolute silence alone remains. When we know silence, we shall know ourselves. By Anuradha Vashisht What is silence? And what is our connection with it? Silence could have different meaning for different human beings. While to a child it could mean minimum of noise that doesn’t break mom’s disturbance barrier, to a mother silence becomes an urgency difficult to maintain as she goes about her daily chores over the sleeping infant. Between lovers silence could vary from going speechless with emotion to expressing their hurt. In couples it could mean a sulky standoff or a cold war or a mutual understanding as they feel more comfortable in togetherness. To a warrior or a soldier silence...

Radical path to wholeness

Posted on August 8, 2015

Disillusioned with conventional medical system and years of battling sickness, a woman embarks on a path-breaking journey towards physical and emotional wholeness. Her experiments with the body’s natural healing system are inspiring and radical. (Published in Jan 2004 issue of Life Positive Plus) By Anuradha Vashisht On the sixth morning of October 2003, I woke up with a heavy feeling in the body. By afternoon I was moving towards high fever. Into the third day, I lost all sense of time and body. My head, torso, legs, eyes, all shrunk into a ball of intense pain. By the fifth day the fever rose to 106 degrees. The body felt lifeless and raising even a hand required Herculean effort. My body organs seemed to have suspended their functions. The mind slowly slipped into a dull...

An idol of idealism

Posted on August 8, 2015

By Anuradha Vashisht Acharya S Swaminathan fights a lonesome, yet determined, battle to establish the true principles of Nature and the science of natural health against remedy-mindedness and disease appeasement methods “People these days have no time to live; they are busy with their livelihoods” “Natural hygiene is not another alternative to medicine; actually there is no alternative to it” “From politicians to saints and sanyasins, everyone is besotted with remedy-mindedness” Way back in early ’50s, when Acharya Seshadri Swaminathan was asked to compulsorily contribute to the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) as an employee in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, he was stupefied. To the foremost disciple of world-renowned Father of Nature Cure in India, Acharya K Lakshmana Sarma, the suggestion seemed nothing less than outrageous. At that time, about 700 to 800 central...

WHO’S AFRAID OF SARS?

Posted on August 8, 2015

Far from causing disease, viruses are only the scavenging agents of nature. In ironically believing them to be the culprits, humanity is needlessly suffering from diseases that can be easily defeated by following internal and external hygiene, and the laws of nature. There is a need for the focus to be shifted from eliminating disease to building up health. “The adversary is elusive, invisible and deadly, and until a few months ago it was an alien form never before seen on earth … the only way to defeat it is through a steady stream of intelligence.” These words are not scripted for a newest Hollywood spine-chiller. Nor do they come from the leader of a mission in the latest Carl Sagan space odyssey. This is the intro of a recent cover...

I looked into the eyes of eternity …

Posted on August 8, 2015

Anuradha Vashisht visits the Gurunath Ashram at Simhagarh and comes back enriched, soaked to the very soul A hush descends as the jungle creatures sense a human form treading softly over the twig-laden path. The rustling leaves under the feet make a complaining noise as more leap from the trees in protest, ready to be trampled upon. Another lone dry leaf trembles in the chilly winter air as it travels through eternity and gently lands on my path. I too tremble as I bend over to hold it on my palm. Its intoxicating scent triggers an overpowering sense of déjà vu, and sweeps my being away to another time, another era. The wild beating of the heart echoes deafeningly through the woods. And then, the stillness swallows up everything—the breath, the...

Lightness of being

Posted on August 8, 2015

Intro: Years after the sacred ceremony of initiation into the spiritual order, the journey is dotted by newer awakening each moment in the presence of the Master By Anuradha Vashisht A fierce downpour lashed at the windshield on that cold January evening, imparting it an unpleasant chill. I blindly drove to my destination as the wipers gave way. I couldn’t tell if the traffic jam ahead came as a blessing or a frustrating hurdle on the way. I must have looked at my watch a thousand times in the hour that I was stuck in the long queue of vehicles. Just 10 minutes from the destination, and I seemed so far! “Turn back,” urged my mind, “it is too late now.” But only if my heart would listen. Finally, I reached. To my relief,...

A Day of harmony

Posted on August 8, 2015