Episode 117: Storm on the Sea of Galilee: Palestinian Liberation Theology and the Fifth Gospel

The stones on which our Redeemer walked are still charged with his memory and continue to “cry out” the Good News. For this reason, the Synod Fathers recalled the felicitous phrase which speaks of the Holy Land as “the Fifth Gospel”. How important it is that in those places there be Christian communities, notwithstanding any number of hardships! The Synod of Bishops expressed profound closeness to all those Christians who dwell in the land of Jesus and bear witness to their faith in the Risen One. Christians there are called to serve not only as “a beacon of faith for the universal Church, but also as a leaven of harmony, wisdom, and equilibrium in the life of a society which traditionally has been, and continues to be, pluralistic, multi-ethnic and multi-religious”

Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini 

• What is the Fifth Gospel?

• A storm on the Sea of Galilee

• Decolonizing faith

• The olives of Gethsemani

• A crucified landscape in hope of resurrection

• The living stones

• The shepherds of Bethlehem

Storm on the Sea of Galilee

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Episode 116: Kairos II: Palestinian Liberation Theology

We are witnesses to the Resurrection and to the empty tomb from which the light of life burst forth. We believe that the final word belongs not to death, but to life. Not to darkness, but to light. Not to injustice, but to truth.

We look toward the day when we shall live free in our land, together with all the inhabitants of the earth, in true peace and reconciliation — founded upon justice and equality for all God’s creation, where “mercy and truth meet, and righteousness and peace kiss each other.”

Kairos II

Kairos II is in the news after the Church of England General Synod voted to hear and engage with it, stirring controversy and earning a rebuke from the Chief Rabbi. Kairos II does not mince words. Let’s hear what Palestinian theologians have to say about:

• The Zionist project

• Ethnic cleansing

• Genocide

• Apartheid

• Settler colonialism

• Europe’s hypocrisy

• The erosion of international law

• Christian Zionism

• Sumud—costly steadfastness

• Holding war criminals to account

• Costly solidarity

What does all this have to do with YOU? How can you help create a better world?

Kairos 2 Palestinian Liberation Theology

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Episode 115: Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Part 4

This earth is the honey of all beings, and all beings are the honey of this earth. Likewise this bright, immortal person in this earth, and that bright immortal person incorporated in the body (both are honey). He indeed is the same as that Self, that Immortal, that Brahman, that All.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch II fifth brahmana

As you have been joining our exploration of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the seeds of awakening have been sown in you. Now we complete our journey through this remarkable Upanishad as Ma unfolds the Doctrine of Honey.

Brihadaranyaka 4

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Episode 114: Ayurvedic Nonnamaxxing

Much more than a TikTok trend, the essence of Nonnamaxxing is a healthy and wholesome lifestyle that has endured for centuries and supported longevity.

Let’s explore how social connexions, gardening and home-cooked food contribute to your health and happiness. We’ll also look at ways you can build these nourishing habits into your daily life.

Ayurvedic Nonnamaxxing

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Episode 113: A Land without a People: Zionism and the Church

   Today we’re continuing to look at why the phrase, “Antizionism is antisemitism” is completely wrong, an inversion of the truth.

Last week we looked at what antisemitism really is. Now let’s consider Zionism, beginning with the phrase, “A land without a people for a people without a land”. We’ll look at how this slogan irrevocably brands Zionism as a settler colonial enterprise and at its bizarrely antisemitic nature.

• Terra nullius and the Doctrine of Discovery

• The Papal Bull Inter Caetera (1493)

• Requirimiento and Imperialism

• From the Right to Colonize to the Obligation to Civilize

• Racialization of Jews

• How the Jews, by proxy, take up the White Man’s Burden

• The promises made to Abraham as theological justification for war and conquest

• Decolonizing the Bible

• What about Catholic Christian Zionism?

Camilla Boisen’s article

No Catholic Brand of Christian Zionism

A Land without a People

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 112: Antisemitism and the Catholic Church

The Jews must not be persecuted, slaughtered, nor even driven out. Inquire of the pages of Holy Writ. I know what is written in the Psalms as prophecy about the Jews. "God hath commanded me," says the Church, "Slay them not, lest my people forget."

Bernard of Clairvaux

Let’s look together at the deep and abiding roots of antisemitism.

• What’s wrong with the ADL definition of antisemitism

• Why is the slogan '‘Antizionism is antisemitism” a misconception

• What is the role of the Catholic Church in two thousand years of persecution of Jews

• What is Supersession theology

• What about Deicide

• What is Blood Libel

• A throughline of appropriation of land, culture and religion

• How Vatican II changed the church’s relationship to Judaism

Learn more about how the church saved Italian Jews

Sign the petition to keep the ADL out of BVSD curriculum

Antisemitism and Catholicism

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 111: Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Part 3

‘Maitreyī, my dear,’ said Yājñavalkya, ‘I am going to renounce this life.’ Allow me to finish between you and Kātyāyanī.[2] Thereupon Maitreyī said, ‘Sir, if indeed this whole earth full of wealth be mine, shall I be immortal through that?’ ‘No,’ replied Yājñavalkya, ‘your life will be just like that of people who have plenty of things, but there is no hope of immortality through wealth.’ Then Maitreyī said, ‘What shall I do with that which will not make me immortal? Tell me, sir, of that alone which you know (to be the only means of immortality)

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch 2

In what might be the most extraordinary episode in all the Upanishads, Sage Yājñavalkya shares the knowledge of the Self with his beloved wife, Maitreyi. His simple, direct and affective teaching style contrasts with all the dialogues we see with male disciples.

Listen to Ma expounding this favourite passage.

Brihadaranyaka Part 3

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 110: Ayurveda for Acid Indigestion

Do you suffer from hyperacidity? Learn how Ayurveda can help.

Amlapitta, known as acid indigestion or dyspepsia, is a common and widespread condition of painful or difficult digestion, often accompanied by symptoms such as nausea, heartburn, bloating, belching and stomach discomfort.

• How does Ayurveda describe acid indigestion?

• What are its causes?

• Diet for acid indigestion

• Lifestyle changes for acid indigestion

• Herbs and treatments for acid indigestion

Acid Indigestion

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 109: The Four Pillars of Peace

Before a society can be considered well-ordered, creative, and consonant with human dignity, it must be based on truth…Human society…demands that men be guided by justice, respect the rights of others and do their duty. It demands, too, that they be animated by such love as will make them feel the needs of others as their own, and induce them to share their goods with others, and to strive in the world to make all men alike heirs to the noblest of intellectual and spiritual values. Nor is this enough; for human society thrives on freedom, namely, on the use of means which are consistent with the dignity of its individual members, who, being endowed with reason, assume responsibility for their own actions.

Pope John XXIII Pacem in Terris ("Peace on Earth") On establishing universal peace in truth, justice, charity, and liberty.

Truth

Peace cannot be built on a lie, nor on denial.

Truth and reconciliation commissions

The hypocrisy of nations

Justice

There can be no peace without justice, and there can be no justice without peace—MLK

No justice, no peace—BLM

If you want peace, work for justice— Pope Paul VI

Love

Peace is not compatible with hatred. Peace depends on love and a real care for the flourishing of others

Liberty

Without freedom there is no peace because freedom is inherent to our nature

How have people down the ages risen up against oppression?

If you want to read the blog about German War Baby Baerbel, it’s here:

The Four Pillars of Peace

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 108: Friendship with those we disagree with

Cicero says, friendship is agreement in things human and divine, with good will and charity. But there are many circumstances where we do need to be friends with people we disagree with.

As society becomes more polarized, friendship with those we disagree with becomes ever more pertinent to consider.

  Different levels of friendship:

• General

• Acquaintances, neighbours, congregation members, activist circles

•   Family

•   Spiritual friends

Are there no nos?

Are there places we draw the line?

Love is more important than views

Mutuality

And much more.

Friendship with those we disagree with

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 107: Bhrihadaranyaka Upanishad Part 2

Om. There was a man of the Garga family called Proud Bālāki, who was a speaker. He said to Ajātaśatru, the King of Kashi, ‘I will tell you about Brahman.’ Ajātaśatru said, ‘For this proposal I give you a thousand cows. People indeed rush saying, “Janaka, Janaka.” I too have some of his qualities.’

Today we learn about the caste system and the tension between scholarly and practical knowledge.

• How do the kshatriyas, the warriors and kings, bring a new freshness and relevance to ancient knowledge?

• Hear the fascinating story of Shukadev and King Janaka

• Enjoy the revalatory dialogue between Gargya and the King of Kashi.

• Will Gargya earn his thousand cows? Or will practical wisdom trump scholarly knowledge?

Brihadaranyaka 2

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 106: Ayurveda for Alzheimer's Disease

Throughout an individual's lifetime, each dosha has its time of predominance. Kapha governs childhood; pitta, maturity; and vata, old age. Thus, during the latter years of life, there is a tendency towards vata imbalances, such as memory loss, disorientation, paranoia, tremors, rigidity, cracked and quaking voice and stooped spine. The condition known to Western medicine as Alzheimer's disease constitutes, according to Ayurveda, a drastic and accelerated form of this vata provocation of old age.

• How does Ayurveda see Alzheimer’s?

• What are the causes of Alzheimer's, according to Ayurveda?

• How has the increased pace of life and rate of change affected us?

• How can we prevent dementia?

• Are there beneficial Ayurvedic treatments?

Ayurveda for Alzheimer's

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 105: Friendship in the age of AI

So-called artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean. Nor do they have a moral conscience, since they do not judge good and evil, grasp the ultimate meaning of situations, or bear responsibility for consequences. They may imitate language, behavior and analytical skills, or even simulate empathy and understanding, but they do not understand what they produce, for they lack the affective, relational and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom.

Pope Leo XIV Magnifica Humanitas

Let’s take a look at the Pope’s encyclical on AI in the context of our series on friendship.

• How social media has changed the definition of friendship

• AI not truly neutral

• Tech bro ideology and human dignity

• Transhumanism and Posthumanism

• Artificial friendship

• Blake and God the human race

Friendship in the Age of AI

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 104: Creating Spiritual Friendship

Friendship is that virtue by which spirits are bound by ties of love and sweetness and out of many are made one.

St Aelred, Spiritual Friendship

St Aelred, a twelfth Century English monk, offers us extraordinary teachings on creating spiritual friendship. Alakananda Ma has journeyed with these teachings since discovering them fifty years ago, and shares her unique insights.

Learn how you can create spiritual friendship with a four-step process of choosing, testing, accepting and perfecting friendship.

Spiritual Friendship

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 103: Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Part 1: The creation of the world from the Self

In the beginning, this (universe) was but the self of a human form. He reflected and found nothing else but himself. He first uttered, ‘I am he.’ Therefore he was called aham. Hence, to this day, when a person is addressed, he first says, ‘It is I,’ and then says the other name that he may have. Because before all this he burnt all evils, therefore he is called puruṣa—the Person.

Brihadaranayaka Upanishad Ch1 Fourth Brahmana

Our journey through the Upanishads has brought us to the magnificent Brihadaranayaka Upanishad, the Great Forest Teaching.

Today, we’ll learn about the creation of the world from the self and unpack the mahavakya or Great Saying, aham brahmasmi.

Brihadaranyaka 1 4 Aham Brahmasmi

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 102: Aging Well with Ayurveda

All of us want to live a long life, but the longevity we picture for ourselves is one of robust health, vitality and continued independence. We do not picture ourselves languishing in a nursing home or needing help for the most basic activities of daily living. Yet 15% of adults over sixty-five (not counting nursing home residents) do suffer from frailty syndrome, rising to 33% and beyond in the over eighties. Worse still, 45% of elders are pre-frail and experience difficulty in carrying out activities of daily living.  What is frailty and how do we avoid it? How can we stay strong and avoid the ravages of old age?

Discover:

• How to prevent frailty

• How to reverse frailty

• How to support a frail elder

• Living well as an active elder

• A five point plan for frailty prevention

• How to make the most of your golden years

Ageing Well with Ayurveda

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 101: Making Friends with Yourself

“The best way to invite friendship is to become your own best friend.”

Learn how to befriend your own mind and overcome self-hatred using simple and effective methods.

• The breath—your dearest friend

• Befriending your own mind

• Loving-kindness for yourself

• Self-empathy

Making Friends with Yourself

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 100: Humus Wars: Fighting Cultural Erasure with Food

“During the process of ethnic cleansing and genocide, destruction of foodways is an important feature. We may think of the slaughter of the bison that formed a key aspect of the genocide of Native Americans, as well as the uprooting of olive trees in occupied Palestine.

Let’s look at cultural erasure by assimilation  and cultural appropriation through the lens of humus—or should we say, humus bi tahina.”

Growing up in a small town in England in the 50s, and then in a provincial town in the 60s, I was mainly familiar with a standard working class British diet, the foods my mother’s ancestors cooked-- Yorkshire pudding, apple crumble, rhubarb pie and so on. But our table included foods not eaten in other households in Melton Mowbray—matzoh, challa, sesame halvah and latkes, foods my father introduced. And at Granny’s house we enjoyed kosher dill pickles, pickled herring, matzoh ball soup and kugel. Granny prepared an array of Eastern European Jewish foods—none of which included humus.

Through the lens of humus, discover how you can use your own kitchen to fight cultural erasure with food.

HumusWars

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.

Episode 99: Chandogya Upanishad Chapter 8: Indra and Vairochana Apprentice with Prajapati

Prajapati once said: ‘The Self is free from sin, free from old age, free from death, free from sorrow, and free from hunger and thirst. It is the cause of desire for Truth and for commitment to Truth. This Self has to be sought for and thoroughly known. The person who has sought for and known the Self attains all worlds and all desires’.

Both the gods and the demons came to know from people what Prajāpati had said. They said, ‘We shall search for that Self, by knowing which we can attain all the worlds and whatever things we desire.’ With this object in view, Indra among the gods and Virocana among the demons went to Prajāpati, carrying fuel in their hands.

Chandogya Upanishad

What happens when the king of the gods and the king of the demons meet up at the hermitage of Prajāpati, the Great-Grandfather? This fascinating story is the grand finale of our journey through Chandogya Upanishad. Fasten your seatbelt for takeoff!

Chandogya Upanishad 5 Indra

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Episode 98: The Vedic View of Gambling

I make a resolve that I will not go gaming.

So my friends depart and leave me behind.

But as soon as the brown nuts are rattled and thrown,

to meet them I run, like an amorous girl.

Rig Veda, Dyuta Sukta, tr. HH Wilson

Gambling is a hot topic in Colorado, with two bills coming before the State Senate to limit internet gaming, yet compulsive gambling is an age-old problem.

• What are the symptoms of Gambling Disorder?

• What is the Vedic view of gambling?

• How did gambling contribute to a world-ending cataclysm?

• How can Ayurveda help with recovery from Gambling Disorder?

The Vedic View of Gambling

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5 star review, and share it with a friend. For more enlightening discussions and practical wisdom on Ayurveda and spirituality, subscribe and join our facebook group, Alandi Ayurveda. To allow us to continue sharing valuable content, consider donating to Alandi Ashram. Until next time, may you walk the path of Ayurveda with grace and embrace the light of spiritual wisdom in your journey.