Today's podcast is on the them why do bad things happen to good people. (Does this mean that good things happen to bad people?)

People say "Why me? I am one of the good people. Why do bad things happen? Why did it have to happen to me? Where is God when that bad thing was happening". Our students and community asks us this.

So, Pandit Atul explains why bad things happen from a karmic and vedic perspective.

The concept of compassion and being human is left on the side in today's day and age. Practicing a yoga lifestyle or Ayurveda-we should have a way of understanding this. This can be explained by Karma and Jyotish.

Click to hear more.

Here is the podcast #2 -Introduction to Jyotish-Vedic Astrology Part 2 by Pandit Atul Krishna Das

Transcript for the first few minutes:

Jyotish means the science of light, the science of luminaries. Moon, Mars, Venus all these planets have energies that affect us in various ways.
Planets have an effect on us whether you believe it or not.
Something as simple as "have you seen what happens during a full moon"
People can act a little crazy. Minds are affected. they maybe do something that they may not usually do. It has even given rise to this expression called moon mad.

And of course the term, "lunacy" comes from Moon. It was observed when
people had any kind of instability, we will say that there may be a vata disorder, that may be involved with psychosis- it may be involved with the moon.

The moon pulls the moon. Sun also has an effect on our digestion, our fire. Important thing is that we have karma and our karma is coming from our past lives.

Time of birth is not by chance.

We are born at a time when it is the right time for us to be born (for us to receive
the karma that has been assigned and attributed to us by our own actions in the previous life).

Vedic astrology not about destiny or predetermination.

You can look at a chart and understand things about them, their karma, their nature, and even life events. This is not going to be 100% who they are. We are individuals.

We have the ability to take up spiritual processes like yoga that can free us from t his karma.

Here is the podcast #1 Introduction to Jyotish-Vedic Astrology Part 1 by Pandit Atul Krishna Das

On the occasion of janamashtami, the appearance of Shri Krishna we have released two podcasts.

Podcast 1 by Pandit Atul on the appearance of Sri Krishna

Podcast 2 by Dr. Aparna Dandekar on laying the background story of why Bhagavad Gita was spoken focusing on yoga practitioners

We all complain we don't have time to do a meditation. How about using something as mundane as cooking as a time to meditate mindfully?

We talk about cleansing our minds, using mundane activities to help our mind and meditating while doing chores-how simple is that?

What effect does food have on our minds? What is the role of consciousness in cooking? What is meditative cooking?

In this podcast, Pandit Atul Krishna talks about food and the mind.

Podcast

Ayurveda talks about different mind types by mentioning kayas-the qualities of the mind. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16 also talks about this. A Sattvik minded person may have

Brahma kaya
Rishi Kaya
Indra Kaya
Yama Kaya

A Rajas kaya can be

Asura (demonic)
Paisaca (vampiric)

Imagine if such a person with such a mind type became a leader of the country? What is the karmic result to its citizens.

A conversation with pandit Atul Krishna and Manjulali about chapter 16 of Bhagavad Gita. The different types of kaya

What is a Guru? On this occasion of Guru Purnima on July 4th, 2020 Pandit Atul Krishna discusses the need, importance and qualifications of a Guru? How do we seek a spiritual teacher? What mantras should be used?

By Syama Mehta

Ask anyone to name a martial art and almost no one will mention Kalaripayat (or, Kalaripayattu) even though it is one of the oldest martial arts and probably the originator of every other style in the world. Kalripayat was first mentioned in Dhanurveda which is an upaveda of Yajur veda. Kalaripayat developed into it’s present form in the 11th century. In 1804, the British colonial government banned kalaripayat and it’s practice was limited to rural areas in southern India. Around the 1920s, it began to see a resurgence as the people stood up against the British oppression. Traditionally, children, both boys and girls were initiated in the art of kalarippayattu at the age of 7. In modern times, it is practiced mainly in the south Indian state of Kerala though it has been slowly rising in popularity within and outside of India. In Malayalam, the language spoken in Kerala, “kalari” means training ground or battlefield and “payattu” means training in the art of combat.

Kalaripayat is steeped in tradition and rituals. Every practitioner must perform certain rituals to be accepted as a student by the guru. Before each session, practitioners pray to the gods and touch their guru’s feet for blessings. In fact even before they step into the kalari which is the space where they train, they touch the floor with reverence. Kalaripayat is not just a physical and mental discipline but also a spiritual practice. Students are taught to respect others, show compassion and to use their skills only when absolutely necessary.

This is a fighting style that trains the body and mind for agility and precision. While it is a fighting martial art with a focus on learning about the sensitive points on the body to inflict pain, it takes this knowledge of the body and applies it to heal the body too. These areas are called marma points which in Sanskrit means hidden or secret. There are a total of 107 marma points on the human body of which 64 are considered to be deadly points since piercing them can cause severe injury and even death. An expert kalarippayattu practitioner can use these vital points to hurt or to heal. Kalarippayattu teachers also massage their students with hot medicated oils to make their muscles supple. In fact in some schools before they can start their training, every practitioner undergoes 2 to 4 weeks of hot oil massage to prepare their body for the training.

Kalaripayat and Ayurveda are closely related. Both are rooted in the vedas; Kalaripayat comes from Yajur veda and Ayurveda from Atharva veda. Practicing kalarippayattu makes the body healthy, the mind clear and the spirit reverent which is also the aim of Ayurveda.

Kalarippayattu gained the knowledge of marma points from Ayurveda. Kalarippayattu’s hot oil massage is similar to ayurveda’s abhyanga. Many kalaripayattu teachers are also healers in their community.

Ms Mehta is a Taekwondo teacher Brushy Creek, Texas. She is studying to be an Ayurveda Counselor.

What is Vastu (indian feng shui)- Part 1

People call Vastu the feng shui of India. However, Vastu is the vedic art of architecture, design and engineering that got condensed into what became Vastu today. I am talking about Vastu, Vastu Purusha- the entity that dwells in our house. His origin story from Siva, and, Vishvakarma-the divine architect and engineer. This podcast is an excerpt from a class at Narayana Ayurveda on Vastu principles. (I even talk about Thor and asgard--did the moviemakers look up Vastu for this city?)

Bhagavad Gita series Podcast #2

Listen to Pandit Atul and Manjulali discuss Chapter 17 of Bhagavad Gita, the three modes of Nature (Trigunas:Sattva, Tamas and Rajas), and how it relates to Wicca, Magic, Rituals, Goddess worship, Divine worship, and different diets.

We talk about lactovegetarian diet, six tastes, and what is considered fresh food?

Conversation with Pandit Atul Krishna about why is Bhagavat Gita a text for yoga?

Who is a yogi and other interesting gems about Yoga philosophy.