Back to Basics
A Way of Life
I was thinking a lot about Om Swami just lately with the snow, of him meditating in his cave and later woods with just a loin cloth or robe. There I was the other day when it snowed, in two jumpers, two hats, even sat with my coat on inside, because for the last several years I have no hot water or central heating. That’s right. I boil every drop of hot water I need. It became a way of life and back to the basics.
How I came to that. Several years ago we had a cold spell, -13 for several days, the central heating system failed and the weather was so bad, they were inundated with calls and no one could come for three weeks. I was perished and I vowed to myself that was it, I am done with modern day living. It’s great whilst things are running smooth, and when it doesn’t you could perish quickly.
Thus began my tree planting, foraging, knowing where to get food in the wild, herbs, and as I stated in another writing earlier, my interest in herbs began when my husband died of cancer. I was going to be as self sufficient as possible. I had an epiphany moment. My outlook changed. Nobody cares when the chips are down, like now, you can see a doctor face to face for a booster jab, but not for an ailment, and well if you are over 75 yrs, they are asking doctors to work an extra day, but have dropped routine care, even more reason to stay as healthy as you can and listen to your body.
So, in lockdown, last year, I did a herbal medicine course and qualified with a distinction, and I am 66yrs, so it’s never too late to learn. Besides it keeps your brain working. Take heed, you really are old before you know it. It creeps up on you. One day you wake up, ‘Wow, that went quick.’ Doctors were mainly doing telephone appointments, everything was triaged though reception, you could not obtain a dentist or a doctors appointment. It made sense to know how our ancestors coped, which was better than you could ever imagine. I studied tribes that lived in the forest, who gathered all their food and medicine without destroying everything. With the emergence of modern day resistant bacteria, believe me when I say herbs will be the only thing left, and I can really recommend the book Herbal Antibiotics, Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria by Stephen Harrod Buhner. This book could save your life and can be purchased on Amazon:
‘The growth curve is inexorable, and the emergence of a resistant epidemic only a matter of time, and a very short time at that. When it comes, most, if not all, pharmaceutical antibiotics will be useless. There are alternatives, however, to the pharmaceuticals that once seemed our saviors and are now our bane, for bacteria do not develop resistance to plant medicines. They can’t. For plants have been dealing with bacteria a great deal longer than the human species has even existed, some 700 million years.’(p xi Preface to second Edition)
and p33 ‘In declaring war on bacteria we declared war on the underlying living structure of the planet, on all life-forms we can see, on ourselves.’ Chapter on Bacterial Partners.
I shall add in a disclaimer here, always seek the advice of a medical physician, and always check herbs as they are not contraindicated with medications you may be taking, and always try a very tiny amount to see if you have an allergic reaction.
My summers are spent drying herbs, making decoctions, glycerites, alcohol tinctures, herbal vinegars, ointments, lotions, and soaps. There is something so healing working with nature. We are living all wrong and I can see it becoming worse.
Back to the hot water. Instead of replacing my central heating boiler, I had it removed, which removed hot water too. However, I had installed, a wood burning stove which you can cook on, which has been brilliant, and I heat my hot water on it too, and I have a bucket bath. Living in India for six months made me realize you can live simple.
I collect rain water and use that to flush the toilet, which dispenses for plumbers to fix the flush box, which is extremely costly these days, that’s if you are lucky enough to find one. So, I carry buckets of water, and after several years I think nothing of it, until someone visits and says, ‘What, no hot water, you don’t have hot water?’ They look at me in disbelief. You can survive without central heating and hot water. No need for the gym. I am out and in all day, collecting and carrying, to the beautiful chorus of the birds, they know me and I them.
The rest of the time, when not busy in the garden, I meditate, and read Om Swami’s books. I am amazed at his memory; he just reels off Sanskrit verses from memory and is just so fluent in Hindi and English. To me he is truly a phenomenon. There is nothing I would like more than to meet him one day, but for now because of all the travel disruption, quarantine regulations, etc, now is not the time. Instead, I rely on the fact he can be every where at once and he knows me, even though I have never met him physically. Time and distance does not exist with the spiritual body. Like Swami states in his books, if you read his books you don’t need a guru, and there is so so many people wanting to be his disciple and he can only give so much energy to so many.
I am reading his book The Last Gambit, and the passage he writes about a master.
‘Master was not just a teacher. He was a practitioner. He practised what he spoke about and he spoke about what he practised. He lived by what he stood for. His priorities were clear. His life had only one theme, he lived for one passion – chess’ I think though, Swami is referring to himself here as it does apply to him as a spiritual Guru, I think he is saying, I will never desert you if you take me as a Guru. (Chapter 4, Success by Design, The Last Gambit, by Om Swami.)
I think in a Guru this is very rare these days, even with spiritual Gurus. Om Swami is a rare jewel, and well, I think all you disciples are very fortunate indeed who have him as your Guru.
Now I am writing a book, so am busy with that.
Sakthi
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