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In conversation with Dr. Robert Svoboda

Dr Robert Svoboda

For Ayurveda to deliver its benefits to the youth of the world they will need to be willing to learn how to manage their tech dependencies, which will be no easy task.

ByIANSlife Features

January 15, 2020 (IANSlife) In the fast paced digitally driven world of today, how does one comprehend the bigger picture, and more importantly the concept of time? Each of us must to some degree conform to mundane clocks but we must do so without disrupting our somatic rhythms… with a clear vision of how one can live according to their own timetables in the time-bound reality of today,” states Dr. Robert Svoboda who us a pioneer in the field of Ayurveda.

The renown Doctor is the first Westerner to graduate from a college of Ayurveda and get licensed to practice Ayurveda in India. Dr. Robert Svoboda is available to teach a select few the techniques at a retreat organized by The Oberoi Sukhvilas Spa Resort, New Chandigarh from 11th – 14th February, 2020.

During and after his formal Ayurvedic training he was tutored in Ayurveda, Yoga, Jyotish, Tantra and other forms of classical Indian lore by his mentor, the Aghori Vimalananda. He is the author of twelve books including Prakriti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution and the Aghora series, which discusses his experiences with his mentor during the years 1975 – 1983.

IANSlife caught up with the guru to find out more details.

 

Over time India is far removed from its Ayurvedic tradition, please comment.

 

Svoboda: More than two thousand years ago Ayurveda was recast from its earlier Vedic form into a form that was fit for dwellers in cities and towns. Even then however, there was an assumption that individuals would still live in close proximity to nature, living simple lives.

In the recent years however most people in India have been living lives that are not at all simple, far from nature. Globally, 55 percent of humans today live in urban areas, more than 10 percent of whom reside in the world's 47 megacities (6 of which are in India), and many of them never have direct contact with nature.

In India more than 35 percent of people are urbanites, and for the majority of them their exposure to Ayurveda is limited to whatever medicines they may hear about in the media.

 

Do you think the West has evolved and become much more sensitive than India when it comes to wellness and healing?

Svoboda: In most Western countries, small groups have evolved that have gained awareness of how much India's traditions have to offer when it comes to wellness and healing, but the vast majority of Westerners (and Easterners as well) remained locked in their conception of India lacking modern development.

 

What attracted you to being tutored in Ayurveda, Yoga, Jyotish, Tantra and other forms of classical Indian lore and how are the different forms important for a complete overview?

Svoboda: A year and a half after I had begun my studies in the Tilak Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya, Pune, I was introduced to Vimalananda, who became my mentor. I had already been studying yoga, but it was he who opened my eyes to the variety and sophistication of other forms of classical Indian lore, and how these varied forms fit together.

What was most fortunate for me was that this exposure went far beyond mere book learning, for he had mastered elements of Ayurveda, Yoga, Tantra, music, cooking and dance and so could provide me with invaluable practical experience of how to live these lores.

 

Do you think the world of social media can be a source to spread the benefits of Ayurveda or has it completely consumed the youth to a far removed and totally tech dependent lifestyle? 

Svoboda: Like Vimalananda, I believe that any substance and any action can be beneficial or detrimental depending on how it is employed.

The internet in particular can be very useful, and it can also be very injurious. I do believe that there is potential for the world of social media to enable more people to become familiar with the benefits of Ayurveda, but the danger is that such familiarity will remain theoretical.

To be effective Ayurveda has to be lived, and one of Ayurveda’s basic principles is never to become totally dependent on anything. For Ayurveda to deliver its benefits to the youth of the world they will need to be willing to learn how to manage their tech dependencies, which will be no easy task.

 

Dr. Svoboda, share with us details about this particular retreat and what participants can hope to gain from it?

Svoboda: I feel fortunate to have lived in India for ten years, and to have spent a total of twenty years of my life in India thus far. During this period I have learnt a lot about the concept of time, which will be the subject of this particular retreat at The Oberoi Sukhvilas Spa Resort, New Chandigarh from 11th – 14th February, 2020.

The focus of the retreat will be particularly on the relation that exists between the “outer time” that structures our world and the “inner time” that governs our physical existences.

Each of us must to some degree conform to mundane clocks but we must do so without disrupting our somatic rhythms. My intention is that participants will emerge from the retreat with a clear vision of how they can live according to their own timetables in the time-bound reality of today.

 

 We live in trying and difficult times, can you share some tips on how Ayurveda is a holistic guide in times of climate change?

Svoboda: Climate change is of course a gigantic reality, and it is easy to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem and to feel that nothing can be done about it.

What each one of us can do is to remember that we are not a mass of consumers whose job it is simply to devour products like termites. We are instead each one of us rational creatures who can choose to utilise what we need of the world’s resources without waste, and to help our fellow human beings understand the need to do likewise.

We have the choice to wait passively and react to climate change, or to act now and try to make a difference.

I prefer to do what I can now, in the context of what I perceive as my own personal dharma in life, no matter how minor that action might seem, for little raindrops add up to mighty floods. 

 

 

 

Retreat details: The Oberoi Sukhvilas Spa Resort, New Chandigarh, 11th – 14th February, 2020.

IANS Life