April is here
April is here and I hope you all are enjoying the beautiful blooms and fragrance in the air. The jasmine on the side of our house is just on the verge of an olfactory explosion. I look forward to this every year. Pollens do not agree with everyone. Are you suffering from allergies? Take time to use a neti pot, drink some ginger tea, cook with warming spices (ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, turmeric, cayenne, or cumin), and please moisten your nostrils with a few drops of nasya oil.
There are great bounties at the farmer's markets right now. Spring brings seasonal foods to naturally cleanse and nourish your tissues. If you are interested in a few days of kitchari I have kits available in my apothecary.
Since January have been exploring the four aims of life called the Purusharthas. We began with Dharma which is your specific life purpose. Dharma is supported by Artha, prosperity showing up as anything that you need to fulfill your purpose. Last month we looked at Kama, our longing or desires. Now we will finish with the final liberation, Moksha.
Moksha is absolute freedom, liberation, and emancipation through Self-Realization. In some schools of Indian religions, moksha is used interchangeably with other terms such as vimoksha, vimukti, kaivalya, apavarga, mukti, nihsreyasa, and nirvana.
Once we are actualized, we not only know our true nature cognitively, but we exist everyday freed from ignorance. One lives in a fully conscious state and is liberated from the cycle of birth and death. Moksha happens when an individual moves into their full human potential exhibited through an alert mind, compassion, inner purity, creativity, and deep understanding.
Typically, the moksha time of life is in the later years during the Vata stage. This is when the influence of the ether element allows us to move into an ethereal state. We have time and space to move into deeper spiritual practices. To meditate on the Absolute Reality and the Consciousness that pervades everyone and everything. After years of Svādhyāya (self-study learning the discipline of the mind and the senses) one experiences a release from Maya which is life’s illusion. Moksha happens when we no longer see anything as separate.
That said there is no age range for Self-Realization. There have been plenty of incredibly young saints that have experienced and expressed Moksha. As we move into this springtime of new beginning, I wish all of you a blessed awakening.
From: April 2022 Newsletter