Ananta Ripa Ajmera | The Way of The Goddess - Part 2

Srini: So obviously I think that there's no shortage of literature at this point about the importance of sleep and how it impacts damn near everything in our life. In fact, I was having a conversation with my roommate the other day. He said, You can actually go longer without food than you can without sleep.

Because it's that important. But one of the things that really struck me that you said in the book, and it was funny cuz I, my dad told me about this and I. Just thought it sounded ridiculous. You say that oiling your feet before sleep is an excellent stability enhancing practice, especially if you suffer from headaches, lightheadedness, insomnia, or nightmares.

And I, I think sleep is one of those things that we all no, intuitively that is incredibly important and we are in denial when we're not getting enough of it. I sure as hell know I am. I'm like, Oh. And then I realized even tracking your sleep starts to become a source of anxiety. Cause you're like, Oh, I'm not getting enough.

And then you basically have trouble sleeping because you can't sleep. So talk to me about the role that sleep plays in stability at large.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: Sleep plays a really big role in stability at large. In the ancient IRV texts, actually, they talk about how knowledge, health, ability to discern intelligence, wealth, productivity, creativity, and life itself is dependent upon.

And if you don't have sleep, it's hard to hold on to any of these things. It's hard to feel like yourself. It's difficult to be able to carry on in the world in the way that you would wish to. And sleep is actually even described as a mother goddess in the ancient IIC texts because it nourishes your body in a similar way as food does.

As you said, we can go longer without food than we can with sleep because we need that rest. In order to allow our body to digest all of the contents of the previous 24 hours of the day, including all of the information we've taken in to process all of the food that we've eaten needs to be digested and it gets digested as we're resting.

It also is what allow. The power and capacity to digest our many emotions that we go through and experience through the day. And finally, our life experiences are something that we can process and digest only if we have adequate rest to enable us to do that. So really everything is dependent upon sleep and the kind of quality of rest that you get at night.

Srini: The other thing that you talk about is you make this distinction between agitating foods and pure foods, and that agitating foods increase your anxiety, instability, and insecurity. Pure foods help you connect with the goddess within and balance your first chakra. So what are typically agitating foods and what are typically pure foods?

Like what is the distinction between the two? Because. Food in the United States is surrounded by so much hype and marketing. I, my, my roommate and I were just having this really interesting conversation last night about how media normalizes certain behaviors and we're talking about some of the things that we ate and drank as kids the dairy industry's campaign about milk and how it does a body good.

And then here we are 20 plus years later only to realize, It was all nonsense. And then I remember talking to him about sugar and how my parents would never buy as sodas which was a good thing. But they brought Sunny Delight into the house, which is like a bullshit excuse for orange juice, which it turns out is filled

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: with sugar.

Yeah, totally. So the distinction between what's agitating and what's pure is one, how close is it to nature? A lot of the food that we get, So deeply processed. It goes through so many. Layers of processing and adding different kinds of preservatives in order to increase its shelf life. And all of that is going to make the food further and further away from its natural ability to nourish you.

So in general, the closer you can get to nature by ideally growing your. Vegetables if you can, would be the best thing to do. Our second best is to actually start visiting local farmer's markets, if you can, or even community supported agriculture organizations because they are committed usually to very good farming practices that give you food that's as close to what the food is as possible.

And when you can cook this food with really simple spices, and I say simple meaning. Not so heating spices, but just gently heating spices like cuan seeds, fennel seeds, and turmeric. This will help a lot with your ability to digest that food. The agitating foods are those that kind of burn the body or they overstimulate the body with sugar.

So they're either like really hot chili peppers and with sabi type of sauces. And even if you load something with black pepper, For example, it's a heating spice. It's not bad for you, but you need it in the right proportion. And if you put too much into your food, then it's going to heat the body a lot.

And when the body gets really heated, the mind starts feeling anxious and it starts moving really quickly. And then it gets us into a feeling of nonstop thoughts and movement of the mind. And when we have nonstop movement of the mind, It doesn't allow us to sleep at night. So actually the ioic texts teach us that if you want to sleep well at night, don't have such stimulating foods during the day, that will prevent you from being able to rest.

Actually, Shay, the mind plays a huge role in the sleep that we get for exactly the reasons that you were saying when. Are realizing how important sleep is and not getting it, and then you keep on thinking about how you're not getting enough of it. Then it's the mind that keeps on going and going.

And only when the mind can let go and surrender and relax, can we actually go into that true restfulness? And when you have less stimulating foods, more pure foods, more foods that are closer to nature. Those will help the mind to regain its calmness and support you in actually being able to rest and feel stable in your life.

Srini: I think the reason I mentioned that is I remember when one of my roommates got an aura ring, everything became about his sleep score. And so I started doing some research on this, and I remember coming across a New York Times article that talked about the fact that o often in an effort to optimize the score, people actually compromised their sleep

Because it becomes such a source of anxiety. And the irony of that was just baffling to me. I'm like, Wait a minute. You're basically so obsessed with getting a good sleep score that you don't actually get good sleep.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: It's so true. It's actually wisdom that's true of anything in life.

Anytime we are very attached to anything, we will start to suffer as a result of it. And even on the spiritual path, which my book is describing, the desire for spiritual liberation itself eventually becomes the very impediment. Or obstacle to you realizing it. It's very helpful to have that desire when you're at any other stage of the spiritual journey because that will anchor your mind in something higher and allow you to let go automatically of a lot of lower things and a lot of lower attachments to the objects of the five senses and to outcomes that are out of your control or to people in your life who you know, again, you cannot control how.

Behave, or when they come or how they go or anything like that. But what we can control is just ourself. And the whole point of the spiritual journey is ultimately to be able to reduce the desires that we have and eventually to drop all desires. And what the VI tradition says is that a human being without desires equals the divine.

So the foods that we eat, the sleep that we get, it's all part of the foundation of a stable body, which then supports the stability of the mind. But ultimately, the stability of the mind is dependent upon how many desires are occupying it, and what are the quality of those desires. So when you're on the spiritual path, it really helps to reduce the quantity.

And increase the quality, but then eventually as you keep going, you have to then even let go of that one wonderful, great spiritual desire for spiritual realization in order to achieve it. So I really believe what you said is applicable to everything. Just the grasping of something will make it.

Possible for it to stay in your hand. Just like when you try to really clench the sand of the ocean in your hand, right? And you make a fist with it. Most of the sand falls right out, but if you just gently, loosely hold it, it can actually stay in your hand. and I feel like that's how we need to be in life in order to roll with the ups and downs of this life and this world that we live in that is full of so many obstacles and challenges and natural calamities.

Yeah.

Srini: Let's talk about. Relationships in particular, because I think that your sort of take on both intimate and again, platonic relationships, whether those be family or friends, was really interesting. And you talk about this idea of abundance and you say, this goal is about gaining material and emotional securities through your work and relationships.

Abundance is necessary to live in the modern world and as what gives you the ability to not only work, to earn a living, but also give back to others and be able to pursue spiritual knowledge. And I think. The thing that really struck me most is when you said, Determine as best as you can. If unhealthy relationships with people and objects of the senses serve a purpose in your life.

Now that in some cases is easy or said than done. We can say, Okay, yeah, great. This person is a pain in the ass. I can get rid of them if that person happens to be your mother. That's a whole other story. ,

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: yes.

Srini: So let's first talk about this in the context of family, and then we'll talk about it in the context of intimate relationships and sexual partners.

Okay.

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Srini: Okay. So family, like how do we deal with family members who drive us insane without losing our minds using these principles?

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: Yeah, that's a wonderful question. How do we deal with family members that drive us insane? We have to look at what is it that drives us insane? Is it really coming from them? Or is it actually coming from us? And what is it about them that is triggering something in us? Because ultimately, no matter how crazy we may think other people are, or how dark other people's behaviors may be, what we believe in the spiritual understanding of the Vatas is that the only demonn is that which exists in our own.

So anytime something is upsetting or disturbing you, it's really an invitation to look deeper within you to find out what is it within me that is causing that disturbance. And if you really go deep into it and unravel all the layers underneath that, it's always a desire for something from that relationship or from that person.

Usually it's normal for us to desire love, right? And for that love to be expressed in a specific way that we would like it to be expressed. Our likes and dislikes, our preferences are a big cause of suffering. And so if we want to have more harmonious relationships with other people it really helps to stop wanting anything from them and to stop expecting anything from them, and to also begin to observe and learn about who they are by actually listening deeply to them in order to hear what they're saying as well as the emotions underlying what they're saying.

A lot of. We end up going to look for something from someone who is unable to provide that for us. For example, a lot of times family members. Who have raised us have gone through a lot of stress in their own childhood and upbringings that may, they may not even be aware of. And we as children seek love and protection and support and validation from our parents.

It's a totally normal, natural thing for a child to want and to seek out. And if we don't get. In our childhood, in the way that makes us feel secure and peaceful and happy. Then what often happens is we keep on looking for that unconsciously in other people or continue to look at that for that in the same person or persons who could not provide that.

And so when we use the intellect, which is so important on the spiritual path, we use it to assess is this person who I want this thing from? Whether that's love, validation, approval, acceptance, et cetera. Is this person truly capable of offering me that? And if the answer is no, then we have to look within and say, Okay, that person may not be able to offer me what I need or want.

How do I start to give that to myself? And that really resolved a lot for me, is to stop looking for. Anything from anyone and to actually figure out how do I meet my own needs completely independently of anyone else. And then I find I can still have the same relationships, but they have completely shifted because I'm no longer digging into.

Looking for something or wanting something from them. And when I stop wanting anything from them, I also give them space to grow and to change and even to surprise me. And I have been. Really surprised and touched and amazed actually by how much my own parents have changed as I've gone on my own journey.

And it's just been really incredible to see that by stopping looking to them for approval and acceptance and learning to just really strengthen the muscle of self approval and self-acceptance by, first of all, knowing what the self is with a capital S, which is again, the purpose of the spiritual journey.

I found that. Doing what brings me independent joy, I have been able to inspire them to also seek that out and to start. Coming to my classes and start to genuinely learn from them in their own time, not in my time. I could have so much advice for my parents, and I have so many things I could say, right?

Like I know I've learned so much, I know so much. But the whole point of this is that everyone comes to spirituality, comes to personal growth on their timeline when they're ready for. And really, if we love anyone or if we want to help anyone, which is always what I always wanted to do, then the best way to do that is by our personal example.

So anytime we're looking or craving for something from someone else, we have to turn that inward and ask, how can we start to give this to ourself? And then, relax the kind of grip. Grasping for something For someone else. From someone else who cannot give that to.

Srini:

,

One of the other things that you talk about is this idea of love plus selfishness equals attachment and attachment minus selfishness equals through love, and you say our own desires for approval, affection, recognition, and validation from others.

Pollute our ability to truly love others as our own self. Our attachments are what? Stand in our way of experiencing fr love. So we've talked about this in terms of family. . Yeah. I think in a lot of ways it's almost easier to do what you're talking about with family than it is in an intimate relationship because when we are in an intimate relationship, so many of our emotions are so heightened and exaggerated in a way they're not necessarily with our family.

. So how do you start to get to this place of Having attachment cuz This took me forever to really grasp that. Wow. Anytime I'm completely attached to wanting things to turn out a certain way, they usually don't. And two, it just contributes to my misery.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: Yeah, absolutely. I think the sage, Swami Rama Theta has said it best that the way to gain anything is to lose it.

It seems so contradictory to everything that we've been raised to believe, especially about love, but honestly, I feel that the spiritual practice of discernment and detachment is really the most important to do in the context of intimate relationships, because when we can let go, we allow for the pure love to be there no matter whether that person is meant to stay in our lives or to not be directly in our lives anymore.

And I feel that it also really helps to continuously remember that the soul in me is the same as the soul in the other and whatever. I would look for from someone else. I, again, need to seek that within myself. I feel that, especially for romantic relationships where there's so much attachment involved, there's a reason why we get attracted to certain people as romantic partners, and usually it's because they're representing some missing or.

Recognized parts of ourself that we're looking to strengthen unconsciously within ourselves. So I personally feel that all close relationships can be incredible teachers that ultimately point us to what is it that they seem to have, that we are needing to find and complete within ourselves.

Srini: Yeah.

Let's talk about this whole idea of sexual energy, because I remember having this conversation with a monk, Dani, and he was saying to me, he says, Okay let's think about what the whole point of celibacy for Monk is. He's It's not that we're opposed to sex, he said, But just channeling that energy.

He, and he had such a funny way of putting it. He said, All right, so think about how much sperm you've basically wasted masturbating down a shower. And then think about all the people we know that you, people that you've interviewed, and think that one. Created those people and imagine what a thousand of those could do and that you basically flush a thousand of those down your shower

Yeah. And I thought, what an interesting way of putting it. I'd never thought about it that way. But you say that when you channel your sexual energy into creative expression, you can experience increased inspiration, enthusiasm, imagination, insight, and the ability to sustain the creation of beautiful artwork, poetry, writing, music, and other forms of art.

So why does that happen? And, what is that all about?

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: This is actually such a cool concept of Aria. A lot of times people think Aria means like being a wallflower, right? And just being removed from society as a monk and. Having a boring life, but it's actually really fascinating that we have this concept of oja or immunity in Ira Vida, and it's actually linked with the sexual tissue.

So basically whenever you eat anything, Your food is becoming tissues in your body. First it becomes the nu nutritive tissue. Then it becomes your blood tissue. As it digests further, it becomes your muscle, your fat, your bones, your marrow, and then the most advanced. Highest kind of tissue that your food transforms and digests to become is the sexual tissue.

And that sexual tissue is really deeply connected to immunity and to vitality. And so when we're losing that sexual energy through the release of fluids in an orgasm, we. Depleting that sexual tissue, and hence our immunity and vitality drop by drop. So if we actually don't suppress this energy, it's really important to make this distinction.

People can think that they're channeling their energy, but it's not going anywhere. But in actuality, if you're truly channeling the energy it's going to into a direction that brings you, first of all, contentment and peace and joy. If it's just a forceful suppression of that energy, it's gonna lead to more problems.

So it has to be a really conscious choice based in knowledge and understanding that when we are. Seeking to build our creativity. When we're seeking to boost our immunity and our vitality and actually become incredible human beings with willpower and self-control and creativity, and the power to really master our emotions, then actually closing that channel and not allowing those drops of vitality to leave our body actually allows that.

Sexuality or sexual tissue that actually is not just in your reproductive organs, but Ira Beov says it's actually in every cell of your body to become what rejuvenates you, your own. Sexual tissue or immunity essence actually is what gives you incredible health and mental stability and a really magnetic and attractive personality because that mind energy is no longer distracted and agitated and restless and caught up in.

Physical desires, it's actually, it's not moving downwards. Now that energy is starting to move upwards and it's actually empowering us to use our same energy that can be reused to recreate ourselves and create another person to create change in our life, to create health in our body to create.

Beautiful creative projects to be able to not just be consumed in a relationship with one human being or romantic partner, but to actually extend our heart and our emotional energy to be available to connect with all beings as a manifestation of that one soul. So that's, Some of the monks like Sammi, Viva for example, and even elderly people and even children, have this kind of incredible radiance and magnetism to them, which draws people to them, and it's just a pure kind of almost childlike quality that comes from.

Having a really strong oja or immunity. So it's actually very empowering to realize that whether you're in a romantic relationship or not, that just by mindfully abstaining, consciously doing it with the understanding that I'm using this sexual tissue to actually bring my immunity up and to, better my life in some way.

We have an incredible ability to really recreate ourselves. Wow.

Srini: So basically to summarize, mindful abstinence is completely different than the, involuntary valve celibacy that some of us were forced into during covid. Yeah,

which is my crude way of basically taking your beautiful, eloquent explanation and making it simple to understand for myself, .

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: That's great. Yeah. However, it's understandable. , the goal is to make the wisdom applicable, so I appreciate your help and paraphrasing what I just said, . Yeah.

Srini: That's pretty much what I was thinking.

I was like, okay, the difference here is one is mindful and deliberate. The other is like you said, forced and not what you, something that you do out of choice. Let's talk about silence in particular, because I think that particularly as the sort of sheer volume of information that we consume and produce is increasing by the.

I think that this is more and more important and becoming less and less of a priority for people. So one of the things that you say is that silence is critical to spiritual growth, yet we often perceive silence as something to be avoided. Our world is so filled with noise that we use to distract ourselves from ourselves in silence.

We have no choice but to look at ourselves hopefully with compassion and detachment and tend to our emotions as they arise. It is the role of silence in our overall wellbeing.

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The role of silence is actually to bring us closer to our true self. It is said that silence gives birth to wisdom, and silence actually has a way of bringing us face to face with all the inner demons that we have been avoiding through noise. Silence has a way of allowing all of our deep emotions to finally come to the surface.

So that they can be witnessed, acknowledged, experienced, and ultimately released. We definitely need some time in silence to even digest. Again, all the information and all the sounds and all the noise of other people, and even all the noise we may have made to really. More clarity and to be able to then also cultivate our inner voice, which is always there to guide us, but we have to quiet ourselves down and quiet the noises around us to even hear that inner wisdom, that inner voice and inner knowing, and we need time and silence to also reflect self-reflection.

Is a really necessary and key tool to spiritual transformation. We need to take the time to look within and also to question everything. I believe I shared with you earlier that on the spiritual path, we are seeking to develop our intellect, which is our higher mind. That allows us to think to reason to.

To analyze, to plan, and to decide and to even think To not just react emotionally. That's the mind. Mind and emotions are linked, but the intellect is what actually thinks. And in order to develop that capacity, to think, to plan, to reason, to judge, to decide we need to question everything. We need to stop taking everything for grant.

In order to do that, we need some silence to actually think about what questions we need to be asking and to ask them and to reflect on them. And that process of going within, being quiet, really listening deeply to our own inner voice, to the emotions that observe that. Uncovered, observing those emotions and then starting to become more aware of our own projections and then those of other people.

Then we'll start to also use a lot more discernment with our words, because our words have tremendous power. Our speech is what actually creates our reality. I'm sure you must know this as an author and as a podcast host. Powerful our words are, and how much we can actually shape our lives and our reality simply through the words that we are using and the stories that we are internalizing through the words in our minds.

And when we can change first of all, we can become aware of what those internal scripts. Then we can start to take back the power to write our own script at the level of our thoughts, and then that will translate into our speech, our actions, our habits, our whole character, and then ultimately our whole destiny.

So it all really begins in this kind of void state or womb state of silence that really allows us to give. To the most authentic part of ourselves.

Srini: Speaking of words, I think that this really stood out to me because I started to think about it from the context of childhood. You say speak only the truth.

Abstain from white lies. We typically speak lies of all kinds, including white lies, to protect ourselves from the exposure we feel telling the truth would necessitate. But in the ancient VA spiritual tradition, there's an expression that means truth alone is beautiful. Just to give you some context about why I wanna talk about this.

When we were growing up, my sister being the much smarter person than I am, knew exactly how to get me to do anything she wanted. , basically, I'm sure the number of white lies that I probably told my parents were so fast that even I was no longer able to keep track of them over things that I knew they would disapprove of.

So whatever she wanted something, all she would say is I'll tell. And 90% of the time she didn't even have anything on me, but she figured I know this guy enough to know that he probably has something. And I would say what are you gonna tell her? She was like, and of course that list was fucking endless.

So it was just like, Fine. Siria, what do you want?

So let's talk about this. Honestly, I probably saved myself a lot of help by just giving her what she wants instead of telling my parents the truth. Cause there were all sorts of things that I know they would've disapproved of. I'm like, Ah. I'm like, this is one of those. This is why. This is one of those things where I'm like, I don't know about this.

Cause there are certain white lies that I still think are perfectly acceptable to tell my parents. . Like I don't want to tell them any of the details of, what I'm doing in certain parts of my life, cuz they would completely disapprove.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: Yeah. Yeah.

Srini: So talk to me about this, like knowing all of that, we're both from Indian families. And you and I both know there are certain things where you're like, Eh, telling an Indian parent that probably best to just tell a white lie would be better off .

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: Yeah, no, I totally get that. I was in that boat too.

I wrote the story in my book about how I hid. How I was even studying Ira Vida, Yoga Vita from my parents for the first nine months that I began this journey with, because I knew that they were going to disapprove of it. They wouldn't like that I had not continued with my marketing communications job and the whole corporate path that they had really set me on in college.

And it's such a gnawing feeling though when you. Express the truth, and I didn't lie necessarily, but more of a omission, right? I just didn't tell them what I was doing and tried to communicate as little as I could with them because I was afraid of them. And I was having memories of, being forced fed food I didn't like in childhood and.

The mind does that. The mind tends to just recreate the past over and over again and keep on playing out those old scripts and old memories from way long ago. And it loses track of the present moment and the fact that we have grown up now, and we're not little kids who are living in our parents' house needing to eat whatever they make.

We can actually cook our own food and. Literally had learned in that first year of my irv the Yoga studies, how to cook my own food so that I could actually rebuild my health after I had gone through a lot of eating disorders and anxiety and insomnia and stress in my life, and I had to really tap into silence and really connect with the power.

This idea. Of a mythological goddess living in my solar plexus in my stomach, which is where I've held so many emotions

,

and so much fear and given away so much power, and actually realized that this is a cool idea. I don't know if it's true or not, but I like the belief in the. Fact that there is an all powerful being in my stomach that has weapons that is armed and shining bright like the sun.

And why don't I just try believing in that, right? Like just entertain that idea and actually free myself from the burden of. Telling the truth, and it was a really heroic thing to actually make that call and reveal what I was doing and why I was doing it, and to really be so authentic and transparent and also practice empathizing with my parents for.

Why they wouldn't have wanted me to go on this path, but also knowing why it was important to me. So empathizing with myself and all this reflection on. What I was doing and why I was doing it came from giving myself the space of silence for quite a while to then be able to build up the reflections that strengthened my conviction, and then eventually gave me the courage to speak my truth in a way that was honoring myself as well.

Being compassionate with my parents and the fact that they had certain ideas of what I should do as a child of immigrants who, they wanted to have a better life and they didn't think, going back to ancient Indian practices when it was really not cool to do that 12 years ago. Was a really great idea.

They just thought, Wow, a life of suffering is ahead for you, and what the heck are you gonna do with that, right? Are you ever gonna have enough to eat if you do this? And it was coming from a place of concern and care, And at the same time, it was. It was just a really incredibly empowering experience to move beyond the fear and just own the fact that, yeah, I hid this from you because I was afraid, and this is why I'm doing it.

Because I feel that this spirituality and this knowledge from ancestors is giving me a new chance at life, and I feel for the first time. Connected to myself in a way that I never have been before, and I just have this great faith that if this is really helping me in solving things for me that I could never solve any other way, then by my example, I am going to be able to.

Share this and have the support to be able to spread this because everyone is looking for peace. Everyone is looking for health, everyone is looking for happiness. And if this is unlocking that for me, then I am committed to it and I will stand for it. And I will allow my ego, which is so afraid and seeking approval to actually die, to allow my soul to awaken, to go on this journey.

Overcoming the white lies and actually committing to this practice of speaking only the truth is a heroic thing to do. All the things actually in my book are heroes journey practices. They do require going deep within ourselves to be able to battle our own inner fears and anxieties and to ultimately through the reflection process and silence, build that conviction, which will give us the.

To then overcome the other person's resistances rather than to, weaken ourselves because of them. And that also comes from not looking to them as the source of the stamp of approval, but actually realizing that stamp of approval lives within ourselves and we can give that to ourselves.

So there's a lot involved with Overcoming White Lies. It's a actually a big deal. It's a big journey, .

Srini: Continue with this whole theme of words. I think this was another thing that really stood out to me, particularly as somebody who is creating media all day long. You say speak in a way that if your message were to be recorded, echo on for lifetimes, you would be happy with your recording.

Once you say something, it's nearly impossible to take your words back. You can apologize. Yes. But there's no way to undo what you said. Hence, it is essential to consider the consequences of what we. And I'll tell you why that stood out to me for a couple of reasons. One, everything I say practically of the public eye is recorded at this point,

And yeah, it's kinda, it forces me to be much more self-aware and as I have joked before on the show, So 90% of the things that I say when I am not behind a microphone in front of a camera are PR crisis in the making on a daily basis, . But yeah, and there are things that I'll say to my closest friends that I literally would never say on air because I know they would pretty much be the end of my career.

And I think that the other reason this stood out to me was because of the whole Indian matchmaking experience of being on a reality tv. And I wrote her sending my cousin, who is an attorney, the media release, and he told me something that I thought was really invaluable. He said, Look, he said, It doesn't matter what this release says, anybody can make you look like a complete jackass in the editing in reality tv.

He said, Your job is to give them no ammo. They can do that with , which, I was very aware of when I was on camera, whereas I noticed, no, without naming any names or calling anybody, Other people just shot from the hip and they considered that being authentic,

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: right?

Srini: So be, so I think that, particularly on the public eye, there's this sort of interesting balancing act between being authentic and also being mindful. Because I, I remember doing this podcast with somebody, Tim. And I said, Look, in the public eye, nobody wants to be a hundred percent authentic.

First off, it's inappropriate in a lot of cases to just basically shoot from the hip and then say, that's inauthentic. So let's talk about this idea of considering what we say and I'll give you one more jump off point for this. And I remember this stood out to me in particular, it was in the subgroup book, inner engineering.

He said, Never leave the sight of a conversation. Having said something that you would regret.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: Yeah. Yeah, and it's interesting, right? When we're in the public eye, we're, if we're fortunate, trained to be more cautious with our words, and yet when we're not in the public eye, it's easy to forget that our words are still being recorded. They're being recorded on the. Law of Karma in the ancient Baic spiritual tradition.

We have three quote unquote seats, if you will, of karma. Our thoughts, our speech, and our actions. Each of these is responsible for generating the effects or outcomes that we experience in the immediate or medium term or long term future. When we say anything, there is always going to be a repercussion, a consequence and effect of what we say. But it doesn't even begin there.

It actually begins at a deeper level of our thoughts and our mind and what is in our mind and. The desire management that I speak a lot about in my book is actually what will really help us to cleanse our karma and to create the kind of seeds of karma that will bring us more pleasant future experiences and outcome.

So when we train ourselves to understand that all of our words are always being recorded, it just is a catalyst to not only look at our words, but dig deeper into what desire is fueling them, and how can we start to see through that desire, And actually we can't let go of any desire. We just can't. The only thing we can.

Is start to then take up a higher desire and take up a higher ideal for our lives that will benefit not only ourselves, but as many living beings as possible. This is really the way to anchor our mind, our thoughts, our speech, and our actions in something that will be. Positive for us and something that will bring back positive karma.

Or if we're simply doing what we ought to do, speaking what we ought to speak, then we're not having any personal agenda or desire or even an unselfish agenda or unselfish desire, but just simply, if we're a teacher, we're teaching because. Purpose of a teacher is to teach, just like the purpose of a rose is to give its fragrance.

Then those actions, those speech, those words and thoughts will actually free us from the bondage of having any kind of karma to come back. So it's really up to us, every moment, not just when we're in the public eye or on camera or on a literal audio recording. Be responsible for what kind of life we're creating through our thoughts and speech and actions.

Srini: Let's finish by talking about this idea of working from fulfillment instead of for fulfillment. Because you say that when you equate your sense of abundance with what the world gives you in terms of name, fame, money, and other material resources, you get lost in the pursuit of fulfillment from something outside.

And I think that largely in a lot of ways has been the theme of almost all of our conversation, and yet I think that every single person listening to this understands that intellectual. But it's another thing for it to basically sink in emotionally, because again, how often do you hear, one successful, rich person after another tell you, Yeah, money won't ha make you happy.

And it's Yeah, fuck you. You have plenty of it. So that's why you can say that. , whereas. I don't have as much as you do, so you're full of crap. And I remember I had a friend who was like, Yeah, you know what? I'd rather be rich and miserable than poor and happy. I was just like, Okay, that's ridiculous.

But you get my point. Yeah. Cause I think that's very hard to do when you are constantly just exposed and inundated with this sort of endless, display. What material success looks like. . So how do you get from this place of working for fulfillment to working from fulfillment?

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: Again, having a higher ideal here is very helpful. And also looking at our actions and as much as we can. Moving from selfish actions, which are only benefiting ourself to then trying to do actions that are unselfish and that are for other people's benefit. But then if you really wanna be coming from the greatest fulfillment, then it comes from actually, Focusing on doing the action simply because it's the right thing to do and not obsessing with what is going to come as a result of your action.

Because it's just like the sleep thing we talked about. Whenever you're wanting something really badly, it's that wanting that stands in your way of actually experiencing it, or if you happen to get it, it stands in your way of feeling happy as a result of it. For example, if you do get the wealth right, then a lot of rich people are miserable because.

Whenever we get something, the way the mind works is it wants more. So our present fulfillment should never be based upon future acquisition. If we're not happy with what we have right now, we will never be happy with what we will have in the future. So happiness is ultimately an inside. It is very difficult to find happiness within yourself, but you cannot find it anywhere else.

I believe British philosopher had said that, and it's just the truth. So we have to look at all of our desires and we have to start to pierce through them and see the illusions present in them. The illusion is that wealth and material success equals. Happiness and security, when in fact we can have all of that, but still feel very insecure and very unhappy.

So if our happiness is up to us, then ultimately really what we need is more knowledge of who we truly are deep within. Because the more we strengthen that knowledge of who we really are, the more we will. Be able to anchor ourselves in the kind of actions which will allow us to experience that, and we have to continuously expose ourself to higher knowledge to be able to allow all of these internal, societal, carmic, family ancestral scripts to be reprogrammed and to.

Rewritten in a more conscious way, and this takes time. So that's why it's actually really helpful to listen to spiritual teachings that remind you that everything you seek is ultimately within you. And to really, go on this. Incredibly difficult path of spirituality, knowing that you're gonna be on the track or on the path that will lead you to the real you.

And when you know you, you no longer need anything else outside you for that fulfillment. That's really the whole point of the spiritual journey. It's We're already full, but we forget who we are and we start seeking that fulfillment in the world. That's the basic illusion of life.

Life, and what we're doing on a spiritual journey is returning back. To our original nature, and if we have done a lot outside, and we've really sought a lot in all the wrong places, which I also had done, then we have to just work really hard.

Just like we would work hard for material success. We have to work hard. For spiritual fulfillment to be able to even do this practice of actually working from fulfillment instead of for fulfillment. It's not an easy thing to do. I'm not gonna pretend that anything that I have written in this book is easy to do because it's simply not.

It requires a lot of hard work. But I have written my own journey in the book of how I have been able to do these things and how much I've really benefit. From it in order to inspire the hope that it is possible. Wow.

Srini: I feel like I could sit here and talk to you all day, . This is incredibly deep rabbit hole.

So I wanna finish with one final question, which I've asked you before. Sure. do you think it's, that makes somebody hear something unistaff?

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: I think what makes someone or something unmistakable

is connecting with what is eternal, what is true in the past, in the present, and will continue to be true in the future. We can never go wrong with the eternities. When we connect with that, which is true in all passages of times, we will be connected ultimately to the truth of who we really are to our own highest self, and that is actually the purpose of this human existence and this human life is to.

What is unmistakable, and that is the self within you, which is also within me, which is also within all living beings.

Srini: Wow. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to join us and share your story, your wisdom and insights, women listeners, where can people find out more about you, the book and everything else that you're.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera: Thank you so much for having me. If you can find out more about me on my organization's website, The Ancient Way, which is the ancient way.co, not.com, I couldn't get the.com, so I got the co . And then I can also be discovered on Instagram or Facebook anta.one, which is o n e, not the number one. And.

People can find the book anywhere Books are sold. It's called The Way of the Goddess Daily Rituals to Awaken your Inner Warrior and discover your true self.

Srini: Amazing. And for everybody listening, we will wrap the show with that.