The Philosophy of Now

How do we imbibe the qualities of a monk? What is mean to detach from worldly pleasures? Why does a spiritual life seem so distant to us sometimes?

Well, before becoming a monk, our guest today was a young agnostic in U.C. Berkeley trying to figure out his purpose in life like the rest of us.

Today, Swami Medhananda is a sanyassi or monk under the Ramakrishna Order, founded by the prolific sage, Swami Vivekananda.

Swami Medhananda is also currently Senior Research Fellow and a monk at the Vedanta Society of Southern California. He is also the Hindu Chaplain at UCLA. He's a scholar who has written insightful books and articles about the philosophies of Swami Vivekenanda and Sri Ramakrishna.

While in this conversation Swamiji gives us novices a deep dive into Hinduism 101, he also explains his own journey as a youth figuring out his spiritual purpose. He advises the youth on how to find their own life of meaning and contemplation.

Let's listen, learn and reflect together with Swami Medhananda's life mantra!

Our guest today, Sensei Sandeep Desai, is the first South Asian to teach T'ai Chi martial arts across the globe. As a master in the martial arts and yoga, the Sensei has traveled across the globe teaching and holding workshops.

Winning numerous accolades worldwide, he learned directly from the Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Tian Chi. He's been featured in BBC World, TEDX and numerous festivals including the Woodstock Festival in New York.

The Sensei, having taught and spread the ancient martial arts and yoga for the past 30 years, sits down with us. He speaks about his journey in to this ancient world of wisdom and spirituality. He talks about the spiritual and health benefits of T'ai Chi, the similarities between yoga and the martial arts and how the youth today can develop holistically through this ancient craft.

He speaks about day-to-day routines that can change our health and spiritual progress exponentially. From a raw food diet to basic breathing exercises, he guides us through it all. Ultimately, he speaks on his philosophy of now!

Join us as we continue this journey of learning, listening and reflecting together.

Our guest today is Nikhil Taneja, the founder and CEO fo Yuvaa, the purpose-driven media company for the youth of today. Nikhil is a trailblazer - an entrepreneur, media superstar, writer, creator, speaker and teacher.

Very early in his life, he became a leading force within Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. He led the Dharmatic Productions, with streaming and digital shows - way before they became popular!

But at his peak, he decided leave the entertainment world to take care of his mental health. He realized his true purpose was to inspire and guide the youth of today. Becoming an inspirational teaching force and building Yuvaa for inspirational content for the youth of today to value mental health, Nikhil is now living a purpose-driven life.

He speaks on his mental health journey, what the youth of today should value, spirituality, how he learned from his hurdles, why he doesn't think of the future anymore and what guides him.

This one is like an entry and open book from Nikhil's journal. Let's be mindful, introspective and enter with an open-mind!

Join us to learn, listen and reflect together.

Our conversation today is with the bestselling author, Ami Ganatra. Her bestselling books 'Mahabharata Unraveled' and 'Ramayana Unravelled: Lesser known Facets of Rishi Valmiki's Epic,' swept the globe with unique perspectives and analytical gems on the ancient Indian epics.

As a student of Sanskrit, yoga practitioner and lecturer on ancient Indian epics and wisdom, Ami has provided clarity, context and nuance to the ancient Indian wisdom and texts.

For the youth of today, her books have become guides to understanding the heritage and what to take away and practice from these texts.

She chats with us about the deepest questions regarding the wisdom and stories - why did Rama make the decisions he made? How is Krishna's life journey something we can learn from? How was history recorded then? Do we look at these texts as history or religion? What are the life lessons for us in our daily life? How do we remain critical of them ?

She goes into it all! And as always, she speaks on her own spiritual journey, finding meaning and her life mantra!

Join us in meditating, listening, learning and reflecting with Ami Ganatra NOW!

Welcome to the inaugural episode for the new season!

Our first guest is an extremely special one. We go right into the deep end of our spiritual journeys and meditation practices, as we speak with a renowned Zen master - Henry Shukman.

Henry teaches meditation, mindfulness and awakening practices to a wide range of students from all traditions and walks of life. He is a Zen Master in the Sanbo Zen lineage. He has an MA from Cambridge and an MLitt from St Andrews and has written several award-winning books of poetry and fiction. He has written of his own journey in his memoir One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir. Henry has recently created a new meditation program, Original Love, which aims to provide a broad, inclusive path of growth through meditation.

In the episode, we learn Henry’s own spiritual hurdles how he stumbled upon the practice, experiencing oneness with the world, the fundamentals of Zen meditation and power of Koans - or anecdotes and statements that provoke enlightenment. He teaches us how to practice mindfulness and gives us the most unique Philosophy of Now yet! Wait till the end for that mind-blowing mantra.

This is an extremely personal, thought-provoking and inspirational conversation for us to all find and improve our purpose and practices. We recommend being full present as if meditating when you listen to this.

We’re excited for this one! Let's listen, learn and reflect together!

Today we speak with the founders of the Baithak Foundation, Dakshayani Athalye and Mandar Karanjkar!

The foundation is a nonprofit based in Pune, India - but focuses on making Indian classical music accessible to all students regardless of their socio-economic background. The goal is to bring the essence of all Indian art and classical music to young students: that it is a sadhana or practice to help us all live a more spiritual and meaning life.

What started as a weekend activity is now a program in collaboration with more than 30 schools in 3 different cities with over 3,000 students. They run workshops for underprivileged communities. The idea is to make classical music what is was always rooted in - inclusiveness and spiritual development.

Both Mandar and Dakshyani are trained in Indian classical music and seek this all-rounded development for themselves and their students.

We speak to yet another group that seeks to make service a means of spiritual practice - a process of self refinement. We learn from their journey, their relationship with music, their amazing stories of kids from underprivileged communities sprouted into their own, and what spirituality means to them.

As always, we learn their life mantra - philosophy of now!

Let's listen, learn and introspect together.

We learn from Hanuman Dass. Another "Das" in our podcast! 

It's not a surprise because to be a das in Sanskrit means to serve. And like the other great guests, Hanuman Dass' very mission is to serve all people.

The founder of Go Dharmic, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering individuals to help create positive social change throughout humanitarian and environmental efforts and campaigns, Hanuman Dass' foundation is a spiritual one.

Inspired by Ram Dass and the Neem Karoli Baba, he speaks to us about his spiritual learnings, how the philosophy of seeing divinity in all guides him and the vision of his mission. He teaches us how social work and giving each other hand is actually the very tenant of spirituality if our intention are pure. He shows how to do it and the hurdles along the way!

He ultimately guides us to his life mantra.

Let's listen, learn and reflect together.

Today we learn from Pooja Bhale.

An environmentalist, ecology warrior and social activist - all these words still don’t do justice what she is. At heart, she is a free spirit.

She is the founder of The Protecterra Ecological Foundation, dedicated to creating a global society that respects nature, practices sustainability and comes together in solidarity. believe that people will only do as much as they are aware of and our work aims to increase this level of awareness to enable action.

Her main work is with her initiative The Farm - based in the outskirts of Pune. It is a space where one can feel oneness with nature based on the philosophy of spiritual ecology - bringing a human-being closer to nature, while leading workshops on spiritual healing, yoga and meditation.

While she came from a very well-off upbringing, Pooja Bhale chose a minimalist life with her many animals, farm, initiative and a tent where she lives!

Join us as we learn from her about her spiritual journey, the courage it took to leave it all, what it takes to be so driven for a mission, the importance of spiritual ecology and of course - her life mantra at every moment!

Let's listen, learn and grow together.

In today's episode we speak with Acharya Prashant. He is an acclaimed Vedanta exegete and author of over 80 books, including the National Bestseller  'Karma – Why Everything You Know About it is Wrong'. An alumnus of IIT-Delhi, IIM-Ahmedabad and a former Civil Services officer, he is an exponent of pure Vedantic wisdom, a vocal warrior against superstition and inner weaknesses, a promulgator of pure spiritual veganism, and an expounder of essential human freedom.

He is honest, straightforward and deep in this conversation. We learn about his spiritual journey, how one can balance between detachment and ambitions, navigating in this modern consumer landscape, dissecting the struggles of the modern youth, Vedantic inquiry and self-analysis and ultimately a life philosophy to adopt.

We dive deep into the insecurities, struggles and questions and leave with guidance at the end of the conversation!

Let's listen, learn and reflect together with Acharya Prashant!

In this episode, we speak with the popular and acclaimed yoga instructor and author. Ira Trivedi. She has truly become a pathbreaker in the yoga community with her ability to make spiritual philosophy and practice engaging for the modern world.

After her own journey exploring the world of Hinduism and yoga, writing books about feminism and human emotions, she has now become a trailblazer in the yoga world. The founder of Namami Yoga, a non profit organization, she went on start a phone app for yoga wellness practices, and an online yoga studio.

Her online courses, retreats, yoga lessons and articles have become attractive for all age groups! She doesn’t shy away from speaking out on fender, women and youth issues. In the episode, she is honest and transparent about her journey into yoga, her struggles staying joyful in yoga, how to stay disciplined on this path, what she feels the youth need to focus on and how she keeps her mind focused running a yoga organization in a capitalistic society and her own life mantra!

As always, she ultimately gives us her philosophy of now - her life mantra! Listen, learn and reflect together.