Great Storytelling Network Newsletter – 10 May 2017

April came and went without the newsletter being sent out. It makes me feel guilty for not doing enough work but there were too many other things to get sorted out. This will change today, though. With it being Wesak Day and a full-moon day, it seems wise to set an intention that henceforth, I will make working on the website and my writing a priority.

On that note, I trust that you’ll enjoy the stories we’re offering and please share your stories with us.

Happy storytelling.
Aneeta Sundararaj

• A programme for a healthier body and a better ageing experience
• Practice quality thinking to generate quality decision-making

“There was a story in the papers about a runaway zebra that died after a golf course chase. Police chased this runaway zebra from Tokyo zoo across a golf course. It collapsed in a water trap on the golf course and died.

It’s such a sad story, but I could not help be amused by one aspect of this story: this failed attempt to recapture the creature came a month after the zoo held a drill practising this very eventuality.

The reporter wrote as follows: ‘Every year, a zookeeper dresses as an animal and stages an escae, giving colleagues the opportunity to hone their techniques. This year’s creature was a zebra which was successfully collared and returned to its pen. But as if to prove that practice does not always make perfect, this week’s real life response did not quite go to plan.’

To read more, please click here.

During the ten-day Vipassana retreat, we learn how to practice three different meditation techniques. First, we learn how to concentrate the mind using awareness of respiration. Next, we learn how to develop mental equanimity based on awareness of physical sensations. Finally, we learn the practice of metta, in which we share our positive feelings of love and goodwill with all beings.

During the meditation course, we also come face to face with the five formidable enemies of meditation. These are mental obstacles that hinder the practice of meditation. After the course, during our daily meditation practice at home, learning to deal with these five hindrances becomes a part of our meditation practice.

The Buddha called them nivarana—mental factors that hinder our progress not only in meditation but also in every worthy endeavor that we may choose to undertake. So they are enemies not only of meditation but also of our health, our harmony, and our happiness. They are:

1. Craving

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In general terms, the primary manifestations of Rheumatoid arthritis are in the peripheral joints, but there is a wide systemic involvement in the body. Asha Nair was one such patient. By the time I met her, she’d been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for the past five years.

When she first walked into my room, the first thing I noticed was what I call a ‘moon face’. Her face was swollen and this told me that she was probably on steroids. Her gait was so unstable that even at that young age, she was using a walking stick. After introducing ourselves, she took a deep breath before she held her hands out and said, “Look at me, Dr. Siby. I can barely move.”

True, I could see that both her wrists and elbows were swollen. She could hardly move her fingers and they were slowly losing their shape. They were tender and her wrists were bigger. Her shoulder movement was strained and her hip joints were both tender and painful.

“Can you walk without the stick?”

Asha shook her head. “No, Dr. Siby. I can’t even stand straight. It’s very painful. See,” she replied and showed me that her knees and ankles were swollen.

“Alright. Let’s discuss this a bit more. How is you appetite?”

To read more, please click here.

Description: How often have you wished you could understand how your body works? In Knowledge of Life: Tales of an Ayurvedic Practitioner in Malaysia, Vaidya C.D. Siby and Aneeta Sundararaj show you how. Through understanding the basics of the ancient medical system of Ayurveda, you will come to see how you can achieve and maintain good health for longevity. Far from being a textbook on Ayurveda, the elements of storytelling are used to feature some of the more common diseases among Malaysians. They range from obesity, thyroid disorder, diabetes, drug abuse and alcoholism to depression, cancer, stroke, eczema, psoriasis and subfertility. In each chapter, you will read about the disease, the common treatments the patient has undergone and how Ayurveda helped alleviate the signs and symptoms. An enlightening book, Knowledge of Life: Tales of an Ayurvedic Practitioner in Malaysia dispels the myths surrounding this ancient medical system.

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