For Adelaidians interested in holistic well-being and spirituality, October was a veritable feast. Quite a few events which promoted ancient wisdom and the natural way of living were organised, and they received encouraging response.
Some of most popular programs were spiritual talks organised by Australian School of Meditation and Yoga (ASMY) Adelaide, Ayurveda Day conference by Australasian Association of Ayurveda, World Life Expo and Vegan Festival.
ASMY Adelaide’s lecture series
ASMY invited Radha Krishna Das from Gold Coast to deliver talks on three topics related to happiness through spirituality. Das has been a student and practitioner of yogic philosophy and the yoga lifestyle for the past 35 years.
The first talk, held on 21 October, was an ice-breaker of sorts in which Das talked on the topic ‘The secret to living a successful and meaningful life.’ “In a world heavily influenced by social media, shifting beliefs and the culture of celebrity, it has become difficult to understand and choose true successes and meaningful life,” Das said. He helped people understand that having only materialistic goals – earning a lot of money, buying expensive houses and cars – is not the path to being successful. “One can only live a meaningful life when one realises one’s spiritual nature and starts working towards the higher goals of understanding the existence and nature of soul,” Das said.
How is this possible? That’s what Das talked about the next day. He told the audience how to cultivate happiness through the art of mindfulness and meditation. “Most of us are always confused about the concept of happiness. A few minutes of temporary worldly pleasure – through gadgets, for instance – confuses us from the real inner happiness which comes by the chanting of name of Krishna, and mindfulness and mediation,” he said. A delicious vegetarian meal was served as well. More than 120 people listened to the kirtan and took part in the meditation session.
The subject of the concluding talk was excellent as it dealt with the relevance of Vedic wisdom in the western world. Das said that Vedic wisdom had existed for thousands of years and held solutions to age-old as well as modern issues such as violence, divorce, drug addiction, suicides and so on.
The audience enjoyed the lectures and most of the attendees didn’t miss a single session.
Ayurveda Day conference
A select gathering of 50 people attended this conference that was held on 15 October at Theosophical Society. The meeting aimed at helping people understand the importance of ayurveda and yoga. Dr Karuna Jaiswal made a presentation about ayurveda in daily life, TM meditation teacher Heather Lorenzon talked about the importance of meditation for inner peace and wellness, while yours truly gave a presentation on ‘Five sheaths of existence.’ It was great to see people showing genuine interest in traditional methods of healing and prevention.
Whole Life Expo
Held at Adelaide Show Ground on 7 and 8 October, the expo saw a footfall of over 3,000. It featured some inspirational and motivational speakers along with musicians, artists and performers. Exhibitors came from around South Australia and showcased well-being products, organic food, therapies, healing treatments, meditation etc.
There was also an attempt to get into the record books with the ‘Biggest mindfulness session in the world’ where 442 people participated in a meditation session.
Vegan festival
If holistic health still doesn’t interest you, this event would have surely changed your mind. Some delicious and healthy vegan food was on offer at the festival on 28 and 29 October at Victoria Square. Stalls with amazing food and products, a cooking demonstration and workshops were the main attraction of the event. “It was the perfect weekend with a record attendance of about 18,000, truly indicating the massive shift in our society to a more compassionate way of life,” said an organiser.
It was the perfect finish to a month full of activities dedicated to going back to our roots.