Life and Spirituality

T oday I was reminded of older articles in this blog on an ancient magical plant called Soma. A drink from this plant gave ancient Aryans magical powers of mind, body and soul. The interested reader will easily find articles on it through using the search tool in the left side bar. Details there are not repeated here. The ancient Soma plant is now lost or extinct. Several scholars have made many attempts to identify it in modern times, from ephedra to magic mushrooms,   each one supporting his own proposals enthusiastically but in the opinion of this author none seem to fit the bill. In the last decade or so, availability of internet and google search makes the task of a world wide search of plants much easier. This blogger did precisely that some time ago leading to articles just mentioned. As a result of the search, the author narrowed down two plants that came closest to ancient descriptions. These are the Cornus Sericea as found in North America presently and the

Nanda devi and Sunanda Devi peaks of Himalayas. The identification of Nanda Devi East as Sunanda Devi in the modern era was done by the present author some years ago.   W hile a human is an organic whole, one may try to understand a human by classifying his abilities in three parts – Physical, Intellectual and Spiritual. While we can understand what physical and intellectual abilities mean, the spiritual side is less understood for there is a hidden or mystical dimension to it. When Soma an ancient drink of the gods, was still amongst the ancient Himalayan dwellers, Soma drinkers rose up with a roar and a battle cry to defeat minions of the devil that have always lurked amongst mankind, at times in the shadows and at times leading from the front, so that things like military style assault weapons are not handed to all and sundry for killing each other,  even those wonky in their heads to blast the shits out of fellow humans to kingdom come, just for the fun of it, a b

A thousand shining red stalks of Soma rise up towards the heavens ready for harvest by ten virgin maidens to prepare a drink of the gods with ten gentle fingers  (description as per Soma hymns in Rig Veda).   This research is dedicated not to a patent but to the planet and to International Yoga day , June 21 for peace, harmony and brotherhood amongst nations and mankind W hile the ancients composed thousands of hymns in praise of Soma while it was around, such hymns stopped when the plant disappeared. Recently on reading these blog posts, on a likely rediscovery of this plant a few days ago, a dear friend Vinod Khurana composed a new one (he retired as the senior most officer of the equivalent of IRS of India a few years ago). Soma by Vinod Khurana  (A modern hymn in praise of Soma composed after a gap of more than three thousand years) Soma is no ordinary plant it grows in the heavens much loved by the gods who rule over the earth They drink of it much to quen

   ---------------------------------------------------- NOTE: This blog post is an extract from a more formal note with some informal elaboration, from https://www.scribd.com/doc/266317668/On-the-Identification-of-Soma-of-Rig-Veda-with-Cornus-SericeaSoma-Article ------------------------------------------------------- Thou by thine insight art most wise, O Soma, strong by thine energies and all possessing, Mighty art thou by all thy powers and greatness, by glories art thou glorious, guide of mortals...,    Rig Veda   T he previous post described the god of plants, Soma that made humans who consumed its juice processed in a certain manner like immortal gods. Please do read that post to appreciate this one fully.  The god of plants was lost to mankind ever since ancient times .   It may be pointed out that even though Soma became extinct in ancient times in the Himalayas especially in areas where it was usually collected from, perhaps because of excess harvesting, it

  --------------------------------- NOTE: This blog post is an extract from a more formal note with some informal elaboration, from https://www.scribd.com/doc/266317668/On-the-Identification-of-Soma-of-Rig-Veda-with-Cornus-SericeaSoma-Article ----------------------------------- A n earlier article described how holy basil plant is regarded as a goddess that has taken birth on earth as a plant, yet there was a plant of earth that grew around Himalayas that was regarded by ancients as a powerful god that had taken the shape of a plant on earth. While the foremost effect of Tulsi the goodess are at spiritual level and therefore not visible to all, the effects of Soma the god are at the physical and intellectual level first. Ancient Indo-Aryans saw a god in all parts of nature and the universe, all parts of one infinite God. Amongst plants this god was seen as the plant called Soma. It was so precious that it was harvested to extinction even in ancient times and thereafter