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Writer's pictureME Holistic Centre

Natural Living: Yat Pinde tat Brahmande

Updated: Jan 30, 2023


It's exactly one year. Last year this time i was in Gir forest. I had gone as an architect to Kadaya, a small village in Gir forest at 'Geet Govind', an upcoming community, to design their natural home plus community spaces which we wished to build in natural material without using cement and other artificial materials. The project owners and we 4 volunteers, stayed in a one room hut area of approximately 90 sq.ft. which was built from bamboo and mud. There were no built bath rooms and toilets. This was a geodesic dome structure and had verandah on all sides to protect the mud from being washed off. In this verandah we had our open kitchen. This village Kadaya was so much away from the hustle and bustle of the city life that even if we had to buy vegetables, the nearest vegetable market we needed to visit was around 40 kms away. Every night we heard lions roar and foxes and dogs and jungle animal’s sounds. Once we also had 2 lions visit our farms at a distance of just 30 feet away they sat in our farm.

The link of this video of lions is: shorturl.at/itRZ8

There was no need of any lion safari to see the lions. In fact, i remember being to Gir jungle earlier and had gone on lion safari and had got to see only the lion pug marks. And here we had 3 lions at just 30 feet. Apart from this naturalness, the 'Geet Govind' also had vegetables and fruits grown in the farms in a natural way. Everyday morning we would harvest the vegetables and whatever harvest we got, from that we decided the menu for the meals. It was lovely experience.


I love nature and love to be in natural surroundings. And fortunately on the 3rd day there, my foot ligament damaged and i could not even keep my foot down. I had already damaged my foot ligament 3 times earlier and i knew the line of treatment. Also, since 4 years, i have not visited any doctor and not taken any allopathic medicines and have not used any commercial chemical soaps, shampoos, tooth paste, creams, sun screens etc. I didn’t want to go to any doctor and took rest there. And also e joyed the natural living and the love and care from all who took care of me. Even when i had to go to the toilet or for bath, i would get a ride by our team and i would be kept down in the jungle and left. Then i somehow would manage my daily chores with langdi (jumping on one foot), and again call our team members for picking me up. I again got to become a child and got carried with love and care at this age. It felt like a blessing.


After going on Narmada Parikrama on foot without carrying money, i got the exposure to this natural living and which i continued after returning from there. I find a big difference in my energy levels after shifting from the conventional chemical life to the natural life. I still continue to use the natural products and have replaced all my chemical conventional soaps- shampoos- creams - toothpaste etc with the natural products. The main issues why people can't shift from the chemical conventional products to the natural products see as follows:

- Mindset built by the commercial ads and upbringing

- Unavailability of such products

- These products are more expensive

- Genuinity and reliability of the product is still a question mark

To overcome all of the above problems, we started a shop called as 'ME Healthy Shoppe' where we keep only natural, healthy and eco-friendly products. Also because we understand that everything is energy and as we deal in energy and had tools to understand the energy of the products, so we would measure the energy of every product I used or which we kept in our Shoppe. (The link to 'ME Healthy Shoppe' is given below)




Even though i still stay in the city now and have not been able to shift to natural life totally, but i know that when God wishes, i will have a land in the outskirts of Nashik city where there would be a natural home (witbout cement) and natural farming where we would have an ashram and a meditation and agnihotra centre. Till the time that God makes me reach there, i am still enjoying the natural living as far as possible in the city with the natural products and little natural surroundings. At my home, office and shoppe, i have cladded the walls with cowdung and also done the flooring with cowdung. I use direct water and add agnihotra vibhuti to drinking water. We have stopped using the RO filter, the UV filter or any other filter. During Narmada parikrama, the rule was to not carry any money. We, parikramawasi were put up in any temple or ashram shala or anyones house and we had to drink the water directly from the river Narmada. Earlier conditions were different, the river were clean and the water was portable. But now the human mind set has changed drastically and people drain their sewage and drainage water into the river. This water obviously caused stomach problems to almost all Parikramawasi. But i had no stomach ailments, in spite of the fact that after marriage for several years i had IBS, chronic collitis and amoebiasis. The reason was that i had carried agnihotra vibhuti with me and i added a pinch of vibhuti in the water that i drank. I still continue the same practice. Daily i do Agnihotra and collect the ash for this purpose and am finding amazing results.


One realization is there, that we are as our surroundings are.


There is a verse in Yajur veda:

Yat pinde, tat brahmande.

Meaning: as is the Individual, so is the surrounding. And as is the surrounding so is the Individual. Pinde refers ro the microcosm and Brahmanday means the macrocosm.


For several years, I knew this verse, but I was not able to comprehend it or understand it. Now i feel i understand it somewhat.


When we even try to understand it scientifically, the inner elements present in the human body is exactly the same as present in his surroundings. Also it changes from region to region. An individual born in a desert and an individual born in the Himalayas will have different internal composition which will exactly be the same as their surrounding.


In Bhagwat Geeta, Bhagavan Shree Krishna had said in the chapter 17, verse 7.

'Aaharstwapi sarwasya trividhobhavti priyah'

Meaning: Whatever type of food we take, similarly, we become.


We have two ways to live our life well:

1. Either improve the external condition or

2. Improve the internal condition.

There is a very famous English saying which says,

'if you want to protect your feet from the thorns, you can't lay carpet on the entire Earth, but you can cover your feet with footwear.'


This again remind me of a verse from Bhagwad Geeta, from chapter 2, verse 55:

Aatmanyeqatmantushtah stithdhirmuni ruchyate

Meaning: A person who is satisfied within himself is the person who will be balanced and can be called a Yogi.



- Manjushree Rathi

Director, ME Holistic Centre

+91 7843007413


Link to 'ME Healthy Shoppe':

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