A Thoughtful Valentine Day Gift
The special day – Feb 14th to celebrate the in your life! The fragrance of love floats in the air with flowers, candy, and red hearts everywhere you go… I never really got into celebrating this day…may be it’s the commercial aspect of it that never attracted me nor my husband into it but recently we have […]
Before I get into that, and also share the recipe of this awesome dessert you see in the above picture, I wanted to talk to you all on something I researched on love. I was amazed to find that Sanskrit language has more than 70 words describing different kinds of love!
I think English language conveys the poverty of expression as the word love is very loosely defined whereas Sanskirt, once upon a time the lingua franca of the royal kings, spirituality, and trade in India, has recognized the subtle yet beautiful nuances that produces the intricate tapestry of love!
In the above picture, I made a heart shaped cloud perfect for Valentine’s Day, with different types of love written in Sanskrit. Here are a few that I found in my research.
sneha –
motherly love , anurañjana –
attaching something to love,
vallabhatva –
loving someone to gain popularity, snehapravṛtti –
loving friendship, sarāgatā
– expressing love with burning passion, kama
– sexual love, cittaja –
love born from the heart chakra for higher realization, yusmota
– love with a responsibility of protection.
Isn’t this beautiful?! In a way our celebration of Valentine’s Day has evolved
too because it’s no longer the day only to celebrate the physical attraction and the sensual love between the two lovers but also to include
to celebrate all the love we have experienced in our journey of life with family, friends, and acquaintances.
Now, here is a rich dessert you can enjoy eating with your loved ones. I must tell you it is a completely raw dessert made with nuts, rose petals, and saffron – rawliciously decadent!
I have used a really small bowl (like a chutney bowl) to make the mould for the cookie cup. I would recommend using really small cups as this is a very rich dessert.
Ingredients and Method (makes for 2 people)
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped Walnuts/Pecans
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped Almonds
- approx 6-8 soaked and roughly chopped Dates (adjust to taste)
- few roughly crushed organic dehydrated Rose Petals (make sure they are edible kind)
- a pinch of Nutmeg powder
- a tiny pinch of Himalayan Salt
- 1/2 cup melted Chocolate (dark or milk)
Mix all this together to form a gooey dough(except the chocolate) and then mould it in the cup you like to use. Refrigerate the cup for about two hours. Once you see the shape formed add the chocolate and layer it evenly inside the cup. Again refrigerate for about two hours.
Cashew-Saffron Milk Shake
- 1/2 cup soaked Cashews
- 1 cup Water
- 2-3 tblsp Whole Food Sweetener (dates, date sugar, turbinado sugar)
- few strands of Saffron
- few crushed organic dehydrated Rose Petals (edible kind)
According to Ayurveda, it’s not a coincidence rose is associated with love and caring. It balances the
sadhaka pitta
that governs the emotions of the heart! It’s cooling in nature and is balancing for all three doshas. Here is another recipe for you to try
Ayurvedic Rose Smoothie.
Coming back to what I was saying in the beginning, recently we have started to celebrate this day dedicated to love in a more special and meaningful
way for us. Being on the spiritual path for more than 20 years now has really made us think and ponder what life and love is really all about?!!
My Guru
Paramahansa Yogananda
says this so rightly –
‘When friendship and love between souls becomes corroded with poisonous chemicals of possessiveness, selfishness, mechanical family relationships, sex obsessions, physical attachment, emotional excitement, utilitarian barterings, sudden attachments followed by sudden hates — then human love dies.’
This is the reality we see everyday of our lives, because we are wired
to expect perfection from the “other” person and hardly pay any attention to what we truly are! But I also know from my Guru there is no greater tonic than pure love which beautifies the body and mind of a human being.
So, my goal is to arrive at that “pure love” and experience life in it’s truest form. The main goal of
Ayurveda
is not just healing the body from discomfort and disease but in the highest and deepest sense to take human life towards the attainment of salvation through liberation.
For Valentine’s Day, both me and my husband, whenever our work permits go take a spiritual retreat to know the “pure love” in silence and seclusion. This week we are taking a spiritual retreat at the
Lake Shrine
in California.
So, this Valentine’s Day, I humbly urge you to do something different- plan a spiritual retreat with your loved one and you’ll be surprised what inner silence
can do to your relationship.
Wishing you all a wonderful Valentine’s Day! Please do share your thoughts and comments below.
Also one more thing, many of you have asked questions on Ayurveda and I have formulated a class to answer all your questions! This is going to be a webinar so anyone interested to attend can do with a click of a button. Below is the flyer with all the details.
