The Philosophy of Now ROOTS Media

How do we imbibe the qualities of a monk? What is mean to detach from worldly pleasures? Why does a spiritual life seem so distant to us sometimes?

Well, before becoming a monk, our guest today was a young agnostic in U.C. Berkeley trying to figure out his purpose in life like the rest of us.

Today, Swami Medhananda is a sanyassi or monk under the Ramakrishna Order, founded by the prolific sage, Swami Vivekananda.

Swami Medhananda is also currently Senior Research Fellow and a monk at the Vedanta Society of Southern California. He is also the Hindu Chaplain at UCLA. He's a scholar who has written insightful books and articles about the philosophies of Swami Vivekenanda and Sri Ramakrishna.

While in this conversation Swamiji gives us novices a deep dive into Hinduism 101, he also explains his own journey as a youth figuring out his spiritual purpose. He advises the youth on how to find their own life of meaning and contemplation.

Let's listen, learn and reflect together with Swami Medhananda's life mantra!

Our guest today, Sensei Sandeep Desai, is the first South Asian to teach T'ai Chi martial arts across the globe. As a master in the martial arts and yoga, the Sensei has traveled across the globe teaching and holding workshops.

Winning numerous accolades worldwide, he learned directly from the Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Tian Chi. He's been featured in BBC World, TEDX and numerous festivals including the Woodstock Festival in New York.

The Sensei, having taught and spread the ancient martial arts and yoga for the past 30 years, sits down with us. He speaks about his journey in to this ancient world of wisdom and spirituality. He talks about the spiritual and health benefits of T'ai Chi, the similarities between yoga and the martial arts and how the youth today can develop holistically through this ancient craft.

He speaks about day-to-day routines that can change our health and spiritual progress exponentially. From a raw food diet to basic breathing exercises, he guides us through it all. Ultimately, he speaks on his philosophy of now!

Join us as we continue this journey of learning, listening and reflecting together.

Our guest today is Nikhil Taneja, the founder and CEO fo Yuvaa, the purpose-driven media company for the youth of today. Nikhil is a trailblazer - an entrepreneur, media superstar, writer, creator, speaker and teacher.



Very early in his life, he became a leading force within Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. He led the Dharmatic Productions, with streaming and digital shows - way before they became popular!

But at his peak, he decided leave the entertainment world to take care of his mental health. He realized his true purpose was to inspire and guide the youth of today. Becoming an inspirational teaching force and building Yuvaa for inspirational content for the youth of today to value mental health, Nikhil is now living a purpose-driven life.



He speaks on his mental health journey, what the youth of today should value, spirituality, how he learned from his hurdles, why he doesn't think of the future anymore and what guides him.

This one is like an entry and open book from Nikhil's journal. Let's be mindful, introspective and enter with an open-mind!

Join us to learn, listen and reflect together.

Our conversation today is with the bestselling author, Ami Ganatra. Her bestselling books 'Mahabharata Unraveled' and 'Ramayana Unravelled: Lesser known Facets of Rishi Valmiki's Epic,' swept the globe with unique perspectives and analytical gems on the ancient Indian epics.

As a student of Sanskrit, yoga practitioner and lecturer on ancient Indian epics and wisdom, Ami has provided clarity, context and nuance to the ancient Indian wisdom and texts.

For the youth of today, her books have become guides to understanding the heritage and what to take away and practice from these texts.



She chats with us about the deepest questions regarding the wisdom and stories - why did Rama make the decisions he made? How is Krishna's life journey something we can learn from? How was history recorded then? Do we look at these texts as history or religion? What are the life lessons for us in our daily life? How do we remain critical of them ?

She goes into it all! And as always, she speaks on her own spiritual journey, finding meaning and her life mantra!

Join us in meditating, listening, learning and reflecting with Ami Ganatra NOW!

Welcome to the inaugural episode for the new season!

Our first guest is an extremely special one. We go right into the deep end of our spiritual journeys and meditation practices, as we speak with a renowned Zen master - Henry Shukman.

Henry teaches meditation, mindfulness and awakening practices to a wide range of students from all traditions and walks of life. He is a Zen Master in the Sanbo Zen lineage. He has an MA from Cambridge and an MLitt from St Andrews and has written several award-winning books of poetry and fiction. He has written of his own journey in his memoir One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir. Henry has recently created a new meditation program, Original Love, which aims to provide a broad, inclusive path of growth through meditation.

In the episode, we learn Henry’s own spiritual hurdles how he stumbled upon the practice, experiencing oneness with the world, the fundamentals of Zen meditation and power of Koans - or anecdotes and statements that provoke enlightenment. He teaches us how to practice mindfulness and gives us the most unique Philosophy of Now yet! Wait till the end for that mind-blowing mantra.

This is an extremely personal, thought-provoking and inspirational conversation for us to all find and improve our purpose and practices. We recommend being full present as if meditating when you listen to this.



We’re excited for this one! Let's listen, learn and reflect together!

Today we speak with the founders of the Baithak Foundation, Dakshayani Athalye and Mandar Karanjkar!

The foundation is a nonprofit based in Pune, India - but focuses on making Indian classical music accessible to all students regardless of their socio-economic background. The goal is to bring the essence of all Indian art and classical music to young students: that it is a sadhana or practice to help us all live a more spiritual and meaning life.

What started as a weekend activity is now a program in collaboration with more than 30 schools in 3 different cities with over 3,000 students. They run workshops for underprivileged communities. The idea is to make classical music what is was always rooted in - inclusiveness and spiritual development.

Both Mandar and Dakshyani are trained in Indian classical music and seek this all-rounded development for themselves and their students.

We speak to yet another group that seeks to make service a means of spiritual practice - a process of self refinement. We learn from their journey, their relationship with music, their amazing stories of kids from underprivileged communities sprouted into their own, and what spirituality means to them.

As always, we learn their life mantra - philosophy of now!

Let's listen, learn and introspect together.