Kaljug

Is this 'aghori panth' an oral tradition or do they have scriptures? what scriptures do they follow to learn about these disciplines?

It's primarily an oral tradition - it's certainly nothing that can be learned from books. This tradition more than most others needs the guru-shish relationship with someone who has survived the strains of Aghor sadhanas.

They are supposedly related to the Kapalika order so they study the same Tantras as them. I don't know of any real Aghora texts in Sanskrit/Hindi. There are a few books entitled Aghora Tantra in various Indian languages, but they are mostly just full of prayogs to gain material things using mantras and yantras.

Robert Svoboda wrote a trilogy of books called Aghora in English (you can find them online in pdf format for free) about his experiences with an Aghori guru. They are interesting reads, but it's sometimes impossible to determine where biography turns into fantasy fiction.

Here's his webpage:

http://www.drsvoboda.com/books2.htm

K.

either they will become what they are intended to become or they will become demonic rakshash...there is no middle ground for them..there is no second chance as compare to gurmat.

They are fully aware of this pitfall of their path but are willing to take the risk for swift spiritual advancement. There aren't any safeguards in place: pashus who take up Aghora for the wrong reasons will destroy themselves; those who do not have the total commitment that Aghora requires to see everything as Shivaprasad will be destroyed: it's an extreme path. As such, any Aghori who cannot eat his own family members without any sense of distinction between their flesh, animal meat, fruit, or faeces is no real Aghori.

For what it is worth, the Aghora path requires at least 12 years of increasingly intense sadhanas, and it is only when the Aghora shish has reached a certain stage in his development that his guru gives him permission to practice corpse eating. Also, while some of them stay as wandering ascetics, many are given the job of returning to the community to use their siddhis to heal the sick and undo black magic, e.g. see the Aghori's guru in the documentary above (another example is Aghoreshwar Bhagwan Ramji who is the subject of a book called Oasis of Stillness). By this point many of them have approached a more Sattvic approach through their Tamoguni experience and sadhanas.

Anyway, I'm not suggesting that anyone here takes up the Aghora Panth - I believe it is more likely to cause spiritual casualties rather than spiritual adepthood in the vast majority of people - but for those who follow that path, it just as valid as any of the more acceptable vaishnavite sattvic styles of sadhana.

Regards,

K.

Mithar:

What's the title of Swami Rama's book? Is it available online anywhere?

K.

Its not as simple as people make out to be ie its parsad or blessing of shiva. There are some major implications in this act.

1. Without proper understanding, to imitate aghaoris, one can become tamoguni raksash.

To paraphrase one of their sayings "the very path that can lead you to the highest enlightenment can lead you to the lowest hell," so they are well aware of this fact. They teach that tamogun sadhana is only acceptable for viras - pashus need not apply. Of course, usually the people who are attracted to Aghora sadhana without knowing much about it apart from witnessing the outer acts of Aghoris are pashus and this path will inevitably lead to their destruction.

2. What happened to sikh dharam and global principle that every dead bodies deserve respect?

Is this really what Sikhi teaches? I was under the impression that the body after death is not important so we cremate it (or get rid of it in whatever way is most acceptable to the culture and country in which we live). Sikhi, unlike the Judeo-Christian panths, does not teach that we will ascend bodily into heaven or be resurrected on judgement day.

Also, bear in mind that we have practices in Sikhi that some might consider Tamoguni such as shikaar, yudh, sukhnidhaan and jhatka, yet we do fine because they are balanced by Sattvic sadhana such as Naam simran and bhakti.

3. What if dead bodies they are eating were of our children, sisters, mother, father, brother, cousins? would you feel same about their practices?

Personally I can see why logically I should have no problem with this, but I feel I would still be very much attached to the bodies of my family members even when they are dead. I would be pretty upset because I am not at the level of understanding which allows one to consider a corpse to be nothing but dust.

4. Is it wrong for singh who is present to stop this beadhi of dead human flesh on compassionate/dya grounds? If yes/no? Please explain.

Compassion towards what? A corpse? If the family of the dead man or woman have no problem with the Aghoris eating the flesh of their dead family member, I certainly would not try to stop the act from occurring.

5. Whats their criteria? i mean which dead body they pick? Can they pick dead body of child, revered saint, soldier, well respected icon of other culture, group, religion?

Any body that comes along is acceptable because Aghoris try to ignore such distinctions. To them everybody is a shava and everybody is equal.

Yes,ultimately sikhi is nirgun marg but with that being said, sargun creation of vahiguroo is also praised in gurbani. Unless you are at final stage, one's surti is pretty much sargun. One needs to overcome sargun pasara and lov leen in nirgun in order to find this acceptable. I admit i m not at this level at this time, i m extremely offended and hurtful by this act , its huge disrespect sargun pasara of vahiguroo and out of dya and besides its totally contrary to sargun aspect of Vahiguroo.

Quite bluntly, lets replace those bodies with our family loved ones, saints dead bodies, ideal person dead and see ourselves- what is our state of mind? If our state of mind is sam drist(highest state in gurmat), no raag dvaish then this act shouldn't matter but if our state of mind have imprints of raag dvaish but then deep inside regardless of your denial, this practice is demonic, uncompassionate, contary to many outer aspect of gurmat which represents dya, karam, dharam. Both inner and outer aspect are needed as they are interlinked, one cannot be turned nirgun vadi overnight, they are many stages of sargun pasara, upma one has to go through.

I'd be really interested to know why you feel so strongly about this, veer ji. I didn't find it at all offensive since the Hindus who cremate their family members and place the corpse in that river in Benares know that there is a chance that it may be found by an Aghori Saadh. (Benares is the Aghori capital of India.)

Also, do you think a Sant would have a problem if their corpse was treated this way? I don't know, but I know you have darshan of a lot of Mahapurush so would be interested to hear what you think they would feel about it.

Regards,

K.

No religion is good or bad, it is a mistake to form Islam into some source of objective evil, when in reality there is no such thing. Certain movements have appropriated the ideas of the ISlamic religion and used these to further their individual misguided aims.

That's pretty funny considering that earlier today you implied that the Aghora sect of Shaivism was so evil that even to hear about them was a bad thing. Exactly what part of taking women of conquered people as sex slaves and telling your followers to rape the women of the captured Bani Qurayza Jews while they watched do you find acceptable?

I'll end with one of my favourite stories from the Ramayana when Rama Maryada Purushottama Dharam incarnate slayed the Vaanar Raja Vaali. Rama killed Vaali by what seemed to be unethical unrighteous means by hiding in some bushes and killing Vaali like a lowly hunter. Vaali laments to Rama that he has not obeyed Dharam by killing him in this way. Rama replies by saying dharam is very subtle and only a pooran gyani knows what Dharam actually is. If anyone other than Rama had commited this act it would be Adharam because of lack of understanding. Beacuse Rama commited the act with full understanding of Vaali's prior acts and with full understanding of the future implications of such an act, he acted in knowledge and obeyed the maryada appropriate to that time. Thus to truly act means to have full understanding of the environment and the situation and future implications and past causes, if not, then it is best not to act from ones own intitiative but to follow those who have left correct instructions on living in the various traditions and in family traditions.

I'm sorry but this is absolute nonsense. An Adharmic act is Adharmic regardless of who perpetrates it. There is nothing in Sikhi that teaches us that going against the Dharam given to us by our Guru is acceptable at any time.

K.

A Sikh should not concern himself with Aghora. Even hearing of these practices is bad for a Sikh. These practices are not to get rid of duality or ideas of good and bad, this is just a cover for ritual black magic processes. Magical rituals involve communion with spirits through flesh consumption and blood, it has been said the chrisitian ritual involving the 'flesh' and 'blood' of Jesus was such a magical process. Tantra utilises sandhyabasha or veiled language to mislead those who are not meant to know, into destruction.

Er, no. You've got it the wrong way round. Sandyabhasha, or "twilight" language, is used to conceal Tantric secrets in profane symbolism (including in the form of what some might consider "black" magic) but there is a definite and ancient tradition called Vamachara that practices Tantra in a physical form as well as one that is entirely symbolic. It is only fairly recently, with the acceptance of Victorian notions of good and evil introduced by the British by modern day Hindus, that these Tamasic practices have begun to be considered evil or impure while Sattvic practices like meditation and vegetarianism are believed to be good and pure..

You see the same two strands of Tantra practised in the Bon tradition of Tibet where they are both considered acceptable with the Vamachara tradition considered an ugra or "fierce" form which leads to enlightenment directly and swiftly but has an element of danger attached for the unprepared.

They are most certainly used to destroy dual thinking processes, to get rid of the attachment to one's body, and to release psychic energy through the systematic and increasingly intense breaking of taboos.

The Sadhus who practice such things don't do them out of some perverse desire to perform evil acts - to them there is no difference between pure and impure.

Telang Swami of Benares once performed the ritual bathing of the deity of Benares in his own urine and faeces to show the outraged temple brahmins that they were still stuck in dualistic thinking. When the brahmins beat him and threw him out of the temple, Shiva himself is said to have appeared in a dream of the King of that city, furious that someone had insulted the Swami who was his very essence. The Swami was an Aghori and is revered as a Saint in Benares.

K.

hijra is another word for khusra

Thanks. Is hijra the most polite expression? If you were asking this question of say a Sant like Baba Jagjit Singh Harkhowale (not that I'd ever have the balls to ask it), which expression would you use?

K.

Personally I think this is the 1st step towards eradicating religion in public - 'Secular Extremism' with France holding the torch (having already attacked the Sikh Turban). Funny thing is, the principles they base their decision on i.e. Napoleons, are being twisted, as he was actually a Champion (probably the 1st in Europe) of religious freedom - which ironically forms part fo the coundation of true secularism.

Yep. These are bad times in Europe to be a visibly practising religious person.

While I agree with the principle of banning the full face covering for women for security reasons, the fact that their given reasons were couched in anti-religious terms is troubling.

K.

What the hell is that, why is he doing that?

They are Aghori Sadhus, worshippers of the fierce form of Shiva. They do weird things like to get rid of the impressions of duality from their minds. The idea is that eating human flesh, living in cemeteries and the like, destroys the idea of one thing being good and another bad. In a psychological sense, taboo-breaking like cannibalism releases enormous amounts of psychic energy which Tantra utilises for spiritual advancement.

Here's part 1 of a 6 part documentary in English about the Aghoris.

K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

Prabhjot Singh (pjs) has published the second installment of his article on Kaal Purakh on the Sikh Sangat forum here.

It's an illuminating read. Go take a looksee.

K.

Hmm. Now I'm hungry.

Anyone know if we are allowed to eat people if they are jhatkaed?

K.

Come on, Singhs and Singhania! Who else is up for it?

If I have to do it myself, at the end of the 40 days I may just decide to ask Akal Purakh to turn you into poofs.

K.

So I take it that y'all are OK with being turned into raging queens?

If you are interested in contributing but want to remain gupt, PM me. Sikh Sangat are trying to get 1 million Mul Mantar jaaps and it would be nice if this forum contributed their sawa lakh towards their efforts.

K.

Sightly OT, but is khusra considered an impolite expression in Punjabi? What would be the most polite term?

K.

Those women are not just being used as spies, but as sexual bait. I do not beleive Muslims will allow Muslim women to have sex with Hindus. No way it can happen.

They are already used as sexual bait. It's the reason that Muslim women can only marry Muslims - so that a man who wants to marry a Muslim woman has to convert to Islam and raise Muslim children. Muslim men on the other hand are free to marry Christians and Jews as long as their children are raised as Muslims.

Muslim women are already used as suicide bombers so I doubt that the Muslim men who control them would have any problem with the scenario described in the news article.

K.

Kalyug Veer, it's not my belief, but my personal experience of meeting Muslims of various facets from around the world and all walks of life.

The people you mention (who are in the tiny minority) use the religious dress as a tool to give respect to their evil intentions, I have never denied they exist. All I am saying is to judge the majority based on the minority is not using Guru di mat.

I contend that the evil observant Muslims are the norm precisely because they are observing Islam in its true form. You only have to look at countries where Muslims are the majority to know that non-Muslims are discriminated against and are considered to be inferior beings who need to be brought into the fold of Islam by fair means or foul (with foul means including the grooming and rape or kidnapping and forced conversion of non-Muslim women). In this, they are following the example of their prophet Mohammed who took the women of conquered people as wives and sex-slaves. He was also the first Muslim to use rape as a weapon in war.

To quote one critic of Islam (note that he quotes from the hadith):

What does rape, then, have to do with these religious conflicts? Unfortunately, everything. The Islamic legal manual ‘Umdat al-Salik, which carries the endorsement of Al-Azhar University, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam, stipulates: “When a child or a woman is taken captive, they become slaves by the fact of capture, and the woman’s previous marriage is immediately annulled.” Why? So that they are free to become the concubines of their captors. The Qur’an permits Muslim men to have intercourse with their wives and their slave girls: “Forbidden to you are ... married women, except those whom you own as slaves” (Sura 4:23-24).

After one successful battle, Muhammad tells his men, “Go and take any slave girl.” He took one for himself also. After the notorious massacre of the Jewish Qurayzah tribe, he did it again. According to his earliest biographer, Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad “went out to the market of Medina (which is still its market today) and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for [the men of Banu Qurayza] and struck off their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches.” After killing “600 or 700 in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900,” the Prophet of Islam took one of the widows he had just made, Rayhana bint Amr, as another concubine.

As just one example, look into the experience of Coptic Christians in Egypt. See here.

K.

I've never met a 'religious' Muslim who dates. In fact, I haven't even met one that shakes a womans hand.

When I say religious I am talking about the uchi pent, baana wearing bearded fellas. Those that are outwardly religious, I have come across many of these guys in various Government/Public Sector orgs, and they are generally very humble, well mannered folk who I have not even heard swear.

How do you reconcile this belief of yours with the fact that it is the bearded observant Muslims who are usually the ones who engage in wholesale genocide, forced conversions and international terrorism? Do you think Osama Bin Laden sports a Wutang T'shirt and oversized jeans in the comfort of his own cave and that his beard is fake?

What about the case of the Imam in a Midlands mosque who was paying £5000 to any Muslim who impregnates a non-Muslim girl and forces her to convert to Islam? Was he a secret fan of Snoop Dog and Jay-Z?

This idea that observant Muslims are all peaceful angels and that the bad ones are hip-hop listening fake Muslims in "gangsta" dress is getting old.

People are wanting to find some cultural middle ground solution, it ain't gonna happen, raksha only comes from Guru, in all forms, and to have it, you need to have Guru in your life.

Yep.

K.

By the amazing Prabhjot Singh (aka pjs).

See here for the full text.

K.

Kalyug, I don't recall rape being mentioned in the video.

Regards to the age, if that was the case, then wasn't the solution simple, tell the Police? There is a law against paedophilia in the UK.

It was rape because of her age. It is pretty difficult to prove grooming and the police have not exactly been helpful in the past when Muslim grooming practices of underage girls has been brought to their attention (unless it is very obvious, or it is alreay in the news so that they are forced to act, or if there are young white girls invlved). They do not like to get involved lest they get accused of Islamophobia by the PC police and the Islamic apologists.

Thanks to someone for finally providing an action at the point when most discover they are actually in this problematic situation. Now the problem here is that if the girl has not been brought up in a Khalsa/Gursikh environment (which most haven't) then the above suggestion is tantamount to racism of sorts. What if the girl runs off with a non-Sikh person of Jewish, Chinese, Afro-Carib or European ethnicity, does the same apply, if not why not? If one is a Gursikh, then under rehit, they have an obligation to marry the same. Cultural Sikhs are not under the same obligation (as can be seen by the thousands of Sikh/nonSikh marriages that occur in Guru Ghar every year in the UK.

This depends on whether your first duty is to the Panth and to the Guru or to political correctness. There is nothing wrong with marrying anyone of any race as long as they accept Sikhi and are willing to raise their children as Sikhs. Other Panths have no problem with this, why should we be the only ones accused (and accusing ourselves) of racism for doing what is best for the Sikh Panth?

Even a "cultural" Sikh has a duty to the rest of the Panth to ensure that they raise their children within Sikhi teach them their heritage so that their children can choose to follow the Guru's path in its entirety or to whatever degree they are capable. If they are not willing to do this, they have no right to be married in Gurughar. Let them get married in a registry office with the rest of the atheists.

As Sikhs our duty should be to encourage what is good for the Panth (and greater numbers is certainly a good thing for the political and military might of the Panth) and discourage what is not (and encouraging that it is OK to run away with sullay and accept their "religion" is OK is revolting and an insult to our Sikh ancestors).

K.

have to disagree with this. it is very wrong to harm those who are innocent. killing the killer is moral, but we all know in families members can be very different from each other. other family members don't necessarily encourage or otherwise take part in such behaviour.

LOL, maybe I should use smileys more often. I thought it was obvious that I was being slightly tongue-in-cheek. Think of it as a statistical correction to all the introspective navelgazing lack of action on this thread and the Khalsa Panth in general.

K.

Did some of you just suggest that, should one of our underage daughters or sisters gets GROOMED and RAPED by a Muslim paedophile, we should navel gaze until we find some way to lay the blame on some stereotypical Punjabi behaviour?

Here's some solutions just off the top of my head to combat Islamic propaganda:

1. Teach your daughters and sisters Sikh religion and particularly Sikh history, especially where it regards the atrocities and barbarities of the Muslim occupation in India. Give them some role models of Singhania who dies rather than accept Islamic lies and the yoke of Muslim slavery. Don't be a politically correct pussy and ignore the whole of our history with Muslim scum and don't ignore the fact that there is still a large proportion of those inbreds who still actively encourage their youths to corrupt non-Muslim girls and bring them into their cult.

2. You are a role model for your sisters and daughters, so make sure that you are a practising Sikh with a great knowledge of our history and our unique identity. Instill the idea that Sikhi is a superior way of life by being a superior man.

3. Teach your daughters and sisters about the birds and the bees, teach them to recognise predatory males, and encourage them to raise any isues with males in their lives.

4. If, as in the example above, your daughter is groomed and raped by a predatory sullah, find him and kill him, kill his father and mother for raising a monster, kill his brothers, and sell his mother and sisters into slavery so that they get a feel for what it is like to be raped. Or report him to the police. (Or kill him.) Raise your sons with the belief that Sikhi and honour are more important than anything else.

5. If your daughter has come to physical and mental maturity and insists on getting married to some sullah and dressing up like a ninja, cut her off - because from the point of view of the evolution of Sikhi, she is a dead end. Let her know that she is welcome to come back when she ditches the sullah. Dont't encourage her disobedience or give her the impression that choosing her inbred sullah boyfriend/rapist over Sikhi is OK by accepting her decisions.

I think it's important for the Sikh Panth to grow a pair and make use of their bir ras and shastar vidiya when it is a matter of Siki or family honour. We encourage others to see us as a weak target and will continue to see such attacks on Sikhi every time that we fail to act in such situations.

I was watching a speech by Sant Jarnail Singhj Bhindrawale recently and it struck me how weak and PC we have become. Sant ji was talking about finding a beedi in the parkarma in Darbar Sahib. His response to what he and the Singhs of that time would have done to the person responsible would probably offend the passive and squeamish here who are apologists for the bad behaviour of other Panths.

K.

Veera, remember that thing I wrote on jhatka while back and pretty much everyone thought I was writing against Jhatka. Well here, we go again. In no way, Am I against Jhatka. The Nihang Singhs are the warriors of the Khalsa Panth, they are the one's that focus more on war aspect of Sikhi. So when it comes to standing up for Sikhi in a physical way, these guys are suppose to be going out and serving justice. But what do you see, now. The nihang Singh, just like rest of the Panth, who have gone selfish sitting on their hands. Say I was a taksal Singh, I'm be like to the Nihang you go fight the oppressors and the Nihang Singh is sayin the same back to the Taksal Singh. Only reason they are telling each other this, is because they believe their maryada will die, if they weren't around anymore.

Don't you see how this kind of bickering just divides the Panth and is lagely responsible for weakening us further?

It is the duty of all Sikhs to be Sant-Sipahis, not just the Nihangs, and expecting them to go to war while we watch from the sidelines is disgraceful - so is telling a Taksali Singh that it's his duty to learn santhiya and ithihas and you are exempt from such scholarly efforts because you are not part of his jatha.

But it's the Nihang Singhs from rest of the Singhs that say we have the warrior aspect in us. They perform Jhatka regularly and probably go hunting regularly aswell.

The Nihang Singhs do not consider themselves distinct from the rest of the Panth - they have been placed there on the outskirts by the majority SGPC/Sant Mat schools of thought in Sikhi who are largely responsible for diminishing the power and influence of the Nihangs. The Nihangs teach that they are the traditional roop of the whole of the Khalsa Panth. Just as Baba Deep Singh was at once a Shastardhari Soorbir Nihang and Naam Abhiyasi Gursikh Jathedar of Taksal, so do they attempt to keep both the warrior traditions and the bhakti intertwined.

You may feel that the Nihangs now are an outdated force, but they are the only ones keeping alive puratan maryada like jhatka alive to be taught to the rest of the Panth when it eventually is forced to learn them again. And yes, jhatka and shikaar are very much a Guru-ordained tradition (see Jvala Singh's blog for references).

Do they need to update their skills? Definitely. Should they abandon maryada in the pursuit of advanced weaponry and battlefield skills? Of course not, since these are the traditions that make the Khalsa Panth a Dharmic force.

I just feel it is unfair to expect them all to go fight battles that we are too cowardly or weak to take part in ourselves. It's especially unpleasant when a lot of the Panth goes out of its way to demean their maryada and demonise them and yet expect them to stick up for us when we are in a sore spot.

Jhatka is to prepare a person for war, but what is it being used for now. Just for the tongue.

Teaching the youth Singhs how to do jhatka is one thing, but you have older Singh that have done it couple of times, now just doing it over and over. It's become more of a party thing. Get together, watch be blow this things head off and then another cut the things head, while it's barely got any life in it.

I really don't think you understand the purpose of jhatka at all, Singh. Jhatka isn't something that is done once and then that's it, you are ready for war. It is something that needs to be maintained regularly, just as you need to practice on a heavy bag regularly to keep your boxing skills sharp. (Maha Singh has done a good job of detailing the reason for and the ideal method of jhatka above.) The Mahaprasaad needs to be eaten regularly for the protein content to increase your strength and endurance and to enable you to practice your shastar vidiya for long periods of time.

Edit: And forget this silly argument about mahaprasaad being all about "taste", veera. It's a completely ridiculous thing to say since taste is entirely subjective and that line of reasoning leads nowhere.

K.

This whole jhatka thing is just getting out of hand. It's just becoming a pointless ritual. If their getting ready for war then, the Taliban is waiting for a fight. They're arleady mocking Sikhs and Sikhs have been executed.

Only call him a Nihang who goes into battle.

I think you're being too hard on the Nihangs and too soft on the rest of the Panth.

Apply your harsh criticism to the rest of the Sikh Panth - who, after all, are supposed to be Shastardhari Kshatriyas also (or did you think the kirpan was just for show?) - and you might realise that it has become weak-willed and feeble through neglect of the very practices that the Nihangs are struggling to keep alive.

Yes, it would be great if the Nihangs updated their warrior skill set, but why should they march into war while the rest of the Sikh Panth sit on their behinds and criticise their puratan Sikh maryada from behind the anonymity of their laptops in the comfort of their own homes?

K.

On minute 1 why is the nihang jumping on the other Singhs back?

To force out some of the blood into the sarbloh bata. The blood is used for shastar tilak.

K.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46dnh9492Mc&feature=related

I think so, yes, though there might be some that disagree.

Ultimately there is no difference between this and an animal that has been killed in shikaar (with arrows, spear or rifle) as long as maryada like reciting Chandi di Var beforehand and jaikara at the point of the animals death is done.

It looks like they shot it first out of compassion because the Nihang was anticipating difficulty beheading it one blow.

What do you think, veera?

Edit: WTH kind of animal is that? It looks way too big to be a goat.

K.

A neighbour has recently got this condition (type 2 I think). His family was asking for traditional aids. I told them about karelay, but personally I can't see goray ever eating them more than once though....

Also you can have a teaspoon of cinnamon powder straight after meals (with water) to lower blood sugar levels. Vinegar is also meant to work.

Please share any knowledge of tried and tested illajs, apparently this condition is very common in the Panjabi community.

Cinnamon is good, as is haldi.

How advanced is his diabetes? Sometimes, if it's caught early, it can be treated through diet, but he'd need to see a good nutritionist. Even in advanced cases, diet will help a lot. From an ayurvedic point of view, the goal is to pacify the kapha dosha (complex carbs in place of simple, protein that's easily digestible so little red meat, not too much dairy, very little fat).

Here's a general guide that he might find useful:

http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/Diabetes/diabetes_ayurveda.htm

If he doesn't like karelay, he can experiment with adding the herbs mentioned on that page in his usual cuisine.

By the way, Vasant Kusumakar Ras which is mentioned on that page is prescribed by ayurvedic doctors, but it's made with gold and pearl ash, so if you buy it, you have to make sure that you get it from someone you trust.

K.