Seek A Truer You — With Bina Mehta

Bina’s deep-rooted love for Indic spiritual systems led her to some of the finest teachers and a lifetime of studying…

By Sophia Ann French

“May the force be with you.” Unless you’ve lived under a rock or were deeply occupied in tapas in the Himalayas, you know what the ‘Force’ is. Bina Mehta calls upon said Force to explain the essence of Indic Knowledge Systems to her friends, colleagues and students in the US. Born and raised in Bombay, she moved to the US at 19 when she got married. That was 52 years ago, and Bina recalls how moving to the West inspired a longing for Indian culture, leading to a lifetime of seeking and studying that she continues pursuing. “I was born and raised in a traditional family, and we grew up with the principles of Āyurveda. My mum taught my siblings and me to chant every night. We were encouraged to pursue the arts and sports. My siblings and I were amateur jockeys; I learned Bharatanātyam, I used to play the sitar… So when I moved to the States, one way to stay in touch with my culture was to continue to study these disciplines,” says Bina. 

She attributes her continued dedication to spiritual practices to the teachers she studied with throughout her journey. “I am fortunate to have fabulous teachers. I’ve done a Yoga Teacher Training with Shiva Rea, I studied Āyurveda with Dr Vasant Lad and Maria Gore, I studied Dhrupad with Pandit Uday Bhawalkar and Silvia Nakkach, and I even did a course on Kalaripayattu.” The list of Bina’s accomplishments is long — she toured the US ballroom dancing with her husband, she studied and taught Contemplative Hinduism at the Naropa University in Boulder, she studied Reiki, and in 2008, she launched her company of Spice Blends, which led to Bina writing her first cookbook, Turmeric & Spice: Indian Cuisine for the Mind, Body and Spirit. “I couldn’t have found a better education. I’m very grateful to all my teachers; my father-in-law is one of them. He wrote a book on the Six Systems of Indian Philosophy and stayed in the US for a few years. I studied with him as well,” says Bina.

The Forever Seeker

Bina’s love for Indic culture and knowledge has given her a lifetime of learning and sharing. Her inclination towards these practices comes from a deep-rooted curiosity about higher consciousness; she feels she has always been a seeker. “Even when I had to create a logo for my company, I chose a round design with the five colours that represent the five elements of Āyurveda, and the symbol was a swan. My company’s tagline is ‘Seek a truer You’— my life’s philosophy.  It is in my seeking that I found all my incredible teachers, and the purpose of my seeking is to find that which is eternal within us. We call it Ātman or Puruṣa, and a spark of that is within us all. That’s why I continue to practise Indic spiritual systems. Even with Veda chanting, the sounds allow me to step into the centre of my heart and being. Human beings are born with the gift of having a human body that contains the divine, and these practices help us recognise that divinity is within us.”

Bina found Veda Studies through a friend who was learning the Rudram. Her friend asked Bina to join the classes, and Bina gathered nine students, all of whom joined Shantalaji’s Rudram course. She dived into it without even doing the foundation course. With her vast experience and knowledge of spiritual practices, I asked Bina how reciting Veda with Shantalaji enhanced her existing knowledge. “All the jigsaw pieces came together, and I saw the whole picture. Studying with Shantala and now attending the Indica Veda Studies Teacher Training Programme has pieced together everything I have been learning my entire life. Studying Veda has integrated all those practices for me. Shantala has taught me the importance of precision. For example, after we learn something new, we don’t just move on to the next mantra. We must refine what we know, get all the rules right, get the svaras right… There is so much detail and precision needed to recite Veda. The experience brought so much tapas to my life,” explains Bina. 

For Want of Precision

“There have been times when this practice has made me cry. But it’s ok. I love it,” claims Bina. After the Veda Studies TTC, Bina and I are both attending an introduction to Veda Sanskrit class with Swami Prem Sadasivananda (also a graduate of the same TTC). This course aims to help us understand the phonetic precision required to recite. Bina and I both know the struggle of the svara. We all cried a little in the TTC, and our teacher even joked about how the śānti mantras cause distress before lasting peace can descend. “I had learned Hindi, but Sanskrit is a bit different. It has been a difficult journey for me. In the beginning, all I saw were words — it took a lot of time, practise and effort before I was able to distinguish the colour marking, the svaras, the conjunct rules, the mahāprāṇā sounds, the difference between the hrasva and dīrgha sounds…There’s so much to be mindful of to get the recitation right. It all started coming together for me around two years ago, and now I can appreciate the accuracy and precision of what that does to the mind. I also love the effort because that allows grace in your practise,” says Bina.  

Seek a Truer You

Bina encourages practitioners to be true to themselves as she feels this is the essence of all spiritual practices. “Spirituality is to find that which brings value and meaning to your life. The truth of my being is to be true to myself, and I always tell people, ‘seek and you shall find, ask and you shall receive.’ I found all my teachers because of this philosophy. To study Veda is to tap into the universe’s actual laws. It is like tapping into the truth of how the whole universe came into being,” says Bina, and her advice to new students is, “Be open, trust, and believe that there’s something greater than us. Be open to receiving the truth and trust that truth.” 

To get in touch with Bina, access her website