Guru Nanakji, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

I got the article from someone in the context of central message in all religions being the same. Sharing it here for posterity.

In a paper entitled Guru Nanak in Oriya Sources, author Raghubir Singh Tak describes an Oriyan palm leaf manuscript preserved in the Jagannath Temple Museum, which documents the point in history when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Guru Nanak were visiting the holy dhama at Puri Jagannath at the same time, along with other associates. Raghubir Singh Tak, formerly a Professor in the Department of Guru Nanak Studies, GNDU, describes the manuscript:
"There is an entrenched tradition in Sikh religion that Guru Nanak during his sojourns visited Jagan Nath Puri and recited Arti- `Gagan main thai ravi chand deepak bane..: enshrined in Sri Guru Granth Sahib
There is an excellent narration of Lord Caitanya's meeting with Guru Nanak at Puri Jagannatha, delivered by H.H. Srila Bhakti Sravan Tirtha Goswami of Gaudiya Matha. He writes:
"A contemporary of Mahaprabhu, Guru Nanak was older to Mahaprabhu by 16 years. He departed five years after the disappearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Nanak sought a religious path that avoided the formal structures of both Islam and Hinduism. However, in the Guru Granth Sahib, there are frequent references to Har Krishen, Gobind, Gopal and Ram.
Thus most of the names for God in Gurbani come directly from Vaishnava bhakti school. Clearly, Nanak dev ji believed in a God that was both formless and full of form. Nirgun as well as Sagun. One does not negate the other. Both coexist at the same time, resonating with Sri Chaitanya's philosophy of `Achintya Bhed Abhed' (inconceivable unity in duality).
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Guru Nanak both met at Puri and spent some time there. This incident is recorded in Chaitanya Bhagbat of Iswar Das written in Oriya in 17th Century.
The author, Ishvar Das, was one of Mahaprabhu's close associates in Puri, and the only biographer to mention the event, perhaps because the meeting was brief and only the eyewitness devotees of Puri knew about it.
Ishvar Das writes: (Ishvar Das's Chaitanya Bhagavat, Adhyaya 61).
Srinibasaye Viswambhara
Kirtan madyare vihar
Nanak Saranga ye dui
Rupa Sanatana duibhai
Jagai Madhai ekatra
Kirtan Karanti Nritya
"In the congregational singing led by Shri Chaitanya in Nagar Purushottama (Puri dham), Nanak and Saranga (another name for Mardana who played the sarangi), the two bothers Rupa and Sanatana along with Jagai and Madhai also joined in. Gopal Guru, for whom Guru Nanak had deep affection, was there as well, along with Nityananda Prabhu, who was considered an incarnation of Balarama. They all relished the kirtan at Jagannath Puri."
(Ishvar Das's Chaitanya Bhagavat Adhyaya 64).
A popular legend is told of how Guru Nanak was entering the temple of Lord Jagannath, he met Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who was coming out. Both offered pranams to each other. Then Nanak turned and started to leave the temple. Mahaprabhu asked him why he was not going inside to have darshan. Guru Nanak replied `I have already seen the Lord'.
According to Padmabhushan Dr. Durgadas Basu, a National Research Professor, Guru Nanak was given mantra diksha by non other than Prabhu Nityananda while the latter was traveling through Bangladesh (Bengal). That Sri Nanak was a `mantra shishya' of Nityananda Prabhu has been written down in his autobiography and the last chapter of the Guru Grantha Sahib, while elaborating the greatness and glory of the holy `Naam'.
In the Granth Sahib, it is written:
"Swasi grasi harinam samali
Simar bus vishwambhar ak"
"In order to attain salvation, one must chant the holy name of Ram, Hari or Vishwambhar."

True happiness

Paamahamsa Yovananda writes:

Whenever you eat, drink, play, ride, picnic, fish, go to the movies, tour around the world, earn a million dollars,  meet the finest friend, bcome the healthiest man, or king of an earthly empire , these things will never give you the tangile ever-increasing joy born of the ever-increasing depth of meditation.

Violence, peace and Religion

Hi all

So I never understood violence in the name of  religion. I love teachings of sage Kapila, son of Devahuti. I am a follower of Gandhi. I believe in world peace.

SB 3.29.21: I am present in every living entity as the Supersoul. If someone neglects or disregards that Supersoul everywhere and engages himself in the worship of the Deity in the temple, that is simply imitation.

SB 3.29.22: One who worships the Deity of Godhead in the temples but does not know that the Supreme Lord, as Paramatma, is situated in every living entity's heart, must be in ignorance and is compared to one who offers oblations into ashes.

SB 3.29.23: One who offers Me respect but is envious of the bodies of others and is therefore a separatist never attains peace of mind, because of his inimical behavior towards other living entities.

SB 3.29.24: My dear Mother, even if he worships with proper rituals and paraphernalia, a person who is ignorant of My presence in all living entities never pleases Me by the worship of My Deities in the temple.

SB 3.29.25: Performing his prescribed duties, one should worship the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead until one realizes My presence in his own heart and in the hearts of other living entities as well.

SB 3.29.26: As the blazing fire of death, I cause great fear to whoever makes the least discrimination between himself and other living entities because of a differential outlook.

Honestly,  I have no idea about God.  But SB does indeed teach nonviolence- the key to individual and societal peace.

What is the purpose of human life?

I am transcribing from a lecture by a wiseman:

"What is the fifth stage of consciousness? The fully bloomed stage of consciousness. Now who has this opportunity? Does an animal have this opportunity? Who has this opportunity? That is why the human form of life is so special. Otherwise what is the definition of a human being? How many of you remember? Although I didn’t mention in the class but then there is an understanding, a common saying, “Man is a civilized animal”. An animal kills it prey and eats it. Men goes to a very exclusive restaurant and eats his food. Actually it’s the same, eating. The goal of life becomes eating. Sleeping; an animal sleeps in a cave in the forest and a man lives in a palace in a metropolis. Mating and defending. So obviously these animal activities should never become the goal of a human being, rather the purpose of human life should be to achieve the ultimate goal of spiritual emancipation, spiritual awareness, recognizing its own spiritual identity and recognizing his relationship with the Cosmos. That is the meaning of the word self-realization. That is the goal of human life, to pursue the science of self-realization, not computer science."

I add that anything else is a terrible waste of what one has been given: intelligence.

ALS Ice Bucket challenge, Indian medicine

I write this post to seek inputs from intellectuals, medical professionals and create a debate on alternative approaches to medicine. It is wonderful to see that 40 million dollars has been raised for the ALS disease research via the IceBucketChallenge. I hope that some of it is used to explore alternative approaches.

Modern medicine is wonderful at bacterial infections, emergencies, surgeries, etc. However, there are lots of problems for which it just does not have any clue. The ALS disease is one such area. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. I propose an alternative line of research towards this disease: leverage the understanding of traditional Indian medicine. Traditional Indian medicine is superior to modern medicine in dealing with Alzheimer's disease (read up on Alzheimer's prevention trust by Dr. Khalsa). It holds quite a lot of promise.

Modern medicine hardly pays any attention to one's inputs: what you eat, what you listen, what you read, what you watch, what you think. All these do indeed affect your health. For instance, most diseases come about because we eat when we are not hungry and drink when we are thirsty. The biggest mistake people make is suppression of their natural refreshment indicators. In fact, most of us overeat and overdrink way beyond our capacity resulting in overall reduction of health. The body itself has sufficient ability to cure itself of many diseases, if only we allow it. The interventionist nature of modern medicine, where business interests have overtaken the science, does not really help holistic healing.

The other thing modern medicine does not understand that the secret of being healthy is to be closer to the root of consciousness. The modern medical hospital environment with televisions for 15 hours a day is hardly allows one to focus on the root of consciousness and healing.  The root of consciousness has unimaginable abilities to heal, if only we allow it.

Our body cells are polluted by the toxins in the environment. Modern medicine has not truly figurred out how to get the toxins out of the cells. If you can get toxins out of individual cells, all the other medical problems become much more tractable.Once the toxins are out of the cells, the normal process of cell regeneration can continue normally. All cells in our body die and are replaced by new cells. The estimates I have seen vary from 21 days to 2 years. So, if the toxins are out of the body, and individual cell's "intelligence"is restored, the normal process of cell regeneration will cure the so called (chronic) disease. Even for diseases like constriction of vessels, this approach provides a natural solution.

The traditional Indian medicinal system, called Ayurveda, does a wonderful job of addressing the above two items: inputs to body and detoxification. My wife and I lost about 6-10 pounds in three weeks at the Vaidyagrama Ayurveda resort due to strict diet control. Then, after sufficient preparation, they make you drink a large amount of herbal medicine and clarified butter (ghee).  This gets digested and ingested into the bloodstream. They saturate the body with ghee. Then, they induce diarrhea to flush the fats out of the body. Besides the patient feeling more healthy, blood tests have shown that the overall fat content in the body goes down after the treatment.

I illustrate the Ayurvedic wisdom in another disease: hypertension. I forget the exact name of drug used. But this drug is a chemically manufactured  compound to resemble a compound found in a nature of the bean. Ayurvedic remedy for hypertension is to eat the bean. The hypertension goes away without any side effects. The chemical drug causes lots of severe side effects in some people.

Thus, Ayurveda goes beyond palliative care. In fact, the Ayurvedic approach to diabetes is more convincing than the modern medical approach to diabetes, which is only disease management as opposed to a cure. Kindly read the articles listed below where I outline a chemical free medical approach for common chronic (non-bacterial) diseases such as psoriasis, spondylytis, etc.

Another interesting observation: In Ayurveda, they make you log your food and drink intakes. And then details about your excretion, including color and texture. This kind of discipline is missing in modern medical professionals. If anything, I have seen  many doctors eat very unhealthily and live unhealthy lives. In truth, a number of doctors are very stressed. Some fail to adhere to Sun's clock, due to which patients' and doctors'  melatonin clocks are confused resulting in higher risk and reduced health.

The other remarkable difference between Indian medical system and modern western sytem is the emphasis on eating freshly cooked meals (those cooked with love!). Somehow western medical doctors have been brainwashed into believing that industralization of food with all the chemicals does not affect health. Ayurveda recommends that food be consumed within three hours of cooking. Ayurveda does a better job of understanding the link between food, health, mindfulness and overall happiness and quality of life. In contrast, the emphasis in modern medicine is mostly on interventions to maximize the revenue. Somehow, modern hospitals are desensitized. The nurses are hardly effulgent in their charisma. On the other hand, the nurses in ayurveda hospital Vaidyagrama are much more effusing in their love and compassion.


I would like to credit HH Bhakti Charu Swami for convincing me to try Ayurveda. After a heart attack, once the emergency settled, he switched to Ayurveda successfully and told me of its benefits and side-effect free treatment. He communicated this to me in ten minutes. When he told me this, I was facing the serious prospect of a surgery needing to be redone (exact surgery repeat from five years ago). Now, the situation is much better; whole situation casused by anti-biotic side effects. I am now trying to convince my dad to try Ayurveda so he can get off the long-term side effects of the 9 pills a day he takes due to heart-attack.

HH Bhakti Charu Swami is working towards establishing a medical research center/hospital in Ujjain, India in collaboration with other hospitals to take this line of research forward.

I am raising money for a charity Yoga Foundation to research and espouse these ideas for future study and research; please donate (link). We recently helped organize an event where 300 medical professionals attended a seminar in New Jersey to understand Ayurveda, traditional Indian medicine, can transform health care in America. The keynote speaker was CEO of Carrier Health, New Jersey.

Kindly read some write ups I have written on the subject below. I acknowledge that my ideas are half-baked. Please look beyond my errors and omissions.


My Review of Vaidyagrama hospital
Reviews of other people on Vaidyagrama
Profile of a person cured by Ayurveda from extreme allergy
Thoughts penned on the sad news of Mr. Jamie Dimon's cancer.

Catch 22 in cancer treatment

Thoughts, reflections, nature of the mind

Thoughts and reflection of the mind give rise to desire. The symptoms of the mind are determination and rejection, which are due to different kinds of desires. We desire that which is favorable to our sense gratification, and we reject that which is not favorable to sense gratification. The material mind is not fixed, but the very same mind can be fixed when engaged in the activities of Yoga consciousness. Otherwise, as long as the mind is on the material platform, it is hovering, and all this rejection and acceptance is temporary. It is stated that he whose mind is not fixed in Yoga must hover between acceptance and rejection. However advanced a man is in academic qualifications, as long as he is not fixed in Yoga consciousness he will simply accept and reject and will never be able to fix his mind on a particular subject matter. By meditating on one can become free from the agitation of acceptance and rejection.

This post is inspired by Kapila, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, philosophers born in India.

No snooping allowed!

Please check this document out if you are worried about snooping by the powers be. It has some connection to Simon Black, of SovereinMan.com

Revisiting "controlled rest" for pilots

Jet pilot dozes off, co-pilot busy on iPad as Mumbai flight to Brussels plunges 5000 feet over Turkish airspace

In a major scare, a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Brussels, carrying around 280 passengers, plunged 5,000 feet while overflying Turkish airspace last week as the commander was asleep and the co- pilot busy with the iPad containing flight information.
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Clearly, the above story is quite scary. Indian regulations seem to allow taking a nap ("controlled rest") upto 40 mins on certain flights over 3 hours.  

I write below to share an efficient yoga technique that I use for rapid recharging myself when I am absolutely terrible  --- either at work, or while driving a car on highway.  Half an hour of practicing this technique gives me the rest I get from 1.5 to 2 hours of sleep.

It is called Pranayama: essentially deep breathing.  There are various versions of it.  In a certain variety, you take slow deep breaths, retain breath and release maintaining a ratio of times of 1:4:2 for these.  Sometimes, when I am not upto it, I just watch my breath. I play a music tune (sometimes mantra tunes) for 30 mins to time it.  In addition to being efficient, it also has the other advantages that you retain your consciousness during the process.

For example, today, I was conscious for the first ten minutes, and then unconsciousness (sleeping) for next ten minutes and then consciousness after that. So I got the benefit of 1.5 hours of sleep from just 10 minutes of sleep.

******

A large number of people operate in misson-critical situations; e.g. surgeons, business leaders, programmers, soldiers, pilots etc.   They could try these out these methods for efficient resting.

Lots of books discuss Pranayama and Yoga.  I have found the book Uddavgita to be the best in this context ("perfection").

Catch 22 in cancer treatment

The current cancer treatments, that is to say, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, try to eliminate the symptom, which is the cellular proliferation, but do not stop the disease, because they do not get to the root cause. By damaging the DNA, they generate very deep cellular lesions which in many cases are permanent and cannot be regenerated. It is difficult to understand how, if you believe that cancer is caused by genetic alterations, you use the same agents which provoke such alterations as a treatment for it.

It does not mean that medical drugs are bad.  But those which are aggressive are bad, because they cause more damage than benefits. For example, anti-inflammatory, corticosteroids and some immunomodulators can be useful at certain times. Pharmacology, used correctly, can help both to recover health life, and is therefore curable, and to alleviate the symptoms and improve the quality of life in the diseases which cannot be cured.

What I am suggesting that more research be done in the intersection of alternative therapies (Ayurveda) and modern medicine. These alternative therapies focus more on restoring the work-life balance so that the causes of the disease can be eliminated. To that effect, I am helping setup a 12-bed  Ayurveda hospital in Ujjain. Please contact me if you are interested.


You can read a few thoughts on Aurveda in these articles:

My review of Vaidyagrama

Reviews of other people on Vaidyagrama

Profile of a person cured of extreme allergy



Vaidyagramahttp://yogascientist.blogspot.com/2014/06/ayurveda-hospital-review-vaidyagrama.html

Dealing with adversity in marriage

  A woman who feels jealous because her mate tends occasionally to browse into the pastures of others' affections should give a hint of warning. If her husband doesn't listen, she should not say anything further. If that wife still thinks that her husband is a worthy peg on which to hang her life she should not be jealous or demanding, but rather put on the best clothes of sweet behavuor. She should be extra nice, extra cheerful, extra forgiving, extra lenient, extra magnetic towards him. She should express the peaceful attitude brought from meditation. She should not use physical force to draw the straying attention of her mate, but raher the superior spiritual force of offering more love.

Even if that love is rejected, she should not be unladylike. It is better to kill such a man with kindnes; let him leave (if it must come to that) in kindness, ever regretting that he left, rather than force him to jump out of one's nagging, jealous presence as if from a person stricked with a moral plague.  Couples who once thought that they loved each other should never mock their feeling by allowing jealousy to instigate in them a feeling of hatred. Those whose love-experiment in matrimony is unsuccessful in spite of continual, sincere effort to make it a harmonious marriage should bid farewell to each other in a kindly, gentle way, as befits the true children of God.

When jealousy in married life is incurable by gentlemanly and ladylike behavior, by the offering of more courtesy, more trust, more kindness, and more love, couples should part in friendliness and mutual understanding, saying to each other: "we tried our utmost, but as we did not succeed, let us part.

Jealousy never cures jealousy. Love is the best panacea for this malevolent, ugly, psychological trait. If jealousy's devastating effects on th lives o others are abhorrent to us, then by all means we should refrain from contaminating ourselves with this psycholgical virus.

*** the above post in an excerpt from a top class yoga guru of the 20th century.

How Antibiotic-Fed Chicken May be Harming You

I came across this article in NDTV.com


If you are a chicken lover, this is something you should definitely be aware of. While food adulteration and pesticide use are nothing new, a recent lab study conducted by Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) Pollution Monitoring Lab, shows how antibiotic-fed poultry is harming the consumers.

The study shockingly reveals that large scale and indiscriminate use of antibiotics in the poultry industry has led to antibiotic resistance in Indians who are falling prey to many ailments that are otherwise curable.

The study -

For the study, 70 chicken samples from the Delhi-NCR region were tested for six commonly used antibiotics - oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline, doxycycline, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and neomycin. The lab tested three tissues of chicken - the muscle, liver and kidney. About 40% of the chicken samples contained residues of these antibiotics. Besides this, residues of more than one antibiotic were found in 17 percent of the samples. The study notes, "Thirty six chicken samples were from Delhi, 12 from Noida, 8 from Gurgaon and 7 each from Ghaziabad and Faridabad."

Why are antibiotics used?

Poultry is fed with antibiotics to promote their growth and make them fat without actually feeding them much. The poultry industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. The reports points out that it has been growing at around 8 to 10 percent annually and poultry constitutes of more than 50% of all the meat consumed in India. In order to meet with the growing demand and competition, breeders resort to the use of antibiotics to make chickens plump quicker and ensure a steady supply. (More: All About Different Chicken Labels)

Since there are no restrictions or limits on the use of antibiotics, the poultry industry has been rampantly using them as growth promoters. The residues of these antibiotics are being transmitted to humans on consumption.

Th use of antibiotics in the meat and poultry industry is completely unregulated. Unlike Europe, India has adopted the US model of self-regulation where it has no control over the sale of antibiotics for non-medical purposes to the poultry industry. In fact, there are no safe-limits set for feeding antibiotics to chickens, which gives the breeders easy access to go all out.

How does consumption of antibiotic-fed poultry affect humans?

The study explains that these antibiotics are pumped into chicken to treat infections or mixed with feed to promote growth. But, in most cases this is done for several days even when there is no sign of infection.

Prolonged use of antibiotics leads to the development of resistant bacteria in chickens. This can be easily transmitted to humans through 'food, environment and direct contact' with such meat and lead instances of antibiotic-resistant.

According to the report, "Antibiotic resistance (ABR) refers to the resistance to antibiotics that occurs in bacteria that cause infections. The resistant bacteria can withstand the effect of the antibacterial drug (antibiotic) to make it ineffective." This has become a global concern as it makes it difficult to treat various diseases that are otherwise curable.

"Many essential and important antibiotics for humans are being used by the poultry industry. In India, there is growing evidence that resistance to fluoroquinolones such as ciprofloxacin is rapidly increasing," says Sunita Narain, Director General of CSE.

Treating fatal diseases like sepsis, pneumonia and tuberculosis (TB) with fluoroquinolones is becoming tough because microbes that cause these diseases are increasingly becoming resistant to fluoroquinolones, says the report.

"Common infections are becoming more difficult to treat and antibiotics are becoming ineffective due to increased resistance," she added.

The study also warns that it is not the amount of chicken consumed that matters. Less consumption and even small bites can put people at the risk of developing drug-resistance.


What is to be done?

CSE's Deputy Director General Chandra Bhushan said that the findings were only the tip of the iceberg. "Public health experts have long suspected that such rampant use of antibiotics in animals could be a reason for increasing antibiotic resistance in India. But, the government has no data on the use of antibiotics in the country, let alone on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance," he said.

CSE has called upon the government to implement a comprehensive set of regulations including banning use of antibiotics as growth promoters in the poultry industry.

As far as the consumers are concerned Sunita Narain tells NDTV Cooks, "Ask the sellers and suppliers when you buy whether there are antibiotics in the chicken and ask repeatedly."

Cheating yoga

While Yoga is a very good for the society, it is sad that most people misunderstand the purpose of Yoga.  I outline below the problems with the Yoga being practiced in the Yoga studios.  Unfortunately, Yoga studios today would convince you that Yoga is equivalent to Indian gymnastics.


The real yoga-mārga process is to control the senses, sit in a solitary and sanctified place and meditate. The yoga system, as described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā or as recommended in the Patañjali yoga process, is different from the nowadays-practiced haṭha-yoga as it is generally understood in the Western countries. Real yoga practice is to control the senses and, after such control is established, to concentrate the mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. 

To practice concentration of the mind, one has to sit with the head and the back in a straight line, and one must practice in a secluded place, sanctified by a sacred atmosphere. The yogī should observe the rules and regulations of brahmacarya — to strictly live a life of self-restraint and celibacy. One cannot practice yoga in a congested city, living a life of extravagancy, including unrestricted sex indulgence and adultery of the tongue.Yoga practice necessitates controlling the senses, and the beginning of sense control is to control the tongue. One who can control the tongue can also have control over the other senses. One cannot allow the tongue to take all kinds of forbidden food and drink and at the same time advance in the practice of yoga. It is a very regrettable fact that many unauthorized so-called yogīs come to the Western countries and exploit people’s inclination towardsyoga practice. Such unauthorized yogīs even dare to say publicly that one can indulge in the habit of drinking and at the same time practice meditation.


Five thousand years ago Lord Kṛṣṇa recommended yoga practice to Arjuna, but Arjuna frankly expressed his inability to follow the stringent rules and regulations of the yoga system. One should be very practical in every field of activities and should not waste his valuable time in practicing useless gymnastic feats in the name of yoga.

This article is inspired by Srimad Bhagavatam 3.15.45.
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I will share little bit on the importance on diet.  "You are what you eat", said Benjamin Franlkin. Foods eaten must increase the duration of life, purify one's existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such foods are juicy, fatty, wholesome, and pleasing to the heart.  The conclusion of the teachings of the Yoga sages has been to eat vegetarian, (no egg, milk okay), no onion and no garlic. 

Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are to be avoided. Food prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things are to be avoided too.

I have been practicing meditation for two hours since Febraury 2012. I have found that onion and garlic seriously add to the restlessness of the mind and body. Sometimes pizza also.  I think this is due to the fermentation/yeast.  I used to eat a lot of garlic. I gave up garlic and onion in 2011.  Now, if I eat garlic, I get a very aggressive migraine.  I try to avoid pizza also even though my wife makes pizza at home. The happiness I get from meditation is higher than the happiness from eating pizza.

Food fraud, wood pulp

I came across this article on zerohedge   (another article) discussing how wood pulp gets added to foods. It links to another article on food fraud.  I would advise you to be really careful with what you eat. Luckily, I stopped eating out a few years ago.  I try to eat only food that was cooked out of love, and not commercial motives.

"All of these cellulose-based ingredients are non-digestible wood pulp possessing no nutritional value. Though some studies suggest that microcrystalline cellulose may have adverse effects on cholesterol, the FDA has approved powdered cellulose for human consumption in moderate doses.

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Studies on the effects of microcrystalline cellulose are continuing, but meanwhile, so is the adoption of wood pulp-based fillers."

Ayurveda and cancer

Hi all

In view of today's news that a titan of Wall Street is suffering from cancer, I write to discuss cancer and Ayurveda; kindly give me critical feedback.  I am helping a scholar setup a pilot ayurveda hospital project in Ujjain, India.

Target audience for this post is interested audience and people with cancer. It is true that statistical data about cancer healing data for Ayurveda is hard to get. I write this on qualitative grounds than quantitative grounds. This post is not intended to convince an average scientist or knowledge seeker about trying Ayurveda. It is intended to convince a serious seeker willing to sweat it out by research that Ayurveda is a worthy approach. While Ayurveda is not "predictable" just as radiation, chemo and surgery are, the hope is that interested readers will read up about it more.

I sympathize with this titan and have prayed for him. In case this titan does not want to "take chances" and just go to Sloan Kettering cancer center in New York City for a "tested" treatment, it is in his long-term interest to check out Ayurveda. What does he loose in listening to alternative viewpoints for a month on a "health vacation" in India? He has to figure out what to do with the free radicals generated in chemo and radiation therapies. How do they solve cancer when they blindly kill so many healthy cells? It is true that I am somewhat trivializing the science of chemotherapy.

Cancer is a rather serious disease. Some of close relatives are at various stages of disease and therapy.

Cancer is a dreadful disease for anyone to have. Any practical solution in combating cancer is of paramount importance. The approaches in medicine towards cancer include radiation, chemo and surgical therapies. The first two approaches are essentially killing cells, hoping that we effectively kill all cancerous cells while losing some good cells. The chemotherapy drugs affect pathways that are used by malignant cells, but do cause significant damage to good cells: that is the reason why people have side effects. Radiation therapy just kills all cells in the area; the downside is killing of good cells and creation of free radicals that have the potential to do more damage.  The modern medicine is essentially trying to make best use of a bad bargain in treating cancer.

Where modern medicine fails is in understanding and evangelizing the need for a holistic life to avoid disease. For example excessive sensory stimulation does disorient individuals. But televisions run for about 12 hours a day in hospitals in every room! My surgeon says "business pressures have overtaken science." The body has innate recovery mechanisms that will help healing left to itself. Television disturbs these mechanisms.

Modern medicine does understand the effect of foods on health. Ben Franklin said "you are what you eat". For example, I have a migraine today as the sauce used to make raita (yogurt, cucumber and spices) had garlic in it. I avoid garlic as  it interferes with my two hour a day meditation sessions. I have found that eating excessive proteins (tofu/Indian cottage cheese) is not good for me sometimes.  If I eat too much, I feel less healthy. A measure is how much the food affects  my ability to take deep breaths (pranayama yoga).  Modern medicine does not have much work on what promotes soft brain tissue and mind best: hot milk.  Modern medicine does not focus on resting the digestive system occasionally; my wife fasts for 36 hours once in 15 days.  Even doctors eat way too much junk food.

Modern doctors hardly have a truly holistic life styles. For example, medical interns go without sleep for 30 hours. my own surgeon has admitted to be too stressed. I humbly appealed to my doctor to incorporate a practice to meditate shortly prior to touching a scalpel.

We all get sick due to incorrect eating or drinking. I overeat; I suspect that is what most of the world does. Incorrect eating is the core of most disease. Ayurveda hospital stay convinced me to reduce eating (in a good way). They convinced me to eat within three hours of cooking when I can. They convinced me to give up the spicy hot Telugu pickles.

Ayurveda actually understands that the root cause of disease is germs, unhealthy diet and lifestyle. Two-thirds of it focused on good living. The other one-third is dealing with cure. The cure is not just symptomatic as in modern medicine. It goes deeper.  While necessary, modern pain killers are used excessively resulting in blockage of symptomatic channels: the pain is a symptom that something is wrong deep inside.

The side effects of modern chemical based medicine are not well understood. I know of a serious cancer case where the cancer as induced by prolonged steroid use for a condition that had a cure in ayurveda, using herbs. The side effects of herbal medicine are fewer than chemical medicines.  I forget the details here: certain high blood pressure drug was made by isolating a chemical from a herbal product. The herbal product cures high blood pressure without side effects in ayurveda. But the chemical drug from the same herbal base was found to have serious fatal side effects down the road.

I had spent three weeks in ayurvedic hospital in January when the only option in modern medicine being a major surgery due to condition induced by antibiotic side effects. It convinced me that it is a worthy approach to medicine. It motivated me to buy books on Ayurveda before I got distracted by more sublime books.

The case for ayurveda wrt cancer can be summarized as:
- better palliative care for parent with terminal illness. Recently it was determined that a person's cancer is hopeless. I suggested that he/she be allowed to lead the remainder of life in peace rather than worry and stress. Thus just stop all allopathic treatment, which is not working anyway, and try ayurveda.
- better system to deal with side effects of radiation, chemo
- mitigation of conditions leading to cancer; preventive detoxification every 5 years.
- cure of conditions that lead to cancer. My doctor has been managing a few cancer patients for four years without surgical, radiation and chemo therapies.

Our body is already contaminated with lots of fat soluble toxins. How does one get them out? Modern medicine has no solution other than adding more toxins. Ayurveda make you drink lots of special ghee (clarified butter) and then gets the ghee (after digestion) out via diarrhea. When I heard it the first time, I was concerned about excess fat. The doctor, Dr. A. Ramkumar,  responded that studies have shown that the amount of fat in the body  goes down after the procedure.

The downside to ayurveda is the difficulty in finding competent doctors.  The side effects are fewer compared to modern chemical based medicine. One needs to weed rouge elements who exploit people's ignorance to sell fake ayurvedic products. They are a large number of people out to make a quick buck in Ayurveda. I have found reliable hospitals to address this risk.

Kindly read
1. Ashtanga Hridaya,
2. books by Dr. Vasant Lad I have interacted with his students and they were very knowledgeable.
3. www.iss.it/binary/farm/cont/cancer%20ayurvedic.1105357764.pdf
4. Read Swami Sivananda's books on health, ayurveda and pranayama meditation.  He was a stellar medical professional prior to deciding that motivating people to meditate is a better public service. His autobiography is amazing. He even talks of benefits of meditation to cure.

Pranayama meditation has significant benefits to health. It is a wonderful therapy for obesity; will write about it in the future. It is impressive that a monk in India is motivating millions of people to do pranayama. He claims that this has helped lakhs of people with health; I find the claim credible.

Hardly anyone gets refreshed by going to a hospital for a week or two. But, one feels refreshed from a stay in a genuine ayurveda resort.

It is an unfortunate situation that modern elite education of India makes people blind to the wisdom of Indian sages. Indian sages are the most intelligent people to have walked on the surface of earth. People are more open to a surgery than trying a noninvasive ayurvedic therapy for a month to see if it works. Somehow, I am having a hard time convincing my nearest and dearest friends and family of this. They believe more in a television reporter who contradicts himself in two days.

Sincerely,
Sudhakar
--
Dr. Sudhakar Govindavajhala
IIT 1997-2001
Princeton 2001-2006

Problems with Math Education

If you are interested in motivating kids to better in math (and science), I recommend that you watch this video by Dan Meyer. Dan's blog is here


He points to the following problems with kids math education:

• Lack of initiative
• Lack perseverance
• Lack of retention
• Aversion to word problems
• Eagerness for formula

Memorable birthday party!

>
> Dear family,
>
> Please join me in wishing Nitai C a happy birth day  --- his
> first birth day. Nitai is son of a very close friend of mine.
>
> Somehow this birthday party was very special and I write to you to
> share this.  I live in New Jersey.
>
> I describe a typical birthday party in America.  The host calls 20
> children and their parents.  The host orders food from a restaurant.
> The  food itself is typically in the mode of ignorance or is cooked in
> the mode of ignorance. For example, our family ate out two weeks ago
> after about two years and my wife and I found the experience toxic to
> my body and mind.  Which restaurant serves food cooked with love and
> compassion?
>
>
> The host orders order coke, sprite and other soft-drinks.  The host
> orders a clown to entertain the kids.  They do a karaooke singing
> meaningless lyrics. The parents discuss Sridevi, Obama, cars, sports
> and jewellery.  The children blow balloons and are quarrelsome.
> Sudhakar is typically stuck in these parties wondering whether these
> kids grow up to have environmental and social responsibility as
> guiding principle in their adult life.  How is the world a better
> place that we have had the party to celebrate the birthday?  Would the
> kids grow to be compassionate when they grow up?
>
> Please do not get me wrong.  I recognize the importance of celebrating
> birthday and all other occassions.    Now, I describe little Nitai's
> birth day party.
>
>
> The parents rented a hall in a place of worship.     I felt glad that
> the room was not probably contaminated with air-freshner to gloss over
> the smell from the smoking and indulgence of the last party in that
> hall.. During my college days, despite being a staunch atheist, I
> visited everyday a place of worship just to find the calmness and
> simplicity away from mundane.
>
> Then, they got the kids to do some wonderful bhajans.  They got hold
> of a 11 year old and 14 year old to do a wonderful Indian classical
> dance. They got an American monk with a degree in science aged 65 to
> come to share with us some tips on how to bring up children that they
> become socially responsible. Finally, they made all the adults do
> dance for the bhajans. It relieved the stress in my mind!    Finally, they
> home cooked the meals for 200 people with love --- completely avoiding
> restuarant food.  They even made nice fruit juice. This food was
> cooked carefully to be in the mode of goodness (sattvic) and
> spiritually sanctified by offering it to the Supreme. Somehow, love
> was reveberating in the room. As you all know, love is the most
> difficult to find object in this world.
>
>
> I somehow had a ball of a time at this party.  When the monk began
> speaking, as a mark of respect to his authority, I got up from the
> chairs, paid my strech obeisances on the floor to the monk and just
> sat on the front with my toddlers in the front seat.  I was wondering
> how to make my kids ideal citizens of the world.  My kids enjoyed the
> bhajans and  classical dances.  I enjoyed being with the kids to see
> if they had any interest in classical Indian music or dance.
>
>
> oh boy!  what a party.  I requested the parents to have the parties more often.
>
> I had overfilled my stomach with the delicious food and rasamalai and
> happily drive back home with contentment.
>
> sincerely,
> --sudhakar

Description of yogic trance

St. Augustine or St. Francis said "I die daily". Below is a description of what he meant.
*****
I post the following from a book I revere. I pray to the book to give me conviction to spend six months in Himalayas to search for these kind of people!  Excerpt:
One day, while in Dev Prayag, I was invited to a nearby ashram for a meal among sadhus. While there, a yogi emerged from the jungle. Nobody knew him. He advertised for the doctors of the town to assemble that evening. After several doctors arrived, the yogi made his appearance and then, with a thunderous voice, chalenged, "Materially infected, you have more faith in modern science than your own heritage. God has brought me out of the forest to crush your foolish pride. By yogic power I will shutdown all my life systems and die. You test me with your medical instruments. In exactly thirty minutes, I will rise from dead."
With his back erect, sitting in a lotus position, he exhaled and inhaled with great force about twenty times. Then, fully inhaling, he stopped breathing and sat motionless. Each doctor went to work with stetheoscopes and other devices, but no one could detct a heartbeat, breath or pulse. There were astonished. "He is clinically dead", one doctor announced. Skeptical, I also stepped forward and borrowed a stethoscope to check his pulse and heart beat, but there was none.
In New Delhi, Swami Rama had given me a spellbinding preview of the powers of yoga. During my time in the Himalayas, I had practiced Pranayam, or breathing excercies and asanas, physical postures and silent meditation to bettr attune my mind and body with the divine force of God. I had seen he incredible effects of these practices, the great benefits to health, and the ability of practioners to modulate their physical realities. But his scene was truly amazing.
Exactly thirty minutes later, to the second, the Yogi exhaled, opened his eyes, stood up, and marched back into the jungles. He didn't ask anything from anyone. He simply wanted to show these sceptics the power of yoga. Both the doctors and myself gazed in amazement at his departing form returning to the wilds.

Reviews of Ayurveda hospital Vaidyagrama

Dear all,

I share below a few excerpts from the "thank you" book at Vaidyagrama Ayurveda hospital in Coimbatore. It would be a worthy story for journalists to cover, provided they stay here for at least a week to rejuvenate and experience it themselves/

Mr. Mukunda Das, is a  God-brother of mine and he is a hermit --- Vaanaprastha. He writes:
My conception of medical treatment has changed for ever. Having worked in the marketing department of a top multinational pharmaceutical company for 27 years, I had the opportunity to visit numerous doctors, clinics and hospitals. Everywhere it was downright commercialism and where end does not justify the means.

Urged by my beloved Spiritual Master, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, I came to this place with very little expectations of my medical problems. However, after 15 days , I am carrying back lots of positive energy and the attitude to think differently about medicine and medical treatment.

The counselling and loving relationships of the doctors --- I have no words to describe. It is their warmth that I will cherish all my life. Also, all the persons who had come for treatment were all spiritually enlivened. It was an enchanting experience. I eagerly look forward to the experience at Vaidyagrama to reach out to thousands of people over the years. May with the blessings of all of you I can come again and renew my health and positive energy.

Thanking you all again.

****

Dr.  B. Shivakumar, M.D. (Ayurveda)    Ayurveda and yoga center, Udupi (Karnataka) writes
"I visited Vaidyagrama for a day. I a very much delighted by truly Ayurvedic healing environment where one can feel oneness with mother earth and nature."


*****
M. K. Rathindran, IPS (retd) writes:

The Vaidyagrama experiment  is a truly memorable one. This is our third visit to the holistic healing center which also teaches how humans should live in harmony with nature. We are amazed at the sincerity and dedication of the doctors and the staff and the efficient manner in which things are done.

.....

The Vaidyagrama experiment is a unique one and it is heartening to know that it has attracted so much of attention particularly from abroad in such a short time.  I wish the institution the very best and once again thank everyone for their efficiency, sincerity and devotion to duty.

*****************

Ann Holaday from Washington State USA:

At last, I have found a community which can be a model for sustainability, living in harmony with nature, mutually supportive  and self-sufficient with Ayurveda at the center.  This is a model with  which the modern world must follow...... Vaidyagrama is a true center of healing and rejuvenation...

*****

Reg. Mr. Mukunda Das is a vaanaprastha. It means he is trying to become a monk.  He is half-way there, in some sense.

How Nelson Mandela preserved his sanity through prison?

With the passing of Nelson Mandela, the world lost a very dear friend and statesman.  In Nelson Mandela was a world leader who respected Indian philosophy out  of love. We all know that Nelson Mandela was inspired by Gandhi.  There was another Indian, a spiritual master,  whom Nelson had held in  high regard that Nelson would bow down and pay stretch obeisances on  the floor ("dandavat pranaam") at his statue.

When a monk questioned how Nelson could complete the Sanskritic verses from Gita, "Nelson Mandela explained that he was imprisoned on Robbins Island along with some of his fellow leaders of their political party, the ANC. One of them was an Indian-bodied lawyer. The South African government tried to break them by giving them mindless labor and routine. Realizing that they needed to keep their minds actively engaged, the Indian lawyer taught Nelson Mandela Gita verses which they quoted and discussed back and forth to transcend their daily drudgery. Nelson Mandela told Maharaja that learning the Gita helped keep him sane and did much to infuse his view of the world and his strategies for bringing independence and a better future for the South African people.

  There was a temple in South Africa setup by this spiritual master or his disciples. "When Mr. Mandela visited our temple the first time (he came several times thereafter as well) he, with dignity and humility bowed before the spiritual master."  Mr. Mandela had participated in public road-shows of the temple while he was president of the nation.

This spiritual master was an ardent Indian nationalist in 1920's when he met his spiritual master who convinced him that preaching the philosophies born out of India to the world is a better service to India.


sincerely,
 --sudhakar

Ayurveda hospital review: Vaidyagrama

Hi

I have been spending the last two weeks at Vaidyagrama hospital in rural Coimbatore in South India. I write below about my experiences. Please consider this place for your next vacation. The appropriate way to describe life at Vaidyagrama is: simple living and high thinking.

The clientele is 60% international. A good number of foreigners are returning patients. I got here with my wife and two toddler kids two weeks ago. The hospital can accommodate 24 patients at a time. It is located 25 kms from city, in the midst of plaintain and coconut farms. Each block has four double rooms. Each patient family is given a double room. the rooms are very well ventilated, with no need for airconditioning. There is a plenty of air and light in the rooms and the verendas outside. 

The hospital is about 60% covered with greenery, wherein they maintain lots of medicinal herbs. I choose Ayurveda than modern medicine (Allopathy) as the only solution proposed by modern medicine for my ailment was a serious surgery that may have to be repeated every 10 years. The condition was caused by antibiotics used to cure another ailment. When I was making a choice between an Ayurvedic doctor in Bombay versus Vaidyagrama, I choose Vaidyagrama as I had a hunch that it offers a somewhat hands-on atmosphere. it turned out that I had made a right decision in coming to Vaidyagrama.

The doctors are very humble and down to earth with a focus on helping the patients. For example, one of the doctors was quite eager and happy to do patient room housekeeping duties which get pushed to "class 4" employees in regular hospitals. Another doctor helped me clean up when my son spilled a liquid on the floor. I somehow felt a level of humility and genuineness in the doctors. 

The day starts with an hour of prayer at 6.15am. They serve breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. They emphasize on eating sattvic food and eating less. I lost 15 pounds over 15 days. But, I lost them in a healthy way. Currently, due to the nature of the treatment, I am being given only rice broth.  There is no spice in food. Still, the food tastes good provided you eat it hot. The doctors insists on eating food within 3 hours of preparation. They do not allow patient to eat otherwise. I was kicked as that is what the Gita says on satvic food: one shall eat food in three hours of preparation.

At 1.30pm they hold a 30 minute yoga nidra session - essentially relieving all our body of stress and mind of though without sleeping. This is very effective in resting your mind and body.  At 2.15pm, they hold an hour long discussion session on Ayurveda, spirituality, meditation, etc. I have found them very valuable in getting an overview of Ayurveda.  This place is unique in the sense that they are sharing knowledge freely as opposed to keeping it close to one's chest. Each thing they say, they quote a Sanskrit sloka. It gives me confidence that they are following time tested practice as opposed to making up things on the fly.

When I asked the head doctor whether Ayurveda does work, he said yes and cited a paralytic patient who came on wheel chair walked back after a few weeks. I was surprised to see that Ayurveda has a cure for wide variety diseases modern medicine is struggling with: Spondylytis, Psoriasis, mental retardation, digestion problems, Asthma etc. (Interestingly Srimad Bhagavatam talks of curing mental retardation using Om meditation --- "divyanadam" --- I do not know how to learn more about it). The doctors have been able to manage cancer too; one of the patients has cancer for four years that they manage without surgery, chemo, radiation etc.

My (extended and near) family is suffering from a large number of different ailments with modern medicine showing little to offer. Somehow, my family is busy with day to day issues preventing them from thinking holistically and trying Ayurveda.  Presumably that is due to the difficulty of weeding out the quacks in Ayurveda. In the evening they hold an audio visual information session at 5pm for an hour. Then, an hour of prayers followed by Bhajans.  Dinner is served at 7.30pm.

There is wired internet in rooms. No television. Spotty mobile connectivity. Wifi is available in office for three hours a day. 

The environmental ethos of the place are outstanding. They do not use any plastic. The food is gotten in stainless steel hot packs. Patents are advised only to drink hot water that is served in stainless steel flasks. No plastic ware for cutlery.

Typically, patients are given a medical oil application and massage for an hour everyday. These massages themselves are very relaxing and rejuvenating. I hope I massage myself when I am back home. My kids are having a ball of time with all the greenery around us. They play with the banana trees and coconut trees. I am able to show them all the plants I knew about. I even managed to show them a trick to make coconut leaves fly. I showed them coconut tree things being used to light a chulha to cook food.   I had been wanting to let my kids play with mud to improve their immunity. But weather in New Jersey was not permitting. Here I managed to do that.

Some of the best things I treasure in my life was idling off in the trees in my grandfather's places. I am getting a chance those pleasures to my kids.

Vaidyagrama is being transited by highly intelligent people.I met an American who is trying to improve agriculture at grass roots in Karnataka. Some Englishwoman (of transcendental meditation) gave me some tips to improving my meditation. My own spiritual master will be here in April; he is probably among the top ten intelligent people in this planet.

In summary, I am having a good time in Vaidyagrama. It is simple living and high thinking.

Sincerely,
Sudhakar

PS: Starting September 2014, they are establishing a similar center in Ujjain, India.

Kirtan Retreat in Boone, NC

Dear All,


I write below to share experiences about a kirtan retreat that I had been to recently during the Memorial day weekend.  I am  hoping that this mail motivates a few people to try out spiritual retreats.Recently, I came across a few articles discussing how kirtan yoga helps in battling Alzhiemers. I was wondering about articles like this and this.


One of the most difficult things to find is association of people in mode of goodness.  As you know, there are three modes of people: goodness (knowledge, thoughtfulness and satisfaction), passion (cravings for pleasure, power and prestige) and  ignorance (laziness, intoxication and violence). These are called sattva, rajas, tamas in Sanskrit. So my wife ordered me to take the family to the kirtan retreat happening at the Art of Living Center at Boone, NC.   I am typically a person who does not like driving on the road.  But, I reluctantly agreed as I realized  that an American spiritual rockstar is attending it and I would like to get a glimpse of him.  After reading his autobiography, I am inspired that one day I should meditate for six hours a day.

What is the purpose of life? The purpose of life is to reach atleast goodness via Yoga and meditation (in elementary viewpoints). Honestly, I have come to the realization that the happiness from yoga and meditation beats all the other things I have seen in life --- including luxury, charity, public service, alcohol, research, math, hanging out, sex, good food, good travel, good adventure and money.  For instance, even the venerable Bhagavadgita says that  Yoga is better than scriptual study, sacrifices, charity, austerity.  (BG 8.28)
So, we set off on this 10.5 hours ride from New Jersey to Boone, NC, on Thursday evening with a sleep over at Washington DC. As I kept driving, I was softly sulking to my wife as to why I am made to go on these longish drives.   The view of the tulips on the roadside in NC was awesome. As we reached Boone, the hills were great.  There were a large number of Chirstmas tree farms that were like ornaments to the hills with their mind boggling layouts.  Finally, we reached the meditation center. I was in a pretty unhappy state as I kept sulking to my wife as to why I am wasting time away driving on the roads.

Somehow, all my spirits got uplifted instantaneously just by stepping out of my car to look at the attendees in the parking lot. These Americans have completely adopted Vedic culture and there was a unique magic in watching the attendees. Purity was oozing in these people! A good number of them were trying to wear dhothis and sarees! I was reminded that, after all, the verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a  moment’s association with a pure person (sadhu), one can attain all success.  So, finally I decided that I was glad to be at the retreat.

My wife's priority is kirtan singing; my priority is food.  I checked out the dinner hall and the organizing team cooked amazing sattvic food with love as opposed to just ordering from a restaurant. As you know, only God would know when the food in restaurant was cooked and what went into it; one can be assured that love and selfless service was not an ingredient.  After the dinner, we went to the kirtan hall.  This American spiritual rockstar started the kirtan slow, but slowly ramped up the tempo till the whole hall with 1500 people was dancing mad.  These guys are intoxicated with love for the Supreme.  I retired around 10.30pm to off-site hotel room; too bad I could not get onsite accommodation.

 The next day, I woke up at 5.30am and reached the retreat center at 6.15am to catch a glimpse of these Americans meditating in the morning. They had started at 5AM!  I sat down for my ritualistic Pranayama ritual, but these guys started singing wonderfully the glories of the saints of India.  While I doing my ritual; I was just telling myself that the perfection of spirituality is these guys who are singing the glories of Indian saints that are melting my heart. Then they sang "wake up sleeping soul! you have slept for too long!"   in melodious tunes.

The retreat started on Friday evening and went till 12pm Monday morning. The meditation session starts at 5am. We had Srimad Bhagavatam class at 7.45am. Then nice food. Then lots of kirtan all day almost continuously (except meal breaks) till 12am midnight.  The kirtans start slow, but then go crazy. The crowd was mad with ecstasy and rocking. The MC was a 70 year old American whom I am wowed by. He just rocked the stage and put me to shame on my lethargy. Interestingly, I am not aware of any music event going for two days for 17 hours a day. These guys are totally crazy (in a good way)!  We lifted a few guys in the dance; unfortunately we dropped one of them over a person in a wheel chair.

 It was a Ekadashi day on Saturday and they served wonderful food inline with the Vedic tradition of fasting atleast from grains and beans once in two weeks.

The meditation center is in very rustic hills with lots of cow farms, horse stables, trees, and such.  It is in a remote part of Boone.  Luckily, it is only 15 minutes away from the town so that you could fall back on the town for your supplies and also stay in a luxury hotel.   I estimate the total size to be about 200 acres. The food hall and the meditation hall can hold 3000 persons each.

There is so much strife (environmental degradation, terrorism, non-chalance) in the society today. If you think about it, civilization itself is at a risk of getting wiped out. There are noble people like Bill Gates trying. But does Bill understand that the fundamental shortage is of saintly people? We need more sadhu (peaceful) people in the world. One of the Srimad Bhagavatam classes delivered discusses this. I summarize it below. Srimad Bhagvatam 3.25.21: the symptoms if a sadhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friend to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures and all his characteristics are sublime.  He is a well-wisher of all living entities. He is not only a well-wisher of human society, but a well-wisher of animal society as well.

I estimate that 80% of the 1600 attendees meditate for 2 hours a day and are by and large sattvic. I hope that one day I can say these things of the colleges I attended. Interestingly all the singers and leading personalities were Caucasian. Why are the Indian elite missing in action?  While they may have justified reasons, I hope the Indian elite take up the task of leading the society with a high vision. Indians should teach the world that whatever people are doing, the self must be completely satisfied.

Oh boy what a party! What an energy! What a world view! They will go on to change the world!  I postulated that this party was the greatest part in the East coast during the Memorial day weekend.

Sincerely,
Sudhakar

"Thou Shall Not Kill"

The last Saturday, I was selling books on Yoga at the Atlantic City boardwalk.  I ran into a gentleman Mark who was very much interested in spirituality. He told me that he follows Christianity; he even did missionary activity in Vietnam in his younger days.   We had a very interesting discussion that I share below.

Sudhakar: I have complete faith in Lord Jesus. I make an attempt to sincerely follow all His Ten Commandments. The unfortunate situation today is that hardly anyone follows him in Atlantic City.
Mark: Why do you say that?
Sudhakar: No one follows the Ten Commandments.  For example, if you take "Thou Shall Not Kill", we interpret it to mean "Thou Shall Not Kill Humans".  What Jesus really meant applies to animals also. Jesus was indeed preaching vegetarianism. Surely, Jesus was wise enough to know the difference between kill and murder.  Today's followers of Jesus accuse him of not understanding the difference between kill and murder.
Mark: But, the Old/New Testament allows meat eating.
Sudhakar: Well, it is easier to follow His direct instructions than to rely on an interpreted testament which is changing over time. A good portion of Jesus's original teachings are lost. Honestly, the bible of 100AD is very different from today's bible. Constantin changed it quite  a lot.

People who eat meat are taking an unnecessary spiritual risk.  We are asking mercy from Jesus.  Don't you think Jesus would hope that we are merciful towards beings lower than us?  Imagine yourself approaching Jesus who is holding a lamb. You tell Jesus, "may I have that lamb so I can eat it?".  Kindly ask Jesus if he would be pleased. If we cannot be merciful of beings lower to us, we are not being spiritual when we ask Jesus for mercy.

Mark: Well, Jesus might have eaten meat.

Sudhakar: Aha. So, Jesus was crucified for our sake.  Are you willing to crucify yourself?  There is little point in comparing ourselves to Jesus. He might have eaten meat in the deserts of Israel where there may have been very little eat.  But, in New York City, we have enough tomatoes and greens. Also, note that medically vegetarian diets are better. Even the environment benefits. Actually, Jesus was indeed preaching vegetarianism in the Holy Bible.

Mark: But, I have faith in Jesus.  He has already been crucified for us.  That should save me.
Sudhakar: The purpose of faith is to instill a discipline to follow instructions to purify oneself. If you have faith in instructions, but not follow them, do you really think there is much meaning? It is like a drunkard who knows he has to give up drinking to lead a better life, but does not give up drinking.
   Unfortunately, the church teaches that one is absolved of all sins if one goes to the confession box. What is the point if the confession ritual does not result in an elevation of consciousness to purify oneself.  Without a purification, if one is intending to use Jesus's suffering to protect oneself from his sins, it is actually exploitation, and not love.



******
Somehow, this person was moved by the argument. He agreed to buy the book  "Perfection of Yoga" --- which explains how . I was happy to sell two books at $1 each.