Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Ancient wisdom for modern times
|
The website, mailerindia.com, provides abundant information on the Vedic way of life that ensures prosperity and good health. Read on to find out more...
|
MOST OF the search engines including Google, Altavista, Yahoo, Rediff, Netscape, Lycos, netster.com and AOL, return the name mailerindia.com for the search string, "The best informative portal in India". Yes, it is true that the portal is informative in the areas of public interest like the Hindu way of life, astrology, numerology, vaastu sastra, slokas and mantras, the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Arthasastra, Manusastra and so on.
In describing the Hindu way of life, the portal gives valuable information. It points out that Hinduism is more a way of life than a specific religion and describes four stages of life — Brahmachari (student), Grihasta (householder), Vanaprasta (forest dweller or hermit in semi-retirement), Sannyasi (the renounced one in full retirement) — and says that the dharma of each is different.
The four stages may be said to represent periods of Preparation, Production, Service and Retirement. Brahmacharya means Student, usually between 12 and 24 years of age. For the Brahmachari, celibacy is his forte, discipline, his norm, devotion to his Guru, his duty and concentration in studies, his vocation.
Grihasta means householder usually between 24 and 48 years of age. After the `gurukula vasa', he graduates into the mundane world, taking a wife to assist him in his performance of dharmic duties. Marriage is not meant as a means to satisfy carnal craving. It is regarded as a means to spiritual glory, a sine qua non for the development of lineage — a necessary link between the dead past and an unborn future that must come alive to be undertaken as part of spiritual duty with devotion (shraddha) to perpetuate the family tradition.
The duties of the Grihasta include the performance of `Panchmahayagna' (five great sacrifices) laid down in the Manu Dharma Sastra.
Deva Yagna: (deity worship) — The daily worship and pooja to Ganapathi, Kula Devata and Ishta Devata. Visiting Kula Devata temple often or at least once a year.
Brahma Yagna: (seer worship) — Each day the householder expresses his debt to the ancient sages by studying, teaching, repeating and meditating upon at least some portions of the Vedic scriptures (Vedic rituals).
Pitru Yagna: (ancestor worship) — Respecting the ancestors, parents of the self and spouse and getting their blessings by making salutations to them. Parentless children should perform annual shraddha (thithi) and observe fasting during new moon days and the beginning of months, offer rice balls (pindas) to crows or in a holy river. Those persons who do not know the nakshatra of their parent's death should perform thithi on the new moon day of the month of Thai which usually comes between the second week of January and the second week of February. The thithi given or the fasting observed on Thai Amavasya constitutes a remembrance of ancestors back to the 7th generation.
Bhuta Yagna: Worship of living beings by scattering grains, offering foods at the threshold for animals, birds, insects etc. Loving and watering plants also do constitute Bhuta Yagna.
Nara Yagna or Purusha Yagna or Manushya Yagna (guest worship) - Obligation to love and honour ties of fellowship with humanity by showing hospitality to fellow humans, friends, relatives or even strangers and beggars.
Marriage is an integral part of a Grihasta for it is said that no ritual is efficacious without the presence of the wife, the Sahadharmini.
Vanaprasta is the third stage of Elder Advisor usually between 48 and 72 years of age. A stage comes when business, family, secular life and the hopes of youth have exhausted themselves and need to be left behind. The person retires usually from worldly attachments to lead a life of contemplation and meditation alone or with his wife.
Sannyasi is the fourth stage of an ascetic - solitary - usually beyond 72 years of age. This means `Sam yak Nyasa' or `total detachment' from worldly pleasures with the bare necessities to subsist. This is the last `Ashrama'.
The portal describes the Hindu concept of karma as the action and its reaction and further enumerates how God or other Superior Cosmic Entities never punish a creature for being "bad" and never reward it for being "good".
Every action or thought determines a reaction. In the physical world, the weight of a body creates an opposite force on the ground. At the emotional level, our attitude toward someone (or something) is, consciously or not, reflected back, the other person having the tendency to behave exactly according to our feeling towards him/her. At the mental level, this is the well known dynamic interaction between the commanding conscious mind and the executing subconscious mind. Karma is the storage of our actions, recorded with exactitude and reflected in the form of joy and happiness.
If one understands the Law of Karma, he will realise that there is no destiny besides the human will. Everybody gets exactly what he/she deserves. This is a Cosmic and Inflexible Law. There is perfect justice, even when our limited human understanding "sees" an "injustice".
The Christian ideal of "forgiving the sins" is in fact another way of expressing the idea of burning or compensating the latent Karma. Jesus Christ referred to the same idea of changing the destiny when He said: "Verily I say unto you, the Son of Man has the power to forgive sins." In Yoga vision, "sin" is any action which is not in accordance with the superior Cosmic Harmony, in other words that which is not in accordance with Yama and Niyama.
The portal deals with the importance of yoga mudras and brings out the principles, ways and means of doing it.
Angushtha (Thumb) fire element; Tarjani (Index finger) air element; Madhyama (Middle finger) sky element; Anamika (Ring finger) prithivi element; Kanishtha (Little finger) water element.
We can combine and balance five elements of our body by forming poses with fingers, pressure and eye movements. We can also influence energies from these elements of matter from the Universe to balance the body. We can increase or decrease the effect of various elements of the body by poses (mudra) formed with the help of our five fingers and balances the body's elements. Some of the conventional mudras are described in detail in the portal.
The portal, besides giving mantras for saluting the Sun God, further describes the ways of using solar energy for everyday life. All life on earth derives its sustenance from the sun. Solar rays help our bodies and plants to grow. So we can use the Sun God to help to cure us and keep diseases and infections away.
The portal offers tips on use of water therapy for a healthy life. Water is the most abundant element in our body and constitutes 72 per cent of our body. Apart from circulating nutrients throughout the body in the form of blood it also distributes the heat in the body. The major function of water is to remove waste materials from the body. Taking water as an important supplement of the body cures all diseases.
One can survive without food for some days; but no one can survive without water even for a day. The variety of symptoms described by many sick people can be traced to less water intake. What are the symptoms that result from drinking too little water? Most common are constipation, dry and itchy skin, acne, nose bleeds, repeated urinary tract infections, dry and unproductive coughs, sneezing, sinus pressure and headaches.
The easy solution to all these problems is to drink more water. In the dry, hot air of winter and hot days of summer, drink at least 10 glasses of water daily for optimal health. During the spring and fall, eight glasses will suffice for most people, although those with inhalant allergies do best to drink as much water as possible. Pregnant women need to drink at least 50 per cent more water daily. People who exercise vigorously should add one glass of water for each 30 minutes of exercise. Herbal teas and dilute fruit juices can be substituted for some of the water. Drink one extra glass of water for each cup of coffee or black tea you have. Humidifying the air in the winter will help reduce water loss, but be careful to clean humidifiers daily to discourage bacteria or mould build up.
Water can be a miracle cure for many common ailments. Try drinking some now and see if you don't feel better!
"Usha Kaala Chikitsa" is the Sanskrit reference for water therapy. According to this ancient system, 1.5 litres of water should be drunk before brushing your teeth. You may wash your face thereafter. It is very essential to note that no drinks (like tea, coffee, and milk) or any form of solid food should be taken within half an hour to one hour before and after drinking 1.5 litres of water. Consuming alcohol the previous night is strictly prohibited.
Since water obtained in many places is polluted, it is ideal to use filtered water. Spring water can also be used if you are confident that it is collected from a spring and not contaminated. Water can be boiled and sterilised too. But it should be drunk only at room temperature.
What is the necessity of taking water therapy? Is it not enough if one consumes water at regular intervals throughout the day?
Bathing is the process of cleaning the body externally. Water therapy is the process of cleaning the body internally. Water therapy cleans all your inner organs and flushes out the poisonous particles of the cooked food in your liver. It helps the kidneys to excrete toxic chemicals and metabolic waste more efficiently. Water therapy is the only way through which we supply the kidneys enough water to dispose of the metabolic waste. What is water therapy suggested in an empty stomach? After a night sleep, so many hormones are secreted and broken down. They should be removed in the morning from the body to avoid undesirable effects. Hence water therapy in the morning is very beneficial. Also in the empty stomach, maximum water is absorbed and part of the water used for flushing the the system. The portal also describes the Vedic diet to optimise energy. Food can cause diseases as well as prevent them. Most of the diseases known to many are directly and indirectly caused by the food he eats. Health and disease are equally affected by food. There is no good and bad food; it all depends on the quantity and quality eaten at a given time. Unbalanced and un-natural foods only cause disease. Thus you can eat to live healthy as well as to die unhealthy. You can thus use the sword to protect you or point against you. There lies your choice!
Enquiries may be sent to admin@mailerindia.com
(To be continued)
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
