The Bindu Yoga

Bindu Yoga is an important and simple Sadhana like the Hansa Yoga and it also serves as a supplement to the latter and to many other spiritual practices because it deals with meditation upon the sacred glow of the supreme consciousness existing in the soul. In this yoga, the Sadhaka first concentrates on the visible light through Trataka and by deepening his meditation gradually experiences the illumination of the inner body to visualize the manifestation of divine spark in it.

In the initial stages of this yoga the practice of Trataka is repeated. After sufficient progress in Trataka the meditation on the spot of light becomes possible even without the help of any external source of light such as a candle or lamp.

The Bindu yoga is a high level Sadhana which falls next to the Soaham Sadhana in terms of the simplicity of practicing in daily life. Likewise the Soaham Sadhana, everybody can perform it without any risk or difficulties of strict disciplines.

In the daily practice of the Bindu yoga, the Sadhaka sits in a Dhyana Mudra (posture of meditation) in a calm state of the body and the mind with erect spinal cord and closed eyes. His legs are cross folded so as to make a posture of Sukhasana or Padmasana and both the hands are kept on the lap with the right palm above the left (Lord Buddha is often depicted in this posture in this posture in his idols and pictures). The Sadhaka then concentrates to 'perceive' a bright spot in the central portion of the forehead right above the gap between the eyebrows. Deeper core behind this center is defined to be the location of the Ajna Cakra. The Sadhaka should initially practice the Trataka in order to perform this meditation properly.

In the practice of a Trataka, the Sadhaka keeps a lamp (of oil or ghee) or a candle in front of the eyes - at a distance of about 3 to 4 feet and keeps the eyes half-open. The position of the lamp is set up to the height of the Sadhaka's chest when he is sitting  in the posture as described above, so that he could look at the tip of the flame without the bending his head. The Sadhaka's eyes gaze steadily at the bright spot without blinking for few seconds. He then closes the eyes to visualize the image of this glow at the position of the Ajna Cakra.

After few seconds, he again opens the eyes slightly and looks at the flame. The above process is repeated successively at increased stretched of times - ranging from two to twenty minutes per day. Initially the light spot appears to be blue-red and unstable once the eyes are closed. But, as the Sadhaka's concentration improves, it becomes as bright and stable as the flame (or the object of light) kept in front of the Sadhaka.

The morning times are usually recommended for performing a Trataka because the mind and the body are both fresh during this period. The atmosphere is relatively cool during these hours of the day and thus prevents the possibility of 'heating up' of the head due to deep engrossment and direct and continuous vision of light.

Once the practice of Trataka is perfected, the Sadhaka begins to see a bright spot inside the center of his forehead without the help of a lamp or any other source of light…… Upon reaching this state, the Cakra and feel that its glow is gradually expanding and illuminating the surrounding portion of the brain.

In an electric lamp, the central filament radiates first and its glow spreads in the surrounding gas and illuminates the entire globe of the bulb and the outside too. Vision (by closed eyes) of a similar spark and expansion of this 'mental radiance' is striven in this second phase (after Trataka) of the Bindu yoga. The duration of this phase should be kept about 5 to 10 minutes initially which may be extended gradually along with the consecutive (third) phase to about 30 minutes.

The Bindu Sadhana 1

In the third and the final phase of the daily practice of Bindu yoga the Sadhaka meditates on the feeling that the brain is fully illuminated and that the divine luminescence is slowly pervading the entire body. No corner, no portion, inside the body is left un-illumined. The gentle effulgence of the bright spot focused in the domain of the Ajna Cakra intensifies with the Sadhaka's mental engrossment and willpower. The duration of its consistent appearance and the domain of its light (aura) also increase correspondingly. The Ajna Cakra is described in the yoga Sastras as the sixth sense, the third eye or the divine eye. A third eye is usually depicted at this spot on the forehead (Siva) and Goddess Durga. According to a story in the Puranas, Lord Siva had generated divine spark with immense effulgence by opening his third eye and had thereby 'charred' the prankish, erotic power of Kamadeva into ashes.

In anatomical terms the Ajna Cakra encompasses the pituitary and pineal glands. It has a subtle structure similar to that of an eye. This Cakra is an eye of the subtle body. By awakening of this latent center of subtle perceptions one can visualize the otherwise invisible or hidden entities, the scenarios of the past events and those of the future happenings anywhere in the space…….

With the help of the X-ray we can photograph the internal parts of the gross body and also 'see' the belongings inside a closed metal box…... etc. The signals emitted from (or received by) the 'subtle eye' are much more powerful. If this 'eye' is opened (or enlightened by thy luminescence) then one can use it for television without the help of any external or materialistic means. Sanjay is described in the Mahabharata to have been endowed with this power of supernatural vision. This 'third eye' shows the world that can never be seen by the ordinary eyes (of the gross body).

Apart from having the potential of supernatural vision, the awakened Ajna Cakra also has the latent capacity to transmit the glow of its aura as a powerful spark. This radiant force can burn (diminish) all the illusions and evil assimilation that prevent the refinement of the subtle body (thoughts and sentiments) of the Sadhaka. Thus, by successful practices of Bindu yoga all the Kusamskaras and weaknesses can be destroyed completely with the help of the immense power of the spiritual effulgence emanated from the Ajna Cakra.

Philosophically speaking, the awakening of the 'third eye' means arousing of the viveka - pure and discerning intellect and prudent foresightedness, which exists in every human brain but in a dormant state and largely remains latent and unrealized by most of the people. The activation of the hidden wisdom eliminates all ignorance and thus helps restrain and remove the blemishes of avarice, selfishness, possessive attachment, ego, jealousy and the agonies of the unlimited desires and mental complexities caused by them.

The Puranas mention that when the world becomes disorderly and the misdeeds of evil mentality severely disturbed the harmony of nature then God Siva performed his Tandawa… When he was engrossed in this 'temblor' dance, he opened his third eye. The opening of this eye generated the devastating spark of the grand disaster. The complete destruction of the world was then followed by the creation of a new, orderly world of divine disciplines.

The Bindu Sadhana 2

In personal and social life too it sometimes becomes essential to destroy (discard or cleanse) the irrelevant, unmindful and untoward traditions or systems. Such a revolution turns out to be successful and leads to the betterment of life if it is guided by the foresighted prudence (the power of the subtle eye). The above story of the Puranas implies the essence of this fact in a rhetoric style. The present ailing state of humanity can be cured by transforming the mentality and attitude of the people upside down and by destroying the root causes of unethical thinking - viz, the passions of selfishness, avarice, lust and ego. This great revolution (Vicara Kranti) could be originated and driven up to ultimate success only by the trenchant power of righteous Viveka.

In the Soaham Sadhana, the meditation and contemplation phase consist of a determined feeling that each component of the body is being filled and energized by the Prana. Similarly, in a Bindu yoga, the last phase of meditation corresponds to visualizing the glow of the  divine flame (jyoti) successively in the brain, heart, lungs and intestines etc, followed by the feeling that this brilliance has enlightened every constituent of the body from within. Every cell, every tendril is seen as sparkling with a reflection of this unique glow.

The Nepalese science of spirituality affirms four layers of the mind - mana (conscious mind), Buddhi (intellect), citta (subconscious and unconscious mind) and Ahamkara (the sense of 'being' in the individual self). In the final contemplation phase of the Bindu yoga, all these four components of the inner self are mediated upon as - fully absorbed in an ocean of thy light.

This feeling of illuminating the entire body and the inner self by the glow of the jyoti inspired in the Ajna Cakra results in an effect similar to that of the sunrise. The glow of the rising sun breaks the darkness of the night and spreads brightness in all directions; soon the world leaves the drowsiness, rouses up and begins to work with a fresh charge of energy and enthusiasm in the bright morning. The Sadhana of Bindu yoga enlightens and purifies the gross, subtle and the casual bodies of the Sadhaka and results in activating each instinct, each impulse of the self by the unique spark of the divine energy.

The word 'light' used in the science of spirituality corresponds not only to the glow and brightness of Prana but, it also implies an aura of knowledge and intellect and the energy of the enthusiasm of creativity…. in the terminology of the physical science, the effect of light naturally generates illumination and heat. In spiritual sense, the term tapa (heat) means asceticism and creative use of Prana and the term Prakasa (illumination) deals with in-depth knowledge, sound reasoning, prudence and foresighted intellect.

The use of 'bright spot' as an object of concentration in Bindu yoga is indeed related with the aforesaid spiritual impact. As stated earlier, the physical light produced by fire of electricity is used only in the elementary training phase of Trataka. The use of an oil (or ghee) lamp or a candle is most common in this practice. If one wants to use an electric bulb in place of a lamp then a low power bulb emitting dim light would be recommended to avoid train on the eyes. A blue colored bulb should be arranged in this case, as its light would have ca calm and cooling effect on the Sadhaka's mind.

The Bindu Sadhana 3

Concentration on the reddish yellow glow of the rising sun is excellent for Trataka. Full moon may also be tried as an object for meditation in this early phase of the Bindu yoga. Regular practice with sincerity enables the Sadhaka to perform Trataka without the help of any external source of light. The glow of the bright spot (jyoti) of light begins to appear on its own in the Ajna Cakra after practicing the Trataka for substantial amount of time with firm determination, devotion and mental engrossment. Initially this jyoti appears to be oscillating and shows different shades of light but gradually it becomes stable and glow of the interior of the rising sun) as this phase progresses steadily.

During the contemplation phase of the Bindu yoga, the Sadhaka has to control the flow of his thoughts and sentiments in a single direction, namely, that the divine glow is pervading from the Ajna Cakra and eliminating the darkness of ignorance, infirmities, illusion, fears and vices. Some people often doubt that this type of contemplation may disturb the concentration that ought to be maintained during a meditation-based Sadhana like the bindu yoga. These people should note that total thoughtlessness is required only in the practice of Samadhi or the thoughts within the domain of the focus and purpose of the Sadhana.

The holy river Ganges originates from the Himalayas and ultimately reaches its goal in the Ganga Sagara because, despite several turns, hurdles, drastic variations in its currents and disturbances due to the merging of other rivers etc, its flow does not loose its original direction. This example illustrates that it is not always the 'sharply focused concentration', rather, the consistency of the direction of the flow of thoughts which is important in an effective meditation.

The amazing performances of the artists in a circus become possible only by their dedicated practices with deep mental concentration. These experts have significant willpower but they are not yogis. On the contrary, the saints like Meera, Chaitanya, Suradasa, Kabira, Ramakrishna Paramahansa etc, who used to be in an emotionally charged state of devotion and used to sing and even dance in Bhakti, were equivalent to the yogis, although, they had not practiced any specific yogasana or steady meditation… This is because the flow of the emotions of these saints and every activity of their life was naturally dedicated to the devotion of the Omnipresent God.

In the Sadhanas like the Prana yoga, Hamsa yoga (Soaham) and Bindu yoga, although the initial phase involves meditation, the more important and effective component is - contemplation and realization of the goal of the Sadhana. The prescribed domain for the flow of thoughts and emotions is quite wide here. The Sadhaka has to think and feel within this domain instead of focusing upon a single point. This flow churns the ocean of consciousness in the inner self and purifies its hidden core.

The Saguna Upasana is performed with emotional linkage with God. it involves worshiping thou manifestations, chanting of the prayers and devotion songs. There is no need of specific mental engrossment or meditation in such modes of Upasanas. In fact, it is the Sadhaka's Sraddha and the depth of his devotional love that takes him to those high realms of spiritual attainments, which other yogis might reach via the successful practice of deep trance (Samadhi).

While pondering through the heart during the (last phase of) Sadhanas like Soaham and Bindu yoga, the Sadhakas often attain a state of yoga-nindra. Although physically it appears like a sleeping or an unconscious state, it is indeed a state of trance. It should be noted that the spiritual Sadhanas, if performed in a disciplined manner and with purity of heart (sentiments), mind (thoughts) and body (deeds), would never cause the extreme effects of excitations or dullness (or sleep). The yoga-nindra is a state of immersion of the individual consciousness in the supreme, eternal consciousness. Even if it is experienced for a few seconds, it brings enormous grace of that Almighty and excels the Sadhaka towards the goal of divinity.

The Soaham Sadhana and the Bindu yoga are simple, risk less and easy to perform. the Sadhaka's willpower, emotional strength and piety of character ensure that - if these Sadhanas are performed according to the guidelines laid above the Sadhaka would receive immense bliss during the final phases of contemplation and realization and gradually reach the ultimate state of evoking the divinity indwelling in himself.

The Bindu Yoga

Bindu Yoga is an important and simple Sadhana like the Hansa Yoga and it also serves as a supplement to the latter and to many other spiritual practices because it deals with meditation upon the sacred glow of the supreme consciousness existing in the soul. In this yoga, the Sadhaka first concentrates on the visible light through Trataka and by deepening his meditation gradually experiences the illumination of the inner body to visualize the manifestation of divine spark in it.

In the initial stages of this yoga the practice of Trataka is repeated. After sufficient progress in Trataka the meditation on the spot of light becomes possible even without the help of any external source of light such as a candle or lamp.

The Bindu yoga is a high level Sadhana which falls next to the Soaham Sadhana in terms of the simplicity of practicing in daily life. Likewise the Soaham Sadhana, everybody can perform it without any risk or difficulties of strict disciplines.

In the daily practice of the Bindu yoga, the Sadhaka sits in a Dhyana Mudra (posture of meditation) in a calm state of the body and the mind with erect spinal cord and closed eyes. His legs are cross folded so as to make a posture of Sukhasana or Padmasana and both the hands are kept on the lap with the right palm above the left (Lord Buddha is often depicted in this posture in this posture in his idols and pictures). The Sadhaka then concentrates to 'perceive' a bright spot in the central portion of the forehead right above the gap between the eyebrows. Deeper core behind this center is defined to be the location of the Ajna Cakra. The Sadhaka should initially practice the Trataka in order to perform this meditation properly.

In the practice of a Trataka, the Sadhaka keeps a lamp (of oil or ghee) or a candle in front of the eyes - at a distance of about 3 to 4 feet and keeps the eyes half-open. The position of the lamp is set up to the height of the Sadhaka's chest when he is sitting  in the posture as described above, so that he could look at the tip of the flame without the bending his head. The Sadhaka's eyes gaze steadily at the bright spot without blinking for few seconds. He then closes the eyes to visualize the image of this glow at the position of the Ajna Cakra.

After few seconds, he again opens the eyes slightly and looks at the flame. The above process is repeated successively at increased stretched of times - ranging from two to twenty minutes per day. Initially the light spot appears to be blue-red and unstable once the eyes are closed. But, as the Sadhaka's concentration improves, it becomes as bright and stable as the flame (or the object of light) kept in front of the Sadhaka.

The morning times are usually recommended for performing a Trataka because the mind and the body are both fresh during this period. The atmosphere is relatively cool during these hours of the day and thus prevents the possibility of 'heating up' of the head due to deep engrossment and direct and continuous vision of light.

Once the practice of Trataka is perfected, the Sadhaka begins to see a bright spot inside the center of his forehead without the help of a lamp or any other source of light…… Upon reaching this state, the Cakra and feel that its glow is gradually expanding and illuminating the surrounding portion of the brain.

In an electric lamp, the central filament radiates first and its glow spreads in the surrounding gas and illuminates the entire globe of the bulb and the outside too. Vision (by closed eyes) of a similar spark and expansion of this 'mental radiance' is striven in this second phase (after Trataka) of the Bindu yoga. The duration of this phase should be kept about 5 to 10 minutes initially which may be extended gradually along with the consecutive (third) phase to about 30 minutes.

The Philosophical Basis of SOHAM SADHANA

Every student of science knows that oxygen is essential for the maintenance of life on this earth. Infact its presence is more crucial for the survival of the human body as compared to the availability of water and food. Oxygen regulates the redness (healthy content of hemoglobin) in the blood. It is the fuel of this gas, which keeps the engine of the body warm enough and energizes all components of the body-machine. Its regular and substantial supply is vital for the maintenance and activation of physical strength.

The word prana refers to the sublime form of vital energy, which at the gross level is manifested in the power regulating the physicochemical functions of the body. The extent of one's Prana is reflected in his zeal, alertness, enthusiasm and talents. The physical exercise of jogging, brisk walking, deep breathing etc are performed to increase the intake of oxygen. The yoga-exercise of pranayama are preformed to gain more Prana - the source and power of the vital force and consciousness.

A variety of Pranayamas are described in the scriptures on yoga. Of which the suryavedhana and anuloma-viloma are regarded as integral parts of the Prana yoga of the Sadhanas of Brahma Varchas. The physical exercises energize the components of the gross body and pranayamas help increase the internal power and the eminence of personality. Pranayama is essentially an exercise to upkeep the health of the subtle body.

The gross component (oxygen in this case) of prana is supplied to the body by physical exercises and the subtle component is extracted (from the omnipresent ocean of consciousness) for the subtle body by the pranayamas. Like the gross and subtle bodies, the casual body of an individual also needs some vital energy or prana - this is the culmination of the force of spiritually refined prana, the sublime current of cosmic, divine energy, called the Mahaprana. The Mahaprana required by the casual body of the soul, emanates from the Brahm (Cosmic Prana). This eternal Prana is received by the practice of Hansa Yoga. The Sadhana (spiritual exercise) of this yoga is also called the Soaham Sadhana, which with reference to the science of Gayatri Upasana is defined as the ajapa japa of Gayatri.

In this Sadhana of Hansa yoga, the devotee has to link his mind with the cosmic level of consciousness - the Supreme Consciousness. He has to awaken the inner feelings in order to realize his existence as a soul - above the level of the body and the mind. The vital energy, the prana and the divine 'magnetism' (power of attraction) of the inner self, all are applied with focused concentration, zeal and immense Sraddha towards the conditioning of the body, mind and the innermost emotional center to reach this state. Once this state is attained, even the usual action of breathing becomes so powerful that it can attract the mahaprana from the cosmic domains and send it to the deeper layers of the inner self. Along with the inhalation of oxygen by the physical body and prana by the mind, a subtle absorption of the divine energy by the casual body also takes place during this process. The spiritual endeavor of this unique kind of pranayama is - the soaham sadhana

The Secret of a Healthy Life

Good health and ability for proper understanding - both these are the best blessings in life

Good health is closely related to proper understanding. It is said that a stable mind resides in a healthy body. The mind, thoughts and understanding of a person having indifferent health will never be mature. One can judge a man from the status on his health. People with good moral conduct are healthy, strong and free from disease. They always have a smiling face. These people have some sort of magnetism so that everyone wishes to talk to them, make friends with them and always be with them. Nobody likes to separate from them. Healthy people have greater vitality in them

The reason for the current disease, sorrow, frailty, dissatisfaction, strife and lack of peace in our lives is because of lack of proper understanding. This lack of understanding makes us roam in the mire of greed and delusions, and does not allow us to come on the pathe of heavenly peace, natural satisfaction and endless virtues. Test your ambition, on the touchstone of truth and propriety weigh it on the balance of benefit or lack of it and immediately throw away those desires which are obstructing the path. Then you will observe how happiness, peace and good health enter your life.

Moral discretion is man's biggest Guru, director, assistant and harbinger of luck. In ancient times, every citizen of Nepal was a follower of Nepalese civilization and worshipper of moral discretion. Morality in the form of the Gayatri Mahamantra (great psalm) was worshipped. The characteristic of the strength of the soul in those days was to accept and adopt only that which is proper, derived by logic and acceptable to the intelligence, and to throw away the useless garbage of traditional muddling thoughts from the mind. Discrete people have always been discarding - according to the needs of the times - unnecessary customs, habits, traditions and beliefs even though these may have been introduced or adopted by so called great persons. If this mode of thinking is destroyed, then one should realize that all else is destroyed, even good health.

The truth of the matter is that at present we are living in a terrible era of illusion of intelligence. Instead of thinking along the straight and truthful live, we have become habituated to think in the opposite direction. As a result we are roaming dazedly in the labyrinthine maze of our own perversities. It is a quirk of destiny that on the one hand the strength of our intelligence is used in making money, in plotting strategies in satisfying our curiosity and creating miracles, while on the other hand the same intelligence discards ideals and gets entangled in such problems, that one is compelled to brand it as foolish. The path to happiness, good health and long life is straight and simple and free from the so called cleverness. Our own foolishness is the mother of all our troubles.

Wrong belief, very low type of thinking and tastes and willful choice of wrong direction - in the name of sophistication, these mistakes have ensnared intelligent people in their collective net and fooled them. If we wish to continue to rot in this situation, then we must also realize that our individual and collective health will be destroyed in the days to come. We must free ourselves from the illusion that costly foodstuffs can make a person strong and that freedom from disease can be achieved with medicines.

The type of world that we live in today can only be termed a world of mad person. When people throw morality, vision, propriety and permanent benefits to the winds and are immersed in making money by deceit, they should be considered profligates only.

It appears as if man's intelligence is centered on preparing various rich dishes for destroying digestion. This distorted intelligence manifests vividly at get-together and picnics, songs, musical instruments, make up, appearance and acting in films - all are aimed at exciting lust and creating the ammunition for destroying man's health and life. Artificialness has crept in man's lifestyle and food-habits to such an extent that apparently man has decided to boycott the dictates of nature. The whole society is bent on behaving like mad persons. This is akin to slow suicide. In this situation superficial efforts cannot contain the danger to society's health. For this we will have to bring a revolutionary change in our thinking-pattern and behavior.

Unfortunately the daring and will required to change the wrong beliefs, thoughts and habits, is very much lacking these days. Actually we must firmly hold on to what we believe is right and immediately discard all the wrong that is going on. Each man must have at least this much courage. Those who do not dare to accept the useful and cannot give up the useless must be called half-dead in not dead. They are not able to understand any discussion on knowledge and discretion. When they hear such a sermon, there is a temporary surge of ambition coupled with a desire to follow the good path for their own benefit, but the moment the talk is over, the desire dies down. If a person is not ready to change his beliefs and habits, then he cannot hope to obtain freedom from the problems of indifferent health or disease.

Jungle tribes like the Bhils in Nepal and Eskimos living in the unbearable colds of the North Pole are found to be healthy, well-built, cheerful and having a long life - span despite living in economic hardship and being deprived of costly food, clothes and medical facilities. They have adopted a simple life-style with the intelligence bestowed by nature. Compared to them we are very much different and despite being surrounded by comforts and facilities, we are making our bodies unnecessarily weak. The issue of good health for us cannot be tackled by nutritious food, rest, medicines etc. If that were so them we would find all wealthy rich people well-built like wrestlers and the poor, laborers and people not having enough their daily necessities with poor built and suffering from illness. But actually what happens is the opposite.

The Secret of the Healthy life2

The root cause of diseases is unmoral diet and an undisciplined mind. Their mixture brings disease and troubles. These troubles cannot be eradicated unless and until the root-cause is alive. The fundamental solution is to change the pattern and proportion of diet to very simple food. Excess of sweets and fats in the diet causes harm as also non-vegetarian food. Non-vegetarian food cannot keep a person healthy, because in reality, it is against man's natural constitution.

New research on brain and mind has changed the entire thinking about health and conclusively shown that a perturbed, worried excited and feeble mind casts its influence on the organ of the body. Careful attention must be paid to our daily diet, and fruits and vegetables must be increased in it. It is sufficient to cook the vegetables by boiling, rather than frying. One must give up undesirable foods and eat less than the demands of hunger. The current trend of seasoning the food with spices and eating rich food is like buying illness at a high price.

Similarly it is necessary to maintain mental stability by resorting to moral living. So not allow lust to take possession of your better self. So not allow your ambition to run riot so that mental balance is lost in merely planning your project. The greed for wealth is such that even Gods have not been able to fulfill this greed. The easiest way to save one's self from disease is to lead a life close to nature and to keep one's mind free from disturbances. A good and healthy attitude is not to give too much importance to illness. Nature is always working for the removal of disease. She does not accept defeat as long as the patient co-operates, even to a small extent. The patient's co-operation should be in the form of patience and keeping a strong mental attitude.

Pain and problem are always connected with an individual. It is not enough to fight against it. He must also learn to bear with the illness with patience. He should also learn to lighten his suffering by diverting his mind into some entertainment. It is also the duty of the family-members and relatives to reassure the patient about the treatment that he is being given proper treatment and will be definitely cured.

Disease is a result of our choosing the wrong path. It can be considered a punishment for going along the wrong path. By behaving in a willful manner and going against the tenets of nature, we have to bear the fruits of our sins in the form of various diseases. Undisciplined and willful behavior against the rules of nature has resulted in the roaring tornado of various illnesses gripping mankind today. Ignoring the signals from one's body and audaciously tinkering with it is resulting in increasing illnesses in th society. Smoking, drinking very hot t ea and coffee, alcohol, aspirin, and increased and indiscriminate use of steroids is also resulting in illnesses.

Illnesses do not come without reason. They are invited by the ignorant and the undisciplined and reside in them as long as accommodation is available. Entertainment is necessary for giving rest and relief to the mind. When taking rest after work it is necessary to relax the body. Likewise during entertainment the mind relaxes because it is freed from tension. One can relax even without entertainment but that requires efforts. This is possible only for people continuously practicing high level yogic (Mental) attainments. For the common man, relief for the tired mind is possible only by entertainment because it diverts the mind's attention to a lighter plane.

Just as rest is necessary for the body, similarly entertainment is necessary for the total development of the individual. Like education, health, social interactions and proper atmosphere, entertainment too, must be pure and wholesome, because it cheers up the mind, creates new interest in living and recharges the mind with energy.

Every activity should be mixed with proper positive feelings. Meals should be eaten as an offering from God. Instead of tasting unwanted food and leaving it as it is on the plate, it should be removed to another clean plate so others can use it. If the food plate is not to our taste, we should not express displeasure or anger. A meal taken in an atmosphere of displeasure becomes harmful, whereas even a meager meal taken cheerfully makes it nourishing and healthy. One quarter of all illnesses in this world are because of improper digestion

It is the duty of every thinking individual, to make his body healthy, and capable for long life. Everyone wants all this but their life-style and food habits are exactly in the opposite direction. This causes incalculable harm to one's own body, destruction of health, pain and even untimely and painful death.

It is ot at all difficult to remain healthy and capable. This is achievable by living in tune with nature. What is proper and improper is indicated by machines in the form of body's organs. Their deranged function alerts us for taking proper measures. Proper health is achieved by disciplined living within the limits set up by nature.

It is an absolutely wrong belief that eating more food gives more strength. Only proper digestion of food will result in strength. Actually over-eating burdens the digestive system and causes harm instead of giving strength. One should eat only after the earlier meal has been digested, the stomach is empty and one feels really hungry. If that does not happen, one should be satisfied with one meal only and avoid a second meal. If one wants to mend a weak digestive system to bring it to normal, the time between two meals must be prolonged. Instead of taking medicines for digestion, it is better to fact or eat once a day until returning to normal. This prevents the waste of food as well as digestive-juices.

Laziness is a bad habit which makes the body lazy and affects the mind. The lazy mind affects starts roaming in the wrong direction, justifying the saying, "an idle mind is the devil's workshop". The idle person then starts indulging in such time wasting pastimes as card-games, ludo and chess. He starts looking out for similar company or even entices the gullible ones.

As long as people are engaged in service, business or some gainful activity, their health remains good, but no sooner they retire, their rosy imaginations of a "peaceful and happy life" disappear. It is extremely important to understand that if one takes interest in any work, it does not remain mere work, but a fun-giving activity.

There is a custom in many part of Nepal that people press you to eat more food to express their love for you. In such a situation, one must politely and firmly say "no" to such instance. Many people overeat because of their greed for tasty food and then suffer also.

One does not become weak because of reducing the food intake. With over eating, one becomes a victim of indigestion and the digestive system becomes weaker and weaker with continued overeating. Compared to the number of people dying from hunger, double the number doe from over-eating. Man is attacked by external micro-organisms and also affected by changes in the weather resulting in lower body-resistance. There may also be other reasons for lowering the body-resistance. But the most prominent cause is over-indulgence in food.

People working only with their brains and running away from physical work usually do not have proper health. Actually every limb and organ of the body must get due exercise to maintain its normal activity and firmness. Those who do not have the practice of hard physical work or do not get such an opportunity, pay a heavy price for laziness and weaken the body's constitution.

 One must always take deep breaths for maintaining the dynamic activity of the lungs and help the body to get its proper supply of oxygen. A large part of the lungs of people sitting with a stoop remains inactive. This leads to diseases such as asthma, tuberculosis, and cough and also to an increase of bacteria in the lungs. One should always breathe through the nose and move one's hands forward and backward like a soldier, while walking. I f one adopts a simple life-style then there will be no cause at all to suffer the punishment for going against the norms of nature.

Women rights to do Gayatri Sadhana

Women have always been accorded high respect in the Nepalese culture. They have been regarded more pious than men. They are often addressed as Devi. Girls are named as Shanti Devi, Gang Devi, and Dayadevi. The word Devi is thus often annexed to their names. Girls are adorned not by degrees etc. but by their inherent God-given feminine virtues.

Gods and great personalities are often known through the names of their wives. In various names like; Sitaram, Radheshyam, Gaurishankar, Lakhyaminarayan, Umamahesh, Maya-Brahma, Savitri-Satyavan; women, have been given precedence over man. All thoughtful and wise persons has regarded women more prominent in respect of virtues like chastity , loyalty, mercy, compassion, service, sympathy, love, affection, generosity, devotion etc.

Women have, in general been given prominence and respect in all religious and spiritual pursuits. If one goes through the Vedas it will appear that not only Rishis but several wives of Rishis were also seers to whom Vedic hymns were revealed. How could the great God who is kind-hearted just and impartial discriminate between man and women who are his own children?

The Rishi of the Mantras of Rig Veda (10/85) is a female named Surya Savitri (sun). In Nirukta, a Rishi has been defined as one who is a seer of Mantras, who understands the secret behind them and transmits it to others ("Rishi darshanat stoman dadarshanti, Rishyo Mantra drastarah").

In twenty-fourth chapter of Vrihad Devta, a list of women rishis in Rigved has been given which includes the names of Ghosha, Godha, Vishavara, Aapala,  Upnishad, Juhu, Adity, Indrani, Sarama, Romasha, Lopamudra, Yami, Shaswati, Surya, Savitri as being brahmavadinis. The seers of RigVeda's sukta 10-134, 10-39, 10- 40, 10-91, 10-95, 10-107, 10-109, 10-154, 10- 159, 10- 189, 5-28, 8-91 etc. were women. There is ample evidence which proves that, like males, females used to perform Yagya. They were experts in Yagya technique and religious learning. Several women used to guide their fathers/husband in this respect. Ida had told Manu that she would do avadhan on fire in such a way that he would get worldly riches, pleasures and respect and attain heaven. In Shatpath Brahman, Yagyavalkya's wife Maitreyi has been called brahmavadini, which means brahmavadin-sheel. Brahma means Veda and brahmavadan-sheel means one who gives discourses on Vedas.

Adi-Shankaracharya had to enter into a spiritual debate with Bharati Devi. Her exposition of the scriptures was so marvelous that even eminent scholars were wonder-stuck. Shankaracharya was unable to answer her profound questions and had to seek one month's time to respond. In Shankar Digvijaya (3/16) it is written that Bharati Devi was well-versed in all the Vedas and other scriptures and branches of knowledge. None excelled her in knowledge. How can a ban now be imposed on study of this scripture by women? If there had been such restriction in the ancient times, how could there have been women who could have philosophical debates with persons like Yagyavalkaya, Shankarcharya etc.? In fact, in those days all men and women had equal opportunities for studying the Vedas.

Why should there be Restriction on Women

The meaning of Gayatri worship is to regard God as mother and sit in her lap. Of all the relations in the world, the relationship of mother and child is most loving and intimate. With whatever devotion we turn to God, he responds according to our faith. When the devotee visualizes God in the form of mother and sits in her lap he gets affectionate response accordingly.

The qualities of love, affection, compassion, tenderness, generosity are by nature, found in greater degree in women than in man. Rishis have, there fore, been worshipping God in the form of mother since days immemorial and they have directed every person having faith in region to adopt this easy and safe path of Sadhana. Gayatri worship is supposed to be the daily religious routine of e very Nepali. Whatever may be the system of Sandhya vandan, Gayatri is an essential element in it. One may or may not perform Gayatri Sadhana for a specific worldly or spiritual purpose but he is guilty of neglecting has religious duties, if he does not perform daily routine of Sadhana.

Daughter and son both are beloved children of the mother. Man and women are both equally dear to God. No impartial and just parents discriminate between their children on the ground of sex. God has provided facilities for performance of religious duties and Sadhana for self-realization both to man and women. This is but appropriate on the grounds of equality, justice and impartiality and is proved by logic as well. This simple truth hardly calls for debate and dispute.

It is gratifying to note that in the recent past wise and farsighted eminent person men have been trying to abolish evil customs of the dark Middle Ages. They have started realizing that our nation will not be able to regain its ancient glory so long as women are not liberated from the iron grip of narrow-mindedness in which they have been encased since the middle ages. Since women constitute half of our population we will be able to make all-round progress only by restoring them to their rightful position of dignity, which they enjoyed in the golden era of our hoary past. The blind adherence to orthodoxy which considers evil traditions and conventions prevalent since middle ages as religion is bound to oppose enlightened reforms tooth and nail but it has to be faced boldly by such reformist movements

The Use of Mind Energy

The mind's energy is used up in a limited, balanced and organized manner during the process of normal thinking and normal working. During mental excitement, the loss of mind's energy increases very muck. During such mental states as suffering from fear, worry sadness, dejection etc man feels lost whereas during anger, impulse, sexual urge and eagemess, man feels excited. In either case, mental stability is disturbed. Whether ebb or tide, the proportion of upheaval in the sea is the same. The emotion produced in the mind due to an overdose of dejection or happiness makes it impossible to think rationally or come to proper conclusion because a tired man thinks despairing thoughts of loss and an intoxicated or overconfident man tends to make tall claims.

Body and mind are inter-related. When the mind is happy, the body is active and if gries or sorrow fills the mind, the body not only becomes lethargic but the work is spoiled because of half-hearted effort and result will be more expensive than loss. Mood is another name to describe the mind's condition. If the mood is favorable, the man will be immersed in activity and when the mood is unfavorable, then man will feel that work has become a burden.

The mind carries out some activities on its own whereas it has to take the help of other organs for some other activities. Thinking, cogitation, meditation, imagination, planning, mental conclusion, decision etc are carried on independently by the mind whereas activities such as moving around, eating, drinking, seeing, hearing and speaking have to be carried out by the mind with the help of organs.

Mental slavery is a very bad type of dependence. Slaves at least get the time for eating and sleeping, but the slave of mind is never at the rest. Leave alone doing anything independently, they are not able even to think. The basic reason for progress is the mind.  Usually circumstances are given the credit or blame, but it is only a shameful excuse. If circumstances are the reason, then most - if not all people in the same circumstances would have adopted the same, favorable means or path, but it does not really happen. What we really find is that people living in the best of circumstances, with all the facilities at their command, carry out the worst types of deeds. As against that, many people living in extreme adversities and living in a state of scarcity are able to maintain their morality and goodness.

Only man is born crying and goes on complaining throughout the life till death. All the other animals do not have any problems or complaints, but man possesses the abilities of thinking and feeling and therefore gets influenced by the smallest matter or event and expresses his reaction. Most or the reactions are expressed as unfavorable rather than favorable.

Some people are unhappy because of the scarcity of materials facilities whereas some are unhappy because of lack mental peace. These problems have been more complicated in the present times. Development or progresses have brought many problems created by today's mechanical civilization, the fore most mental tension.

Our aim should be to lead a life free from worry, but for this we should neither be impatient nor be perturbed. One should try to reach one's target by climbing one step at a time. To observe oneself from the bodily discomforts due to tension, everyone must have faith. Some people may find it difficult to believe in God's existence, but one can at least have faith in one's own self, if not anything else.

People without mental strength appear to have a suppressed nature. They are not able to tell an ordinary and true tale to anyone. They are always afraid to open their mouth with the fear that the person listening to them will misunderstand or will not be pleased or will snub him. In reality, nothing much is lost if this happens, but a person without mental strength is so much afraid and suppressed that he does not pick up the courage to tell his story to anyone properly even though he may communicate such a person feels shy to talk, so there exists the possibility of misunderstanding. There is also the possibility that the listener may do something undesirable, unexpected and harmful because of such misunderstanding.

Why people suffer from lack of mental strength or shyness or inferiority is worth thinking about. Psychiatrists give many reasons for that. According to them, lack of love and attention from parents, neglect by parents and relatives and constantly being put in a ridiculous situation are some of the reasons which create such situations that the children become the victims of the severe handicap of inferiority. Ill, handicapped, retarded and frail children frequently receive scolding. As a result they develop the belief that their situation is pitiable compared to others - that they are just unlucky. Similarly people belonging to the backward classes mostly consider themselves inferior to other and tend to keep their thinking level also low and inferior.

Men devoid of self-confidence and suffering from inferiority compels do not have the strength to cultivate daring and patience. Therefore they adopt rude behavior for attracting people's attention and sometimes also adopt criminal ways. It takes courage to be rude and commit a crime and hence when they find quick achievement possible by this approach, people suffering from inferiority, search for the company of such criminals for friendship. After joining such vagabonds, they develop the courage for committing crimes and by indulging in intimidation, feel glorified.

A person with inferiority complex suffers from the illusion of neglect, contempt and inferiority. He pampers this illusion which impels him to attract others by dressing flashily. The attraction of other people's attention acts as a balm for his inferior feelings. Most persons who dress flashily consider themselves inferior and neglected or rejected by the society. Even though they make tall claims and indulge in false and self-satisfaction, concealed deep in their mind is the suppressed feeling of inferiority.