Hinduism, Vedas, Bhagavad Gita Summary

Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya established the following four Peethams so that each Peetham is the authority for one of the 4 Vedas:

• East - Puri in Orissa
• West - Dwaraka in Gujarath
• South - Shringeri in Karnataka
• North - Badrinath in UP
• Kancheepuram is the fifth where Adi Shankaracharya is said to have established for himself.

I am not sure of the other important place which is Rameeshwaram in TN, but will update this later.

There are 4 vedas considered to be the authoritative source of way of life for Hindus. The interesting thing here is that Vedas are not 'authored' by Maharishi Vyasa. It can be said that during his transcendental meditative state, he could interpret the universal vibrations directly from the all pervasive truth. He interpreted it using Sanskrit Verses and penned it. These four vedic texts are

• Rig Veda
• Yajur Veda
• Sama Veda
• Atharva Veda

Upanishads are derived from the Vedas and commentaries have been written by great gurus like Adi Shakaracharya regarding the interpretation. Bhagavat Gita is the religious text which imbibes the spirit of Vedas.
The main reason why Hinduism is significant is that the religion does not enforce a God, guru or compliance with Vedas. Diversity is allowed.
Each person is allowed to take his path and try to reach his goal. Even the goal itself can be set by the person.
What the vedas say is that eventually every person will realize the truth thats written in the Vedas. The summary as I naively understand is that God is everywhere (Brahman/Paramatma), a projection of it is Jeevatma (soul), from which arise the temporal attibutes like mind and body. Hence this world is Maya or illusion as its all temporary. Jeevatma is permanent and will eventually merge into the Paramtma which is not limited by time or space.
Since each of our bodies can be influenced by the mind or the soul, we are in different stages of understanding. Hence we are allowed by trial and error to understand the purpose of life, who we are, what powers us and what we want to achieve.
If you are dominated by your mind, you will think that YOU are your name (for example Shiva), your body, your title (software engineer etc), your certificates (10th standard pass etc), your role (husband, father, son etc). On the other hand, if you are influenced by your soul, you will think of yourself as some unknown guiding force trying to act in a positive manner for the betterment of the world so that you can attain Moksha (or merging into Brahman). Of course, these are some of the possibilities and depending on your creativity you can imagine a trillion more interpretations.
What will stand out though is that the world is ever changing and this change can be noticed by a external permanent force/energy/God who the scriptures call Brahman. References: Hindu history

Dr Bishwaroop Roy Chowdhary 3 step FLU DIET

3 step Flu Diet

This is suggested by Dr. Bishwaroop Roy Chowdhary for acute fever and respiratory related illness like Corona, flu, pneumonia, SARS, Swine flu etc.

Youtube Video Link in Hindi

Whats needed for this 3 day diet

• Citrus fruit juice - Any one of the following - Mosambi, Orange, Kinnow, Pineapple. Quantity of juice: 4-5 glasses for 1st day, 2-3 glasses for 2nd day, 1-2 glasses for 3rd day.
• Coconut water - 4 of them for 1st day, 2 for second day and 1 for third day.
• Cucumber and Tomtato - Max of ~1/2 kg each for Day 2 and Day 3 will suffice.
• Simple home cooked dinner for day 3 dinner.

I have tried this out in a limited way when I was not having any flu like symptoms. When I get my next FLU like symptom, I will surely try the full diet and update my experience. If you have tried it and want to update your experience, please comment for everyone to benefit.

Day 1 (Complete liquid diet)

Depending on body weight, patient has to take
X/10 glasses of fresh citrus fruit juice
+
X/10 glasses of coconut water
X = Body weight
X/10 = 6 glasses if body weight is 60 kg
X/10 = 7 glasses if body weight is 70 kg.
1 glass means 400 ml - i.e a big glass.

Day 2 (Fluid diet)

Depending on body weight, patient has to take
X/20 glasses of fresh citrus fruit juice
+
X/20 glasses of coconut water
X = Body weight
X/20 = 3 glasses if body weight is 60 kg
X/20 = 3.5 glasses if body weight is 70 kg.
1 glass means 400 ml - i.e a BIG glass.
+
Y grams of tomato and cucumber.
Y = (body weight * 5) gms.
Y = 300 gms if body weight is 60 kg
Y = 350 gms if body weight is 60 kg

Day 3 (Solid diet)

By 12 noon
X/30 glasses of fresh citrus fruit juice
+
X/30 glasses of coconut water
X = Body weight
X/30 = 2 glasses if body weight is 60 kg
X/30 = 2.3 glasses if body weight is 70 kg.
1 glass means 400 ml- i.e a BIG glass.
+
Lunch:
Y grams of tomato and cucumber.
Y = (body weight * 5) gms.
Y = 300 gms if body weight is 60 kg
Y = 350 gms if body weight is 70 kg
+
Dinner
Normal home cooked simple food (kichidi etc)

Opinions on Kashmir

Lets get the facts straight on Kashmir and its military control:

Kashmir is under military control and has 3 parts

• Indian Kashmir
• Pakistan Kashmir
• China Kashmir

I respect all the people who have put in their lives for this disputed territory and whose lives are affected by political nature of this conflict.

1) First and foremost, I thank Indian army soldiers for defending our part day and night

2) Pakistan army and China army for doing their duty

3) I thank the People of Kashmir and People of India who are financing the Indian army through our taxes.

Now for the resolution:

Short term: We did a great job of a surgical strike and showed our determination to hold our territory.

Long term: We need to engage with China and Pakistan and declare the Line of Control as the international border. We should also request Kashmir people to accept India as their country and no special constitutional status.

Dont believe our Press and our Parliament: They are drumming up emotions today that Indian army Jawan is important. 6 months down the line, they will organize a peace meet with Pakistan and they will again change to war jingoism in the next 6 months. Did anyone (India press or politician) tell you that China is also an equal aggressor. All the drama about Pakistani artist, SAARC isolation of Pakistan and in international forums, did anyone think “Dude, what about China?” Whats our strategy? In reality, there is none.

India, China and Pakistan can unite, can progess. We have nothing to lose and only gains if there is peace. Just think, if a Indian and a Pakistani can be roommates in USA, why cant we have brotherly relation between us. We are culturally the same. International bankers and the arm dealers are responsible for this building of tensions. Every parliamentarian (India, China, US and Pakistan) are in their pockets. Hope it makes sense.

Loka Samasta sukhino Bhavantu. Let all world be peaceful and happy!

Gandhian Thoughts - Every thought is worth a pot of gold!

About individual's character and thoughts:

• Health is real wealth, not pieces of gold and silver.
  
  
• Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory!
  
  
• Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.
  
  
• Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony
  
  
• There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It super cedes all other courts.
  
  
• Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.
  
  
• I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others.
  
  

About Religion and God:

• My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realizing Him.
  
  
• Faith... must be enforced by reason... when faith becomes blind it dies.
  
  
• A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does not help to solve them is no religion.
  
  

MISCELLANEOUS

• Truth never damages a cause that is just.
  
  
• To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.
  
  
• The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
  
  
• We must be the change we wish to see.
  
  
• There is a sufficiency in the world for every man's need but not for one man's greed.
  
  
• When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.
  
  

Vipassana

What is Vipassana?

Vipassana is a spiritual practice taught by Gautham Buddha 25 centuries ago (around 500 BC). As a short summary, its a rigourous 10 day meditation course where you will meditate for ~14 hours a day with minimal breaks for food, bath and sleep. All 10 days, you have to observe silence and you will be cutoff from the usual world - i.e no phone, no TV, no outside contact. You will need to be totally silent and you should not even talk to fellow meditators even during non meditation hours.

Why you should practice it and how frequent you should do?

I would recommend to go to Vipassana once a year (It means reserve 10 days a year) and ensure you attend one course every year. This has huge benefits - It will help set a strong mental health and physical health which are pre requisites for spiritual growth. By Mental health, it will help gain peace of mind by syncing with your internal core. Generally when we get stressed, we find solace in external factors (Eating favourite food in your favourite restaurant, entertainment like movies TV etc, social gathering, etc). Point is these will help for sometime but the root cause of mental worries will return and you will again get stressed. Vipassana meditation is powerful where it can help reduce stress and attain peace of mind by simply observing your body and mind.

By physical health, it means it will help in normalizing your Blood pressure, Cholestrol, Sugar and improve overall energy in the body.

What are the costs?

The course is free of cost and you will donate whatever you can at the end of the course.

Spirituality - Is it for youth or after retirement?

It depends. Lot of youths across the world are practicing it. Reason is they want to understand how to reduce stress. Vipassana provides a practical way of finding peace of mind.

Is it difficult to practice or Is the course difficult?

YES. Typically, you may expect a feel good course where you go, listen to feel good lectures, have good food, environment and return back with a pleasant experience. Vipassana is difficult to practice. But if you go with a free mind - With a thought that "lets see what it is" - you will benefit. The cases where you are unlikely to benefit is if you go with pre conceived notions or if you are unable to focus on whats being taught and your mind is fully pre occupied with home/office tensions, you may not be able to grasp the technique. So my suggestion is if you are spiritually inclined, you should attend Vipassana and be prepared to be cut off from the outside world for ten days and focus on what is being taught. Just enjoy what they are teaching and saying, you will soon be able to understand the technique

Overview of the Vipassana course

10 days - Meditation is taught from 4:30 am in morning to 9:30 pm in the night.
Food and accomodation is free. You can donate whatever you can if you successfully complete the course. Also be aware they give limited breakfast, lunch and light snacks. This is sufficient for the energy required to do meditation. Do not overeat as this makes you feel sleepy and can upset digestion.

W.r.t the meditation - Start of every hour, technique will be taught and you will practice this for that hour.

Is it a religion conversion to Buddhism?

Absolutely NOT! You will be taught that Gautham Buddha was least interested in converting people to Buddhism. Rather he wanted people to understand the technique and practice according to their own volition. What is taught is common to all religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity. So anyone can attend.

More details

Where is it taught - It is thought in Vipassana centres all over the world. It is free to attend. ANYONE can attend it. No marketing, No brainwashing to any religion. Just a passion to know what is within you and an interest in spirituality plus the firm resolution that you will be there for 10 days in the center and follow their instructions.

Register and get all information at www.dhamma.org. You will need to book 2 or 3 months in advance for the course.

What is the takeaway or what do we achieve by doing Vipasana

Vipasana helps you be aware of your breath and hence makes you observe and accept the present. It makes you realize that pleasure and pain are two sides of the same coin . It will come and go. The only truth is that the world is ever changing and none of the things our mind get attached to is permanent. The universal law that governs us is that love, compassion, gratitude, tolerance, mutual respect - each of these behaviours will be rewarded . Negative traits like anger, jealously, greed will be punished. 10 day Vipassana course is like a LKG certificate, and we need to progress in that path to realize ourselves the truth about the world and the universal law.

Natural method of Curing short sight/ Myopia

I have always been a fan of Healer Baskar as much as others like Shah Rukh or Sachin. Several people have asked why so?
Well,

• He never hides information, he makes his knowledge available to others via youtube and other channels
• He gives the complete picture - What to do, What not to do and the challenges involved.
• Simplificity in a complex world is his forte

Take for example, his words on wearing spectacles and why in the long term its not a good thing. What would you typically hear or your own thought if you have Myopia/Short sightedness

• You will go to the optician/doctor
• Get your eye checked and wear the most fancy spectacle

In this process, did the doctor or optician say that this is not good for your long term? Healer Baskar's was one of the first guys who said first remove your spectacle if you want good eyes and normal vision in the long term!
healer baskar video in tamil
You can argue whats the logic behind it?
He says you remove it so that you try to focus on the distant objects which currently appear blur to you.
He also suggests a number of other steps which are holistic approach to get back normal vision.

• Eat sufficient carrot, green vegetables
• Do eye exercises regularly - Focus on Candle flame or focus on a distant object for sometime (few minutes) every day
• Focus on the tip of the nose or the middle of your eye brow for a few minutes.
• Drink lot of coconut water (If you are missing out on minerals from drinking normal RO water)
• Many more tips

I can also add a few things here

• My eyes begin to strain if I increase the brightness of laptop, computer, phone. So I keep the brighness to the minimum
• Blink your eyes regularly
• Take breaks from long hours of work on computer and splash cold water
• Focus on distant green objects like green leaves of a tree.

I made the decision a year back that I will not wear specs and see if my eye power decreases.
I have been following all these suggestions on and off.
I have not worn specs for a year now and have done my work (car driving, long hours of computer programming etc) without it.
My power last year was (-2.25 (RE), -2.75 (LE)).
After a year, today its reduced by 1 power point in both eyes. Its now (-1.25 (RE), -1.75 (LE))
Yay! :) :) :)

I am confident in the next 2 years, I will reduce the power still and ensure my eyes are normal and healthy.
Short sight or Myopia cure with simple holistic techniques.
3 cheers to Healer Baskar and his natural holistic ways of finding good health!

How to replace Car wheel for Maruti Wagon R with a stepney Tyre with photos...

• Step 1: Park on the side of the road, Put the hand brakes on.
• Step 2: Take out the tool kit and the stepney tyre. There will be a red sign reflector in the tool kit, Place it appropriately so that other vehicles know that you are changing tyres. Put on the blinking lights of the car as well.
• Step 3: Rotate the jack so that it can be placed underneath the car at the appropriate position to SLIGHTLY lift the car
  
  
• Step 4: BEFORE jack lifts the car, ensure the nuts of the tyre are loosened. After lifting with the jack, its more difficult to loosen the nut and bolt and so better to do it before lifting the car with the jack.
• Step 4a: Sometimes it is difficult to loosen the bolts. REMEMBER - "loosen in the anti clock wise direction". Also, place the spanner correctly and with good force, kick the spanner so that nut is loosened. Be safe and careful while kicking the spanner. If it still does not work, apply small amount of oil near the nut.
  
• Step 5: Once nuts of the tyre are loosened, then jack can be used to lift up the car slightly so that the wheel can be taken out.
  
• Step 6: Fully take out the loosened nuts, and then the tyre itself. PUT in the replacement/Stepney tyre and tighten the nuts. You can fully tighten it in the last step.
  
  
• Step 7: Slowly reduce the height of the jack so that car comes down.
  
• Step 8: Ensure nuts are tightnened.
• Good Day and Happy Driving!