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Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, October 04, 2010
Which Food Is Good For You?
THE FIFTH FUNDAMENTAL VOW OF THE FOLLOWERS
OF
OF
SWAMINARAYAN FELLOWSHIP
A strong, tall and durable house is built with the best cement, steel rods, bricks and wood. High quality glass and standard materials for its electrification are used. There is planning to perfection in every detail. It stands like a rock even when there is an earthquake. It develops no creaks or crevices. Plaster pods don’t fall from the ceiling or the walls. Without the electrical device you can’t insert a peg in the wall. Such a strong house remains in excellent condition for hundreds of years. We admire the architects of such houses and look with a gasping breath at such mansions.
But what a contrast we have when we look at the structure of the body, the temple in which our soul lives!
Most of such human houses have anchored many diseases in their harbour of happiness. There are at present more germs, microbes and worms in the human body than in any other living organism. They flourish and multiply as soon as they find a favorable condition created by the follies of men, mostly, so far as their food habits are concerned.
Disease is the result of the presence of microorganisms or their products in the body. Microbes produce many disease and worms in the body, suck up all the energy. They create the havoc more serious than the havoc created inside the house by flies, mosquitoes, rats, lizards and spiders.
A strong and healthy body is an exception rather than a rule in the society.
All the physical and mental disorders and disease are directly or indirectly associated with your food and drinks you take but you hardly realize this fact.
Food is defined as a nutritive which provides energy etc. for maintenance of well being of the body.
Bhagwan Shri Swaminarayan Who was God upon the earth had done a lot of thinking about food. He made innumerable experiments on Himself about food. At times he consumed only chilies or even poisonous herbs. He lived on leaves, flowers, fruits and roots. Thus He found out what is the best food for all men. He realized that half the diseases are cured by proper diet while half the diseases are caused by improper diet.
One of the fundamental commandments of Him states : No one shall eat food prepared by a person, taking cooked food from whose hands is prohibited in the scriptures or drink water from the vessels of such a person, even as the offering – Prasad of God. …. (SIKSHAPATRI – 19)
The word for the soul – ATMA etymologically means one who eats (enjoys fruits of his action). The word for food ANNA also means that which is eaten. It refers to cooked food only and not to food grains.
The commandment indirectly prohibits acceptance of fruits, dry fruits or any other item of food from a person whose conduct of life is doubtful or not known to us. Food from a woman in menstruation period is prohibited and food from an angry person is also prohibited. Food from one who uses abusive words, who consumes non-vegetarian food and alcoholic drinks and from one who begs for food is prohibited.
The intellectual individual (Brahmin) should not eat food prepared by an individual of the warrior class, an individual of the business community or by an individual of the working class.
An individual of the warrior class should not eat food prepared by an individual of the business community or of the working class.
An individual of the business community should not take food prepared by the individual of the working class.
To a man of the modern society such restrictions may appear strange but health-hazards being the greatest and the most serious for the working classes such rules were necessary as germs, microbes and worms multiply very fast in tropical countries. The business community was vegetarian and naturally they would not accept food from the warrior class which was mostly non-vegetarians. As food also affects the mind. The intellectual class of Brahmins never took food from any of the other three classes.
Apart from accepting or rejecting food from certain classes there are also many restrictions about the choice of food. Any food to which garlic is added is prohibited because garlic is irritant to the kidneys causing kidney troubles later on in advanced age. Nature warns us by bad smell of certain substances added to food or consumed as food. Onion is bad for diabetics and it also irritates the stomach as a foetida lowers the normal blood-pressure and thus it weakens the heart. All intoxicants and alcoholic drinks raise the temperature of the body and damages homeostasis in the body. This statement may look controversial but the devotee of God must follow this rule as it is ordain by His beloved God.
Just as we do not accept food served by a sick person, a dirty person, we should not accept food from people who are mentally sick or mentally dirty. We are affected by the individuals eating with us or who are eating all around us. Similarly, we are affected by people who at heart are our enemies but outwardly make a show of being our friends. The food served by an angry person is never well-digested by us. Food served with evil motive can also harm us. The thoughts of a person have a strong influence to the food he prepares or the food he or she serves. So the staunch followers of Swaminarayan Fellowship never accept food from strangers. They never go to hotels where non-vegetarian food is served and they never visit bars for drinks. Most of them do not accept food or drinks, even water during plane-journey in planes.
Food served at most of the public places attracts people generally by appearance and particularly by the taste but little attention is given there to hygiene and sanitation. This is particularly true in the eastern countries, tropical countries and developing countries.
Can food affect our mind? An American Medical Journal had quoted the case of an American Actress who was declared incurable for her complex mental disorders. She was completely cured by a Yogi who kept her on simple Yogic food.
Once upon a time a priest used to stay in the King’s palace. Once the royal family was out of the town. They had taken away their special cooks. So the menials prepared food for the priest.
The priest took the food and rested in the palace. When he awoke, he saw the golden, diamond – studded necklace of the queen. He pocketed it stealthily and went to his hermitage. He felt happy at first but then he had a vomit and all the food was thrown out. This also cleared his mind and he repented for the theft.
Next day he went to the palace and confessed about the theft and handed over to him the most valuable necklace.
The King was surprised. He asked the priest why a holy man like him stole the necklace.
The priest said that his intellect was defiled by the food he took because the new cooks might be having tendencies of theft.
The King made inquiries and found that the junior cooks who had cooked the food were all thieves.
Bhishma Pitamaha who had taken food at Duryodhana’s kitchen sided with the wicked Duryodhan.
So Bhagwan Shri Swaminarayan has stated :
The sandal or flowers offered by a sinner are like hashish and alcoholic drinks. Even the touch of a sinner is like the touch of hashish and alcoholic drinks (Vachanamrit G. F. 18).
But Bhagwan Shri Swaminarayan allows acceptance of offerings offered to God. At Jagannathpuri, one of the holiest places of Hindus steaming hot rice is served to all pilgrims without any discrimination. So our Lord allows us to accept this as it is not contaminated.
Your behavior shows your inner qualities. Similarly, your body reflects the quality of food you have eaten, according to Shiva Purana, Food should be first examined and only wholesome food should be accepted. Holy food increases strength, else it destroys strength.
In Swaminarayan Fellowship the followers prepare the first plate and offer the food to god. Such food has to be clean and holy.
Chhandogya Upanishad says : ANNA SHUDDHAU SATTVA SHUDDHI
i.e. pure food makes the mind pure.
Not to accept food from those who offer food are not worthy is the fifth great vow that every follower of Bhagwan Swaminarayan takes and observes throughout life.
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The Savior of the Downfallen
But rejoice that, the thorn bush bares roses.
- Arabian Proverb
Hate the sin but never the sinner, because the sinner has always a chance of all his sins to be washed off. When we bathe, our dirty body becomes clean. When we wash our clothes, they become free from dirt. When we use the vacuum-cleaner, the carpet becomes as good as new. When we use the exhaust-fan the air in the room becomes fresh. So when we repent for sins committed by us, our minds and hearts become pure and God Who resides in our hearts as Antaryami (Self-Regulator) showers His grace.
The innocent blood of women constantly drips from the history of mankind which has spared no pain in inflicting wounds of cruelty, defamation and exploitation accompanied by degradation on women. Yet women have survived and come to their own through the grace of innumerable men of God.
Mary Magdalene was a great sinner who washed the feet of Jesus, with her tears of atonement and wiped the feet with her long hair. She anointed the feet of Jesus with costly perfumes and kissed the feet.
Jesus said : 'Thy sins are forgiven' and 'Lo!' she became free from all her sins and infirmities and the seven devils left her soul.
If Jesus, the son of God can wash off the sins of a sinner, there should be no doubt about such miraculous power of Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan Who is God Supreme Himself!
Once Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan decided to perform a non-violent Vishnuyag sacrifice on an unprecedented grand scale at Jetalpur in Gujarat , as enormous supply of wheat was promised by the devotees of Kuaka, a small village nearby.
About 100,000 Brahmins, apart from an equal number of devotees were to dine here daily for 18 days. For this purpose hundreds of tons of wheat flour was required, Cartloads after cartloads of wheat-bags started arriving at Jetalpur and so did women of Jetalpur and adjoining villages.
Shri Hari used to sit on the top of a cartload and delivered the wheat-bags Himself. Once while Shree Hari was thus distributing wheat-bags a damsel wearing the most valuable dress and ornaments arrived among the women who all spat on the ground, with scorn and said among them-selves : 'How dares this harlot come among us! What has this unholy woman to do with such a holy sacrifice! Even her shadow would pollute us.'
But this proved to be a blessing to the so called unholy woman. She straightway went to Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan and said: 'My Lord, I will grind as much wheat as I can. Give me a whole wheat-bag.'
Shree Hari said: "But you look so tender! How can you carry such a heavy wheat-bag! Besides, how will you be able to grind such a big lot overnight?"
'That all depends on Your favour, my Lord' she said. A woman from the crowd shouted: 'Maharaj! she mints money and grinds men; not wheat. She is a sinner, a harlot, the dung-hill of the town! The wheat-flour ground by her will defile the food and sacrifice. Please, don't give her wheat. Drive her away!'
But Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan said: "I have come not to break but to build, to create but not to destroy. Greater the sinner, greater is the need of My grace to him or to her."
With great difficulty the harlot carried the wheat-bag on her head. She went on grinding for the whole day and for the whole night. She had big boils on her hands and the boils burst. Still she went on grinding till her palms and fingers bled!
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With bandages on both the hands, she carried the wheat-bag on her head and came to Shree Hari. She mentally washed the feet of Shree Hari, with her tears. Her bandages on the hand were red with the oozing blood. Tears soaked the eyes of the saints and devotees gathered in the assembly.
Shree Hari said: "Dear child, with every turn of the grinding wheel, I have unwound the sins from the reel of your life. From today you are not a sinner but a holy woman. Take this as your new birth and lead a holy life."
The Assembly said: "Oh! Lord, only You can do this!'
The woman said: 'My Lord, I have only one prayer to you. Before You leave Jetalpur, please come to my house.'
Shree Hari agreed. When the great sacrifice was over, Shree Hari went to her home and graced her by His visit.
And from that day she became a saintly woman devoting all her time in worship, prayers to Shreeji Maharaj and service to mankind!
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Wednesday, September 01, 2010
The Man of God - Realization
Upon the throne of my heart
I have installed You a Lord
I have lit the lamp of love
And dedicated my all to You
What more can I offer, my Lord?
He who has realized the vision of the form of Shree Swaminarayan Bhagwan is the only person who has firmly established himself in the extreme selfless devotion i.e. divine love. Such devotees remain extremely engaged in singing about the merits of God at all times. The self becomes free from the cycle of births and deaths because of deep love at the divine feet of God. And passes his life with great spirit in meditation, devotion and worship of the divine form of God.
For getting something one has to give up something. This is the rule of this world. When the self-consciousness is given up, supreme-consciousness is attained. When the diver dives far deep in the ocean, at the bottom, then only he gets the valuable pearls. Challenging death he plunges into the ocean. Similarly, if one wants to realize God, he should be raised above the three bodies: gross, subtle and casual and establish himself firmly within himself and then meditate upon the form of Shreeji Maharaj, then only he would have the realization of the form of God.
He whose mind and senses are unsteady cannot have the self steadfast. As long as the self does not become steady, the realization of the form of God cannot be had in the self. So, the path of meditation does not become smooth for one whose mind is agitated by many types of thoughts and doubts and the self is surrounded by the snares of internal activities.
The body and Maya who are under the influence of Prakriti (Cosmic power) and Purusha (Cosmic-consciousness), in the ultimate analysis are an illusory cover, creating illusion about Truth. Neither the sunlight nor the shadow remain for ever. This body and all the objects created out creation are transitory and sources of sufferings. The only one that bestows bliss and is eternal, is the form of Shree Swaminarayan Bhagwan. He, who keeps his face towards the Form of Bhagwan Shree Sahajanand Swami, should be taken as having reached all divine states.
The man of God-realization,
With joy sings merits of God.
Making love with Supreme Lord,
He never enters worldly life.
He who follows the diver’s path,
First knows the path of death,
And then he gets the pearls.
In the fast flowing waters,
No reflection is seen.
Same way the self falters,
Till Brahman doesn’t shine.
Like the shadows and the hot sun,
The body and Maya are fraud.
In Gurumukhi says Muktanand
Tryst with Tiger
The sun was preparing to take the final deep on the western horizon. The head priest, Mahant approached the main gate of the rampart. It was now time to close the gate to keep away the entry of ferocious animals into the compound. Looking back he made sure that all milch-cattle were inside. When he cast a last look outside the gate, his heart throbbed like a pounding machine. He couldn't believe his eyes.
About 200 meters away a Youth with loin-cloth was spreading his deer-hyde on a raised platform around a huge tree. The fury of the winter-wind had silenced all the sounds. The Mahant just rushed to that Boy, Who seemed to be in His adolescence. He caught the young Boy with his hand and said: "Come on, good Boy. This is the place for tiger to sit at night, not for men. There is dense jungle all around and the tigers are teeming here. Come on, before I close the gate."
The Boy freed his hand and said: "God has created the tiger. Why should they kill Me? They are My friends. And suppose death is My destiny, do you think your rampart can save Me from the clutches of death?"
"But I can't leave You to be killed like that," said the Mahant.
"And I too can't allow you to be killed by tiger. So rush back to the convent in the rampart and close the gate and leave Me to Myself."
"By the way, may I know Your name?"
"I have no name and I have innumerable names but at present I am known as Nilkanth Varni."
At this time a tiger roared from a distance and Nilkanth Varni pushed the Mahant and said: "Fly if you can, the tiger is on the way!”
And the Mahant, with closed fists ran into the convent after closing the gate of the rampart.
It was a full-moon night like that of December. The cold was more cruel than the teeth of a demon.
Night was sleepless for the Mahant. The window of his room was just opposite the place, where Nilkanth Varni was sitting under the tree. The Mahant saw that a tiger came near Nilkanth Varni Who welcomed him with loving words. The tiger rolled at the feet of Nilkanth Varni. Nilkanth Varni moved His loving hands on his back and he growled with love. Then Nilkanth Varni kept His head on the tiger's back and slept. Tremors quaked the body of the Mahant. He thought that the Boy must be a ghost or well-versed in black magic or else who would dare risk life thus? Sleep betrayed him and he kept awake all the night. In the first ray of the dawn he saw Nilkanth Varni giving a loving farewell to the tiger!
When the tiger left, he went to Nilkanth Varni and said: "If you stay here, I will bequeath my convent with all the treasures to You and appoint You my heir to the Gadi."
Shree Hari Said: "All the convents and all the treasures belong to Me. I am richer than the richest. I am the monarch of all I survey. However, o Mahant, I thank you for all your noble feelings for Me."
Shree Nilkanth Varni left singing ……
My kingdom has no horizons,
My power has no bars.
My entry has no fence around,
My home is above the stars.
He knows Me who worships Me,
With actions, thoughts and speech.
I love such persons as My dearest,
Who are in virtues rich.
Manasio Kathi
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Tuesday, August 03, 2010
The Struggle of the Valiant - 3
Part -3
Gods and demons, sages and men
Are all under the spell of sensuous delights,
No one can be free and safe
Who has not sought the shelter of Lord Sahajanand.
- Nishkulanand Swami
Our Lord Shree Hari in his Vachanamrit has praised those who have sharp intelligence and who can stabilize their intellect and inclinations in the contemplation of the Lord. The lure of the five senses is so powerful that even gods or powerful demons, great sages as well as ordinary men cannot escape from falling into their clutches, if they do not seek the divine protection of the Lord.
The inner self is related to the subtle body and the objects to be enjoyed by five senses belong to the gross body. These two bodies are separate. Then how does one fall prey to the senses?
Swami Nishkulanand explains it in this way in Hriday Prakash:
All that the Mind plans, the Intellect approves
And Intellect can take the Mind on various tours,
To lands known and unknown.
These two are born from the five gross elements
Impregnated with divine spark
They don’t think of results of indulgence
It is only the Sentience that worries
About them day and night
- Nishkulanand Swami
The five sense organs, ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose crave for their respective objects of indulgence, word as sound, touch, and forms of beauty, various tastes, and pleasant smells. This experience enters the inner self. Then the Mind directs the sense to confront the objects of its desire. Then the Intellect confirms the enjoyment. The man may be in India and he may talk of Japan
On the topic Ahamkar self-consciousness as the enjoyer, Shreeji Maharaj states in Vachanamrit Gadhada First Chapter - 70:
The moment he comes to know the world around, his parents tell him: This is your mother, this is your father, this man is your uncle; these are your brothers, this is your cow, this is your horse, this house is yours; this is the upper storey of the house for your stay; this farm belongs to you; these are your ornaments – these words are accepted by the man’s Intelligence. As women put a piece of mirror in embroidery and the embroidery holds the glass as binding force so does Intelligence bind the soul. The soul is like that piece of mirror!”
The four bad companions attack with the weapons of five senses of indulgence and come to conquer man to make him fall into temptation. But when the soul comes in contact with a saint in Satsang, in Holy Fellowship he realizes that those worldly delights are illusory and God alone is truth. This fight constantly goes on in all individuals. When four bad companions have the upper hand the individual falls prey to the pleasures of senses and is ruined. When the power of the saint in Holy fellowship succeeds, the individual is oriented towards the divine, spiritual life and achieves salvation.
Who wins this war? Only that one who seeks the shelter of the Lord.
“Where Krishna , the Master Yogi and where Arjun, the bowman stand
No doubt there are Victory, Morality and Prosperity, I think.”
One who surrenders himself like Arjun to the Lord is sure to succeed in this struggle. Only a perfect devotee can be assured success in this struggle.
“Whatever he plans, he dedicates to Shyam,
The Lord, that Image leads the project to success”.
- Nishkulanand Swami
This battle needs great skill as we have to fight with Mind with the help of Mind. The mind fights Mind and leads to the better self. Where do these four bad companions bad the man? Let the mind be a witness in the search for the Divine. For that one must call to mind the events of the Lord’s life, His icon and image, and contemplate on that. The Intellect should be persuaded to believe that God alone wills to beatitude the sentience should consciously hold before it in meditation the image of the Lord, and the Ego must think of how it is a spark of that great Brahman the Divine Element – Only then will the Inner Self be vanquished. This is a life-long struggle.
The roots of worldly desires have gone down deep
Efforts to uproot them with trick or force will hardly succeed.
- Nishkulanand Swami
The soul is polluted with ignorance from its experiences of the infinite lives in the cycles of births and rebirths. Main force would not succeed in removing this deep-rooted ignorance. Take an example: You want to see a very important person. There is no access. The board at the gate says: “Beware of the Dog” and there is that dangerous guard dog. If you force your entry the dog will attack. But if you call the V.I.P. and establish communication with him, he would ask the dog to keep quiet and you would succeed in seeing the V.I.P. The dog in this parable is the Maya, created by the Lord.
My own eternal aspect in human life becomes a jeeva, a soul,
And keeps under control the Mind and five senses rooted in nature.
- Geeta XV.7
The aspect of godhead leads the mind are the five senses towards godhead but the other gross aspect tempts them and leads them towards indulgence. We should cherish that aspect of God in us and remain cheerful and worship the Lord; and curb those senses which create hindrance in our inclination towards God. “The way of knowledge destroys these baser instincts, and results in Brahman – realization” Vachanamrit Gadhada Middle - 8.
Let the Lord be our centre of life removing darkness of ignorance. In such a pure heart does the Lord Swaminarayan reside!
“Curb your inward enemies
That will lead to Light Within”
Hari Haiyana Haar
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Magniram
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Wednesday, July 07, 2010
The Struggle of the Valiant - 2
Part - 2
Subtle is the story, and few would follow:
I crave to see that Divine Image in my mind
Day by day I strive and struggle in vain,
So far I’m not blessed with His sight.
- Nishkulanand Swami
All men want happiness. Man’s acts of piety or sin have their origin in his desire to be happy. He seeks happiness but the happiness he gets from these acts is only short-lined; the pleasure vanishes in a moment and pain follows.
He, who gets rid of his desires one by one and unites himself in meditation with the Image of the Lord Shree Hari, would always find his life full of happiness, divine joy “Anand”. The Lord is the source of all happiness. The Vedas and the Upanishad describe the Lord as Sat-Chit-Anand – True and Transparent Unclouded Happiness.
Sorrow is defined as separation from the Lord. The world is full of sorrows; the Lord is the source of complete happiness. Sorrows create rift in man between his body and his conscience. Happiness takes him towards his inner self. A man who is an atheist would deny the existence of God but would he able to deny the existence of happiness, joy? Certainly not. That is the proof that God exists.
There are two kinds of believers, theists, in this world. One kind seeks happiness in the objects of pleasure that this world offers. The other kind seeks happiness in the spiritual bliss. One who is an atheist is really a theist in his relation with the world! But when he comes to realize that the joys he seeks are evanescent and they are followed by sorrows and miseries he would lose his faith in the world. Thus, his only inclination would be towards the Lord Shree Hari. Everyone knows that Lord Shree Hari is the true source of happiness but he is precluded from achieving this happiness because he is misguided by four enemies, Mana that is mind, Buddhi that is intellect, Chitt that is consciousness and Ahamkar that is self-consciousness.
These four are your bad companions,
Mind and ego, intellect and sentience
They will distract you from the vision of the Lord
In your ignorance you think them your friends
But truly they are your secret enemies
You are cheated by these your intimate friends.
- Nishkulanand Swami
There were two friends who decided to go on a pleasure trip on a moonlit night. They took intoxicating drinks before they reached their boat on anchor at river. They went on paddling their boat all night long. They thought they were making progress. Tired of paddling and under the influence of drinks they fell asleep. It was dawn. Sweet breezes from the river woke them up. They looked around and saw that still they were at the same strand where they started. There was no progress at all during their night of hard rowing. Here in this parable the intoxicating drink stands for the ignorance of sins of previous births. The morning breeze that awoke them is symbol of the meeting of a true saint, a divine guide. This vast ocean of life can be traversed only by those who have conquered their ignorance, are awakened by the divine grace and are ready to row their boat to their destination.
Here I quote the words of Shreeji Maharaj from Vachanamrit – Panchala 3: “See the way the English deal with the criminal. They arrest him and make him stand in the cage before the judge. He is tied up before he is interrogated. They don’t have him free, lest he should run away. They don’t trust him. The same should be our approach to our senses. We should hold them in the cage of the Five Rules of Religious Practice and hold them in bondage. Don’t ever trust your senses and allow them to roam about free. You must always hold your senses as suspects.”
If the inner self has no occupation then the Mind should direct all its attention to the divine Way of Life led by the Lord Shree Hari. The Intellect should be pressed into the contemplation of the Divine Form. The sentience should be made to meditate on the life of the Lord Shree Hari. The Ahamkar should be pressed to be a humble devotee of the Lord Shree Hari and advised to assume that the self is also a part of the Divine Self.
Thus, these four should be pressed in the service – Bhakti, of the Lord Shree Hari. This approach gives happiness of the Sight of the Divine Form of the Lord and makes us touch the Divine. If these four intimates mislead us into the temptation of the worldly pleasures, we would be ruined. They must be made helpmates to meet the Lord Shree Hari. It is, those four bad companions, our enemies within who hinder us from being one with our Lord and Master. If we follow where they lead we would not be able to participate in Life Divine. Mere outward worship is nothing but rowing the anchored boat that does not move.
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