Part 6 - Why other methods fail?

Nanyah Panthah Vidyate Anayaya
There is no other way!

WHO AM I?

WHERE DID I COME FROM?

WHERE WILL I GO?

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS LIFE?

Answers to these fundamental questions cannot be written in form of an essay, that you mug up and you are done! These need to be realized through all your senses and the master controller - the mind so that you grasp it fully. To talk in Vedic language. this entire life has the sole purpose of helping us seek answers to these fundamental questions, and through that achieve ultimate bliss.

To the uninitiated, the mere reference to these questions might increase the heart-beats, and even cause a sense of fear or depression. After  all we all admit that the entire human life and all our activities are in a way, an attempt to ignore this fear of death. Our mind rebels at the very thought of death - that everything shall end one day - no senses, no feelings, nothing…and forever! And yet we know that if there is one certain things about life, it is death. We tend to ignore this feeling, we tend to ignore our soul, when suddenly in middle of everything, it shouts that "one day this shall come to end.. a blank end!". We then distract ourselves, get busy in our career, activities, entertainment etc etc. We try to desensitize ourselves to these questions. But they still exist.

Science has progressed a lot in terms of the number of toys it has produced and theories it has developed to understand these toys. But the progress of modern science has been an absolute zero when it comes to these most fundamental questions. In its frustration, it claims that anything that its instruments cannot detect does not exist! Yet, it admits that the most fundamental questions that started this journey of exploration still remain equally unanswered and it has no clue on how they can be unanswered.

Do you know why most self-help programs fail? (I came to know that the noted founder of NLP - Neuro Linguistic Patterning - that claims to change attitudes and beliefs in matter of minutes himself was a drug abuser fighting depression till last known! ) The reason that these programs fail is that they want you to get motivated and inspired but fail to understand and explain WHY? The human mind, when it knows that despite all great successes, highest levels of motivation, enthusiasm, charisma, blah blah…one day the show shall come to a dead end; it reasons - why the hell should I bother to change when no change is permanent? When it all appears so purposeless, the mind tends to stick to the directions it has already undertaken. The motivation to self-help ceases to exist in wake of an impending end of everything that is definite.

One gets into spiritualism to seek answers to these questions. There are momentary moments of happiness when one reads about stories of Heaven, Hell, Lord, Prophet, Avatars, etc. This is so soothing and relaxing. We tend to stick with these and dwell deeper and deeper. "No!", the mind decides, "I shall analyze no further. This has to be the answer because I can no more tolerate the questions can shake me to end!". But the questions remain. The loopholes in the fantastic stories of miracles are amply evident to the mind. It knows that it has never seen a single miracle ever and has only heard stories about it. Yet the solution to these puzzling questions lie only in blind belief in these miraculous assumptions that have never ever happened in life! The soul rebels somewhere, "Hey! This seems to be not true? Get better answers!". And mind replies, "Shut up!". When sound of soul becomes louder, we drown it into the hymns, songs of faith, recitations, etc etc - whatever way we can. Thus the business of spiritualism flourishes! And we remain the scapegoats with these unanswered questions.

Vedas succeed where all these approaches fail. It provides such a scientific framework to address these questions that once this is in place, there is no way that any form of fear or doubt can even touch upon us. As we analyze and explore these questions further, with the Vedic toolkit, the doubts start vanishing, motivation starts emerging from the core, enthusiasm becomes our fundamental nature and we are able to enjoy the present and look ahead in future with a level of bliss that was never possible so far. And as we progress this keeps increasing. The very process of seeking these answers becomes a source of permanent happiness that we had been seeking so far!

It does not remain a mechanical process like NLP, it does not demand blind belief in any stories or miracles, it does not demand shutting down the analytical brain. On contrary, it is so intuitive, so much in sync with our true nature and so logical that its a part of our own self. And hence we no more require any further self-help of any sort. Vedas say that the entire knowledge of Vedas is already within you. What is means is that the Vedic knowledge appears as if it were you who gave the answers. There is no external imposition required anymore. It all comes from within. And that is why it works! That is why it is the only approach that works!

We shall discover the answers very soon.

By the way, don't worry - Vedas prove that we can never die, because we define the very opposite of death…forever!

Part 5 - The Third Principle

The natural doubt that comes by now is that scope of knowledge is virtually infinite in expanse and depth. Even terrorists learn a lot, thieves learn a lot. We cannot stop learning even for a moment until our sense organs are active and mind is working. Each sensory input processed by the brain is a new learning. Thus learning and knowledge acquisition is already a natural process. Does it then mean that I should keep learning every other thing, which is already the default process and will that keep giving me more and more bliss?

The answer is both yes and no. The very mechanics of acquiring new skills or knowledge does provide bliss, regardless of what it is, so far the mind is trained to aspire for it. More actively you pursue it, and more the bliss. However, our goal is to reach ultimate bliss. So unless the knowledge acquired lead us further to the highway of ultimate bliss, we may be wasting our time. And any form of wastage again brings the forces of death and sorrow to fore. Put simply, not all methods and forms of knowledge acquisition lead us to highway.

This is like the game of 'Prince of Persia' that we used to play in the nineties. The Prince is trapped in a labyrinth and has to come out its different levels within thirty minutes and defeat the vizier who has kidnapped the princess. Now its a fun fighting with the guards and defeating them. Its also a fun jumping around and breaking walls and ceiling around, drinking magic potions and roaming about. But time is limited. So one has to smartly optimize his efforts and defeat only those guards, and move only in those alleys that lead to the goal. Now this game is a gross simplification of the real-game that we are playing. But the lesson is amply clear - act with a sense of direction.

The entire Vedas are a guidebook to help us in this game. As we shall understand the fundamental concepts, the direction would become clearer. But to summarize the suspense ahead - we all are intrigued by certain fundamental questions. Science, religion, philosophy - all seem to be attempts to answer them. None are able to answer them adequately. However they do seem to refute several assumptions made by each of them. Vedas provide a clue to them and lay a framework to seek these answers - a very scientific and logical framework indeed, and leave the rest for our own exploration.

The Vedic message is clear - the purpose of life is to seek answers to these fundamental questions and the state of ultimate bliss shall come the moment we are able to realize these answers.

The Basic question is only one.

The rest are mere expansions of this basic question. And the process of exploration of answers to these questions form the direction of our knowledge seeking. Anything and everything that leads us to answers to these questions is towards the path of bliss. Everything else is a waste of time and move towards sorrow and death.

So this is the basic question:
WHO AM I?

And the associated fundamental questions are:
WHERE DID I COME FROM?
WHERE WILL I GO?
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS LIFE?

Part 4 - The Corollary

Knowledge is multi-dimensional

When we refer to knowledge or process of reaching truth, we should understand that we do not imply mere mugging of books and memorization of facts. There is a whole science in Vedas on what is meant by knowledge and various forms of acquiring it. But to put things in simple perspective, truth means knowing something the way it is. And knowledge is the process leading towards it. This is a multidimensional approach.

The toolkit with us to acquire knowledge is 6 fold - 5 senses (eyes, ears, nose, skin, tongue) and its controller - the mind. The toolkit for us to experiment with knowledge is again our body (hands, legs, speech etc) and its controller - the mind again. The mind is supported  by the hard disk or the brain cells where we store and retrieve information. All these tools should be used maximally for acquisition of knowledge.

In Vedic parlance, it is supposed to be done through a three-fold approach - Knowledge, Action and Contemplation. Knowledge here means input of information through five senses and mind. Action implies use of our body and mind to implement this knowledge as output. Contemplation means analysis of input and output to derive distilled lessons. All the three should go hand in hand. And simultaneously, the efforts to keep the toolkit well-maintained should also go hand in hand. In fact this effort towards maintenance of the toolkit is another means of expanding knowledge.

Thus we can well understand that this knowledge spans across all our senses and organs and hence is truly multi-dimensional. And unless a multidimensional approach is undertaken, our efforts of knowledge acquisition and hence bliss maximization would remain incomplete. Further, this has to be undertaken in most objective manner. There is no place for blind beliefs and unreasoned assumptions in the Vedic dharma.

Part 3 - The Second Principle

Indram Vardhanto Apturah
May we enhance our strength and progress!

This brings us to the second fundamental principle of Vedic philosophy - Life means growth. So far we are growing, we are working in sync with life forces. The moment we cease to grow, we are in hands of forces of death. Now this principle coupled with the first principle implies that bliss can be maximized by maximizing our growth. The moment we limit our knowledge or understanding of truth, we limit our level of bliss. We abandon the opportunity for further bliss.  We enjoy illusion and ignorance, because we consider them as truth, and hence acquire limited bliss from them. But if we have to increase our bliss further, we need to enhance our knowledge further, break the shackles of illusion and ignorance, and extract more bliss. This is an ongoing journey in life, and the only natural way to live - healthy and blissfully.

The moment we stagnate, the moment we stop this process of knowledge enhancement, or try to put limits to it, or try to reverse it, we are working against our basic nature. To put metaphorically, we are digging our own graves. In pursuit of momentary bliss, we are forcing ourselves into the dark pit of frustration, tension, sorrow and grief. It is impossible to restrict the nature. So this urge for growth channelizes into all sorts of areas - some very undesirable, some less undesirable and some simply self-defeating. Thus we see so much of terrorism, warfare, drugs abuse, pornography, wasteful living, addictions, psychopathy all around. These are nothing but manifestations of attempts made by soul to cope up with this force to nature that demands us to grow, progress and come closer to truth.

An average soul spends bulk of its life tackling this urge for growth, without understanding the source of problem, and keeps fighting throughout the life in a variety of forms. Sometimes it will drown itself into various variants of ignorance and bliss, sometimes it will try to express itself through regressive means, sometimes it will indulge into sensual pleasures that numb the senses, sometimes it will tend to progress further and then again reverse the direction due to other compulsions. And finally when mortal death takes over, the story is over.

Normally, we tend to believe that phase of growth ends with completion of our physiological growth (growth of body). It is approximately then that our education also ends. And we continue living in illusion that phase of growth is over. However, if you have studied a bit about the human brain, you would realize that it is the most complex system known to us in the entire universe. We hardly know anything about human brain and how it works. But from whatever we know, the potential of human brain to learn, acquire skills, and gain knowledge is virtually limitless. And we also know that brain is like other muscles. The more you use it, stronger it becomes. Stop using it, and you are leading yourself towards dementia. This provides the greatest clue towards purpose of our life..or direction of our life - to grow further, know further and reach closer to truth.

Part 2 - The First Principle

Idam aham anritaat satyam upaimi
I shall move away from falsehood towards truth=bliss!

The very first principle of Vedic philosophy is that truth and bliss are synonymous. The root 'Sat' is used to denote truth as in "Satya" and also bliss as in "Sadgati". This forms the core foundation of the entire Vedic framework. In fact, this search for bliss through discovery of truth defines the most essential trait of human life. The entire progress of science and attempts made by human beings to know the world better is driven by this urge to achieve bliss through truth. This defines our humanness. In Sanskrit, humans are called Manushya, which literally means 'one who can analyze or evaluate truth'.

Now, often we see that illusions and ignorance also bring bliss. The entire entertainment industry and even most of the cults thrive on gaining by providing bliss to masses through illusion and ignorance. This seems to contradict the principle of 'truth' and 'bliss' being synonymous. In fact this has led to many a philosophers to believe that bliss is merely a matter of perception and one cannot assess the same on parameter of true or false; right or wrong. And from a restricted standpoint, they are right as well. We shall be able to address this apparent paradox subsequently as we learn about some more fundamental principles of Vedic philosophy.

But to provide some hints, consider the fact that truth and bliss do not represent absolute points. They represent a journey…a path of progress..a process. Thus technically knowledge is another term to define the process that leads us to truth. To simplify, we can treat them as synonymous.

We enjoy apparent illusions because while we are enjoying them, we consider them as truth, based on our limited understanding and capabilities. So far an illusion appears to be true, or ignorance appears to be knowledge, we tend to enjoy them. But as our knowledge and understanding increases, we are no more able to enjoy what was bliss yesterday. We no longer enjoy putting fingers in switch-boards that we used to do when we were infants, simply because new knowledge has dawned upon us. Even the food we used to enjoy as children are not the ones we enjoy as grown-up adults. Our food preferences change, our reading habits change, our hobbies change, our aspirations change - all because we now possess more knowledge. And hence only those things that provide us bliss suited to our enhanced knowledge levels are the ones that provide us bliss.

Now also consider the fact that the same level of bliss provided again and again makes us bore again. Thus the same tasty gulabjamun eaten again and again seems to degrade the level of happiness we are able to derive from its taste. We now need a change. We want to grow now. The small infant had had enough of blabbering lying in the couch. It now wants to stand up and try to walk. It wants to explore more. And it shall do that regardless of the number of times it falls down or gets hurt. It shall simply not give up until it is able to stand up, walk, run and jump. The basic nature of soul is in full steam in a child - in its urge to grow and progress.

Part 1 - Vedic Self-Help

Sanatan literally means eternal.
Dharma means something worth being accepted.
And Ved means knowledge.

So in essence, Vedic Dharma or Sanatan Dharma refers to those principles or source of knowledge that are eternal, unchangeable and worth being accepted. The source of this knowledge is the 4 Vedas - Rik, Yajuh, Sama and Atharva - which are considered to be existing since dawn of humanity.

This knowledge permeates all branches of knowledge that we are aware of, and are considered the highest levels of refinement that human intellect can aspire to reach.

Before we dwell further into this journey, let me clarify certain things:

a. Vedas are not religious books like Bible, Quran or Avesta. They do not contain description of any rituals or any belief-system that can lead us to either Heaven or Hell. On contrary, they contain pearls of intuitive wisdom that we all can relate to.

b. Vedas do not demand belief in anything as a prerequisite. Instead they simply demand an open mind and a questioning attitude.

c. Vedas do not relate to any particular society, religion, nation or culture. Vedas were revealed during a period when entire humanity was one race, one society, one culture and one nation. And hence the Vedic message would be free from any such restrictive biases.

As you shall discover, this Vedic self-help course does not even require faith in Vedas to start with. Significance of Vedas comes as a conclusion of this journey of analysis, and not as a starting assumption. This is like studying physics, where formulae are derived from basic observations and we use textbook to put the things in proper framework.

Being so vast and deep in scope, to a beginner, understanding of Vedas poses several challenges. One hears of quite conflicting and often confusing concepts regarding Vedas. This is especially true in today's scenario when the traditional system of understanding Vedas has almost completely broken down due to a long era of darkness and foreign rule in India, the place where this knowledge was preserved since ages.

The purpose of this series of lectures is to bring forth the fundamental concepts of Vedas in a lucid manner without getting into too much of technical details and help develop the basic framework for further explorations. And in process help develop the right perspectives on Vedas. As you will understand in process, this will help develop new perspectives for your own life that would bring the changes you always desired.

Intended Audience
This series would be useful for the layman, not quite adept in Vedic subjects to understand the most fundamental concepts of Vedas. It assumes no prior background except an inclination towards a scientific and objective approach towards life and living, and an ambition to maximize purposefulness and happiness in life.

However it would also be useful for more advanced students of Vedas to put their knowledge in a framework, fill specific gaps and consolidate on their existing learning. The intended audience is the youth of today, who finds an urge to associate with our great heritage, has a passion to do something purposeful with her or his life

Intended Results
This course is not supposed to be merely academic discussions. Plethora of material is available and hundreds of researchers are doing their doctorates and post-doctorates in this field.

The expected results from study of this series however would be a paradigm shift in his or her thought patterns, and an absolute guarantee that regardless of the situations, pressures and compulsions of life, one is still able to enjoy and live life to fullest.

This course promises to be a vaccination against tension, depression, frustration, exhaustion and purposelessness. If one commits 100% to study of this series, I can promise that this would be the only self-help course that he or she would ever need. The rest of the life would then be an exhilarating journey to maximize this state of bliss by exploring this first knowledge of Vedas even further - in thoughts, words and actions - through study, analysis and execution. All you need to do is to keep an open mind, and enjoy the journey towards success!

In this first part, we shall understand the very basic concepts. We shall not go into actual mantras and references here, to ensure that the things are simple and easy for everyone. However for the more academic minded, we shall provide a list of references later that they can consult and discover further details.

Typically discussions on such topics focus more on microscopic scrutiny of each letter of what is written. That is a good approach for the academic researchers and to extract points to debate and counter-argue.

But to make it a life-changing experience, its the spirit that matters more. We expect you to go by the spirit of the discussion and understand the essence rather than scrutiny of each letter.

No more wrinkles! RIGHT NOW!

Anti-wrinkle products is a billion dollar industry. Just type anti-wrinkle in google, and you would realize what I mean. Every other advertisement on TV or print would claim to bring yet another revolutionary breakthrough in getting rid of wrinkles. The claims by these marketeers are too irresistible to ignore. After all who does not want a youthful face forever! And this is what makes a P&G or Unilever a global top brand.

Here we will discuss how to stop being fooled by these claims and be able to have a glowing wrinkle-free skin for ages. But before we get into it, let me assert emphatically that 99% of the products produces by FMCG companies - soaps, creams, lotions, shampoos, etc etc - are absolutely trash. Most of them actually harm the body and skin and the best products therein are at best neutral - they neither do any harm nor benefit. And the percentage of these products are again hardly 1%.

Nature is quite wonderful. If it provided us with so marvelous a system that we call body, there is no reason why it would leave maintenance of this system at mercy of factory outputs of a P&G or Unilever. The fact is that nature has gifted us with all resources within or near us, that can keep us looking youth for ages. Some ancient texts of India state that a human remains youth till 70 years. This implies that it is feasible to have a youthful look and energy at least till 70 years. Let us explore in this series, how!

1: Minimize the use of the trash produced by these MNCs. They actually harm your skin. More you avoid them, better. This one step can iron out a lot of wrinkles that you have currently or are destined for in future. If you follow the tips here, you will no more need them - creams, lotions, moisturizers etc. If you are having dry skin, increase water intake and deep breathing even more. Use these MNC products only in case of emergency. Treat them to be as avoidable as you avoid taking antibiotic pills.

2: Drink a lots of water - neither chilled nor hot. Drinking at least 10-15 glass of water daily will keep your skin hydrated and young. Start the day with 1 liter of lukewarm water. This can cure you of hundreds of health problems. Refer to my post http://agniveer.com/top/energy-health/ for more details. In fact all the tips listed their will keep you youthful forever!

3: Avoid constipation at all costs. And the only way to do it is simple, healthy, nutritious food at regular intervals.

4: Do not starve yourself of sleep. Sleep well and wake early.

5: Have a rigorous workout at least twice a week. It should make you sweat profusely. Now simply massage your body with this sweat that comes out after a rigorous workout. Avoid this for first week of starting a workout schedule. But once you are in habit of working out, start this practice to beat the benefits you derive from the most expensive skin-cream in world! Have a good bath later.

6. Ensure you are breathing deeply whenever you can. We shall discuss art of breathing in a subsequent post. One can avoid even heart disease and diabetes simply by correct breathing! Skin care is no different.

7. Perform ardh-mayurasana once a day in empty stomach. Mayurasan is best but those who do not have sufficient balance can do ardh-mayurasan for a minute. You can learn the technique of Mayurasan from any yoga-instructor on google on it. Ardh-mayurasan differs simply in that you can continue to balance the body with legs on ground yet maintaining the same posture for upper torso.

8. Perform three rounds of Sinhasana or Lion Pose daily once. Again google for variety of videos and pictures on it.

7. Perform sarvangasana at least once in 2 days.

8. Avoid massaging your face for more than once in a quarter. Face is best left alone. Facials etc loosen the skin in long run.

9. Replace soap with multani mitti powder. Just make a paste of multani mitti with water and apply all over the body. Wait for few minutes and then wash. If you feel to uncomfortable, use soap every alternate day and multani mitti rest of the days.

Once a while, you can keep the multani mitti over your body for half an hour and allow it to dry. Now wash it for a fresh toning of skin.

10. Perform three rounds of Bahya Pranayam daily twice. This is sure-shot technique for long life. Learn it in http://agniveer.com/top/energy-health/

11. Keep a flexible body. Join martial arts or a stretching class or do it yourself. More the flexible body, more the youthfulness and less the wrinkles.

12. Peform Yajna at least once a day, even for 15 minutes. The heat of yajna, as well as vapor produced has a therapeutic effect on body. Taking few deep breaths some distance away from Yajna will cleanse your body from a lot of toxins. An elderly gentleman living next door is now 99 years old. He has been performing Yajna since early childhood. But even at this age he has a very tight and glowing skin beating many a middle-aged! Read the Science of Agnihotra for more on benefits of Yajna.

13. Say no to tobacco, alcohol, meat and eggs. They eventually enhance your aging process. Be vegetarian, be healthy, be compassionate and be young!

14. Follow Brahmacharya.
Sex and sexual instincts only speed up the journey to death and old age. Just try being a brahmachari for a month (in thoughts, words and actions) and test the results yourself. Read my other posts in health section to have an idea of what Brahmacharya is. Would write on this topic in further detail later.

Please note that sex is glamorized in today's world only for one reason - sex sells. And what sells does not provide solutions! Had they had any clue of solutions, who would keep using the products! In a way its a sex mafia - cartel of FMCG companies, media, entertainment industry etc - whose benefit lies only in the world running after its shadow.

Truth is that good health, youth, happiness and all is all just besides you. You just need to turn around from the shadow!

Follow these proven tips from ancient rishis and reverse the aging cycle. We shall discuss some more advanced tips subsequently based on readers' response on this article.

No more dull face. No more wrinkles!

Tested remedy for cataract

Modern medicine treats cataract as an irreversible disease that can be treated only through surgery.  Cataract surgery technology has advanced considerably these days. A patient can resume normal work within a week and without any admission to hospital. The new foldable lenses are also pretty comfortable and safe.

Nonetheless, an artificial lens cannot surpass the gift of nature. For those desiring to reverse their cataract, here is an excellent tested swadeshi remedy. Please note that this may not work in very advanced stages of cataract. But would be definitely effective in most cases. (Kindly take approval from your doctor for any potential rare allergies.)

Take 10g pure honey (honey of small bees is preferable). Mix it with 10g onion juice (white onion preferable). Add 2 g Bhimseni Kapoor (camphor) - This is available in any ayurvedic, yunani, herb shop.

Put this mixture on the affected eye (or both eyes) in same manner as you put kajal. In case camphor is not available, you can use only onion and honey.

If cataract is in initial stage, only pure honey can also suffice.

This is an excellent alternative for those who wish to avoid cataract operation.

Increase your height...RIGHT NOW!!

The soul is beyond the body and hence from this perspective, it is immaterial how tall or short a person is. The true height of a person is his or her character and deeds.

Yet, tall height is a natural ambition of humans. I agree that in current context it is partly because of the glamour associated with tall height. If that were the driver for any urge for height increase, the efforts would defeat the purpose. Because the true purpose for height increase should stem from an earnest desire to achieve as much of our potential as we can. A tall height represents complete growth of the body and hence we should endeavor to achieve that complete growth.

Height does vary from person to person as per his or her genetics, climate and other conditions. Thus blanket comparison of height with others is not a right approach. Instead the correct approach should be to keep as healthy as possible to gain complete growth of body.

I was born as a medium height child. Till age of 17, my height did not grow much. At age of 17, at just above 5 feet, I was among the short students of my class and often ridiculed for being short and thin. Very honestly, at times I did feel humiliated at tended to avoid public company to the extent possible. The matter got worse because I could see many other boys who were shorter than me few years ago now surpassing me.

But for once, I decided to no more rationalize and act as an ostrich. I decided to take my concern heads-on. I changed my complete life-pattern. For next two years, I committed to new patterns and by the time I was nineteen, I was 5’11” and had an extremely flexible and agile body. Today I have a height of above 6 feet.

In this article, I would share those tips that I followed in my height transformation process. I am sure these will benefit one and all in achieving their maximum potential:

Tip 1: Mind Power

Our body responds to our thoughts. As per our thought patterns, appropriate hormones are secreted and physiological changes happen accordingly. Positive thoughts reverse ageing process and improve health. Negative thoughts accelerate ageing process and stunt growth. Thus first critical step for height gain is to reprogram your thought patterns. Not only it will help you increase height, but also bring benefits in all areas of your life. To me, it made me a diligent person that helped me get admission in IIT. Here are specific suggestions on mind programming for height-gain:

1. Refuse to accept that you are born unhealthy and short. Visualize yourself as having the most perfect health and live every moment in that vision.


2. Stop compromising on matters of quality. Keep demanding as much as you can think of, from yourself.


3. Imagine that your height is increasing every moment with every movement of yours.


4. Stop traits of anger, helplessness and dejection.

Remember that will power is the key. Once you get a good grasp on it, rest would work automatically. If you try out these tips without strong will-power, it would never work. This secret gets you everything you want in life.

Tip 2: Food

Simply stop junk, fried, spicy and oily food. I cannot stress further the importance of simple, nutritious, healthy food. Our body is made out of food we eat. We grow from a baby of few inches to a full-grown adult only through food we eat. Food is the raw material used to build our building that we call body. How can you expect a strong building to be built if you use inferior raw material from junkyard?

Following are certain recommendations that have helped me:

1. Eating at least two hours before sleep


2. Having a light dinner


3. Regular consumption of sprouts


4. Having regular eating schedule and avoiding habit of munching every now and then


5. Avoiding consumption of tea, coffee, cold-drinks, ice-cream, chocolates etc


6. Regular use of trifala powder in night or early morning


7. Eating lots of fresh fruits


8. Drinking lots of water


9. Walking for 10-15 minutes after meals


10. Eating soaked almonds in morning. The gulbandi variety is best.


11. Eating in sukhasan. This posture is a wonderful gift of our ancient seers.

Tip 3: Exercise

Human body is built to work hard and live actively. More we avoid physical labor, more we become prone to underdevelopment, faster ageing and ailments. Make a habit of doing rigorous workouts at least thrice a week and normal exercises in rest of the days.

My routine in those days was as follows:

1. Waking up by 5 am and having a variety of workouts till 8 am. These included mix and match of following:

• Running and jogging


• Flexibility and stretching


• Martial Arts practice


• Asans and Pranayams


• Meditation

1. In evening I used to go for Taekwondo exercises thrice a week. The practice of high kicks is extremely beneficial


2. On Sundays, we used to go to play cricket

This active routine worked wonders on my body and activity.

Would request all health-seekers to join taekwondo lessons close-by. Taekwondo differs from other martial arts. In taekwondo, emphasis is on high kicks and free stretching which helps body grow. In many other martial arts, focus is on restricting body movements within a small region. Thus it seems to restrict height of a person.

Similarly weight-training should be avoided for first 20 years of life. That should be replaced with free hand exercises like pushups.

Many claim that Yogasan can help increase height. I even saw a video on it by a celebrated hathayogi. He gave a passionate speech in the video that seemed to showcase short height as source of all miseries and inferiority complex. Ironically the hathayoga guru himself appeared not more than five and a half feet!

The fact is that hathayoga is being overemphasized bit too much these days and its benefits are being over-inflated as a marketing gimmick. Certain asans do benefit but in essence it’s the overall package of healthy lifestyle which is effective. Replace these hathasans with any kind of aerobic physical activity and results would be exactly the same. Perhaps even more!

Having said this, certain postures are quite useful for height growth. These should be added in one’s fitness routine – chakrasana, halasana, sarvangasana, pashchimatanasana, pavanmuktasana, hastapadasana, mayurasana. Among Pranayams, the only pranayams I have found to be truly effective are Bahya Pranayam, Abhyantara and Chaturtha Pranayama. These provide all the benefits that are claimed from variety of breathing practices like Anulom Vilom, Bhastrika etc. These pranayams with rigorous cardio in open air gives all the benefit you desire from a fitness regime.

Do ensure that you develop a habit of deep breathing. We shall discuss the art of deep breathing in a separate article.

Tip 4: Miscellaneous

1. Sleep well. More you work out, more the rest required by your body. Especially for growth, you should ensure that you do not deprive your body from much needed rest.


2. Sleep early. Work so hard in the day that you tend to fall asleep by 10 pm. Wake up by 5 or 6 depending upon your comfort. I prefer varying the waking time as per my body needs. Avoid late night sittings.


3. Keep spine straight


4. While standing, try to stretch your entire body up. At times come on your toes for a full stretch. You can even raise your hands for a fuller stretch. In more formal occasions, you can stand normally and yet try stretching your entire body without raising your toes. Keep doing it every now and then. If you are in a bus, try if you can stretch up without coming on toes and touch the ceiling with head.


5. Do not settle in one static position for long. Keep moving and changing postures. Remain active and give body a small workout every moment.

Tip 5: Brahmachraya (Control of mind)

Needless to say, all of this works only with a perfect control over mind. Make a habit of challenging your mind with even more control every moment. Once mind is mastered, the world will be at your feet, height is a petty thing.

To develop this mastery and realize what the real fun of life is, following is advised. More you practice, more you gain:

1. Stop putting your mind in all form of sensory inputs that tend to promote lustful thought patterns – romantic/vulgar songs, movies, literature, company. These generate hormones which speed up the ageing process and stunt complete natural growth.


2. Stop watching the idiot box. Apart from dumbing the mind, it makes your breath shallow and hence causes stunted growth.


3. Similarly avoid video games, ipods and other mind-dumbing tools.


4. Stop digging too much into stale newspaper. Use it only for keeping you updated. Filling your mind with depressing stories of past, the first thing in morning, is the worst treatment you can give to yourself who is naturally programmed to be always forward looking.


5. Prepare actionable plans. Avoid discussions and analyses which have no relevance to practical application and are merely time-wasters.


6. Needless to say, avoid all acts which lead to loss of vital energy and semen.

We shall discuss the subject of Brahmacharya in detail in another article and dispel certain myths surrounding the subject. Brahmacharya is the greatest potential remedy for all humans living today and needs a right, relevant and correct representation.

Please share your feedback with these practices. They should start giving results in a few months. Apart from a full body growth, you would also gain a healthy body and confident attitude.

Stretch to your fullest potential!

Incredible energy and perfect health

Tiredness has become an epidemic. Most people feel exhausted every few hours. And thus the billion-dollar industry of stimulants runs to give us the fuel we feel deprived of. Be it tea, coffee, Red-bull, sports drinks, etc etc, they all are required not for taste or health, but to keep us charged.

Just think about the fact that tea or coffee is hardly a century or two old for most parts of the world. Humans had a much tougher life before that and yet never felt need of these stimulants. Please understand that these addictions are merely marketing gimmicks. The commercial mafia thrives and grows only if we are dumb, sick and addicted to them. The marketing frauds will want us to believe in all the rubbish that they produce and would use every moment of our attention to hoodwink us – TV, Newspaper, ads, billboards, music, radio etc etc.

However, here are some excellent tips for you to stay charged throughout the day without taking recourse to these stimulants which only make to addicted and race you faster to old age. They include both do’s and don’ts. Try them at least for 2 weeks and see the change. Use whatever tips you feel is feasible for you right now and share your feedback with us all.

If you find these effective, share the good word around and help others get rid of marketing trap as well.

Some of these tips may sound too simple or insignificant But proof of taste is in its eating. Test out yourself.

Water

1. Drink lots and lots of plain water (unless you have a medical condition that prohibits you from it). Make sure water is not chilled and near body temperature. Drink at least 2 liters of water in the day. Avoid water for an hour before and after meals.


2. Do not drink water during meals. If you feel dry in throat, you can sip in not more than a quarter glass of water in total.


3. Drink one liter of water the first thing in morning. This is separate from the 2 liters you should drink during the day. Drink it before doing for toilet. Resist the urge till you are done with a liter of water.
   
   For better results, you can make water slightly lukewarm. Add a pinch of lemon or honey if it suits you.


4. Do not drink lots of water in the last hour of your going to bed.

TV

1. Just stop watching the idiot box. Its not only idiot but dangerous as well. The less TV you watch more energetic and smarter you would feel. Optimize accordingly.


2. Make a rule not to watch TV for at least 2 hours before sleep and 4 hour after waking up. This is worst-case scenario. More you watch TV nearer to your time to bed, closer you approach your agedness. Go to sleep while watching TV only if you hate yourself!


3. Even if you have to watch TV, avoid shifting channels. The flicker dumbs mind and increases tiredness.


4. Ensure you take frequent breaks from gazing the screen. Do not be glued to the screen.

Sleep

1. Take sufficient sleep


2. Do not change sleep timings frequently.


3. Do not sleep under high-speed fan. Lower the fan speed


4. Avoid sleeping in chilled environment. Fresh air is best. But in case you need to sleep in air-conditioner, set the temperature not below 27-28 degree Celsius.


5. Meditate for 10 minutes before sleep. First sit in lotus position and take few deep breaths. Then give yourself positive vibes. Make positive resolutions. Thank God and meditate for a while. We shall discuss the art of meditation in a subsequent post. Then go to sleep.


6. Do not sleep straight on back or stomach. Always sleep on one side.


7. Do not fold your legs tightly while sleeping. Keep body relaxed and straight.


8. Avoid sleeping in the daytime. If you are drowsy or tired, a 20-minute nap after an hour of lunch is sufficient.


9. Make a habit of thanking God for another opportunity to make good efforts, the first thing when you wake up.

Food

1. Say no to spicy, oily, rotten, dirty food.


2. Avoid meat and egg. They are not food for those who seek bliss in life.


3. Do not drink cold drinks, packaged drinks, packaged food, bakery products, chocolates and any artificial food, unless its for prevention of death.


4. Eat non-spicy, simple, natural nutritious food.


5. Make habit of taking few grams of trifala powder daily once with water, either in night or morning


6. Eat sprouts every morning in breakfast


7. Try sucking a piece of ‘Baal Harad’ (Small Harad) after food. It is a great digestive and reverses ageing process


8. Say no to tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, narcotics etc. Your body simply does not need it. In few days, you will realize how much more energetic you actually deserve to be, when you replace these unnecessary stuff with tips listed here and in subsequent postings.

Food is a deep subject. Would write more on it in subsequent posts.

Miscellaneous

1. There is no parallel to Brahmacharya. Put simply, it means avoiding even the thought of lust or sex in any form –subtle or coarse. For the western society, it may seem that this would rob away all happiness from life.
   
   The truth is completely opposite. Only when you stop feeding yourself with junk, can nectar be served to you. The mere practice of trying to control the mind from various attacks of sensuality is an energizing process. There is a saying that its easy to show valour in one-off war. But one who controls his senses for 24 hours, 365 days relentlessly is the true warrior.

Practice Brahmacharya and get following benefits:

-       inexhaustible source of energy

-       warrior like attitude

-       long disease free life

-       sense of purpose and direction

-       ultimate happiness and bliss

Each of these claims can be tested within merely a month of disciplined practice in this direction. The marketing fraudsters may try to tell you that sex and wine is good. They are not wrong. Its good for them if you are dumb and diseased!

1. Keep your spine straight throughout. A stooping posture makes you lose energy


2. Do exercise regularly. There are various forms of exercise, and you can choose, mix and match most. We will discuss it in further details in subsequent articles.


3. Avoid use of mobile phones, earphones and ipods to extent possible. They are worst drainers of energy these days.


4. Avoid listening to noisy music. Spend time listening to music within. More on this later.


5. Dream big, plan big and put big efforts. Seek knowledge of life, its purpose, mission, desperately. Nothing is more energizing.


6. Smile a lot


7. Understand that death is not the end. It’s the beginning. This life is an opportunity to prepare for that beginning.

Do provide feedback after you test these out. Will keep writing more on these aspects in subsequent posts.

Enjoy inexhaustible source of energy every moment of life!

Turmeric for healthy teeth...lifelong

I need not reemphasize the importance of teeth except that once you lose it, you can never regain it. I am sure you have already read Simple tips for healthy teeth. If not, read it right now here and prevent those depressing visits to dentists and fear of losing what cannot be regained. You must have also gone through the rock-salt formula, which is unparalleled in dental treatments for almost all problems. An alternative or supplement to this proven technique is use of Turmeric or Haldi.

Those who cannot obtain good quality rock salt, can replace it with turmeric powder or haldi. There are two ways of using turmeric for better and stronger teeth:

a. Simply replace rock salt with turmeric powder and follow the method provided in the article Get back your teeth. Thus mix turmeric with mustard oil and massage your teeth and gum. Spit and rinse mouth after around 15 minutes.

b. Another technique is to use finely grained turmeric powder directly. In case you are not sure of quality of mustard oil, this is safer. Simply skip use of mustard oil and apply turmeric powder on teeth in same manner as you clean your teeth with tooth-powder. Please read the technique which is mentioned in Tip No 11 in this article.

I have tried use of both rock-salt and turmeric with exceptional results. Often, I would use rock-salt formula in morning and turmeric formula in night before sleep.

You can also try out the same and share your feedback with all!

Someone said:
Some tortures are physical
And some are mental,
But the one that is both
Is dental.

Amazing remedy for teeth problems

Dental problems are among the biggest health hazards of modern times. So severe is its impact that even insurance companies avoid covering it in normal course.

This remedy is more effective than the most expensive treatment that your dentist may have planned for your dental problems like tooth decay, loosening of teeth, inflammation of gum, toothache, pyorrhea etc. This is the most effective formula to keep your teeth healthy and intact forever.

Take 2 grams of finely grained rock salt (called saindha namak in India). Mix it well with 8-10 gram mustard oil (called sarson ka tel in India). Apply this paste over your teeth and gum. Massage your teeth and gum lightly with fingers. Spit out and wash your mouth with plain water after 15 minutes.

This should be performed once a day. There may be bleeding initially which should stop in a few days. In a matter of 2 weeks you would observe improvements in your dental health. This is a safe practice for one to continue lifelong. This would ensure that you never have any dental problems.

Simple tips for healthy teeth

Dental treatments are among the most expensive in modern era. These simple tips will ensure that you save your valuable time, money and energy from combating dental problems. If you are already suffering from dental ailments, these can help you reverse the same. These age-old proven tips from India can put the best of dentists in awe. Follow it for a few weeks to test yourself.

Please note that some of these tips also relate to general health. So once you start following them, you will find difference in overall health apart from stronger teeth.

1. Drink lots of water. At least 2 liters are recommended unless you have any medical constraints.
2. Avoid chilled water. Water at near body temperature is best.
3. Do not consume frozen food or cold fluids immediately after hot food.
4. Do not swallow food. Chew it until is becomes a paste.
5. Do not gulp water or other fluids. Rinse each sip gradually in mouth and then slowly sip in.
6. Ensure that mouth is tightly closed and jaws tightly clenched while urination or excretion. This single practice can bring wonders to your teeth health.
7. Wash your mouth after every meal. The right method of washing is to use your index or middle finger to massage the teeth and clear any remnants of food in mouth.
8. Avoid consumption of soft or rubbery foods like chocolates, pizza, chewing gum etc. Some claim that chewing gum helps exercise gum. The next point lists a better and sure-shot method for strong teeth.
9. Develop a habit of cleaning your teeth and gum with tongue every now and them. Imagine as if the tongue is a broom.
10. Needless to say, cleaning of teeth twice a day is a must. At least once a day is inexcusable.
11. The best way to clean teeth is by using any fine Ayurvedic tooth powder. Most tooth-pastes are marketing gimmicks focusing more on flavor and color than dental health. Use tooth powder and use your index or middle finger for cleaning teeth. No toothbrush can match the maneuverability and effectiveness of finger. Make sure you have a habit of cleaning your hands regularly with soap. The procedure is as follows (for a right-handed person): put some tooth powder on left palm. Slightly wet your right index or middle finger. Now touch this finger over the tooth powder on left hand. The powder will stick to the finger. Put it in mouth and use it as a tooth brush. Do focus on massaging the jaws. Repeat it until the tooth powder on left hands is over. Keep the powder in mouth for few minutes. You can wash your hands and finish off other tasks meanwhile. Then clean your teeth with plain water as usual.
12. The rock salt formula is extremely effective. You can do it in night, at least once in 2 days. If you have time, you can do it in morning or night and follow it up with normal tooth powder cleaning. Read about this formula here: Get back your teeth
13. Ensure that the first thing you do after waking up in morning is to rinse your mouth and consume at least a litre of lukewarm water slowly. Resist the urge for urination or excretion until you complete this.
14. Avoid dental-cleaning and whitening treatments. Try these tips before deciding for tooth removal.

Would keep adding more tips. The tips provided above can ensure that you will never ever need to visit a dentist in life! Congratulations!

5 - Summary was clear

The bout was gone, but summary was clear - Everything that I know till date is merely an inconsequential hoax. A sham or a sheer useless object when it comes to solving the most fundamental mystery - of life and death. Everything around that I knew so far seemed like mere illusions of castles in empty air - having no foundation, no base whatsoever. They offer you everything except what you actually want.

They all are so temporary and want you to keep busy for today alone. The religions of the worlds would say, "Just follow what our holy books or gurus or prophets say, and leave the worry of after-death era to us. We will take care of that. You merely concentrate on what you need to do today."

The commercial mafia would say, "Hey, have this product or that service. Enjoy the present. Nothing else needs to be even thought of."

The political mafia would say, "Just vote for us, we will give you food, water, reservation, facilities etc. We will make your life a heaven."

The social-service mafia would say, " Give us donation, Help this poor, Protest this act of government, Join our seminar, Do good for society the way we say, and that will give you inner happiness."

In the end, all turn out to be sheer marketers trying to sell the offerings that they have and get what they perceive to be valuable in return. But their domain of offering and receiving is only limited to next few years that you will exist on this planet earth. The religion mafia will try to address the after-life problem though. But only through hollow promise and fraudulent logic - "Leave logic aside in domain of religion. Just believe what we say or be cursed!"

Thus, the bouts will continue to come and the only solution seems to be fooled by any of the mafia and live like an ostrich that digs its head into the ground to escape the coming danger. It's a different matter that even these mafias are fooling themselves like the ostrich.

I tried to take my fear heads-on. But my dismal failures ensured that the ostrich would soon return. But then these bouts forced my head out of the ground and brought me face to face with that which just cannot be avoided in any circumstance.

My study of religions and philosophy only made matters difficult for me. Modern science had the advantage of things being presented with plenty of evidences and analysis. But this was a different domain all together. Here you need to simply believe certain words without any arguments. Typically all religious books had same pattern - lots of stories, lots of description of sins and righteousness, lots of description of super powers of their guru or prophet, lots of description of afterlife advantages and disadvantages of following or not following their cult and then same usual stuff of keeping logic aside in matters of faith. There were variations though but the fundamental question was very tactfully sidelined in every one of them. They would talk great things and tactfully mix their own agenda somewhere in between without giving any reason or logic whatsoever.

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4 - What do I do

Once again, I found all the habitual enjoyments and everything I am doing or plan to do in near term as completely inconsequential.

I am blank again. I do not know what is right and what is wrong. I feel suffocating. I do not know what to do. My mind is no more working. O God, save me from this death. I do not want to die. God, help me. But does God actually exist? Whom am I praying to? I am all alone?

Where have I got trapped? If death was so certain, why the hell did I take birth in first place? Where was I before by date of birth or nine months before that? Everything is so fraudulent! Every theory is full of only loopholes! All religions are hoax! They claim solution to this problem and fool people. But how can they be true? If Quran is true, Bible and Geeta cannot be true. If Geeta is true, Purans and Quran and Bible cannot be true. If God exists, modern science cannot be true. If earth is round, Bible and Quran have to be false. But earth is proven to be round. All of Bible, Quran, Purans have glaring contradictions within themselves and between themselves. Many of their theories have been proven wrong. How can I believe them then?

But even modern science is fraud.  If modern science has to be true, it should tell me who is feeling this blankness right now and having this confusion? And if it is indeed true, then also there is no solution. I am bound for a miserable end into zero.

Everything is a hoax, I am trapped, I do not know what to do. But I do not want to die. I have to escape death. But how do I do it? Everyone seems to be fooling me by making tall promises of what will happen after I die. No one is able to give any evidence or logic for today. They tell me to believe and not question. If that be so, why mind has the capacity to analyse? Everyone seems to be fooling everyone else. But that's least of my concern. I just want to escape this brutal death.

Even if I escape it for some years, it will still come. Even if I live for thousands of year, still time of death will come. In few million years, even sun and earth will be destroyed. So I have to die then for sure, even if I escape death now somehow. There is only a solution, if at all, to postpone it. But there is no permanent solution to get completely rid of it. Nothing except that permanent solution will help me. Or else I will be blank forever..dead forever. No more sensations, feelings, consciousness, thinking, imagination going in the mind. No more memories, no more will I know what is happening. And that will continue forever. For billions of years..trillions of years.. and even more...I shall never live again, feel again, think again ever.

This is killing me. I want to get rid of this fear. What do I do? Let me distract myself.

I went out of the room, came down on the street, roamed about and came back. Then I opened a book. I felt better. Now that desperate suffocating feeling was no more. I still had memories of the bout, but I was now more in tune with my immediate world and feeling comfortable. The feeling of suffocation was no more. But I knew, this was only a postponement and not a solution. The bout will come back sooner or later.

I realized how the entire world is in a way busy in all sorts of things to either pre-empt or distract themselves from this bout. Just as I took a stroll, or read a book, someone would immerse in loud music, or pornography, or socializing, or depression, or anything and everything. No one knows what the purpose of their actions and passions are. Its merely an avoidance reaction to this bout. That's how the whole world is running. Some get so used to pre-empting it that they perhaps never have the bout. They equip themselves in multifarious activities, but ask them why they do what they do, and they will have no clear answer. We are living in a world of utter confusion, even the most intelligent do not know why they are doing what they do, why they are living, what life is all about. Suddenly all the intelligence of the world also appeared as completely phony and hollow to me.

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3 - Optimal solution

The only other hope for me was the domain of spiritualism. What modern science cannot observe through its meters and scopes, a spiritual person can decipher through introspection and spiritual knowledge. Very closely associated was the concept of religion.

I was born in Kolkata, the den of communism in India and was exposed to two sharply contradicting theories - "religion is opium, science is truth" and "all religions are equal". The first one was the basic mantra of communism, and second was the political agenda of Left Front. And thus both these themes continued in my life for most of the time. They both provided me with swords to cut each other. Ultimately I found that both ripped off each other so much that both turned out to be hoaxes in the sense popularly or commonly understood. What I mean is that both failed to give me a satisfactory solution which is scientific, rational, logical and intuitive to this problem of death.

That was why I found myself having more and more of such bouts. More I dwelled into the prevailing solutions for this fundamental problem, more I could observe their loopholes, and more skeptic I became to everything in life.

I went behind all the major spiritual schools of thoughts and religions. Be it Advait of Shankaracharya, Vedanta of Vivekananda, the Puranas, the Geeta, the Mahabharat, the Ramayan, the Upanishads, the Quran, the Bible, and so many other religious texts, I hardly left any to dig out the solution to my problem.

My life became story of the eternally confused. Should I go for high moral character? Or should I become a lecher? The first guarantees spiritual success and hence freedom from death. The second provides me immediate gratification assuming that in end everything is going to end in big zero for everyone. But then, what is the sense in going for temporal enjoyments when it is so fleeting. And then, what makes an enjoyment, an enjoyment is merely the way my mind works. So in any case, it is better to change the way my mind function than run here and there pointlessly for sake of enjoyment.

As a student of science, at least the following was now clear in my mind:

a.       Either life exists after death or it does not exist.

b.      If it does exist, it is better to be spiritual. That will ensure trouble-free afterlife.

c.       If it does not exist, everything is pointless. So whatever you do is fine.

d.      Since I am in doubt, I should do what maximizes my profit in both cases. Thus I should better be spiritual. In case life exists, I shall be a winner. If it does not, still it is same for everyone, so there is nothing to lose.

e.      Now the question of enjoyment comes. If I run after worldly fun, I will have lots of fun as everyone is having. So on surface it appears that it is better to seek temporal enjoyments.

f.        However, happiness is a state of mind. Spiritualists and modern scientists both regard mind as inanimate object. This means the way I control my mind will define my happiness. Thus it is more efficient to change the way my mind works as per my will, rather than run like a monkey here and there to gather petty bananas thrown by master (nature).

g.       In conclusion, let me continue exploring the mystery of life and death. But meanwhile the most optimal solution would be to control the mind and live like a spiritualist. That may also help me get the solution more easily, if at all it exists.

This conclusion gradually firmed up in my mind and I found myself detached from most worldly pleasures. Not because I avoided them as source of sin. But because of two reasons:

a.       I found them so temporary and fleeting

b.      I wanted to control my mind further

Soon I observed that most of the so-called worldly enjoyments are sheer hoaxes propagated over a period of time but having no logical basis. Even temporal enjoyment was much more in those things which conformed to the spiritual practices.

Of course, there were many of them that I found myself hooked to more as a habit than anything else. Once into them, I would lose sight of my goal of finding answer to that fundamental problem of my life and be immersed in fun and enjoyments. They provide convenient escapades and pre-empt my bouts. But then, suddenly, the question would knock me loudly for answer the way it is knocking today in middle of the night!

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2 - Modern Science

Being from science background, I had turned pages after pages of modern theories of science and psychology in this regard. I recollected the hordes of information produced by scientists to prove that life is nothing but a chemical reaction, and with death the consciousness ends just like any other chemical reaction. But there were glaring loopholes even in this theory.

I could never get a satisfactory answer to what the source of this consciousness is. If I fear death, feel pain and pleasure, who is this I actually? Agreed, it is all a game of chemical reactions. But which particular cell or atom or subatomic particle feels it all? I browsed through the literature and found that the seat of consciousness is yet undiscovered. Modern science has vague answers to how physiochemical reactions happen and where they happen to give us various feelings. But they are at dismal loss to answer "Who ultimately feels these feelings?"

I could well appreciate the efforts put by modern scientists and the reasons for their dismal failure to answer the fundamental question which would give me a clue to seek solution to this problem of death. After all the tools and apparatus used by modern science are equipped to observe only physical manifestations. Anything that is not measurable under their telescope or microscope or meters etc does not exist for them. They do not have any conclusive logic to justify how they are so certain that no world apart from what can be measured by their scopes and meters can at all exist. Their situation is no different from the popes of middle-ages who used to believe that earth is flat because the tools and technology they had then, and the books they used to follow could no way prove that the earth is round.

Modern science, which evolved as a sharp reaction to biblical dogmas of late middle ages, is today no more than yet another dogma or cult. It has its own set of beliefs or assumptions which it refuses to even question. Even if it does not have satisfactory answers to several questions, it would refuse to question these assumptions. Instead it would either refuse to accept existence of such questions or phenomena, or try to confuse through jargons and equations. It has eyes of a cockroach. It sees too many things at the same time but its scope of vision hopelessly limited.

Just like any other cult, it has its own bigoted mindset and agenda. Thus, while it will resort to craziest of extrapolations to prove we descended from apes or conclude that there was a big-bang, it will chide away more fundamental questions like "And what was there before big-bang?", "Who guided atoms to become humans?", "Why not slightest of evolution take place in documented history?", "Why no dead body could me made alive again?" No wonder, modern science has been unable to make any significant new discovery or theory in the last 50 years at the least.

The theory of chemical reaction as propounded by modern science had a few more glaring contradictions.

By its own admission, life is nothing but a chemical reaction, which started as a process after the big band that happened some 14 billion years ago. Thus, all those who are analyzing the theory of life or universe are also nothing more than chemical reaction. And the ones whom they are teaching the same are also chemical reactions. So it is one set of chemical reaction interacting with another. And mind you, how these chemicals will behave was decided long ago during the big-bang. Thus there is no separate "doer" or "analyzer" apart from the reaction itself, and its fate was decided in the first nanosecond of big-bang or even less. So what these modern scientists want to teach as the true explanation of everything is also nothing but a fatalistic chemical reaction. They are just repeating what they should be after 14 billion years x days y hours as pre-decided in the first moment of big-bang. There is thus no concept of right or wrong here.

Also, if life is actually a lifeless chemical reaction, then all concepts of right, wrong, good, bad, civil, criminal, compassion, love, support etc fall flat as sheer nonsense. Life is nothing more than what happens in a test-tube when two acids interact.  A reaction is just a reaction, nothing good or bad, kind or rude about it. Just as water never shouts back, "Hey pour me slowly, you are being rude.", similarly no one is actually expressing any feeling in the world. What we observe as a feeling of pleasure or pain, is merely manifestation of a lifeless chemical reaction. Put simply, if there is no life, there is no feeling, no right, and no wrong. Thus, even the arguments of modern science are sheer nonsense by their own logic. After all it is only a chemical reaction happening in a test-tube and there is no observer of the same. Whom we call observers are yet another set of reactions happening. Thus the world is only pre-decided chemical reactions happening, without any observer or doer. Even you reading this or I writing this is only some chemical reaction happening. In reality, you or I simply do not exist!

All these conclusions of my expedition so far filled my head. In brief, I was even more confused after my exploration of modern science than I was before start of the journey.

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1 - The Bouts

This series features my frank confessions of life. An ostrich digs its face in ground when it faces a danger. I find myself no different from an ostrich who tended to ignore the daring question that life raised again and again from time to time. I tried my best to sustain the ostrich within me whenever I faced one of those bouts. But the few glimpses that I caught out of curiosity were sufficient to change the entire direction of my life. Read on the Confessions of an Ostrich...

Part 1


I woke up in the night and found myself sweating profusely. I felt like being choked. My mind felt all blank in fear. It was again one of those bouts I recall having since my early childhood. The same fundamental question engulfed my mind - Is this all going to end?

So I shall die one day. My parents, my relatives, my friends all are going to die. And when I die, it will all be blank. Even the peace I have during a deep sleep will not be there. Because, I shall no more wake up to discover whether the sleep was peaceful or not.

The oldest person I have ever heard of is around 156 years old. Even if I assume mythologies to be true, I could be several thousand years old but still I have to die. And if I live that long, it would mean, all my dearest ones will leave me forever much before. So either ways I am cursed.

All the rest of my plans and their accomplishments are uncertain. The only certain thing is death. No one ever escaped it and I cannot be an exception. Suddenly I felt as if everything and everyone around me is already dead. It's all so meaningless. The whole concept of life and living is so meaningless. Regardless of every success and failure I have in life, regardless of the number of friends and enemies I make, regardless of the amount of fame or disgrace I acquire, it's all going to end in the same manner as it will end and as it has ended for all others.

Nothing else matters. Be a success, be a failure - it's all very temporary. Scientists say that the universe is 14 billion years old. Sun is a middle-aged star. And yet it is 4.5 billion years old. Earth is almost as old. A human life of 100 years is insignificant compared to that. If we assume the entire universe to be as big earth, the size of earth is no more than a pencil dot. That defines the magnitude of domain of human influence.

Thus in the entire scheme of things, I am no more important than one of the tiny microbes on entire planet. Nothing is in my control - I had no choice over my birth and I will have no choice whatsoever over my cold fast-approaching death. Emotions, feelings, memories - nothing matters at all. They all would evaporate into nothing, as and when I evaporate into nothing under the grip of death. Nothing is more certain than this.

I recalled a faint childhood memory. I was around four or five years old. In the night, while I was sleeping with my mother, I asked her, "Mummy, will I die one day?" She had no clear reply. She said, "No, nothing will happen to you. Go to sleep now. You have school tomorrow." I again asked, "Does everyone who takes birth die? Will grandma, grandfather, you, papa also die?" She said, "You should not talk like this about your elders. You should respect them. Now go to sleep."

I did not ask anything more. But I was far from satisfied. This was my first experience of this bout that I can recollect. Next day, I asked papa, "Papa, how long will I live. Please see my hand." He smiled and brought my palm closer. He pretended to analyze it carefully and replied, "You will live for 102 years. Don't worry!" I shot back, "That means I will die after 102 years. And will you, mummy, grandma, grandpa also live with me for 102 years?" He tried to deviate from the topic, "You should currently focus on your studies. This is your immediate priority. 102 years is very far off." I was not convinced, "But that time will also necessarily come na. And then I will die." He said, "If you study hard, you will never die."

I almost forget that incident soon after. But it did make me a bright student though. After all, I had no other alternative to escape the brutal grip of death. Soon, I even forgot the reason, but got addiction of studying.

But now, I was having a much clear recall of this forgotten incident. I recalled that this is one question for which no satisfactory answer has yet been deciphered by me. And even if that reply of father made me a good student, it hardly matters. Because with death, everything and everyone shall end forever - including what I studied and learnt.

In a snapshot, my entire life came before me. The theme was my frantic search for solution to this most fundamental problem of escaping death. I recalled how this recurrent bout will suddenly open my eyes each time to a reality that I could not face or understand. And how it would make me even more frantic. (Cont...)

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फूल नहीं धधकता अंगार हूँ

फूल नहीं धधकता अंगार हूँ मैं।
थके स्वाभिमान को झकझोरती ललकार हूँ मैं।

सो‍ई भारत की वर्षों से अन्तरात्मा
नवजागरण की पुकार हूँ मैं।

ग़ुलामी बस चु्की है ख़ून में
पर क्रांति की टंकार हूँ मैं।

सर अब हमारा कभी न झुकेगा
विजयमाला का शृंगार हूँ मैं।

भस्म होगी सब दासता मानस की
सच्चे स्वाधीनता की चिंगार हूँ मैं।

बुझेगा न ये दीपक चाहे कितना ज़ोर लगा लो
हर आँधी तूफ़ान की बेबस हार हूँ मैं।

अग्निमय हूँ अग्निरूप हूँ अग्नि का उपासक हूँ
अग्नि मेरी आत्मा सत्याग्नि का ही विस्तार हूँ मैं।

अग्निवीर

The power of Now!

यां मेधां देवगणाः पितरश्चोपासते। तया मामद्य मेधयाSग्ने मेधाविनं कुरु स्वाहा॥ यजुर्वेद ३२.१४॥

O ever glowing, brilliant Lord of all beings!

Give us the same intellect that you gave to our legendary ancestors, the great men and women of history, the best of the best ever born.

Give us the same intellect through which the heroes of past achieved greatest of wonders and miracles.

Give us the same intellect which our role models transformed into noble efforts that dazzled the world.

Give us the same intellect that the greatest performers used to worship you, through noble thoughts, noble words and noble actions.

Give us the same intellect that is the jewel of the best of the yogis, the best of the scholars and the best of the achievers.

And give us that intellect RIGHT NOW!