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!