Vedanta, Hinduism & Indian Philosophy

Moved to Domain

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:16:00 +0000

Hi Friends, This blog has moved to a new domain - www.tantra2.com. On www.tantra2.com, you will find my latest posts on hinduism, vedanta and indian philosophy.

Spiritual Secret of Winning Friends & Influencing People

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Fri, 04 May 2007 12:43:00 +0000

Sri Krishna had dark complexion, yet he was very attractive. Everybody was attracted towards him. Nobody could resist his attraction, be indifferent towards him. The word "Krishna" is based on the Sanskrit root "Krsh" which means to attract. "Akrishta" and "Akarshan" are some other words based on this same root having the meaning related to attraction.

Black hole is also dark and have the great gravity i.e. attraction power. Nothing can go away from it if comes close to it once. Darkness or black color signifies attraction. It shows the void or the space too. The one who has vacuum in himself/herself i.e. the one without ego becomes immensely attractive like Krishna. According to science, when there's void somewhere, everything feels a strong pull towards that place. And this is the true secret of attracting or influencing people.

Now the question arises how one can be egoless. All the methods strengthen the ego, not eradicate it. To be free from ego, one must observe his/her all mental and physical activities all the time without interfering in the process. It means one should always be aware of one's intentions, feeling and thoughts without trying to change or suppress them. This is a continuous meditation. Kabir mentioned its ripe state as "Sahaj Samadhi". It is the secret spiritual key of influencing people and winning friends.

Commentaries on Classical Literature of Ayurveda

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:53:00 +0000

I was searching commentaries on various classical literature of Ayurveda. After doing some googling on Internet, I found following list that looks very good to me -

S.No	Name of the Text Book	Author/Commentator	Year of Publication
1.	Sushrutarthsandipan Bhasya	Harana Chandra Chakravarthy	1908
2.	Charakopaskar	Yogindranath Sen (Calcutta)	1920
3.	Charakapradipika	Jyotishchandra Saraswati (Calcutta)	20th Century
4.	Nighantu Ratnakar	Duttaram Chaube (Mathura)	-do-
5.	Commentary on Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Kalika & Bhaisajya Ratnavali	Jaideo Vidyalankar	1970
6.	Commentary on Charaka Sushruta & Astanga Samgraha	Atrideo Vidyalankar	20th Century
7.	Commentary on Charaka, Astanga Hrdaya etc.	Pt.Ram Prasad Sharma (Patiala)	-do-
8.	Commentary on Sushruta Samhita etc.	Bhaskar Govinda Gharekar (Varanasi)	-do-
9.	Commentary on Rasaratna Samuchchya	Duttatraya Anant Kulkarni (Varanasi)	-do-
10.	Critical Commentary on Astanga Hrdya, Bhava - Prakash & Ashtanga Samgraha.	Lal Chandra Vaidya (Varanasi)	-do-
11.	Rasa Hrdaya Yantri, Rasa Sara and 14 Other Books	Yadavji Vikramji Acharya	1910-1911
12.	Padarth Vijnana	Pt.Ramrakshaji Pathak	20th Century
13.	Ayurveda Kriya Sharira	Vd.Ranjeet Roy Desai	-do-
14.	Abhinava Prasut Tantra	Pt.Damodar Shastri Gaur	-do-
15.	History of Medicine in India, Dravya Guna Vijnana (Varanasi) and Indian Medicine in Classical Age etc.	Acharya Priyavrat Sharma	1972

The article looks very good to me and it talks about various other commentaries at different period. The details article can be found here.

Correct Way Of Performing Neti

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 06:52:00 +0000

1 JALANETI - (CLEANSING OF NASAL PASSAGE BY USE OF WATER)

Contraindications : Blocked nostrils. Salt not to be used if a person is
suffering from hypertension or if salt is contraindicated for any other reason.
Materials Required : Jalaneti cup, glass/tumbler, body-warm potable water,
common edible salt, spoon and a napkin. Saline water should be prepared by
adding half a teaspoon of salt in half a litre body-warm water. Adjust the
quantity of salt and temperature of water as per needs.
Technique : Stand comfortably, preferably before a basin or in a bathroom.
Alternatively, sit on a chair or squat in the open space.
Fill the Jalaneti cup with saline water. Hold the filled cup in the left palm,
keeping four fingers outside and thumb towards the body. Hold the cup firmly
fixing middle finger and thumb in the depressions provided on the respective
sides of the Jalaneti cup. Bring the chin towards chest and tilt the head
suitably towards the right side. Insert the spout of the Jalaneti cup in the
left nostril, keep the mouth open and breathe through mouth throughout. Raise up
the cup slowly taking left elbow up but without changing the position of the
head unless the change is absolutely necessary. Due to this, saline water will
enter from the left to the right nostril and glide down from it. Let the flow of
water coming out of right nostril be slow, smooth, continuous and uniform.
Repeat the above actions, now holding the filled Jalaneti cup in the right
hand for getting the flow of water out from the left nostril. This completes one
round of Jalaneti. Normally, one round of Jalaneti, practised preferably in the
moring, is enough. In special conditions, however, rounds of Jalaneti can be
increased and practised for more than once in a day and at convenient times, as
per needs.

RUBBERNETI (CLEANSING OF NASAL PASSAGE BY RUBBER CATHETER)
Contraindications : Growth of bone or flesh in the nostrils, septum deviation
or blocked nostrils.
Materials Required : 1) Rubber Catheter (surgical quality) of suitable length
and diameter. Clean the catheter thoroghly. Dip it in boiling water before and
after use for making it hygienic. Use the moist/wet catheter only. 2) Clean
napkin. 3) Clean hot and cold potable water.
Technique : Stand before the basin or in a bathroom/ open space or sit in a
chair or squat. Take wet catheter in the right hand. Open the mouth, tilt the
head a little up and back. Give a slight inward curvature to the tapered end
side of the moist/wet catheter and gently insert that end of the catheter in the
right nostril. Along with the inhalation, gently push the catheter inside. If
needed, one can close the left nostril while inhaling by right nostril to
increase the force of inhalation which will enable catheter to go inside along
with forceful
inhalation. But the force should not be more than required as otherwise the
catheter may go more to the upside and touch the olfactory nerves which may
cause intense pain.
Coughing or irritation felt at the throat are the sure indications of catheter
having entered in a throat. At that stage, stop pushing the catheter further
inside. Now wide open the mouth. Enter the pair of thumb and the index finger or
that of index finger and the middle finger inside the throat and catch the
tapered end of the catheter. Slowly pull the catheter out from mouth,
simultaneously loosening the other end of the catheter. Catch hold of upper end
of the catheter in the right hand thumb and index finger and its lower end
coming out from the mouth in the left hand thumb and index finger. Keep the
mouth open and give a gentle massage to inner layer of the nasal passage by
gently moving the catheter to and fro for 3 to 5 times. If required, the number
of massaging movements can be increased provided they are done comfortably and
with the least efforts.
Gently pull the lower end of the catheter out from the mouth simultaneously
loosening the other end of the catheter for facilitating the catheter to come
out comfortably. The upper wide open end of the catheter will cleanse the nasal
passage and remove dirt while coming out from the mouth. Clean the catheter
thoroughly both from inside and outside before using it again. Do the same
action of Rubberneti through the left nostril. Cleansing right and left nostrils
with the rubber catheter will complete one round of Rubberneti.
After completing the practice, clean the catheter thoroughly inside-outside,
shake off water from the catheter, wipe it with a clean and dry cloth. This
should be done meticulously as otherwise lapse in it may prove dangerous. Keep
the catheter in an air-tight box of a suitable size and* preferably of a round
shape.
Notes :
1. One round of Rubberneti may be practised daily or as and when
required,
preferably in the morning. One can practise Rubberneti from any of the
nostrils first.
2. In the beginning, one can lubricate the tapered end of the
catheter with a
suitable edible oil or ghee for ensuring smooth and comfortable
movement of catheter inside the nostrils.
3. Nails of index, middle and thumb fingers must be well trimmed and
filed so hat they don't hurt the mucous membrane while taking out end of the
catheter from the mouth.

Benefits :
1. Cleanses the nasal passage thoroughly.
2. By gentle massage, refreshes nerve ends at the inner layers of
nostrils.
3. Increases the resistance and tolerance level of
delicate inner layers of the nostrils and the nerve ends.
4. Helps to prevent and cure functional types of cold , asthma,
bronchial troubles and breathing problems. Improves the overall health of the
ear, nose and throat.
5. Prevents and restricts septum deviation and troublesome growth
of bone or flesh in the nostrils. Improves breathing.
6. When practiced along with other nasal cleansing processes like
Jalaneti, Shwasana-Marga Shuddhi, Kapalabhati, benefits get enhanced.

Taken from a post from AyurvedaOnline forum. Please check the full post here.

Dangers of Pranayama and Kundalini Yoga

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 06:34:00 +0000

Pranayama and Kundalini Yoga, if not performed properly, can be very dangerous. Pandit Gopi Kishan has written a good book about it. I have also found a good discussion on AyurvedaOnline forum that can be found here.

Scientific Verification of Vedic Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 13:25:00 +0000

A vast number of statements and materials presented in the ancient Vedic literatures can be shown to agree with modern scientific findings ... and they also reveal a highly developed scientific content in these literatures. The great cultural wealth of this knowledge is highly relevant in the modern world. Techniques used to show this agreement include: - Marine Archaeology of underwater sites (such as Dvaraka) - Satellite imagery of the Indus-Sarasvata River system - Carbon and Thermoluminiscence Dating of archaeological artifacts - Scientific Verification of Scriptural statements - Linguistic analysis of scripts found on archaeological artifacts - A Study of cultural continuity in all these categories.

Which Pranayama for Your Disease

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 06:00:00 +0000

Previsouly Pranayama was seen as a mean for spiritual practice with little or no connection with physical health. Recently Ramdev Maharaj did a great job by telling common people about its medical benefits in curing deadly diseases and maintaining good health. There are different pranayama practice e.g. kapalbhati, bhastrika, anulom-vilom for different problems. Here I found a good article tha tells about what all pranayamas needs to be done and how many sets for the same for particular diseases/disorder -

Pranayama for Different Diseases

What is Yoni Tantra?

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:15:00 +0000

The Yoni Tantra is a religious text from Bengal (16th century) mainly concerned with describing the Yoni Puja, or "Mass of the Vulva"; one of the secret and esoteric Tantric rituals dedicated to creating - and consuming - the sacred fluid which is called yonitattva.

According to this text, sexual union (mithunam) is an indispensable part of Tantric ritual and may be performed by and with women between the age of twelve and sixty years, married or not, except for a girl not yet menstruating. The text specifies nine types of women (navakanya) who may perform sexual rituals, yet explicitly forbids an incestuous mother/son constellation.

More infomrmation can be found on this web page.

Spiritual Buddha Dance

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 12:53:00 +0000

100 Hands & 1000 Eyes Buddha Dance

Sattwa, Rajas & Tamas

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 23:41:00 +0000

Please check how Sattwa, Rajas & Tamas are defined in Mahabharata.

In The Light of Gita

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:00:00 +0000

क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते।
क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप॥

O Arjuna! You are divine and omnipotent Atman. You are capable of doing everything. This cowardice doesn't befit you. Give up this weakness of heart, stand up and fight the difficulties of your life with courage. There is nothing impossible for you in the world.

How Spiritual Giants Are Produced

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 18:22:00 +0000

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream ofit, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part ofyour body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.

We are responsible for what we are,and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to makeourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own pastactions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in futurecanNever think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is thegreatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin ? tosay that you are weak, or others are weak. Be produced by ourpres.The goal of mankind is knowledge ... Now this knowledge isinherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside.What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, bewhat he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what hediscovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge and actions; so we have to know how to act.

- Swami Vivekananda

Self-improvement & Vedanta (1)

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 09:15:00 +0000

There are a lot of books available on the subject of self-improvement in the market. People keep reading this sort of books, but they don’t change even a bit. And even if they change at all, they change not for better, they become worse. Why is it so? First of all, we should know why we want to change. Listen, I’m saying “change”, not “improve”. Because there is a big difference between these two words.

When you want to change, you start copying someone. Change is the form of imitation. You have an image of a person in your mind, who you think is better then you. It can be a person, you saw in past or it can be an imaginary person. Reality and imagination don’t matter. I’ll tell you later how that image is outcome of something, you would have seen in the past. So, you imitate others in the process of changing. You try to destroy your original being, your self persona elopes; in the process of changing. There’s a story in Panchtantra. A donkey put on the skin of a lion and entered in a farm of sugarcane. All guards run away with fear. It ate enough and then started making its hee-haw sound. Soon everybody knew that it was a donkey, not a lion. And they beat the donkey. I’m not saying here that you are donkeys, though many of you believe it as your wives call them with this name. I just want you to understand that you cannot change, though you can improve.

Whereas the word “improve” has a different meaning altogether. It doesn’t cause you to imitate. Improve simply means - greater self-manifestation. When you try to improve, you discover new dimensions of your existence deeper in yourself. Remember, there is no comparison with anyone else in the process of improvement. Do you understand it? Initially your parents, guru and teachers etc. want you to change. And as you grow up, your minds get steeped in this thought that you should change in order to be better. And it is the problem. You want to change, not to improve.

All these authors, their books and courses teach you how to change. They don’t show you how to improve, because they don’t know anything about it themselves. We will discuss about it more deeply in our next meeting.

Sahaja yoga

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 17:49:00 +0000

Heard a lot many things about Sahaja Yoga so dicided to have a look at it -

Check it out

Kundalini Yoga: What Chakra to Meditate Upon?

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Thu, 26 May 2005 17:38:00 +0000

Meditation is the most useful tool to elevate Kundalini. But many people are not able to decide - on what Chakra they should meditate or they keep changing the Chakras without awakening any of these Chakras. Actually, this is not a problem at all if you practice the yoga in an organized manner. You won't face this problem if you will practice the previous step of meditation i.e. Pranayam thoroughly.

Proper practice of Pranayam will lead you to know your actual position – on what Chakra your consciousness is lying. Your Prana (Vital force) can be at Muladhar or at Vishuddhi or at Ajna Chakra – it is depended on your past spiritual practice – if you did a lot of Sadhna (spiritual practice) in your previous birth, your consciousness will be situated at higher Chakras and vise versa.

After some practice of Pranayam, you will start to feel the sensation of Prana at some particular point in your body. This is the right point or Chakra where you should concentrate your mind on. It's the point where your Prana is lying at. In reality, Pranayam and meditation are not completely distinct spiritual exercises. Meditation is the advanced stage of Pranayam. Even after a little practice of Pranayam, you'll be able to see the light of a particular color at a Chakra. These colors have different meanings which will be discussed later.

It is not necessary to try to fix your mind on a Chakra forcefully. You won't be able to concentrate if you'll try to do so; because you don't know the right Chakra for you. It'll be a wasteful effort. You will enter in meditative state automatically while doing Pranayam. Pranayam is as important as meditation, so don't neglect Pranayam if you want to progress in Kundalini Yoga.

Aastha TV Channel in Canada

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Thu, 26 May 2005 05:29:00 +0000

TORONTO, May 25 /CNW/ - Asian Television Network International Limited (ATN) (TSX-SAT) is delighted to announce that it plans to launch as part of ATN's bouquet of South Asian Television Channels across Canada, one of India's specialty television channels and most prominent spiritual network, AASTHA TV.

Check Press Release Here.

Meditation Decoded

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 08:33:00 +0000

Mind is the cause of freedom and bondage of human. Human is not an idol of blood, bones and flesh. It has the mind too, and mind is made up of many positive and negative thoughts. From very childhood, whatever impacted the mind is somewhere in any corner of it. These subtle thoughts have their effect on the body through mind. Every thought generates very strong effect on body e.g. when someone is scared, his body starts trembling and turns pale.

What is the nature of mind? It does not like to focus on one subject. When it is tried to be concentrated on one point, it begins to run and tends to go on different subjects. The mind sticks in useless thoughts. It doesn't want to live in the present. The mind like to live either in future or in past. Though the velocity of the light can be measured, but it's impossible to measure the speed of the mind. It is because mind runs with infinite speed. Mind always wants to be in motion. There are newer and newer desires in the mind every second. The fulfillment of one desire gives rise to thousand new desires.

There are a lot of methods to control the mind e.g. prayer, worship, devotion and knowledge etc. But out of all these, meditation is the best. It is very difficult to control the mind and it's nearly impossible to control it at once. This task needs patience and persistence. Easily it can be controlled with practice, renunciation and determination. Meditation is the key of the mind. It purifies the mind and destroys the thought-waves. Meditation is the process of transformation of the conscious and subconscious mind into super-conscious mind. It stops the wastage of mental powers and makes the stressed mind calm. Meditation gives the rest to the mind and generates tremendous amount of energy within body and mind.

What is Tantra

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 09:26:00 +0000

Tantra is an ancient science. Like Yoga, Jnana and Bhakti etc., it's also a way to realize the self. Though, nowadays it has become the synonym of sacred sex. Market reinterpreted it so that it can be sold.

The result or end of Tantra and yoga are practically same. But means are slightly different. The aim of Tantra is the union of Shiva and Shakti elements. Here Shiva and Shakti signify Kundalini and Sahasrar Chakra (near Cerebral Plexus). The one who by intense Tantric practice elevates Kundalini from Muladhara (near Pelvie Plexus) to the Sahasrar chakra becomes free from all bondages. Tantrics say that the person, who wants to follow the path of Tantra, should be able to control his senses. Tantra is the path for the people of strong will. In Tantra practice, it needs immense will power to elevate and hold the Kundalini at different levels of Sushumna. People with weak will power couldn't hold it and Kundalini goes down very rapidly; which, later, destroys mental calmness and creates strong sex urge.

'Vamachara' is the part of Tantra, about which people are most confused. It has nothing to do with sensual pleasures. According to it, women should be worshiped as Shakti or divine mother. A true Tantric should see every woman as divine mother. Tantra is same like fire; you can either cook food or burn yourself, in the same way you can get Moksha (freedom) by right understanding and practice of Tantra and you can destroy yourself by wrong practice of it.

New Opening, New Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Sat, 12 Feb 2005 18:42:00 +0000

As you can see, I got shifted to one permanent domain i.e. www.astrocamp.com. Now onwards, I am planning to write regularly on various religion and spirituality topics. Here are the few topics that I am planning to cover -

Vedanta especially Advaita Vedanta

Vedas and Upnishadas

Ramdev & Pranayama

Bhagavad Gita

Vivekananda

Hinduism

Jyotish and other Vedic sciences

Please feel free to write to me about your interest, likings and dislikings.

New Location

noreply@blogger.com (Punit Pandey) — Sat, 12 Feb 2005 17:54:00 +0000

Hello Friends,

This blog has got it new home at http://www.astrocamp.com/vedanta/. Please update your link. Now onwards, I am planning to be more regular on variuos Vedas and Vedanta related topics.

Pratik

Advaita Vedanta

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 15:13:00 +0000

You must have heard the old Vedic example of snake-rope illusion. Due to fog or any other reason, a person sees the rope as a snake. But when he comes to know that there's no snake, he sees the rope only. Here rope and snake signifies cosmic power and cosmic illusion. When one sees the snake, there's no rope at all and vice versa.

Though we've got complete freedom on all the levels, but we're still far away from the truth unless we don't see the truth as it exists i.e. we must posses the vision, which can penetrate the 'maya' and can see the rope (Brahman) in its true form. We can create the world around us good or bad. Still it's not the truth. This world is neither good nor bad. We must be able to see it as Brahma itself.

Good or bad, virtue or sin; all these exist within the boundaries of this world. Our aim should be to go beyond the world, because the effect of illusion cannot be destroyed by another illusion. It's the truth only, which can destroy illusion. And Vedanta shows us the paths to go beyond it.

Vedanta

noreply@blogger.com (Pratik) — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 17:32:00 +0000

Some people say that freedom of the will does not exist. We are like the toys in the hand of the cosmic power, and this power is being manifested through all of our actions. We are only free on the level of Atman (soul), but when we talk about body and 'mana', we are bound.

According to me, it is the wrong interpretation of Vedic theory of freedom, though it is partially true too. As Atman, we are always free. But in this world we are bound due to 'maya' (cosmic illusion). And the cause of 'maya' is our own mind, which interprets omnipresent cosmic power as the world. In the other words, world does not exist at all. It is the imagination of our 'mana' (mind). Therefore; if I'm in a certain state (good or bad), spiritually or physically or in any way; it is because my mind wants to be in that state.

For example, if there's a tree stump in front of a person in a foggy evening and he is waiting for his girlfriend, he sees that stump as his girlfriend. On the other hand, if there is a kid in the same circumstances, he sees a ghost. What makes the difference? It is the mind. The stump is 'Brahman' and fog is cosmic illusion. And the projection of our thoughts on the cosmic power is this world. It's up to us what we want to see it as. We can change the entire world by changing our 'mana'. Only this theory can explain the miracles of Christ and other great saints. Thus, we are free not only on the level of the Atman, but also on the level of this world.