Don't wear tight pants

We wear tight pants so often these days that often we forget about it until we come home and change to something more comfortable. There are people who sleep in jeans and tight undergarments and don't realize about it. It is a great health hazard in today's society and one should be aware of it.

The body is supposed to be in a relaxed state at all times and only then will the mind function without interruption. You can test this right now by taking long breaths, breaths that make your stomach expanding till its limits and contract as much as possible. You will notice that there is some pressure built up near the waist line where you wear the pants or dress that wraps about your waist/lower abdomen. Now try making the belt or strap a bit loser and repeat the breathing exercise. You will notice that the body becomes more calm with the fourth or fifth breath. Also, you won't feel the slight pain will you breath in, and the breathing becomes more gentle and longer this way. It is conditioning of the body as it is with the mind to the nascent state, which is not obvious unfortunately. 

Humans are like other animals and insects, created by God without distinction. Being naked or free of body hugging clothes is what is our nascent state, all other states are deviations. But this doesn't imply that we become nudists. Clothes are beneficial as they protect us from adverse climatic conditions, as we do not have fur or protective skin like many other species. However, as the technology for materials and clothing has improved, we should try to use clothes that do not harm our skin or body structure in a huge way. A certain example is high-heeled shoes, is our body physical frame supposed to be propped up in the way high heeled shoes alter the physical structure? Maybe not.

We have created civilization for ourselves, which is great in many regards, but has blinded us in many ways. One of the aspects that we need to consider in todays stressful environment is self-discovery. Simple things like what makes me happy, why do I not sleep well, how do I stay alert and what makes me sick, are thoughts that should be recurrent and delved upon without dismissal. We are not machines to live life in a monotonous and thoughtless way. Live life peacefully, and think straight. Taking care of the body is important for achieving a sound mind and peaceful life, obviously.

How do we achieve the feat of wearing loose clothes at all times? Certainly, we can't go in pyjamas to office meetings or evening parties. However, we need to understand that the body can take stress in social events of when we are in an active mode in social environment. When you are alone in your workstation or relaxing at home, certainly it is different. These are the times, when you can think of unbuttoning the waist button and loosening your belt by a hole. The waist contour is not the same when standing as when sitting, it is more taut when we measure it standing in a shop. Hence when we sit on our workdesks, there is often constant pressure around the waist line, due to perfect fitting dresses. We have to keep this in mind, and therefore it is necessary to loosen up a bit while sitting for long times.

Going back to the argument about humans being like animals in terms of the physical characteristics, we have to go back and learn about response to stimulii and identification of destructive elements, characteristics that all animals have, that we call as survival instincts. We cannot just ignore physical signals of fatigue or pain all time, constrained by social barriers which are just soft constraints and cannot be circumvented. Simple tricks like loosening the belt, or avoiding dresses hugging our thighs/waist, or being conscientious of the cloth material, are not only good attributes, but essential for a peaceful life. This may not be very amusing advice. but is surely will alter the current peaceful state of mind, if you give it a try. For me, I will work for a few years, and go back to wearing more traditional dresses, which unlike pants, leave some space for me and my mind, between my body and the alien cloth material. Much like the Zulus with their black robes. And we thought that the civilized were the smartest. Not quite always!!   

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Why to go to temples - email forward source

There are hundreds of temples all over India in different size, shape and locations but not all of them are considered to be in the Vedic way. Generally, the temples are located in a place where earth's magnetic waves pass through. In simple terms, these temples are located strategically at a place where the positive energy is abundantly available from the magnetic wave distribution of north/ south pole thrust.

Because of its location, where high magnetic values are available, the Main Idol is placed in the center, and also because they place a copper plate written with some Vedic scripts, which is buried, beneath the Main Idol's placement known as "Garbhagriha" or Moolasthan, the copper absorbs the earths magnetic waves and radiates to the surroundings. Thus a person who regularly visits a temple and makes clockwise pradakshina of the Main Idol's placement, automatically receives the beamed magnetic waves which get absorbed by his body. This is very slow and a regular visit will make him absorb more energy, known as positive energy. In addition, the Sanctum Sanctorum is completely enclosed on three sides. The effect of all energies is very high in here.
The lamp that is lit radiates the heat and light energy.

The ringing of the bells and the chanting of prayers gives sound energy.
The fragrance from the flowers, the burning of camphor give out chemical energy.
The effect of all these energies is activated by the positive energy that comes out of the idol. This is in addition to the north/south pole magnetic energy that is absorbed by the copper plate and utensils that are kept in the Moolasthan.
The water used for the Pooja is mixed with Cardamom, Benzoine, Holy Basil (Tulsi), Clove, etc is the "Theertham". This water becomes more energized because it receieves the positive-ness of all these energies combined.

When persons go to the temple for Deepaaraadhana, and when the doors open up, the positive energy gushes out onto the persons who are there.
The water that is sprinkled onto the people passes on the energy to all. That is the reason why, men are not allowed to wear shirts to the temple and ladies have to wear more ornaments because it is through these jewels (metal) that positive energy is absorbed in ladies. It is proved that Theertham is a very good blood purifier, as it is highly energized.

In addition, temples offer holy water (about three spoons). This water is mainly a source of magneto therapy as they place the copper water vessel at the Garbhagriha. It also contains cardamom, clove, saffron, etc to add taste and Tulsi (holy Basil ) leaves are put into the water to increase its medicinal value! The clove essence protects one from tooth decay, the saffron & Tulsi leave essence protects one from common cold and cough, cardamom and benzoine known as Pachha Karpuram , acts as a mouth refreshing agents. This way, one's health too is protected, by regularly visiting Temples !

Avani avittam - The day to atone for one's sins - Hindu Brahmins

Traditionally, Brahmins were charged with the study, teaching, and chanting of the Vedas as their main vocation.
Brahmacharis were boys who had undergone their spiritual (second birth) with the yajnopaveetam and initiation into the Gaayatri mantra.
They would typically spend eight years learning a particular Veda from their guru in a school called paatasala.
Upakarma literally means acts/work (karma) to be done before (upa).
It comprises the preparatory acts done before starting Vedic studies every year. For students of the Yajur Veda, Upakarma falls on the full moon day in the month of Aavani, hence it is also called Aavani Avittam. For Rig Vedis, it is the day prior to the full moon day, and for Sama Vedis it is on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi.

The rituals done on Upakarma day are for starting the next year's Vedic studies on an auspicious note by atoning for various shortcomings or wrongdoings, seeking blessings from the rishis and gods, and by charging up the Brahmachari's spiritual batteries for fruitful learning in his new semester.

Kamokaarsheet Manyurakaarsheet Japam: Kaama (desire) and manyu (anger) are the root causes of all our sorrows. This japam is chanted 108 times to submit all our misdeeds deriving from these demons to be burnt up by the deities of kaama and manyu.

Brahma Yajnam: The first few mantras of each of the four Vedas are chanted to symbolically mark the beginning of the new Vedic school year.

Maha Sankalpam: This is a long invocation that identifies the participants in terms of their lineage and spatial and temporal coordinates in the Hindu cosmos, specifies the syllabus of studies they wish to undertake, purifies them ritually, and expresses their resolve (sankalpam) to learn and teach the Vedas properly.

Yajnopaveeta Dhaaranam: The sacred thread, yajnopaveetam, symbolizes our oneness with Brahman, the ultimate reality. The three strands in the original yajnopaveetam which is vested during Upanayanam (the Gaayatri mantra initiation ceremony) represent various triads that are very important in Hinduism � Brahma, Vishu, and Shiva; the letters A, U, and M of the most potent Vedic sound OM; the ida, pingala, and sushumna nadis through which the Kundalini shakti has to be properly channeled for spiritual advancement; the three gunas sattva, rajas, and tamas; etc. It is also a visible symbol of the authority and competence of the person wearing it for carrying out his Vedic duties. A new yajnopaveetam is worn (dhaaranam), with mantras asking for it to impart spiritual effulgence (Brahma tejas). The old thread is then removed and discarded.

Kaandarishi Tharpanam: The Vedas were seen in the meditative trances of our ancestral rishis (seers), who codified them into various sections, called kaandas. Obeisance with water offering (tharpanam) is given to them in this ritual, asking for their blessings before commencing new learning.

Sravana Homam: Agni, the Vedic deity of fire, is the divine carrier of our oblations and invocations to all the gods. During this homam (fire ceremony), the students ask to be blessed for their learning to proceed without obstacles and then chant and hear (sravana) sample sections from the four Vedas, and also from auxiliary scriptures called Vedangas, as a token of commencing their studies. The teacher declares that their studies have formally begun. The students offer their dakshina to the teacher and partake of the prasaadam before disbursing.

Gaayatri Japam: This is done the morning of the day following the Upakarma ceremony. Traditionally, all Brahmins are supposed to chant the Gaayatri mantra 108 times during the three sandhyas (the Sun's transition periods; dawn, noon, and twilight) each day. The Gaayatri mantra is the most powerful and sacred of all Vedic mantras. Its meaning is: Om is verily this world, the mid-region, and heaven (the three spheres of the cosmos); We meditate on the divine effulgence of that adorable Sun (Savitar) of spiritual consciousness; May He stimulate our power of spiritual insight. As a mantra, it has great potency if it is chanted properly, even if its meaning is not understood, though meditating silently with complete awareness of its meaning has greater benefits. The Gaayatri mantra is the quintessence of the Vedas and it has the power to bestow protection, health, longevity, prosperity, creativity, spiritual radiance, and ultimately moksha (liberation via self)realization of our oneness with Brahman. It is chanted 1,008 times on the day following Upakarma to make up for not chanting it regularly during the previous year.

Why to touch the feet of elders

It is plain that the Sciences of Electricity and Magnetism were not only extensively cultivated by the Ancient Hindus, but also highly developed, and the principles applied in their practical daily life. As other instances of their advanced knowledge of the Sciences, we find that iron or copper rods are inserted at the tops of all temples that Mindulies (Metallic cells) made of either gold, silver or iron are worn on the diseased parts of the body, and that Asanas or seats made of either silk, wool, kusha grass, or hairy skins of the deer or tiger are used when saying prayers. The function of the rod at the top of the temple is the same as that of the modern lightening conductor. The Mindulies serve the same purpose as the electrical belts and other appliances of the present day electrical treatment of diseases. The woolen and skin asanas protect our lives during a thunderstorm. So do the wooden sandals or mithiyadi worn by the sanyasis of old.
For the same simple reasons described above, it is the age long custom among Hindus that younger people should prostrate before the elders and touch their feet with their head so as to acquire magnetic energy and more particularly before the saintly persons, as these saints had magnetized their system by their Tapasya, i.e., by observance of Brahmacharya (celibacy), conducting Poojas, by practice of Yoga Asanas, Pranayamas and meditation, and by austere observances and various spiritual practices.

Why to sleep in a particular direction w r t Earth's axis

He explains the reason why we Indians are advised to sleep in head in South/east direction only as follows:

“Never lie down to sleep with your head northward or westward” is a common injunction given from time immemorial by the Indian mother to her children. Almost every Hindu- orthodox or heterodox- observes this dictum of his ancestors, but he doesn’t know the rationale or significance behind the dictum, although it has been handed down to him through generations. For example, Vishnu Purana says: “O King! It is beneficial to lie down with the head placed eastward or southward. The man who lies down with his head placed in contrary directions becomes diseased.” The Varshaadi Nool says: “Sleeping eastward is good; sleeping southward prolongs life; sleeping westward and northward brings ruin.” The Mahabharata says: “Men become wise by sleeping eastward and southward.” There are two Tamil proverbs which run thus: “Vaaraatha Vashvu Vanthaalum Vadakkae Thalai Vaikkakkuudathu”, meaning; ” Even in the heyday of sudden fortune, one should not lie down with head to the north”, and ” Vidakkeiyayinum Vadakkaakaathu”, meaning: “Even the head of the dried fish should not be placed northward.” The Ayurvedic physician seats his patients facing eastward before diagnosing the disease or administering his medicine. Brides and bridegrooms are always seated facing eastward on the wedding day. Even corpses are placed down with the head southward.
The explanation for such advice and practice as discovered recently is as follows: This dear Earth, on which we live, has been for ages past, and is still being subjected to constant exposure to the source of all Energy-Heat, Light, Electricity and Magnetism- the Sun. When its eastern half is heated by the sun, its western half remains comparatively cold. In consequence, a strong and constant current of thermal electricity generated by the sun, travels across the earth from east to west. By this current of electricity the earth becomes magnetized, and its geographical north pole, being to the right-hand side of the direction of the current, is made the magnetic north pole; and its geographical south pole, being to the left-hand side of the same current, is made the magnetic south pole. Thus the earth is rendered a mighty thermo-electric magnet. This is evident from the fact that by the attractive and repulsive forces of its poles, the compass needle, in whatever position it is placed, is invariably turned so as to point to the North and the South.
We have learnt inside the class rooms that a non-magnet kept in contact with a magnet is eventually converted into a magnet, or that magnetism is imparted to it. And that the poles of the magnet have infused opposite polarity into the ends of the non-magnet. Now, we human beings are in perpetual contact with the huge Electro-Magnet, the Earth. We are all therefore converted into small magnets. It has been found by the experiments that the human body also is a magnetable object, though far inferior to iron or steel. This cannot be denied that, for in addition to other causes, there is a large percentage of iron in the blood, circulating through the body.


Further, as our feet are magnetized by contact with the northern hemisphere of the earth, where exist all the properties of north polarity is induced in our feet, and consequently, north polarity is induced in our head.

It has been found by the experiments that the human body also is a magnetable object, through far inferior to iron or steel. This cannot be denied that, for in addition to other causes, there is a large percentage of iron in the blood, circulating through the body.

At school when experimenting with magnets we have seen : “Unlike poles attract each other; like poles repel.” We used to restore the magnets back to their place in the laboratory with their unlike poles in contact, so that the polarity may not be destroyed. Now, it is very easy to conceive that if you lie down with your head placed southward and feet northward, the South Pole of the earth and your head, which is the North Pole of the human magnet, as also the North Pole of the Earth and your feet, which is the South pole of your body, being juxta-position, will attract each other, thus the polarity of the human body, natural to it, will be preserved; which if you lie with your head placed northward and feet southward, the like poles of your body and the Earth being in the juxta-position, will repel each other, and thereby the natural polarity of your body will be destroyed or its intensity diminished. In the former position, the polarity acquired by the human body during the day by standing, walking or sitting on the ground, is preserved intact at night during sleep; but in the later position, the acquired polarity is seriously tampered with and destroyed. This arrangement of the poles in the human body is natural to it, and therefore conducive to our health and happiness. The body enjoys perfect heath, if the polarity natural to it is preserved unaltered, and it becomes subject to disease if that polarity is in the least degree altered or its intensity diminished.
This would lead us to infer these arguments apply only to the inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere. The inhabitants of the Southern Hemisphere must lay down their bodies with head northward, for similar arguments. That the bulk of the human race live on the Northern Hemisphere, appears to have been known to the ancient Hindu Sages, as the dictum appears to have come down without any qualifying remark.

Why the Eastern direction is preferred to the Western for placing the head in the lying down posture is explained thus: “It has been established by experiments on medical electricity that if a current passes from one part of the body to another, it exercises a wholesome influence where it enters, and produces some inflammations in that part of the body whence it goes out. If you lie down with head eastward, the current of thermal electricity, which is constantly passing over the surface of the earth from east to west, passes through your body also from head to feet, and therefore subdues all inflammation present in the head, where it makes its entrance; while if you lie down with head westward, the same current of the electricity passes through your body from the feet to the head, and therefore produces some kind of inflammation in the head, whence it goes out. The head contains the most vital of organs, and the most delicate of mechanisms- the Brain. It is a clear and healthy head that can easily acquire knowledge, and not an inflamed or congested head, which, on the other hand is the hot-bed of vague and distressing thoughts.

The head contains the most vital of organs, and the most delicate of mechanisms- the Brain. It is a clear and healthy head that can easily acquire knowledge, and not an inflamed or congested head, which, on the other hand is the hot-bed of vague and distressing thoughts.

Thus has been elucidated for our benefit, what was commonly considered a superstition hitherto.