Body Fitness Health

Monday, March 7, 2011

[AlternativeAnswers] Principles of Daily Spiritual Practice

Principles of Daily Spiritual Practice

By Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya

The Sanskrit term "sadhana" means a systematic and disciplined path of spiritual practice under the guidance of a qualified Acharya (Spiritual Teacher). When a person feels called to devote themselves more fully to a systematic spiritual discipline to achieve self-realization and God-realization, they then begin to follow a sadhana practice. Merely having a curious interest in spiritual topics has no meaning unless one is also engaging in a dedicated spiritual practice designed to bring spiritual realization to life. Sadhana, thus, represents the very beginning of meaningful spiritual pursuit.

The following is a collection of practical, scripturally-based, guidelines from the teachings of Sanatana Dharma that will help us to more fully develop our innate spiritual potential. Sadhana, or spiritual practice, must be performed regularly with sincerity, humility, openness, and determination. Just as we all perform our daily routines of eating, sleeping, and bathing without fail, similarly we should practice our daily spiritual sadhana without fail to refine ourselves and to advance in spiritual life. We should monitor our progress every day by asking ourselves if today we have improved ourselves and come closer to God.

By following a daily spiritual practice under the guidance of Sri Guru, we can continuously deepen our experience and realization of the Divine.

1. Each day, we should meditate upon the names of Sriman Narayana (the Supreme Godhead) on a japa mala (meditation beads) made of tulasi wood. In the present Age of Conflict (kali yuga), there is no method quite as effective for attaining spiritual realization as meditating upon the sacred names of the Absolute. The most effective of all mantras is the mantra:

Aum Namo Narayanaya

A shishya (student) is expected to recite a minimum of one round of this mantra on her japa mala in daily meditation.

2. Each day we must strive to increasingly deepen our understanding of our gurudeva's teachings, to assist his teaching mission with enthusiasm, and to offer our respects to him.

3. Observe a proper spiritual diet by eating vegetarian and sattvic foods. Eat a healthy diet and avoid meat, fish, and eggs, as these foods increase our lower tendencies and can result in negative karma. When possible, offer all food to Lord Krishna before eating and partake of the remnants as prasadam, or God's grace.

4. Study the sacred Vedic literatures very systematically and reverently, especially the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavata Purana, Patanjali Yoga Sutras, Upanishads, and Narada Bhakti Sutras. Try to spend time reading these sacred texts each day, and discuss them with other devotees whenever possible. There is no difference between Lord Krishna and Lord Krishna's instructions. By reading the Bhagavad Gita and hearing Sri Krishna's upadesha (teachings), we are directly associating with the Supreme.

5. Have an altar in your home where you keep a sacred image (murti) of Lord Krishna, or other forms of the Lord. Offer daily worship to the murti with incense, flowers, water, a ghee wick lamp, and with what ever else is within your capacity.

6. Every day offer compassion to others by helping them spiritually. Giving spiritual knowledge is the highest form of kindness, so engage in teaching Lord Krishna's instructions of the Gita to other interested people. Teach, but don't preach.

7. Associate with like minded devotees and develop their godly qualities. This is known as sat-sangha. Sat-sangha is coming directly in contact with the Lord through His devotees. By always keeping spiritually positive association, and avoiding negative and dark association, we will quickly begin to reflect the divine qualities of the Lord, and to presence His grace in our lives.

8. Give up unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking alcohol and taking any form of drugs (marijuana, LSD, hashish, ayahuasca, etc.), and instead replace them with the spiritually beneficial habits of service. Service to God in the company of devotees is one of the most enjoyable methods to advance in spiritual life.

9. As followers of Dharma, we are called upon to strive toward ethical excellence. We seek to always be good, and to do the good. Thus, strive always to follow the Yamas and Niyamas, and to reflect God's goodness in all your thoughts, words, and deeds.

10. Always try to offer service (seva) to God in accordance with your capacity, means, skills, and understanding.

11. Learn to spiritualize your speech by speaking truth at all times. Never engage in gossip or criticize people. Try not to discourage people or raise your voice to others out of pride or anger. Instead, see your speech as a gift from God meant to encourage others to be the very best they can be. Always offer encouraging words to others.

12. Learn to control your material yearnings and to be content. Contentment (santosha) is an internal treasure. It is not attained by acquiring external objects. Do not let the senses force you to chase unnecessary material possessions. One cannot extinguish a fire by pouring fuel on top of it. Trying to satisfy your material desires will only increase the fire of material suffering. Learn to extinguish this fire by removing the fuel of material attachment. Only through simple living and high thinking can we attain contentment and detachment in spiritual life. Detachment will mean different things for different people. Ultimately, detachment is an internal state, more than a matter of how much you possess.

13. Practice non-violence (ahimsa) by avoiding harming other living beings unnecessarily. Show compassion to others. Compassion, forgiveness, kindness, and love can conquer our internal enemies of anger, greed and lust.

14. Always think of Lord Krishna, as awareness of God is the essence of all scriptural injunctions. When you wake up in the morning, remember Lord Krishna before rising from bed. At night, offer your obeisances to Him before sleeping. Throughout the day always meditate upon His name and keep you consciousness situated in Him. By remembering the Lord we can be like the lotus leaf which always remains dry above the water level despite being situated within the water.

The two keys to a successful sadhana practice are abhyasa (consistent practice) and vairagya (non-attachment). If we can perform all our spiritual practices with consistency and free of ego, we will know the very highest of spiritual attainments.

About the Author

Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya (Dr. Frank Morales, Ph.D.) is universally acclaimed as one of the world's most respected and qualified Dharma teachers and Hindu spiritual leaders alive today. He personifies what it means to be a true and authentic guru.

Dr. Deepak Chopra has exclaimed in 2002: "You've done truly phenomenal work teaching the pure essence of Yoga". In a similar manner, Dr. David Frawley has said about Sri Acharyaji, "Dr. Frank Morales represents the Sankalpa [the will] of the Hindu people and the cause of Sanatana Dharma. I urge all Hindus everywhere to give him your full support, assistance, and encouragement in his crucial work. He needs and deserves our help."

http://www.dharmacentral.com/forum/content.php?36-Daily-Sadhana

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Sunday, March 6, 2011

[AlternativeAnswers] Re: New Baby vacinations

This is such a hot topic and a timely one because of all the controversy of what the vaccinations may be doing to our children.
My husband and I chose not to vaccinate our children. Dr. Tenpenny , Dr. Mercola, Dr. Rima (you can look them all up on the internet) have
done a lot of research and lobbying against vaccinations. My husband and I started out with this information and felt that we would wait until the children were 2 yrs old before starting the vac's protocol. Then when our first child hit two, she was so healthy and we did not have her in daycare but in-home care that we chose not to do it because of all the controversy, we did not want to be responsible for making a choice that could harm the lifetime health of our child and felt there was more risk in giving her vaccinations then allowing her own immune system to be responsible for her health (and of course, we were not exposing her to other children in the day care setting). When our 2nd child was born, the same thing. We allowed the vitamin k shot in the hospital because we had not considered it a vaccination and didn't think about any consequences. Our 2nd child developed extreme colic and jaundice and suffered with this until she was two years old because by then we figured out what could be the cause and took alternative healing action to mitigate it, she is fine now (Dr. Mercola has much to say about the vitamin k shot).
Our 3rd child was recently born (now 6 months old) and because of our experience with the 2nd child we chose to opt out of the vitamin k shot at the time of birth - instead I gave him sublingual vitamin k from the health food store and we had no issues. He has not had any colic, upset tummy stuff and has had the easiest time eating and sleeping without disruption. We can't say if this is because we didn't do the vita-k shot but it is an interesting coincidence.
In all, we felt that waiting until 2 yrs old gave our children's immune system time to develop and actually take advantage of the immunity that the vac's are supposed to be helping with. After our first child reached 2 yrs old we felt that we could wait until near school age. Then, as she reached that age we decided that there was still too much controvery and that we only wanted the basic vac's (mmr, dtp,etc). We were told by the school district that once we started the vac's protocol we had to do them all because in Arizona once you give one vac to your child you are no longer eligible to claim exemption for personal reasons with the State (the state of Arizona and many other State's allow you to claim personal reasons for not administering vaccinations and they have to allow the child to attend school). So, it was all or nothing so we chose nothing. We have many other alternative health options, Naturopathic Medical Doctor's have other ways of helping your body build the immune system and have greater immunity all around. We also use the BCX Ultra Rife Frequency machine (which works great on everything from colds, flu, fever, strep throat, etc). Look into this subject for yourself, there is so much information out there. Go with your gut, each parent has to make peace with their decision and taking responsibility for your child's health is a big responsibility. Even if you get vaccinations, it doesn't "protect" them against illness like the one's I previously listed so having an alternative health care practitioner can make all the difference in your child's state of health and the health of their immune system which in my mind is a greater guard against illness!

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Re: [AlternativeAnswers] benefits of drinking water

Anyone know of a good water filter system...just something to attach to a faucet.

--- On Fri, 3/4/11, europanz <upulagi@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: europanz <upulagi@yahoo.com>
Subject: [AlternativeAnswers] benefits of drinking water
To: AlternativeAnswers@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, March 4, 2011, 10:10 PM

I drink several glasses of filtered water every morning when i arrive at

work and my knees aren`t sore anymore and I have no problem with

constipation.

Benefits: Water has one of the most important roles to play in

maintaining a healthy body and some of its benefits include:

* PH Balance: Human body maintains a pH range of 7.35-7.45 for proper

physiological processes. An acidic shift may lead to sickness and

inability of the body to assimilate vitamins and minerals. Thus, it

should be above the value of 7, which is favourable to body's oxygen

uptake, higher energy levels, and better immune response to diseases.

This is attainable by consuming lots of water.

* Body Temperature: Much of the human body is made up of water and

this fluid is responsible for regulation of body temperature. We undergo

perspiration in summers to dissipate the excess heat in order to lower

our temperature. This temperature regulation property has been

attributed to water.

* Metabolism: Water is the carrier of oxygen, nutrients, hormones,

etc. to body parts and provides medium for removal of toxins, dead

cells, waste material, etc. The proteins and enzymes involved in various

fundamental processes also require water for their proper functioning.

* Breathing: Water plays its role in distributing oxygen all over the

human body while collecting the carbon dioxide from all these parts by

dissolving these gases.

* Constipation, Heartburn, Migraine, Gastritis and Ulcers: A number

of disorders are related with water deficiency. Constipation, heartburn,

migraine, gastritis and ulcers can be prevented by taking modest amounts

of water routinely.

* Kidney Stones: As per the International Kidney Stone Institute,

<http://www.iksi.org/index.php> 2 litres or 10 glasses must be consumed

each day to prevent from kidney stones. Water is the best solvent and

this property does not let the salts and minerals to accumulate to form

stone. The salts reaching kidney gets diluted and eliminated in urine.

* Cardiovascular Disease: Water can prevent cardiovascular disorders

to a large extent. It maintains proper viscosity of blood and plasma and

fibrinogen distribution and therefore adequate hydration of vascular

components is advisable.

* Rheumatoid Arthritis: Joints in human body are prone to continuous

friction and weathering. These can be maintained in proper shape by

intake of proper amount of water. Decrease in water consumption may lead

to rheumatoid arthritis.

* Backache: The back portion of our body rests on the spinal cord.

The spinal disc core is made up of large volume of water and dehydration

leads to back pain in such individuals.

* Osteoporosis: According to the research conducted by the Linus

Pauling Institute, <http://lpi.orgonstate.edu/> individuals consuming

adequate amounts of water have reduced risks to osteoporosis and hip

fractures.

* Pregnant Women and Nursing Mother: A pregnant women carries a new

life in her womb that develops from her. The nutrients and other factors

needed for its growth can be carried from mother to the foetus via blood

which in turn needs water. Constipation, bladder infection, and

haemorrhoids are common during pregnancy and these can be avoided by

taking excess of water during this period.

* Kidney Functions: The excretory material in the form of urea is

highly toxic to body tissues and must be diluted before their passage.

This is again done by the `universal solvent' water.

* Skin Tone: According to the University of Minnesota,

<http://www.umn.edu/> skins may get affected by frost bite and

blisters. It has been established that proper water levels in the body

prevents the body from dehydration. This in turn maintains the turgidity

of skin. A number of skin problems can be prevented by taking adequate

amount of

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