Shubh raatri and good night or how to sleep

You see the first stars, moon is getting more and more bright...

 left and right, left and right...you are still awake, no more sheep to count, your partner/friend/roommate is snoring since hours. You know it, right?

Sleep is not a complicated state, when you were active during the day, doing your duty, whatever it is, you will sleep good, once your head will be on the pillow , the brain will switch off automatically. But often,  if the day is too busy, too much stress (positive or negative (yes, positive event also causes stress and you are getting overexcited) your mind is starting his play: thinking and thinking about what happen,  what could be happen if...or how it will be tomorrow. This is the favourite moment for your mind play. But, whatever your mind is going to do, you still have your duties tomorrow morning, so to sleep good is necessary for you.

You can always help yourself to sleep better.
Some advises maybe you know , it is universal: do not eat heavy food before sleeping. Heavy stomach=heavy mind=nightmares. Swamiji is saying  late supper makes the brain work,   Probably everybody experienced it. Second is -Sleep in fresh room. My mother teach me to open window for 10 minutes before and after sleeping. In cold season, open for 5 minutes. It is enough to exchange the oxygen and refresh the room to make it pure and cool. Remember the rule "warm feet, cool head". Cover proper your body, except of the head. Swami Sivananda, in his book "Health and hygiene", is saying it is unhygienic to cover the head because you will inhale the foul air exhaled by the lungs.

Hi is advising as well to sleep on the left side to make Pingala work efficiently  and digest the food (remember about it when you have a baby and you are choosing on which site she/he should sleep ). Avoid the nap during the day (only if your day is very active) .
Other helpers are: massage, Kirtan and Japa. It makes deep and sound sleep.


Do not go to sleep too late if it is not necessary. You have one body, which works for you every single moment, take care of it as it desserves.

Om Tat Sat

 

Quote from Swami Sivananda

"Knowledge of Atman or the Self is the greatest wealth" Analects of Swami Sivananda

This short and simple sentence hase two important messages:

1. Atman is the Self. You are nothing but the eternal soul, begining- and end-less. When you are saying "myself" , remember that you are refering to the Atman which is equal with Brahman, when you are saying "yourself" it is still Brahman. You are equal with everybody, and everybody is equal with you and the whole Universe.

2. The greatest aim of Yoga is not physical flexibility but the kKnowledge, which will lead you to the Self realization. All others steps in Yoga are only about helping you on this way.

Om Tat Sat

Rudraksha's mukhi and deities

 Each bead type is blessed by a God, or represents some particular Deity

. Let see the main connection between mukhi and Deities:

1 mukhi- is blessed by Lord Shiva, it is giving eternal bliss and moksha.

2 mukhi is related to Ardhnareeshwar, half Shiva half Parvati deity. This is the pemanent union of      female and male form.

3- three mukhi bead represents Lord Agni, the God of Fire

4- Brahma Dev is blessing the 4 mukhi bead. Four directions, 4 Brahma's head.

5 mukhis represents Shiva in Kalagni Rudra (the fierce Shiva's form) or Panch Mahadev (five headed  Shiva)

6- represents Kartikey , the son On Parvati and Shiva. Some represents Kartikey with six heads, as he  was raised by 6 mothers.

7 number hase lot of symbols: seven Martrikas (seven Mothers: Brahmi, Maheshvari, Kaumaari, Vaishanvee, Indranee, Chaamunda), 7 snakes (Anant, Karkat, Pundareek, Takshak, Vashoshiban, Karoash, Shankhchud), 7 sages Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulatsya, Pulaha, Ritu, Vashishtha.

8 mukhi rudraksha is blessed by Lord Ganesh, who is removing all obstacles

9 mukhi are blessed by Mother Durga

10- Lord Vishnu and Yamraj

11- Shri Hanuman is represented in ekadash rudraksha, who wear it is getting the Hanuman's virtues

12 mukhi represents Surya Dev , the God of Sun

13 Kaamdev (Cupid) and Indra Dev

14 mukhi rudraksha is directly produced from Shiva's eyes. It is the controler of Ajna chakra

15 - it is blessed by Pashupati, Shiva as the Lord of animals

16 - dedicated to Lord Ram

17 represents Lord Vishvakarma, the expert in crafting and creativity

18 represents Bhumi , the Earth

19 represents Lord Vishnu whose abode is Kshersagar, the Ocean of milk

20- Brahm as trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva)

21- represents Kuber, the Lord of finances

all information is from Kamal Narayan Seetha's book "The power of rudraksha"


Om Tat sat

The power of rudraksha

Since long time I was interested by rudraksha beads. Forst time I saw it on tv and it was indian series. I started to ask myself what is this, what is the connection between religion and beads, what is about rudraksha as a plant, what is the point of wearing it.
                                                      
In Rishikesh I've got a book with the answers to all my questions. Kamal Narayan Seetha, a rudraksha therapist, author of "The power of rudraksha" explaining how does the bead is working. Beads have spiritual and curative properties. It is a herb which is good for several diseases.
What is  mukhi and which rudraksha is good for you, how to wear and how to check the authenticity of the bead, all this is in Seetha's book.

The most common are the beads with 4-6 mukhis. They are over 70% of all beads available in the market. Other 10% is for 2, 3, 7,8,9,10,1112,13,14 and 15 mukhis. Rudraksha with more then 15 mukhis are rare, but they exist. You can find even double bead Gaurishankar , or triple bead Trijuti, but it is very rare, and be carefull , be sure they are real. Some beads are growing like Siamese twins, another has one or more mukhi coming out, this is called Savar Rudraksha

 www.rudrablessings.com

In next articles I will describe different beads and their connection to hindu Gods

Disguised blessings

"Sufferings purify the soul. They burn up the gross material, sins and impurities. They give inner spiritual strength and develop the will-force, the power, the power of endurance. Hence sufferings are blessings in disguise" 
                        Swami Sivananda "Sadhana"- preface

"Sufferings are blessings- what a nonsense " you may think. "How suffering can be good? I'm not feeling blessed at all" It's very common and normal human reaction. We avoid pain and we are attracted by pleasant things. 
Why? We are thinking about it from body/emotions perspective. If we identify ourselves with body, with it well-being so of course we will avoid everything what can injure it. But...let think about suffer from the perspective of Soul. 
Soul is not suffering from physical pain, cold, loneliness. Soul is Soul in every moment. But as pure water mixed with mud  is getting dirty , Soul is getting impure if we let our lower nature to take control. So why we have to feel blessed?  

As sandpaper cleans the rust, as strong hit open coconut, the suffer cleans our soul from impurities as greed, pride, fear. Of course you can polish metal slowly with soft tissue, you can take a knife and start gently cut the coconut, you will reach your goal but it will take  more time, much more time and maybe the result will not be same.

There is a quote "What does not kill me makes me stronger" those words have very deep meaning. Swamiji said "it gives spiritual strength". If we can deal with problem, next time it will not make you suffer, we know how to act, it will be easier keep mind calm.

"Storms makes trees take deeper roots"- same meaning.

According to karma low  we are coming to this life with our personal karma which we will experience during our life. By suffering we burn our bad karma faster. We purify the Soul. It could be difficult to be happy in suffer , but we can try to stay neutral. Often we are thinking "i don't like it, how  can I be happy?", because we forget that between "happy-?-unhappy" there is also "neutral" state.  Just take this moment as it is. You have a chance to make your Soul  pure faster and you to be stronger. 

Om Tat Sat

Wholemeal eggless crepes. The easiest way for deliscious and healthy crepes

Wholemeal eggless crepes with home-made strawberry jam

Traditionaly we make crepes with white flour, eggs and milk. But there is easier and more healthy way to cook crepes: without eggs and with more nutrients. And it's still really yummy ! Don't think that healthy food is not tasty and tasty food is always unhealthy!

Ingredients:

Wholemeal flor, potato starch, milk, sugar if needed, oil to fry

Extra: jam, butter, honey, sugar, fruits, nuts....






Directions:

• In a bowl mix the flour and starch (use 60% of flour and 40% of starch) add sugar if you like more sweet.
• Gradually add milk. Mix proper until smooth
• Fry on a hot frying pan as simple crepes. 
• Keep hot. Serve with jam, fruits, honey or with whatever you like 

 Crepes are more dark because of flour and starch keeps the shape replacing the eggs. 

Version française ici

Karma

"The word "karma" from the sanscrit root 'kri' signifies action or deed, whether physical or mental (including thought).[...] Karma means not only action, but also the result of the action. the consequence is really not a separate thing, but is a part of the action. [...]
There is no such thing as a blind chance or accident. If your finite mind is not able to find the cause of an event, it does not mean that this is accidental. [...]

If there is an action, there must be a reaction. The reaction will be of equal force and of similar nature. Every thought. desire, imagination, sentiment cause reaction. Virtue brings its own reward; vice brings its own punishment. This is the law of reaction. God neither punishes the wicked nor rewards the virtuous. It is their own karma that brings reward and/or punishment. No one is to be blamed"

 Swami Vishnudevananda "Meditation and mantras"

In many languages there are the quotes about action and reaction ex. ''behave with others as you want them to behave with you"(original is from Bible , Luke 6.31). It is very commom thought, and everybody knows that if we are nice to our neighbours so they will be nice to us, if we will help them, they will be helpfull to us. But how many people know that this law concerns also our thoughts? It is not enough to smile to our neighbour if in our heart we wish to him something bad. Thought is powerfull as the action is.

Karma law is easy: good action, good word, good thought- good reward, bad thought, action or word- punishment. You can think that nobody knows our thoughts, of course word or action are hurting very easy other person, but our bad thought can hurt ourself later.

It is easier to get control on the body and words then on mental activity, but once we get control of the mind we dont need to worry about the body. Everything is starting from the thought.

Om Tat Sat