WHEN You Eat is More Important Than WHAT You Eat.

What is the longest time gap between your two meals?

Mine is 24 hours which means I only take one meal per day. For the past 14 months, I am comfortable practicing it. Sometimes when I am in a mood to do tapas then I even skip that one meal, which means that I have my meal after 48 hours. My plate consists of carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, fats, vitamins and fibers. To everyone's surprise, I consume butter, ghee, sweets and fried foods on a regular basis. But it doesn't affect my health as there is a huge time gap between the two meals. If the gap between two meals is very less, even cucumbers will give belly fat. :)

If the gap is more than 9 hours then you are living a healthy life. But if it is less than 9 hours then you should increase the gap by delaying your breakfast or taking your dinner earlier. You can slowly shift it half an hour or so till you reach your goal. The gap between the two meals is necessary for the stomach to take rest and not to produce hormones like insulin frequently. You can increase this gap from 9 hours to 12 hours. In the early days, the people used to have their meals before sunset and only after sunrise. But after the invention of electricity there is no such time restraint, one eats whenever one feels like.

So, WHEN you eat is more important than WHAT you eat. :)

Pic - Pixabay

Conquer Insomnia!

Many years back, I was struggling with insomnia. I could neither sleep at the proper time nor could I experience sound sleep. I made some changes in my lifestyle to overcome this problem. These were as follows :-

1. I stopped taking a nap during the daytime and utilized that time in exercising regularly. Either I did yoga or walking or both. When my body got tired, I could very easily slip into sleep. You can take the help of any Health App to keep a track of your exercise progress.

2. Before sleeping, I started chanting mantras while concentrating on each and every word. Soon my mind would be exhausted and needed rest. You can select any mantra from Sadhana App and can chant it visualizing each letter of the mantra in your mind.

3. I started doing shavasana. While focusing and relaxing each and every part of the body, very quickly I felt drowsy. You can do yoga Nidra in Black Lotus App, it is a really very effective way of relaxing.

All Pics - Pexels

Sri Suktam Live Yagna Day 10 with Om Swamiji

Wow! A feline beauty on a catwalk!

On the day 10 of the live telecast of Sri Suktam Yagna, a blackish cat placidly entered from the right side of the screen. It was not only a beauty with brains but a charm with calmness. It meekly sat behind Om Swamiji who was doing the preparations for the yagna by placing firewood in the firepit and was humming ‘Jai Ambe Hare Jagdambe Hare’. On realizing its presence near Him, a delicate smile appeared on His glowing face. A powerful smile that can eradicate all sorrows, sadness and ignorance from one’s life!

The feline took a round and went away from where it had come. As usual the yagna began with the ahutis with ghee. The same mantras were repeated, the same ingredients were poured one after the another, the same monotonous process. I followed Swamiji’s instructions. Swamiji poured ghee, I did too. He poured havan samagri, I did too. He offered firewood, I did too. I acted in accordance with Him and performed the whole process like a copycat.

As soon as Swamiji started chanting the 15 mantras of Devi Ma taken from Lakshmi Tantram, I started feeling uneasy.

नमो नित्यानवद्याय जगतः सर्वहेतवे। 

ज्ञानाय निस्तरङ्गाय लक्ष्मीनारायणात्मने ॥१ ॥ 

नमस्ते सिन्धुसम्भूते नमस्ते पद्मसम्भवे । 

नमः सरोरुहावासे नारायणकुटुम्बिनि ॥ २  ॥

क्षीरोदमथनायासफलरूपे मधुद्विषः । 

नमचन्द्रसहोदर्यै नमस्तेऽमृतयोनये ॥ ३  ॥

नमः सरोरुहावासे नमोः नारायण आश्रय 

नमो नित्यानवद्यायै कल्याण गुण सिन्धवे || ४ || 

नमस्ते पद्मसम्भूते नमः कमलमालिनि ।।

नमः कमलवासिन्यै गोविन्दगृहमेधिनि ॥५ ॥

नमस्ते कमलावासे जनन्यै सर्वदेहिनाम् । 

गृहिण्यै पद्मनाभस्य नमस्ते सरसीरुहे ॥ ६  ॥

नमोः निखिलनिर्माणत्राणसंहारशक्तये ।

हरेः स्वरूपभूतायै नमस्ते ज्ञानरूपिणि ॥ ७  ॥

शब्दार्थव्यक्तिरूपायै षडध्वपरिवर्तिनि ।

अध्वातीतावबोधाख्ये नमस्ते हरिवल्लभे ॥८ ॥

परं ब्रह्म परं धाम पद्मस्थे पद्ममालिनि ।

नमस्ते पद्मजे पद्मे गोविन्दगृहमेधिनि॥९ ॥ 

नमस्तुभ्यं जगन्नाथे पुण्डरीकाक्षवल्लभे ।

अशेषजगदीशाने सर्वज्ञे सर्वभाविनि ॥ १०  ॥ 

शुद्धा शुद्ध षडध्वाख्याचित्रनिर्माण भितये 

नमः श्रीवैसभावीन्य भव संताप शान्तायै || ११  || 

नमो नित्यानवद्यायै जनन्यै सर्वदेहिनाम् ।

आधारेशात्मरूपायै शुद्धाशुद्धाखिलाध्वनाम्॥ १२ ॥

नमस्ते सचिदचिद्वर्गसंरक्षणविचक्षणे ।

जगद्विधानशिल्पिन्यै विष्णुपत्न्यै नमोऽस्तु ते ॥१३  ॥

विश्वारणे नमस्तुभ्यं नमो विश्वविभूतये ।

सर्वासामपि सिद्धीनां नमस्ते मूलहेतवे ॥१४॥ 

आदिदेवात्मभूतायै नारायणकुटुम्बिनि ।

समस्तजगदाराध्ये नमस्ते पद्मयोनये ॥ १५॥

The burning sensation around my heart chakra appeared all of a sudden. I found myself gasping for breath. I could not breathe from my nose. It became hard for me to even press the jaggery icon in one of the options on Sadhana App. As the chants became louder my discomfort multiplied further. I was breathless. With great difficulty in breathing from my nose, I opened my mouth for some more oxygen.

Are You Disheartened on Rejection of Initiation Request?

 

Are you disheartened, eh?

Many mails are pouring in my inbox after the rejection of their initiation request from Om Swamiji as they have not met Him in person. It is true that we all feel low when our request is declined. We all adore Him and want to be initiated by Him or wish to be jumped at higher level of initiation.

It is the need of the hour that we must understand that initiation means connecting a bond with the lineage which means leading a disciplined life. It is the responsibility not the leisure or fun. Ask yourself what responsibility you are ready to take for the welfare of the society and for the self-transformation. If you can do even minor changes in your lifestyle, you will be amazed that the lineage blesses you with the immense power and success in any and all endeavors of your life - materialistic as well as spiritual.

I would recommend some minor changes. They are as follows:

A. Just before sleeping and soon after waking up chant any of the following mantra just for 5 minutes. Please pick one and then daily chant it. Also bow down to Om Swamiji.

1. Navarana Mantra in Sadhana App (It will connect you with Mother Divine)

2. Siddha Surya Mantra in Sadhana App (It will connect you with the lineage)

3. ॐ सर्वमंगल मांगल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके।

शरण्ये त्रयम्बके गौरी नारायणी नमोस्तुते।। 

(Om Sarva Mangal Mangalye Shive Sarvartha Sadhike.
Sharanye Trymbake Gauri Narayani Namoastutte.) in Black Lotus App (It will connect you with Om Swamiji)

B. You can chant the same mantra while doing daily chores, walking, waiting for somebody, while travelling etc. The more you chant the mantra the more connected you will be with Om Swamiji.

C. If you are strongly determined for the initiation then the recommendation is that you must start using Sadhana App for Japa, Nitya Pooja, Abhishekam, Yajna and Sadhana. You will find that there is a Leader Board in the App which show the 100 names of the topmost performers for the Japa, Nitya Pooja, Abhishekam, Yajna and Sadhana respectively. Are you really serious? Then work hard so that your name is reflected in the top 10 names not 100. With my experience, I could say that He keeps a keen track on each and every person’s progress in the Sadhana App as well as in the Black Lotus App.

D. Daily do at least one Random Act of Kindness in Black Lotus App.

It is time to work hard and not to cry over the spilt milk.

You can read more about me here, here and here.

An Uncommon Spiritual Experience

Oops! My fingers were burning.

On the Diwali night, when there were fireworks outside, I was feeling fireworks inside my body too. The burning sensations in the fingers of my left hand made me uncomfortable and uneasy. According to Siddh Yogi Vishalbhai Pandya, “It’s easy to feel Kundalini Energy because it’s a forceful and concentrated energy that quickly moves through chakras. People usually feel the burning sensation in the part of the body where the energy resides.”

I experienced it while doing my routine prayers. Surprisingly, I was not doing any particular sadhana. The sensation of burning was more in the index and middle finger although it was shifting in between all the fingers and the thumb. The area of upper knuckles was burning intensely as if this part of the body part had been immersed in the boiling water.

Deepak Chopra said, “The physical sensation like burning is most likely due to the body releasing some old traumatic experience. Sometimes the release process triggers strong physical sensations. Know that this clearing away of the old trauma is a good thing, and that when it is finished the burning sensation will ease up and stop. Then one will have a smoother meditation experience again.”

The burning sensation in the left palm remained even after I finished meditation. The feeling lingered for nearly half an hour before completely disappearing.

According to the book ‘The Gospel of Sri Ramkrishna’, “The almost unknown spiritual experience described in the scriptures as Mahā–bhāva, the most exalted rapture of divine love is the extreme exaltation had been described as manifesting itself through nineteen physical symptoms, including the shedding of tears, a tremor of the body, horripilation, perspiration, and a burning sensation. These were the symptoms of madness, madness for God!”

I frequently experienced shedding of tears, tremor in my body, perspiration and burning sensations around the chakras and now burning sensation in my fingers. I have never gone through the feeling of horripilation. Hope that my madness for God grows by leaps and bounds!

Pic : Unsplash 

Sri Suktam Virtual Yagna with Om Swamiji

Surprisingly, I was perspiring profusely.

In Delhi NCR, it was not a sweltering summer morning rather a cold morning when the outside temperature was 18° Celsius and inside room temperature was around 23° Celsius. I was neither doing any aggressive workout nor doing any exertive physical work. I was just sitting in the padmasana and clicking the buttons of my iPhone. Fully absorbed in doing the virtual yagna with Om Swamiji on Day 2 of Sri Suktam Sadhana in Sadhana App, I felt this spiritual experience. In between tapping on the ingredient's icons in the yagna while chanting the mantras, immense love and devotion for God transformed into tear drops and loud cries.

‘yãjno vai vishñuhiti srùteh’

Bhagwan Vishnu is Yagna himself. The Vedas, the Shruti Shastra says that the Yagna is one kind of manifestation of Sri Vishnu. Something performed for the pleasure of the supreme Lord Vishnu, the way He desires. The word Yagna is composed of two letters, ‘ya’ and ‘gna’. ‘Ya’ means 'For whose' and ‘gna’ means 'acknowledgement'. Therefore, yagna means the performance of something to get acknowledged by the Supreme Being.”

Fire is the symbol of spirit; it represents the soul. Fire always burns upwards motivating me to rise above lower afflictions of my mind. When I meditated on outer fire it helped me in igniting the inner fire. Inner fire consumes all thoughts except the thought about Bhagwan.

Earlier whenever I had performed a yagna with firewood and real material, the intense heat of fire flames made me uneasy. Sitting close to the havan kund would sometimes become a tedious task especially in the sweltery summers. Perspiring heavily was quite common at such times.

Today morning, just before finishing the virtual yagna in Sadhana App, I was feeling as uncomfortable as I had always experienced while doing a real yagna in the hot humid summer. My attire was drenched with sweat because of excessive perspiration. I was perspiring profusely as if I was performing a real yagna. Virtual and real experience coincides! 

A verse from Chandogya Upanisad (7.26.2)

āhāra- suddhau sattva- suddhih sattva suddhau druva smritih smrti- lambhe sarva- granthīnām vipramoksah.

(Performing yagnas would purify one's food, eating that meal would sanctify one's body. When one's body is purified, one attains a stable memory, and when the memory is stable one becomes free from all bondages, leading one on the path to liberation.)

Dear readers, after reading this post, is your enthusiasm fired up to do a virtual yagna with Om Swamiji in Sadhana App?

For further reading, my posts are here, here and here.

Pic : A screenshot just before commencing of the virtual yagna in Sadhana App.

Sri Suktam Live Yagna with Om Swamiji

Whole Diwali night I could not sleep!

I could not doze for even a minute as I was ultra-excited to do live yagna in Sadhana App with Om Swamiji the very next morning. While doing a yagna I always visualized that He is doing yagna with me. I hadn’t done any yagna in the sadhana without creating His image in my mind. In Sri Suktam Sadhana in Sadhana App, I need not imagine His presence, He would be right there in front of my eyes. Thought of performing yagna and pouring ingredients almost at the same time with Him thrilled me.

But the bitter truth is that I was so busy in chanting mantras, doing sadhanas, meditating on divine and writing post for os.me that when I found the time to sleep, it was actually my time to wake up. Without blinking my eyes for a second, I started for my next day. I took a bath and entered my prayer room. The whole night pass by in chanting, meditating and doing sadhana. Whenever I felt sleepy, I got up to wash my face with chilled water.

At sharp 5:15 a.m. the yajna began. There was a screen in the middle to watch the live performance of yagna by Om Swamiji. On the left-hand side there were basic ingredients like ghee, firewood and havan samagri. The special ingredients were listed on the right-hand side which include raisins, white sesame seeds and red sandalwood, special ingredient to perform Purn Aahuti. In the middle a virtual yagna kund was created. As soon as Swamiji started performing yajna than I started crying. The tears of love and devotion for Him wetted my cheeks. I could not see the screen properly because of the salty water in my eyes. Sometimes I clicked the wrong ingredient because of blurredness. I cried in the beginning, in the middle and towards the end. The only period when I was not crying was while offering ingredients and chanting the first verse of Sri Suktam. It was a difficult mantra and I had to focus on it while chanting. Sometimes, I was crying so loud that I could barely hear which mantra He was chanting.

He was cleaning the outer environment by doing a yagna but His powerful voice was cleaning the negative tendencies of mind as they were flowing out of me in the form of tears. The feeling of jealousy, hatred, anger, fear and desires all were burning into ashes while meditating on the chants in His dynamic voice.

While doing this virtual yagna, I also learned an important lesson that the end of the life is the same for the rich and the poor –we all are a handful of ashes. How high or hot the fire flames of yagna may be but in the end, they will turn into a pile of ashes! ‘इदं न मम’ (idam na mama) which is chanted with the fire offerings simply means is ‘It is not mine’ that nothing in this temporary world belongs to me. I shed the rat chasing for temporary desires of this materialistic world for the permanent desire of God and God alone. His presence and His words helped me in connecting my soul with the Supreme soul to seek God’s mercy and His Blessings.

अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिर्यज्ञो विधिदृष्टो य इज्यते ।

यष्टव्यमेवेति मन: समाधाय स सात्विक:॥

aphalākāṅkṣhibhir yajño vidhi-driṣhṭo ya ijyate

yaṣhṭavyam eveti manaḥ samādhāya sa sāttvikaḥ

(Of yagna, that is performed according to duty and to scriptural rules, and with no expectation of reward, is of the nature of goodness.)

(Bhagavad Gita 17.11)

You can read more of my articles here, here and here.