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Your Window to the World of Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality!

This website is devoted to Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality and Science. We bring in articles on teachings by Great Saints like Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, Adi Shankara, Swami Sivananda, Swami Krishnananda, Aurobindo, Mother of Auroville and others.

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Travel - Mount Kailash

Mount Kailash

Mount Kailash (also Mount Kailas; Kangrinboqê or Gang Rinpoche, Gāngrénbōqí fēng) is a peak in the Gangdisê Mountains, which are part of the Transhimalaya in Tibet. It lies near the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia: the Indus River, the Sutlej River (a major tributary of the Indus River), the Brahmaputra River, and the Karnali River (a tributary of the Ganges River). It is considered a sacred place in five religions: Ayyavazhi, Bön, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. In Hinduism, it is considered to be the abode of Lord Shiva and a place of eternal bliss. The mountain lies near Lake Manasarowar and Lake Rakshastal in Tibet.

Religious significance

In Hinduism

According to Hinduism, Lord Shiva, the destroyer of ignorance and illusion, resides at the summit of a legendary mountain named Kailāsa, where he sits in a state of perpetual meditation along with his wife Pārvatī.

According to Charles Allen, one description in the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that its four faces are made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli. It is a pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain ranges symbolizing a lotus.

The ancient Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee is heralded as “Dakshina Kailasam”/”Then Kailasam” (Kailash of the South) because it lies on exactly the same longitude as Mount Kailash and due to its pre-eminence in Saivite belief. Koneswaram’s early black granite rock-cut architectural style shared similarities to famous Kailasanathar Temples of the subcontinent, named after the mountain peak. Koneswaram’s traditional history and legends were compiled into the Tamil corpus Tevaram and the Sanskrit treatises Dakshina Kailasa Puranam — Sthala Puranam of Koneswaram, written in 1380 by Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan, and the Dakshina Kailasa Manmiam — three chapters of the Skanda Puranam of unknown antiquity — manuscripts of which have been discovered and dated from the 5th — 7th century.

Many of the Kailasanathar temples sculptures and reliefs depict episodes relating to Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati, including Ravana’s tale. (Ravana was a devotee of Lord Shiva. Ramayana does not document Ravana shaking the mountain.) Ravana’s mother had fallen ill. As they were great Lord Shiva devotees, he had attempted to carry the temple on his back to bring it closer to his mother. Shiva, being stunned by his boldness, had blessed him with immortality as Ravana had passed Lord Shiva’s test of devotion.

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Travel - Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.It coveres area about 221 hectare (552 Acres) which include 38 hectare taj mahal and 183 hectare taj protected forest are.

Taj Mahal is the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish and Indian architectural styles.

In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma’mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

Origin and inspiration

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire’s period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan’s grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator’s glory.

The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian architecture and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including; the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayun’s Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulah’s Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan’s own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, and buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.

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Travel - Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram, derived from ‘Mamallapuram’ is the prior and colloquial name of a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, now officially called Mamallapuram. It has an average elevation of 12metres (39feet).

Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60km south from the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The name Mamallapuram is believed to have been given after the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who took on the epithet Maha-malla (great wrestler), as the favourite sport of the Pallavas was wrestling. It has various historic monuments built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries, and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History

Megalithic burial urns, cairn circles and jars with burials dating to the very dawn of the Christian era have been discovered near Mamallapuram. The Sangam age poem Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai relates the rule of King Thondaiman Ilam Thiraiyar at Kanchipuram of the Tondai Nadu port Nirppeyyaru which scholars identify with the present-day Mamallapuram. Chinese coins and Roman coins of Theodosius I in the 4th century CE have been found at Mamallapuram revealing the port as an active hub of global trade in the late classical period. Two Pallava coins bearing legends read as Srihari and Srinidhi have been found at Mamallapuram. The Pallava kings ruled Mamallapuram from Kanchipuram; the capital of the Pallava dynasty from the 3rd century to 9th century CE, and used the port to launch diplomatic missions to Ceylon and Southeast Asia.

An 8th century Tamil text written by Thirumangai Alvar described this place as Kadal Mallai, (Sea Mountain) ‘where the ships rode at anchor bent to the point of breaking laden as they were with wealth, big trunked elephants and gems of nine varieties in heaps’. It is also known by several other names such as Mamallapattana and Mamallapuram. Another name by which Mahabalipuram has been known to mariners, at least since Marco Polo’s time is “Seven Pagodas” alluding to the Seven Pagodas of Mahabalipuram that stood on the shore, of which one, the Shore Temple, survives. The temples of Mamallapuram, portraying events described in the Mahabharata, built largely during the reigns of Narasimhavarman and his successor Rajasimhavarman, showcase the movement from rock-cut architecture to structural building. The city of Mahabalipuram was largely developed by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I in the 7th century AD. The mandapa or pavilions and the rathas or shrines shaped as temple chariots are hewn from the granite rock face, while the famed Shore Temple, erected half a century later, is built from dressed stone. What makes Mamallapuram so culturally resonant are the influences it absorbs and disseminates. The Shore Temple includes many bas reliefs, including one 100ft. long and 45ft. high, carved out of granite.

All but one of the rathas from the first phase of Pallava architecture are modeled on the Buddhist viharas or monasteries and chaitya halls with several cells arranged around a courtyard. Art historian Percy Brown, in fact, traces the possible roots of the Pallava Mandapa to the similar rock-cut caves of Ajanta Caves and Ellora Caves. Referring to Narasimhavarman’s victory in AD 642 over the Chalukyan king Pulakesin II, Brown says the Pallava king may have brought the sculptors and artisans back to Kanchi and Mamallapuram as ‘spoils of war’.

The fact that different shrines were dedicated to different deities is evidence of an increased sectarianism at the time of their construction. A bas-relief on a sculpted cliff has an image of Shiva and a shrine dedicated to Vishnu, indicating the growing importance of these Sangam period deities and a weakening of the roles of Vedic gods such as Indra and Soma

The modern city of Mahabalipuram was established by the British in 1827.

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Health - Sugar the not-so-sweet Part 2

Sugar the not-so-sweet

Avoid pastry, even home-made pastry for dessert. Have fruit instead.

Reach for plain yogurt instead of flavored yogurt which is sweetened with lots of added sugar and unwanted calories.

Drink sparkling water with few drops of lemon or lime in it, low or fat free milk, 100 % fruit juice or unsweetened tea, instead of Soda.

Add more ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg to sweeten your food instead of processed sugar. Cinnamon has been shown to reduce blood sugars, Sprinkle a couple teaspoons of cinnamon powder on your yogurt, or take it in capsule form.

Regular exercise helps us lose weight and also helps lower our blood sugar within minutes.

A cup of plain decaf coffee (you can add some cream, but no sugar!) seems to lower blood sugar levels.

Special vitamin tablets with chromium helps lower the blood sugar.

One cup of green tea, regular black tea and white tea too helps lower the bood sugar levels.

Reduce stress or find ways of dealing with stress, by practicing relaxation techniques like meditation, breathing exercises and nature walks.

Sleep is a very good stress reliever too.

Normally, when your blood sugar level starts to drop, your liver steps in. It goes to work changing stored carbohydrate into glucose. Then it sends the glucose out into the blood, which helps you avoid or slow down a low blood sugar reaction.

Remember, below 70 and you risk going into insulin shock; above 200, and you are doing significant damage to your organs over time. So aim for a healthy blood sugar range, between 70 and 150.

Choosing Good Carbohydrates Over Bad Carbohydrates

There’s no need to avoid all (or even a lot) of carbohydrates. In fact, carbohydrates should supply about half of your daily calories. One gram of carbohydrate, whether it is sugar or starch, contains four calories. One slice of bread has about 12 grams of carbohydrates. One typical chocolate bar may have about 50 grams of carbohydrates. A medium potato has about 35 grams of carbohydrates.

Although all carbohydrates have four calories per gram, some sources of carbohydrates are better for your diet. Fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and grains are healthier carbohydrate sources than candy, sodas and pastries. These carbohydrates have large amounts of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber. Fiber is especially important because it keeps you feeling full longer.

Foods like candy, sodas, ice creams and pastries termed as the junk foods are referred as foods having empty calories and are poor sources of nutrients. They have lots of calories and have little or no nutritional value. Moreover they usually are low in fiber.

Be aware of what you eat and limit sugar for a sweet life.

References:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403942n

http://www.becominghistorians.org/files/illustrated%20time%20line%20of%20sugar.pdf

http://wakemedvoices.org/2012/04/is-sugar-toxic/

http://nutrition.about.com/od/nutritionquizzes/a/healthylesson2.htm

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Health - Sugar the not-so-sweet Part 1

Sugar the not-so-sweet

Most of us have first-hand experience that lots of sugar, carbs and, junk food make us feel very irritated. Earlier this month, Dr. Robert Lustig told CBS News’ “60 minutes” that sugar is addictive, toxic, and it’s killing us by increasing our risk of heart disease, type II diabetes, hypertension and cancer. The pediatric endocrinologist has even gone as far as to say that sugar should be regulated like cigarettes and alcohol.

History shows that in 6000 B.C. usage of sugarcane in papau New guinea is recorded. And in 1000 B.C. India started making sugar crystals called GUR with sugarcane, by crushing the cane and boiling the juice. When Alexander the Great invaded India In 325 B.C. came across this miracle reed (sugar cane) from which sugar was made without honeybees. Beet sugar was made from beet roots only by the 19th century.

There are two kinds of sugar: naturally occurring and added sugars. Mother Nature provides us with many naturally-occurring sugars in our foods. For example, yogurt, milk, and fruit – all healthy foods- contain sugar. Lactose is the sugar in milk and yogurt; fructose is the sugar in fruit.

Added sugars are sweeteners that are added to food and beverages during the manufacturing process. Common sweeteners added to foods include fructose and high fructose corn syrup. Desserts, sugar-sweetened beverages like sodas, energy and sports drinks, are the top sources of added sugar in most American diets.

For example, a 12-ounce can of regular soda contains about 25-35 grams of high fructose corn syrup but provides our bodies with no other nutrients. In comparison, one cup of blueberries contains about seven grams of natural fructose and also packs a powerful punch of fiber, antioxidants and important vitamins and minerals.

The American Heart Association recommends that most women have no more than 100 calories per day from added sugar, which equals about 6 teaspoons (25 grams). For men, no more than 150 calories from added sugars or about 9 teaspoons (38 grams). That’s much less than you may think: 1 small candy bar, ½ cup of ice cream or frozen yogurt is equal to about 100-150 calories.

Read the label for sugar. Look out for these names in the label when you go food shopping this week –Sugar, Brown sugar, High fructose corn syrup,Corn sugar, Syrup, Corn syrup, Fructose, Glucose, Sucrose, Raw sugar, Turbinado sugar, Honey. If most of these are in the top, avoid or replace them with natural foods like fruits and vegetables.

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Health - Ayurveda

Health - Ayurveda

Ayurveda, “the knowledge for long life”; or ayurvedic medicine is a Hindu system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine. The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the Vedic period in India, i.e., in the mid-second millennium BCE. The Suśruta Saṃhitā and the Charaka Saṃhitā, encyclopedias of medicine compiled from various sources from the mid-first millennium BCE to about 500 CE, are among the foundational works of Ayurveda. Over the following centuries, ayurvedic practitioners developed a number of medicinal preparations and surgical procedures for the treatment of various ailments. Current practices derived (or reportedly derived) from Ayurvedic medicine are regarded as part of complementary and alternative medicine.

Safety concerns have been raised about Ayurveda, with two U.S. studies finding about 20% of Ayurvedic treatments contained toxic levels of heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic. Other concerns include the use of herbs containing toxic compounds and the lack of quality control in Ayurvedic facilities.

At an early period, Ayurveda adopted the physics of the “five elements” Pṛthvī (earth), Jala(water), Agni (fire), Vāyu (air) and Ākāśa (Sky)) — that compose the universe, including the human body. Chyle or plasma (called rasa dhātu), blood (rakta dhātu), flesh (māṃsa dhātu), fat (medha dhātu), bone (asthi dhātu), marrow (majja dhātu), and semen or female reproductive tissue (śukra dhātu) are held to be the seven primary constituent elements – saptadhātu of the body. Ayurvedic literature deals elaborately with measures of healthful living during the entire span of life and its various phases. Ayurveda stresses a balance of three elemental energies or humors: Vāyu vāta (air & space – “wind”), pitta (fire & water – “bile”) and kapha (water & earth – “phlegm”). According to ayurvedic medical theory, these three substances — doṣas (literally that which deteriorates – are important for health, because when they exist in equal quantities, the body will be healthy, and when they are not in equal amounts, the body will be unhealthy in various ways. One ayurvedic theory asserts that each human possesses a unique combination of doṣas that define that person’s temperament and characteristics. Another view, also present in the ancient literature, asserts that humoral equality is identical to health, and that persons with preponderances of humours are proportionately unhealthy, and that this is not their natural temperament. In ayurveda, unlike the Sāṅkhya philosophical system, there are 20 fundamental qualities, guṇa (meaning qualities) inherent in all substances.Surgery and surgical instruments were employed from a very early period, Ayurvedic theory asserts that building a healthy metabolic system, attaining good digestion, and proper excretion leads to vitality. Ayurveda also focuses on exercise, yoga, and meditation

The practice of panchakarma is a therapeutic way of eliminating toxic elements from the body.

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Health - Public

Public health

Public health is “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals” (1920, C.E.A. Winslow). It is concerned with threats to health based on population health analysis. The population in question can be as small as a handful of people or as large as all the inhabitants of several continents (for instance, in the case of a pandemic). The dimensions of health can encompass “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, as defined by the United Nations’ World Health Organization. Public health incorporates the interdisciplinary approaches of epidemiology, biostatistics and health services. Environmental health, community health, behavioral health, health economics, public policy and occupational health are other important subfields.

The focus of public health intervention is to improve health and quality of life through the prevention and treatment of disease and other physical and mental health conditions, through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors. Promotion of hand washing and breastfeeding, delivery of vaccinations, and distribution of condoms to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases are examples of common public health measures.

Modern public health practice requires multidisciplinary teams of professionals including physicians specialising in public health/community medicine/infectious disease, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, publichealth nurses, medical microbiologists, environmental health officers, dental hygienists, dietitians and nutritionists, health inspectors, veterinarians, public health engineers, public health lawyers, sociologists, community development workers, communications officers, and others.

Objectives

The focus of a public health intervention is to prevent and manage diseases, injuries and other health conditions through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors, communities and environments. Many diseases are preventable through simple, non-medical methods. For example, research has shown that the simple act of hand washing with soap can prevent many contagious diseases. In other cases, treating a disease or controlling a pathogen can be vital to preventing its spread to others, such as during an outbreak of infectious disease, or contamination of food or water supplies. Public health communications programs, vaccination programs, and distribution of condoms are examples of common public health measures. Measures such as these have contributed greatly to the health of populations and increases in life expectancy.

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Traditional Japanese Reiki

Traditional Japanese Reiki

The term Traditional Japanese Reiki is normally used to describe the specific system that formed from Usui’s original teachings and the teachings that did not leave Japan. During the 1990s, Western teachers travelled to Japan in order to find this particular tradition of Reiki, though found nothing. They therefore started to establish Reiki schools, and started to teach Reiki levels 1 and 2 to the Japanese. Around 1993, a German Reiki Master, Frank Arjava Petter, also started to teach to the Master/Teacher level, and as a result, the Japanese started teaching their knowledge of Traditional Reiki. Since then, several traditions of Traditional Japanese Reiki have been established, the main traditions of which are listed below.

The Japanese Reiki hand positions presented in the Usui Reiki Ryōhō Hikkei (Usui Reiki Treatment Handbook) as used and compiled by Usui are considerably more extensive than the hand positions used in Western Reiki

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Reiki - History

Reiki - History

The English word reiki derives from the Japanese loanword reiki, meaning “mysterious atmosphere”), which derives from the Chinese loanword língqì (“supernatural influence”). Its earliest recorded usage in English dates to 1975. Instead of the usual transliteration, some English-language authors pseudo-translate reiki as “universal life energy”.

Reiki is commonly written as in shinjitai kanji or as in katakana syllabary. It compounds the words rei: “spirit, miraculous, divine”) and ki (“gas, vital energy, breath of life, consciousness”). The ki (better known as Chinese qi or ch’i) in reiki is understood as meaning “spiritual energy; vital energy; life force; energy of life”. Some reiki translation equivalents from Japanese-English dictionaries are: “feeling of mystery”, “an atmosphere (feeling) of mystery”, and “an ethereal atmosphere (that prevails in the sacred precincts of a shrine); (feel, sense) a spiritual (divine) presence.” Besides the usual Sino-Japanese pronunciation reiki, these kanji have an alternate Japanese reading, namely ryōge, meaning “demon; ghost” (especially in spirit possession).

Chinese língqì was first recorded in the (ca. 320 BCE) Neiye “Inward Training” section of the Guanzi, describing early Daoist meditation techniques. “That mysterious vital energy within the mind: One moment it arrives, the next it departs. So fine, there is nothing within it; so vast, there is nothing outside it. We lose it because of the harm caused by mental agitation.” (Mikao Usui)

Origins

The system of Reiki was developed by Mikao Usui in 1922 whilst performing Isyu Guo, a twenty-one day Buddhist training course held on Mount Kurama It is not known for certain what Usui was required to do during this training, though it most likely involved meditation, fasting, chanting, and prayer It is claimed that by a mystical revelation, Usui had gained the knowledge and spiritual power to apply and attune others to what he called Reiki, which entered his body through his crown Chakra In April 1922, Usui moved to Tokyo and founded the Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai in Traditional Mandarin, meaning Usui’s Spiritual Energy Therapy Method Society) in order to continue treating people on a large scale with Reiki

According to the inscription on his memorial stone, Usui taught his system of Reiki to over 2000 people during his lifetime, and sixteen of these students continued their training to reach the Shinpiden level, a level equivalent to the Western third, or Master/Teacher, degree. While teaching Reiki in Fukuyama (Fukuyama-shi), Usui suffered a stroke and died on 9 March 1926.

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Reiki - Chakra

Reiki - Chakra

The concept of chakra features in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for “wheel” or “turning”, pronounced in Hindi; Pali.

While breath channels (nāḍis) of yogic practices had already been discussed in the classical Upanishads, it was not until Tantric works, such as the eighth-century Buddhist Hevajra Tantra and Caryāgiti, that hierarchies of chakras were introduced. According to traditional Indian medicine, the chakras are a number of wheel-like vortices which exist in the surface of the subtle body of living beings. The chakras are said to be “force centers” or whorls of energy permeating, from a point on the physical body, the layers of the subtle bodies in an ever-increasing fan-shaped formation. Rotating vortices of subtle matter, they are considered focal points for the reception and transmission of energies. Different belief systems posit a varying number of chakras; the best-known system in the West has seven chakras.

It is typical for chakras to be depicted as either flower-like or wheel-like. In the former case, “petals” are shown around the perimeter of a circle. In the latter, spokes divide the circle into segments making the chakra resemble a wheel (or “chakra”). Each chakra possesses a specific number of segments or petals.

Texts describing the chakras go back as far as the later Upanishads, for example the Yoga Kundalini Upanishad.

Definitions

Although there are various interpretations as to what exactly a chakra is, the following features are common to all systems:

They are generally associated with a mantra seed-syllable, and often

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