Thursday, January 29, 2009

Ishti -Giving Ceremony to the poor and needy


Giving Ceremony to the poor and needy
To understand the meaning of 'ISHTI' we must know something about Yagas amd Yajnas(sacared rituals done to appease God, Performed during vedic period.
vedic EraThis was the period when people used to adhereto the path of Dharma and Saints and Sagas, who showed the world the way of penance, guided the mass to righeousness.
There were no Temples and the offering to God was done through yagas and Yagnas. No discrimination whatsoever by way of caste, creed or wealth was made. All were treated equally eligible to worship God. The criteria to become Brahmin was theintense guest for knowledge and realisation of truth, the readiness to serve others foregoing their own comforts, the determination to observe penances and true devotion to poor and needy. Not even belief in God was a must. No Superiority was assigned to anybody born in higher caste or creed. The degree of superiority was determined according to the correct observance of Dharma or righteousness.
Stipulations in vedasNo 'Achari' who participates in the conduct of Yaga was allowed to have any share of the offerings submitted by devotees. They met their personal expenses from the income earned through their work. All the offerings received by way of Yaga were distributed among poor and needy after completion of Yaga and this ceremony was called 'ISHTI'
Deterioration of HinduismAfter the Vedic period, the Spirit of Yagas dwindled and Temples started to come up. Acharyas become luxury minded. They shed the way of penance and instead of conducting 'Yaga' for the betterment of society, used this as a tool to enforce the supremancy of caste and creed. Scruptures were distorted to suit the conveniences of higher castes and the right to conduct Yagas became hereditory. The terms Brahmin became associated to birth in a certain caste and no importance was assigned to leading a righteous life.
Hinduisms started to deteriorate. What once was a beacon of truth, man became a mere show of luxury and meaning less rituals.

Rise of BudhaThis was the time when Budha came to the world and showed the world the path of Dharma. Many people started to realise their mistake and took to the way of Budhism.
Buat with passage of timeBudhisms also reverted to hollow customs and lost the spirit envisaged by Budha.
AdiSankara`s Mission
The division by way of caste and creed is so strong in Hinduism even today. AdiSankaracharya who advocated 'Advaita' was opposed by higher castes and haunted throughout his life. Sankara was treated with disdairs by Brahmins, though he belayed to their caste. The so called protectors of Hindu Dharma not even cooperated in the burial of his beloved mother.
After the death of AdiSankara colourful stories were propogated and Ashrams said to be establised by him started to flourish, but the main message given to the world by AdhiSankara was forgotten in toto.
Gurubaba - Avatar of KaliyugaNever ready to sacrifice an inch of Vedic Stipulations, Gurubaba shunned publicity and preferred to remains annonymous. He know that the main opposition for him will be from his own religion, which has deviated much from the true Vedic tradition.
But destiny forced Gurubaba to set up Ashram and save devotees, who even after years of Temple worship, now faced nothing but darknesss. They came back to life with the correct observance of 'Amvasyopasana' as advised by Gurubaba.
Amavasyopasana is the base of all type of temple / idol worship. Any offering or pooja without observance of Upasanas are meaningless and will not bear fruit. This truth is slowly coming to light with undesirable experioences of devotees of Gurubaba.
According to ScrupturesAll the Yagas and Yagnas conducted at Gurubaba Ashram are strictly according to Vedic traditions. Nobody participating in the conduct of Yaga will be given any 'Dakshina' or renumeration. All the offerings received by way of Yagas will be distributed among poor and needy in different places throughout Kerala. No discrimination is made by way of caste, creed or religions and only their suffering is taken into account.
The Photos show distribution of 'ISHTI' among poor in various centres on specified days and time as stipulated in vedas. The distribution is done by Acharyas who observe 'Amvasyapasana' and lead a righteous life.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Gurubaba - Signs of a real ascetic


Lord Gurubaba is rich. Rich in the sense that he is having two sets of dhothies, which is torn with number of holes and stitches on them. Lord Gurubaba believes that in a country like India where majority of the population is below poverty line and were young men and women donot even have sufficient clothes, spiritual leaders should avoid new and expensive dresses. They should try to sacrifice their passion for luxurious items. As 1/3 of the population of our country faces starvation every year a true spritual leader should observe fasting for 120 days that is 1/3 of the year. But Lord Guru Baba who makes his life an example of patriotism and spiritualism, fasts 3/4 th ofthe year that is 270 days and that too even without a drop of water.








Sunday, January 4, 2009

Amavasyopasana or Full Moon / New Moon Fasting a scientific Approach

Observance of Amavasyopasana- a scientific Approach.
Principles of AmavasyopasanaHow to Observe Amavasyopasana How to cook Anna Prasadam Most Important Benefits from observing Amavasayopasana Conclusion The main difference between the view points of western scientists and India Ascetics lies in their way of approach to truth. While the western view the world through telescopes / Indian Rishis preferred to look them through Microscope. The Macrocosmic view of the world is like searching outside for solutions and there by lack depth and insight while the Micro – cosmic view of Indian Rishis searching inside themselves for one and only truth brought the invaluable gems of knowledge to the world.

Fasting is observed nowadays as per the western point of view. The word “Fasting ” is derived from Greek term “FASTEN” which means foregoing food. AS per the western point of view fasting means either foregoing or limiting food for personal and religious reasons and many wrongly call this as “Upavasa”. Naturopathic treatment includes fasting for various diseases which are also also wrongly called as UPAVASA. some other observe fastiing as a protest and part of their agitational programme and call it Upavasa. We must now know the difference between fasting and Upavasa.

Upavasa includes two words, ‘Upa’ which means Near and ‘Vasa’ which means Sitting. Thus the meaning of Upavasa is sitting near. The Rishis viewed Upavasa or True fasting as a way to lead us to God. Or in other words one who observes Upavasa in its true sense is becoming one with the nature and reaches near God and thereby is able to escape from the sorrows and problems of his life. It is a worship of God, and to be observed as longg as you breath and dine, at specified days as per the advice of a true Guru.

‘Amavasyopasane’ forms the basis of all kinds of worship. Limiting or foregoing food in the western style of fasting may bring physical benefits but ‘Amavasyopasana’ takes you to the spiritual heights and brings prosperity by influencing the ‘Navagrahas’ that is nine celestial planets

OBSERVANCE OF AMAVASYOPASANA – A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH.

There is a plant called somalatha in India which is inevitable for doing yagas and yagnas. The plant starts growing for the next day of Amavasi and attains full growth on Pournami. Thereafter it slowly starts shedding its leaves and becomes inert on Amavasi. This continues through out the life of this plant. This happens due to the influence of moon and sun on this plant. The same way Sun, Moon and other celestical bodies influence human beings also.

Accidents and untimely deaths are more common on new moon / full moon days or days nearer to these. Diseases such as Asthma get worse on these days. People get affected by incurable diseases, and small illness sometime get worse during this time. Pet animal shows behavioral abnormalities and shows inclination to mating in the same period.Natural calamities such as earth quake, Storms, Tsunami etc strike earth on large scale on new moon / full moon days. We have the examples of Lathur earth quake which demolished many villages. and Tsunami of Dec 26th by which the world was immersed in grief. Both happened on full moon days.

Now, Guru Baba by his intense Tapa or penance and the blessing of Almighty has given to mankind a precious gem of knowledge to over come evil celestial afflictions. This is called Amavasyopasana.

70% of earth is water, mainly oceans / seas. The celestial planets and stars even light years away has got influence on every drop of water in the ocean.
Tides and refluxes in ocean happen due to the attraction of sun and moon. Sun is 27 millions times greater in size than moon. Still the attraction of moon is greater since it is nearer to earth. The influence of moon is greater on new moon / full moon days.

Though the moon attracts the earth and brings tides it is not uniform through out the world. At some places the tides vary from 40-50 feet. At some other place it is 10-20 feet and certain places it is only inches. For example, at the Atlantic end of Panama canal the tides usually rise up to 2 feet only where as just 40 miles away in Pacific end the tides vary from 12-16 feet.We have a great lesson from this. Similar to 70 percent of water in earth, our human body is also having 70 percent of water. As the influence of moon brings tides, in the same way the influence of celestial planets brings happiness and sorrows to human beings. And the influence certainly varies form person to person. That is why some one born on the same day on which prime mister is born is struggling for his lively hood, while some other person is leading a luxurious life.
The afflictions of 9 celestial planets(Nava Graha) on your birth chart is the major cause of good and bad events in your life. The surest and infallible way to thwart the “Nava Graha Doshas” or evil influence of 9 celestial planets is nothing but Amavasi Upasana. If one can reduce the water content of the body below 50 percent of the normal level on new moon and full moon days, we can escape from the bad effects of evil planets and obtain the blessing of good planets.

Principles of Amavasyopasana

It is believed that all the wealth is created by God. If that is true, He must have created it for the benefit the whole world and for all who breathes.
But we see, majority of the world starving and struggling and minority living in luxury. This is nothing but contempt of God and is equal to defeating the purpose of God. To get the blessing of God, every human being whether he believes in God or not, should take a vow to help his fellow beings and work for the betterment. By way of reducing his food proportionate to the poverty level of the world Lord Guru Baba has shown the right way to help the poor. By foregoing or limiting food intake on specified days as advised by Lord Guru Baba you are in fact helping the poor and the world..
You may have doubts how you are to going to feed the poor by foregoing good for one or two days in a month. Many drops of water only makes an ocean. When a large number of people observe Upavasa or True Fasting and donate the saving from this to the poor, it sure will go a long way in alleviating poverty.
Some people believe that the best way to get blessing of God is distribution of food in temples. But any offering done without limiting your luxury and restraining your full fledged life will not bear fruit.
It is much the same as treating diabetes without reducing sugar. You cannot cure diabetes by simple taking high doses of medicine, but only by limiting or foregoing sugar.

How to Observe Amavasyopasana

Amavasyopasana is fasting without water and cooked food for 2 nights and 1 day on Amavasi (New moon day)) and Pournami (Full Moon day). It starts at 6 pm on the previous day of new moon / full moon days. Up to 6 pm you can eat anything you want.. From 6 to 9 pm slowly you must come to Upavasa. For this you can take prasadam at 7 pm and 8 pm in small quantities after offering to God. The best is Sree Mookambika Annaprasadam.

How to cook Anna Prasadam

First cook green gram with water and turmeric powder. After some time put raw rice, either equal to the quantity of green gram or 2:3 proportion. After some time add scraped coconut and salt. After finishing cooking add jeera and keep it close for some time. While cooking do japa praising your Guru. At 9 pm you can take salty lime juice.
From 9 pm onwards you should not take water and cooked food till 3 am on the next day of new moon / full moon days. To get the full benefit it is better to avoid non – cooked food also. Aged people / children / physically exhausted persons can take fruits and raw vegetables during day time till 3 pm. Spend the full day of Amavasi praying God. Vow of silence is most beneficial. Go to sleep early.

Get up the next morning at 3 am. Take bath and light a lamp to Guru Baba. Prepare salty lime juice and drink slowly minimum 3 glasses to maximum 6 glasses. At 4 am and 5 am you can have Anna prasadam in small quantity. These are to be served only after offering to God. From 6 am onwards you can have any food you like.

MOST IMPORTANT

With in 10 days for observing the Upavasa, an amount equal to the value of cooked food forgone, depending on the life style of the individual should be sent to your Guru`s abide that is Guru Baba Ashramam, Guruvayur for mass feeding of poor.
Benefits from observing Amavasayopasana
1. To thwart evil planetary influences and to obtain the blessings of good planets2. To retrieve lost prosperity and to maintain prosperity.3. To enter wed lock for persons having bad planetary afflictions in their birth chart like “Chova dhosham”4. to attain unfulfilled aspirations.5. To sustain nuptial bliss.6. To do away with ‘Doshas’ from previous births and bad actions of this birth.7. To protect from evil forces and bad elements of nature8. As a remedy to incurable diseases and maintain health.

CONCLUSION

Many people belongs to a Hindu religion who had become atheists or had turned to other religions due to various setbacks of loss and failures in their life, were advised by Lord Gurubaba to observe the 'Amavasi Upasana'. The 'AMAVASOPASANA' had made unbelievable changes and brightened the lives of the devotees. It is undeniable truth that all who had properly observed the 'Amavasi Upsana' had succeeded in life. This is the base of all type of Temple worship. Any type of Idol worship is meaningless unless it is accompanied by 'Amavasi Upsana'. During Vedic periods Hindus and most of the sages or Rishis followed 'Amavasi Upasana'. It was a time when there was prosperity and happiness in the society. Later on, when spiritual leaders get attracted themselves to the luxuries of the world and moved away from righteous ways, Hindu religion suffered setbacks. The only way to regain the lost glamour and position is by following the precious 'Amavasi Upasana'. 'Amavasi Upasana' or New Moon fasting is the surest and infallible way to relieve ourselves from planetary evils (Navagraha Doshas). Those who observe this and donates the savings from fasting for the poor through Guruababa Ashrams will always prosper in life.