How does chanting work to purify our mind

Chanting works to destroy the incorrect impressions in the subconscious mind. This method, known as the deflection method, helps us to benefit from chanting

If we look at the diagram, we see a barrier which is there between the conscious and sub-conscious mind. This barrier has some special qualities. It doesn’t allow the conscious mind to know what secrets are locked in the sub-conscious mind. This sheath is also porous, but it only allows one thought to emerge at a time from the sub-conscious mind. The thought that emerges is the strongest thought. So impressions from the sub-conscious mind rapidly hit the conscious mind in quick succession and return to strengthen the centre that they arose from.

However when the devotion centre grows stronger, through the spiritual practice of chanting it then becomes the strongest thought to shoot up to the conscious mind. Every time God’s Name shoots up into the conscious mind, the barrier seals and doesn’t allow any other impression to come through. Thus any thought from the sub-conscious mind will not be able to pass beyond the barrier but instead gets deflected as you see in the diagram.

In this process the other impressions and centres receive very little attention. By being continually ignored, the other centres eventually lessen until they cease to exist. So this is another effective way in which the devotion centre cleanses the subconscious mind.

Who is Guru

A Guru is very different to a teacher or a preacher. He is a beacon of spiritual light in our world, and teaches us the universal spiritual principles that underlie all religions and cultures. This article expands on His characteristics and salient features. I had seen this article in Spiritual Science Research Foundation web site and resembles Guru Baba,thought its worth to publish in this blog.

The word ‘Guru’ is derived from the Sanskrit language and has a deep spiritual meaning. Its two syllables Gu and Ru stand for the following:

Gu denotes the spiritual ignorance that most of humankind is in.

Ru represents the radiance of spiritual knowledge that dispels the spiritual ignorance.

In short, the Guru is the One who dispels the darkness of spiritual ignorance in humanity and bestows upon them spiritual experiences and spiritual knowledge.

There is a saying that in the kingdom of the blind the seeing man is a king. With a highly activated sixth sense, the Guru is the totally ‘seeing’ person in the kingdom of the spiritually blind and ignorant. He is someone who has already walked the spiritual road under the guidance of his Spiritual Guide, and has access to the Universal Mind and Intellect. In this article, we will explain who can be considered a Spiritual Guide or a Guru and His characteristics.

Definition of a Guru or an evolved spiritual guide

There are various aspects to the Supreme God Principle. These various aspects of God perform specific functions in the Universe. This is pretty much akin to the government of any country which has various departments to facilitate the smooth governing and functioning of the country as a whole.

Just as we have a department for education in a government, which facilitates teaching of modern sciences throughout the country, the aspect of God that looks after spiritual teaching and spiritual growth in the Universe is known as the Guru. This is known as the unseen or unmanifest Guru or the Teaching Principle of God. The unmanifest Guru pervades the entire Universe and is with us at all times during our life and even after we die. The salient and highlighting feature is that the unmanifest Guru stands by us throughout our life and slowly lifts us from our worldly life into a spiritual way of life. The Guru guides us according to our spiritual level, i.e. our capacity to imbibe knowledge whether we know it or not, helping us develop skills such as perseverance, dedication, attention to detail, tenacity, compassion etc. through our lives. All these kinds of skills are intrinsic to being a good seeker of God and are vital in sustaining our spiritual journey. For those who are proactively seeking spiritual growth the Guru is more active, guiding them in an unseen form according to what is needed for them.

Out of the entire population of the world, few take up spiritual practice that is universal and beyond the confines of formal, organised religion. Among these, very few people through their spiritual practice (regardless of their religion of birth) attain a spiritual level of over 70%. The unmanifest Guru then works completely through some of these evolved individuals who are then known as the manifest Guru or the Guru in the human form. In other words, a person has to be at least of the 70% spiritual level to qualify as a spiritual guide or a Guru. The Guru in human form acts as a beacon of spiritual knowledge for humanity and is in total alignment with the Universal Mind and Intellect of God

Literal Meaning of Guru

The word ‘Guru’ is derived from the Sanskrit language and has a deep spiritual meaning. Its two syllables Gu and Ru stand for the following:

Gu denotes the spiritual ignorance that most of humankind is in.

Ru represents the radiance of spiritual knowledge that dispels the spiritual ignorance.

In short, the Guru is the One who dispels the darkness of spiritual ignorance in humanity and bestows upon them spiritual experiences and spiritual knowledge.

 Differences between a teacher/professor and a Guru

The following chart gives the differences between a teacher and a Guru in human form.

Differences between a preacher and a Guru

There is a vast difference between a person preaching Spiritual sciences or religious study as compared to a Guru. The following table expands on the differences between them when guiding people. 

Most preachers in today’s world are at the 30% spiritual level and as a result they are neither able to understand the true implied meaning of the Scriptures they quote, no have they experienced first-hand everything has been written. Thus, the possibility of leading the audience astray is high.

What are the differences between a Guru and a Saint?

What makes a person become a Guru over and above being a Saint?

Every Guru is a Saint but the reverse is not always true. Only a small percentage of Saints qualify as Gurus.

 What are the similarities between a Saint and a Guru?

    Both a Saint and a Guru are over the 70% spiritual level.

    They both have spiritual love for all of humankind, i.e. love without expectation.

    They both have very little ego. This means that they do not identify themselves with their five senses, mind and intellect but with the Soul, that is the God within.

 What are the differences in characteristics between a Saint and a Guru?

The following table shows a gross comparison between a Saint and a Guru at the 80% spiritual level.

Difference between a Saint and a Guru 

  By love for others, we mean loving others without any expectation. This is different to worldly love which is always tainted with some sort of expectation. 100% would mean the unconditional, non-partial, all-pervading love of God, extended equally to all of creation right from non-living things, to the tiniest of living beings like ants to the highest of beings i.e. humans.

  Service means serving the Absolute Truth or Spiritual science, that is the universal principles that underlie all religions and govern the entire universe. 100% here would mean 100% of their time and abilities in all dimensions like physical (bodily), mental, intellectual, financial, social, etc. is spent in serving God.

    Sacrifice means how much of their time, body, mind and wealth have they sacrificed to serve God.

    Quantity of writing of texts related to explaining or propagating the Absolute Truth.

    The nature of the writings of Saints and Gurus are more about spiritual experiences and spiritual guidance respectively.

    God functions by His mere existence. He does not need to make any effort, hence His energy is not manifest. The forms of His energy are unmanifest, like Serenity, Bliss etc. But Saints and Gurus, because they have a tangible physical body, do use manifest energy to some extent.

    What is I'ness

    As Gurus are more one with the unmanifest (nirgun) form of God, they do not need to use much manifest energy. As the ‘I’ in Saints is higher than that in Gurus, they use more manifest energy than Gurus do. But this is much lower compared to those performing similar functions with the help of supernatural powers. For example, when a person is cured of his illness due to blessings of a Saint, only 20% energy is manifest, whereas the same may be up to 50% in the case of one who is not a Saint but heals with supernatural healing powers. As the manifest energy of God is 0, the manifest energy one expends is a function of oneness of God. Thus the more your manifest energy, the further away you are from God. Signs of manifest energy are bright, glowing eyes, sharp hand movements, etc.

    In order to carry out their mission Saints and Gurus alike need manifest energy which is given by God. Saints sometimes solve worldly problems of their devotees which use up comparatively more energy. A Guru focuses His disciple on spiritual growth, which in turn makes the disciple self-sufficient in overcoming problems where the root causes are spiritual in nature. As a result the Guru uses up less spiritual energy.

    Both Saints and Gurus have a spiritual level of at least 70%. After crossing the spiritual level of 70%, spiritual progress is faster in Gurus than in other Saints. They attain the level of a Sadguru (80%) and a Paratpar Guru (90%) faster than other Saints attaining the same spiritual levels. This is because they are constantly engrossed in the mission of spiritually uplifting a disciple, while Saints also help their devotees at a more worldly level.

 What is the importance of the Guru in the human form?

Each one of us seeks guidance from teachers, doctors, lawyers etc. in their respective fields. If a guide is needed even in these comparatively simple fields, then imagine the importance of the Guru, who releases one from the bondage of life and death.

6.1 Importance of the Guru - from the perspective of educating a student

The Guru comes in many forms. He teaches us through situations, books, in human form, etc. The following table is a comparison between these various forms and it shows the importance of the Guru in the human form.

Guide-importance-chart-1

 Importance of the Guru - from a psychological perspective

There are many psychological benefits for a student to have a spiritual guide in the human form.

    Unlike God and deities who do not display their existence and potential, the Guru displays His form through the human Guru. This way the student of Spirituality has a tangible guide to take care of him on his spiritual journey.

    The Guru in human form is omniscient just as the unmanifest Guru and is able to perceive everything about his disciple. He knows through His access to the Universal Mind and Intellect whether the student is sincere or not and where he is making mistakes. As a result, the student being aware of this ability of the Guru, often refrains from doing bad deeds.

    The Guru does not allow the disciple to develop an inferiority complex from the fact that he is lesser than the Guru. He eradicates the inferiority complex in the deserving disciple and grants him the all pervading nature of the Guru.

 Importance of the Guru - from a Spiritual science perspective

The following table shows the importance of a Guru in the human form for the spiritual growth of a seeker/disciple.

Guide-importance-chart-2

Footnotes (based on numbers in red in the above table):

    At around the 55% spiritual level, a student/disciple develops enough spiritual maturity to benefit from the Guru’s presence in human form. It is akin to receiving a scholarship in Spirituality. At this level of spiritual maturity, the disciple is set to take proper advantage of the Guru’s assistance in guiding him towards experiencing God.

    It is relatively more difficult to derive benefit from an idol. The subtle, intangible frequencies that an idol or picture of a Guru emits, can only be useful to a person beyond the 60% spiritual level with an activated sixth sense.

    When one follows the guidance of a Guru in human form, the effort required to make spiritual progress is the least as it is channelised most efficiently. In all other cases, the chances of making mistakes are much higher.

    To be able to understand the implied meaning of the scriptures is no mean task. Very often Holy Scriptures and books are prone to misinterpretation.

    Here ego refers to faith in oneself. If faith in oneself is not high, then one cannot make spiritual progress without taking guidance from someone.

    Without a spiritual guide the likelihood of stagnation or even regression in spiritual growth is high.

Some salient features of a Guru in the human form

    A Guru is beyond organised religion and He looks upon all of humankind as the same. He does not discriminate on the basis of culture, nationality or gender. He only seeks the student who intensely desires spiritual growth.

    A Guru will never ask one to convert from his religion. He will lift the student to comprehend universal spiritual principles that underlie all religions.

    Whichever spiritual path or religion one follows, they all finally lead to the path of grace of the Guru.

Path of Guru's grace

A Guru functions with spiritual power at the level of resolve. With this spiritual power given by God, He lifts a deserving student just by His thought that the student should progress. A seeker/student of Spiritual science cannot reach the spiritual level of 70% unless he has the Guru’s grace and is guided by the Guru in the human form. The reason for this is that, in the earlier stages of our spiritual growth, we can progress just by following the basic laws of spiritual practice. However after a certain stage, the spiritual knowledge becomes so fine that one can easily be misguided by ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) through their sixth sense. One needs a highly evolved spiritual guide in the human form to accurately negotiate the way for further spiritual progress towards Sainthood.

    Even after one reaches the level of a Saint one needs to continue one's spiritual practice to ensure a constant flow of Guru’s grace.

    He lifts the student to be able to access the Soul knowledge within. This is as opposed to some people with sixth sense (ESP) who, as mediums, access knowledge from subtle bodies (spirits) in the subtle dimension. When one acts only as a medium, one cannot make spiritual progress.

    The relationship between Guru and student is pure and the love that the Guru has for the student is without expectations and is unconditional.

    The Guru is omniscient and is therefore able to take care of the student even when he is not with Him physically.

    Severe destiny can only be overcome with the grace of the Guru.

    The Guru guides the student according to the six laws of spiritual practice as per the spiritual level and hence capacity. He never teaches a student beyond his capacity.

    The Guru will always teach with a positive attitude. For example, a Guru may advise one to undertake any one spiritual practice among the following, depending on the student’s spiritual maturity, ‘‘Sing devotional songs, chant The Lord’s Name, perform service to God, etc.’’ He never guides in a negative way such as ‘‘Do not drink alcohol, do not behave this way,’’ etc. The reason for this is that teaching not to do certain things is at the psychological level, and does not serve any purpose from the point of view of making spiritual progress. The Guru focuses on the spiritual practice of the student. Over time this itself will give the student the capacity to discard activities which are detrimental to him.

    Though the clouds shower rain equally everywhere, the water accumulates only in craters while the erect mountains remain dry. Similarly Gurus and Saints do not discriminate. The bestowal of their grace on all is the same but the ones with pure intention to learn and grow spiritually are like the craters, able to receive and retain the benefit of their grace.

    The Guru being omniscient intuitively knows what is best for the student to further his spiritual progress. He guides on a one-to-one basis.

How do we recognise and acquire an evolved spiritual guide?

It is difficult for a student of Spiritual science to judge the ability of a Guru. This would be like the student testing the teacher.

Note-Subtle-world

To test someone, one has to be of a higher calibre than that person. The student cannot be that person to test the Guru. More importantly, the ability of the Guru is in the subtle or spiritual dimension, i.e. beyond the understanding of the five senses, mind and intellect. It can be gauged only through a highly activated sixth sense.

 

To grow one’s capacity to discern, one needs to do regular spiritual practice according to the six basic principles of spiritual practice. This will ensure spiritual growth and development of a sattvik intellect. The all-pervading unmanifest Guru or the Teaching Principle of God keeps a constant watch on all of us. When one achieves a spiritual level of around 55%, a Guru in the human form comes into one’s life. (The mode spiritual level of present day people is 20%). At the spiritual level of 55%, a student of Spiritual sciences has the spiritual maturity to have a sense for whether the Guru is genuine with their sattvik intellect itself.

The Spiritual effect of the moon on man - a spiritual perspective

1. Introduction

Over the decades there have been many scientific reports for and against the effect of the moon on human behaviour. The reports analysed heightened mind activity, increased visits to general or psychiatric emergency departments and people complaining of higher levels of physical and mental distress.

The Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF) examined the effect of the moon on human behaviour using spiritual research methodologies. In the spiritual research that we conducted to ascertain the effect of moon on human behaviour the short answer was yes, it does have an effect. The following are the various aspects on how the moon affects our life.

2. The generic subtle (intangible) effect of the moon

All objects including stars, planets and satellite bodies along with their gross (tangible) attributes emanate subtle (intangible) frequencies. These physical attributes and subtle frequencies affect us in varying degrees at a physical and subtle level.

The frequencies emanating from the Moon affect the frequencies of the mental body, i.e. mind of human beings. By ‘mind’ we mean our feelings, emotions and desires. The mind consists of the conscious mind and the sub-conscious mind. Within the sub-conscious mind we have a number of impressions that are embedded that decide our basic nature and personality. We are however not aware of the thoughts or impressions in our sub-conscious mind. These impressions get collected over a number of lifetimes.

These impressions in our mind are the catalysts for all our thoughts and subsequent actions. Both the impressions and our thoughts have their own subtle frequencies.

The moon frequencies are slightly more subtle (intangible) than the subtle frequencies of our thoughts but are less subtle than the frequencies of the impressions in our mind. The moon frequencies have the capacity to make the thought frequencies from the impressions in our sub-conscious mind to surface to the conscious mind. Once in the conscious mind we become aware of them. Thus one will be influenced as per the predominant impressions in one’s mind. We have explained this in more detail in the next section.

Similarly the moon also affects the mind of animals. However as the sub-conscious mind of animals consists of impressions related only to basic desires such as hunger, sex, sleep etc., the heightened thoughts are related to these basic instincts only.

3. Effect based on illumination or phase of the moon

On new moon day, the non-illuminated, i.e. dark side of the Moon faces towards Earth. Darkness emanates raja-tama predominant frequencies. Hence compared to when the illuminated side faces Earth, more subtle basic raja-tama predominant frequencies are transmitted towards Earth.

Alternatively, on a full moon day there is a decrease in the raja-tama because of the increased illumination. However on a full moon day as the moon frequencies are more active, a heightened activity of the mind is observed as explained above in point 2. Depending on the types of impressions from the sub-conscious mind that are activated, the heightened activity can range from heightened random thoughts to heightened mind activity of specific thoughts.

For example, a person who is a writer and is focusing on some book that he is writing is more likely to get heightened thought activity mainly pertaining to the book and creativity in writing style. These types of thoughts will arise out of the talent centre. Hence he may find that he can write prolifically on a full moon day.

However for most people the thoughts are random. If there are a number of dominant personality defects such as anger, greed, etc. then they too may surface and dominate our thoughts during this period. For example an alcoholic will get more thoughts about the need to drink alcohol on this day.

It is also possible to awaken thoughts about Spirituality that lie inert in the sub-conscious mind of a spiritual person by taking advantage of the heightened mind activity and by increasing spiritual practice on a full moon day.

4. Effect based on gravitational pull of the moon

When the moon is full or new, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined. The moon exerts a pull on the Earth on other days too, but it is not as powerful as on the days of full moon and new moon.

Suppose we were to take in a deep breath, the air sucked into our mouth is three times as much as a normal breath. Now let’s translate this analogy to the Moon and its pull on the Earth. During full moon and new moon days the whole Moon is pulling Earth and the effect is as if in the earlier analogy the Moon is taking a deep breath. We find that the circular atmosphere of three times the size of the moon is attracted from the Earth.

  

At the time of full Moon and new Moon days the Absolute Cosmic Elements on Earth such as the Absolute Earth, Absolute Water and Absolute Air are pulled towards the Moon. This creates a type of subtle very high-pressure belt. 

In this process at a physical level when water is attracted towards moon, rather than the water, the gaseous elements in water (water vapour) come above water and enter the subtle high-pressure belt. Since negative energies are predominantly in gaseous form they get pulled into the subtle high-pressure belt. Here they group together and get added strength in numbers from each other. They therefore attack humanity to a larger extent on these days. The impact of this is that the attacks of ghosts on humans both at a physical and mind level can be as much as three times more.

In the hermitages (ashrams) of SSRF around the world, an increase in negative energy attacks and subtle negative pressure has been observed on full moon and new moon days. It starts two days prior to full moon or new moon and ends two days after.

5. Consequences of increased effect of the moon on full moon and new moon.

On new moon days, the raja-tama spreading ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.), people engaged in occult rituals and predominantly rajasik and tamasik people are strongly influenced and receive black energy for their raja-tama activities. As it is a day conducive for negative activities, it is considered an inauspicious day for any positive activities. As the raja-tama from the moon affects the mind, the incidence of raja-tama tendencies like running away, suicide or possession by ghosts is highest on new moon. Especially during the night, as the otherwise naturally available purification by the Absolute Cosmic Fire element through the Sun being absent, new moon night is a golden opportunity for the ghosts to cause distress to man.

On a full moon night, as the illuminated side of the moon faces Earth, minimal subtle basic raja-tama is transmitted on this night compared to other nights. Hence on this night minimal raja-tama energy is available for ghosts, raja-tama predominant people or practitioners of occult rituals. However, ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) take advantage of the effect of the gravitational pull on a full moon day and cause heightened distress.

Spiritual research has further revealed that there are some finer differences between the effect of new moon and full moon on man. Overall the distressing effect of moon on man is more on new moon than on full moon. The adverse effect of full moon is more on the physical body whereas that of new moon is more on the mind. The effect of full moon is more apparent whereas the effect on new moon is more intangible (subtle). As the effect of new moon is not apparent to the person, it is even more dangerous. This is because as he is not aware of the distress, no step is taken to overcome it.

Between new moon and full moon the effects of new moon are less noticeable to us. However the negative effect is more on new moon. The reason for this is that on new moon the effect on man is more at a subtle level as opposed to the full moon where one is aware of the increase in thoughts.

Seekers who do a lot of spiritual practice as per the six basic principles of spiritual practice are primarily sattvik in nature. As a result they are more sensitive to changes in the raja-tama in the environment as compared to an average person who is himself raja-tama predominant. The upside is that seekers of God are better equipped to access protection of God from negative energy.

6. Why are recent reports unable to find evidence of the effect of the moon on human behaviour?

Some earlier medical/psychological studies had documented the effect of the moon on human behaviour. But studies conducted in the recent years have failed to correlate this effect. The reason for this is that in the last decade there has been an unprecedented increase in the overall raja-tama in the world. This excess in raja-tama has been primarily orchestrated by ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.).

This overall increase in the raja-tama component has widespread effect on all aspects of the world. The problems range from increased mental issues at an individual level to increased fights in families to terrorism to natural disasters. As a result of the underlying overall increase in erratic behaviour throughout the month, the additional effect of the new and full moon that is still present goes largely unnoticed in statistical studies.

7. What can we do to protect ourselves from any harmful effects?

Since the harmful effect of the new and full moon is due to a spiritual reason, only spiritual remedies or spiritual practice can help in giving protection.

At a worldly level, it is best to avoid taking important decisions or buying-selling on these days as ghosts can affect through these media. Increase the quantity and quality of spiritual practice from 2 days prior to and continue for 2 days after full moon and new moon days. It is also beneficial to chant Name of God as per religion

During the waning phase of the moon, i.e. the period between full moon day and new moon day, as the size of the moon progressively reduces, the subtle basic raja-tama frequencies emanating from it progressively rise. This is because the darker side of the moon progressively increases. Hence to protect oneself from the adverse influence of this enhanced raja-tama, it is important that we step up our spiritual practice during this period.

During the waxing phase of the moon, we should at least try to stabilise the increased efforts we had put in, in the earlier fortnight. This is so that we can again renew our efforts at enhanced spiritual practice in the next waning phase of the moon.

Spiritual world of 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.

Gurubaba the ultimate refuge

Clad in rotten clothes, with a vow of silence for life, without golden crown and thrones forsaking food and sleep, He lives for the poorest of the poor Gurubaba the ultimate refuge. The Hermit who has surpassed the ocean of knowledge, He knows by intuition the past, present and future of the people thronging to his abode; He lives, giving solace to the downtrodden, by absorbing their grievances and sorrows. He has come to earth for the oppressed and suppressed, showing the path of simplicity austerity and penance; Shining as the eternal 'OHM' He has taken 'Avatar' as Dakshineswara' at Guruvayyur.

Unique ways of blessing from Gurubaba

Devotees can feel the presence and obtain the blessings of Gurubaba in three different ways.This sidhi is very unique to Guru Baba. The foremost of this is the appearances in the form of butterflies. Butterflies appear before devotees to give them blessing and to warn them of any impending danger or grief. Black coloured bigger ones indicate bad omens and it would be better to withdraw from present plans or actions. If smaller butterflies appears indicates that it would be better to have a re thinking of present plan or action to be executed. If butterflies encircle our head it is an indication that Gurubaba has accepted our prayers. The second way of blessing includes emergence of fragrances. Blessing by Gurubaba is indicated by the smell of sandalwood which would fill the air in an around us. Warning regarding any danger or misfortune is indicated by bad odour and we need to be more cautious in our actions. The Third form of blessing includes variations in the taste of our saliva. Sweetness in saliva indicates good time or good fortune. Bitterness indicates bad situation or an evil time.

Amavasyopasana –A Scientific Approach towards Fasting

Guru Baba by his intense Tapa or penance and the blessing of Almighty has given to mankind a precious gem of knowledge to overcome evil celestial afflictions. This is called Amavasyopasana - full moon/ new moon fasting.

70% of earth is water, mainly oceans / seas. The celestial planets and stars even light years away have 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 million 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 throughout 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 whereas 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 someone 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.

Fasting is the process where we do not eat anything for half day, one day or more.  Fasting is observed in all the religions.  Fasting is used as a treatment in Naturopathy as well as Ayurveda.  Modern science has also started taking it seriously.  Fasting done in scientific way can be beneficial.

Scientific theory behind Fasting

Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day (24 hours), or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive, limiting particular foods or substance. The fast may also be intermittent in nature. Fasting practices may preclude sexual and other activities as well as food. 

In a physiological context, fasting may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight, and to the metabolic state achieved after complete digestion and absorption of a meal. Several metabolic adjustments occur during fasting, and some diagnostic tests are used to determine a fasting state. For example, a person is assumed to be fasting after 8–12 hours. Metabolic changes toward the fasting state begin after absorption of a meal (typically 3–5 hours after a meal); "post-absorptive state" is synonymous with this usage, in contrast to the "post-prandial" state of on-going digestion. A diagnostic fast refers to prolonged fasting (from 8–72 hours depending on age) conducted under observation for investigation of a problem, usually hypoglycaemia. Finally, extended fasting has been recommended as therapy for various conditions by health professionals of most cultures, throughout history, from ancient to modern

Health effects

Glucose is the body's primary fuel source and is essential for the brain's functioning. When denied glucose for more than 4–8 hours, the body turns to the liver for glycogen, a storage form of glucose, to be used for fuel. A process called glycogennolysis converts glycogen into a usable form of fuel. At this point, the body also uses small amounts of protein to supplement this fuel. This fuel will last for up to 12 hours before the body needs to turn to glycogen stored in muscles, lasting for a few more days. If glucose is still denied at this point, muscle wasting is prevented by temporarily switching to fat as the fuel source, meaning fat is converted into ketone bodies through catabolism. Ketones, while not sugars, can be used by the brain as a fuel source as long as glucose is denied.

The body continues to use fat for as long as there is fat to consume. The body will generally indicate to the faster when fat levels are running extremely low (less than 7% and 10% of body weight for males and females, respectively) with an increased urge for food. Fasts are usually broken long before this point. If the fast is not broken, starvation begins to occur, as the body begins to use protein for fuel. Health complications associated with fast-induced starvation include electrolyte imbalances, thinning hair, lanugo, cardiac arrhythmia and renal failure. Death can occur if fasting is pursued to the point of complete starvation.

Research suggests there are major health benefits to caloric restriction. Benefits include reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, insulin resistance, immune disorders, and more generally, the slowing of the aging process, and the potential to increase maximum life span. According to Dr. Mark P. Mattson, chief of the laboratory of neurosciences at the US National Institute on Aging, fasting every other day (intermittent fasting) shows beneficial effects in mice as strong as those of caloric-restriction diets, and a small study conducted on humans at the University of Illinois indicates the same results . According to the US National Academy of Sciences, other health benefits include stress resistance, increased insulin sensitivity, reduced morbidity, and increased life span. Long-term studies in humans have not been conducted. However, short-term human trials showed benefits in weight loss. The side effect was that the participants felt cranky during the three week trial. According to the study conducted by Dr. Eric Ravussin, "Alternate-day fasting may be an alternative to prolonged diet restriction for increasing the life span".

Adherence to Greek Orthodox fasting periods contributes to an improvement in the blood lipid profile, including a decrease in total and LDL cholesterol, and a decrease in the LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio. A statistically insignificant reduction in HDL cholesterol was also observed. These results suggest a possible positive impact on the obesity levels of individuals who adhere to these fasting periods.