August 2018

GURU GYAN by HH SWAMI CHIDANAND SARASWATI August 2018 www.lifepositive.com ` 100 YOUR PERSONAL AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH COMPANION PAGE 46 PAGE 28 PAGE 89 PAGE 82 PAGE 56 Conserve prana as you make love THE BEST WAY TO HAVE SEX BEAT ASPERGER’S SYNDROME PSYCHO NEUROBIC PROGRAMMING (PNP) - SERIES 1 HOW TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD’S DIVINITY YOUR CHILD IS A BUDDHA

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LP mascot: Laughing Buddha 4 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Dear Reader, One of the most eye-opening revelations to me after I entered the path was the knowledge that all of life is interconnected. It opened the floodgates of possibilities for me. It also taught me to see myself in others. I realised how everything began with me, and if I wanted to be treated fairly and kindly by the world, I needed to extend the same treatment to others with genuine affection. Simply being civil and cordial was not enough; the human heart wanted to be genuinely appreciated for what it was. An unprecedented flow of kinship and love birthed in my heart for my fellow human beings, and it suffices to say that life has treated me very kindly after this realisation. Not only that, this love was able to transmute into love for the whole of Creation, gradually. So now, even if I have to scold, admonish, or be firm with others, the love behind this act ensures that I don’t get a backlash. This has freed me from the disappointments of expectation-borne love that many find themselves trapped in. For me, true freedom is the freedom to love wholly, unconditionally, and freely. This Independence Day, instead of getting busy with our routine affairs after hoisting the national flag, why don’t we take out a few minutes to think what freedom actually means to each one of us? And what have we done to get closer to our idea of freedom? The more we introspect, the closer we will get to our true Self and our life-purpose. Wishing you all the very best for your journey within. Have a happy August. The freedom to love August 2018 Vol. 22 Issue 05 Price ` 100 Chairman: Aditya Ahluwalia President: D R Kaarthikeyan Director: V Venkat Editor: Shivi Verma EDITORIAL Deputy Editor: Punya Srivastava Correspondent: Anuradha Sahu (Mumbai), Rashmi Rawat Senior Graphic Designer: Vijaypal Singh Gusain MARKETING Manager, Ad Sales: Ajit Singh Assistant Manager, Ad Sales: Santosh Pandey PRODUCT MARKETING Manager, Circulation & Subscription: Dharamveer Singh Assistant Manager, Circulation: P Murali (Bangalore) Senior Executive, Marketing: Krishan Kumar Senior Executive, Circulation: Dhananjay Singh SUBSCRIPTION Assistant Manager: Ginny Gupta Executive: Harsha Dashore FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION Deputy General Manager: Ambika Sharma Executive: Jyoti Khatri Advisors Parveen Chopra, Suma Varughese, Mark Tully, Kiran Bedi, M Madhavan Nambiar, SD Saxena, Ameeta Mehra, Manisha Verma, Shruti Nada Poddar, Hamid Ahmed, Shovana Narayan, Ritika Goyal Editorial & Advertising Office Delhi: F1/9, First floor, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase - I, New Delhi-110 020 Ph: (011) 49563777 Fax: (011) 49563773 E-mails: [email protected] U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Life Positive P.O. Box 65, Colts Neck, NJ 07722, USA; e-mail: [email protected] Readers are requested to make appropriate enquiries before sending money, incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement in this publication. Life Positive or Life Positive Pvt Ltd do not vouch for any claims made by the advertisers of products and services. The printer, publisher or editor of Life Positive or any employee of Life Positive Pvt Ltd shall not be held liable for any consequences in the event of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All rights reserved. © Life Positive Pvt. Ltd. losZ HkoUrq lqf[ku~%] losZlUrq fujke;k% losZ Hknzkf.k i’;Urq] ekdf’pn~nq%[kHkkd~Hkosr! May all beings be happy, May all be healthy, May people have the well-being of all in mind, May nobody suffer in any way. — Vedic prayer Edited by Shivi Verma. Printed and published by Aditya Ahluwalia on behalf of Life Positive Pvt. Ltd. from F1/9, First floor, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase - I, New Delhi-110 020 Printed at M.P. Printers, B-220, Phase 2 Noida, 201305 Member, Indian Newspaper Society - Editor edit .indd 4 14/07/18 10:13 AM

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06 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 28 LEAD STORY Every child is a Buddha Deep breathing allows a child to stay rooted in their Buddha nature, says Sanjiv Ranjan 18 CLOSE ENCOUNTER “I am not the doer.” Sri Dwaraknath Reddy shares his views on Creation, karma, and God Cover photo: Adobe Stock, Photo credit: Adobe Stock, Cover design: Vijaypal Singh Gusain 14 HEARTSPEAK Fun is simple Happiness lies in giving love—not in materialistic pursuits 48 FOOD Food for the Pitta types Recommended foods for Pitta dosha dominant people 42 ETHICS When work is worship Work becomes meditation when we dedicate our heart and mind to it contents.indd 6 18/07/18 4:47 PM

Contents 07 Total pages 100, including the cover page and the back cover 5HDGLQVSLUHGERRNVE\5R\(XJHQH'DYLV $GLUHFWGLVFLSOHRI3DUDPDKDQVD<RJDQDQGD $W0RWLODO%DQDUVLGDVVERRNVWRUHVLQ'HOKL3DWQD3XQH 9DUDQDVL&DOFXWWD&KHQQDL%DQJDORUHDQG0XPEDL $OVRDWRWKHUÀQHERRNVWRUHV :HEVLWHPOEGFRP )5((/LVWHQWR0U'DYLV·YLGHRDQGDXGLRWDONVUHDG 7UXWK-RXUQDOPDJD]LQHDQGVHHXSGDWHGQHZVDERXW KLV.UL\D<RJDWUDGLWLRQZZZFVDGDYLVRUJ 56 WELL-BEING Sexuality: The case for moderation Judicious indulgence in sex conserves our vital energy 82 THERAPY Managing Asperger’s syndrome Life coaching methods to improve the patients’ quality of life 74 SPIRITUAL TRAVEL Kamakhya to Kanyakumari A rejuvenating journey spanning across Assam, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu REGULAR COLUMNS Response 08 Mandala 11 Guruspeak 46 Aha-moments 54 Journey 64 Spirit 72 Positive focus 86 Angel messages 92 Revelations 94 Banyan tree 96 66 YOUR JOURNEY Merging with Maharishikaa The author experiences lightness after surrendering his ego to his guru contents.indd 7 18/07/18 4:47 PM

Mail from our readers, July 2018 online fans and subscribers www.lifepositive.com ` 100 YOUR PERSONAL AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH COMPANION PAGE 60 PAGE 49 PAGE 28 PAGE 80 ARE YOU A STAR CHILD? Find out if your birth is SPECIAL CONCENTRATE TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS GURU GYAN by DADASHREEJI THE WORLD OF A HEALER What does it take to become a healer? PAGE 20 MEET DAAJI: Teacher of Heartfulness Meditation LIVING IN NOBILITY After reading the thoughts expressed by editor Shivi Verma in the Editspeak column of the July 2018 issue of LP, I found myself oscillating between restlessness on the one hand and distinct comfort on the other. The impetus was the 14-line bold declaration made about Suma Varughese, the former editorin-chief, which spurs me to add a little of my own. Shivi spoke about the excellent mentorship, writing skills, administrative prowess, and decision-making ability of Suma, which did not escape her eyes. Let me add that I was lucky to enrol as an LP subscriber during Suma’s tenure as the editor-in-chief, and she had encouraged me by publishing a few of my letters. I remember how at another time, a German lady, Maria Wirth, a passionate student of Vedanta, had spoken about her experience with Suma. She had settled down in India, never to return to her native land. She had said, “I had written and sent this Indianvalue-based article for LP, with little hope that it would see the light of the day under the Christian-sounding name Suma Varughese. To my surprise, not only was my article published in LP, but there was a personal telephone call from Suma, offering me the LP subscription. I was awestruck by this face of reality!” As Dadashreeji said in the column Only love can change the world, only love can change; love can liberate and help attain Godliness. The precedence set by Suma and Shivi can give us strength and show constructive results if all could walk the talk. Suma did it in her time and continues to do so even now and Shivi, unsparingly, is on the job to realise the LP motto.          Shivi Verma deserves our special thanks for guiding us by openly expressing her indebtedness to her predecessor, the likes of which are not easily traceable, especially in the present-day scenario. Shiv Kumar Hastir, via email Letter of the month APPLAUSE FOR MEGHA The column, Silence speaks, by Megha Bajaj, published in the June 2018 issue of Life Positive magazine candidly articulated one of the most distressful issues of a person’s life. Running after deadlines and completing projects are important indeed, but if my sole purpose of doing it is to save myself from getting an earful from my boss, then I am going nowhere with my life. One should not only be physically engaged in their chosen work but also be mentally alert and spiritually invested. I applaud the way Megha wonderfully brought out this fact. Being a passionate writer myself, I could connect with the article on so many levels. I extend my gratitude and encouragement to the editor, Shivi Verma, for publishing such fresh and invigorating pieces. Nilanjana Sarkar, Kolkata RESPONSE 08 LifePostive | AUGUST 2018 Response.indd 8 18/07/18 2:25 PM

OUTSTANDING PIECE The article Perfect your posture in the June 2018 issue of Life Positive was an outstanding piece of writing. A correct posture not only ensures that the body functions in a balanced way but is also indicative of a person’s personality. A confident person with high self-esteem stands tall with spine erect and a straight posture, whereas a person with low self-esteem tends to have drooping shoulders, almost like a hunch, implying a lack of confidence. Exercises like taking a walk in the park and practising yoga asanas like the Bhujangasan, strengthen the shoulders and the body. Saunas and hot stone massages also help relax the back and maintain a good posture. Bumika, Bangalore HEALING CONCEPTS I am thankful to Megha Bajaj for her inspiring column Silence speaks in the June 2018 edition of Life Positive. It truly touched my heart. Because of the daily practice of meditation, I experience a lot of happiness and peace of mind. With my mind in alpha state, I feel totally relaxed. I get new ideas and concepts which are truly wonderful. Go the vegan way, by Anuradha Sahu, was a great article providing alternatives to milk products. For the first time in my life, I personally attempted a few recipes and found them to be really excellent! At the Life Positive spiritual festival held last year in March in New Delhi, I had purchased a few books on the recommendation of former editor-in-chief, Suma Varughese. Milk: A silent killer was one of them, and after I read it, I totally eliminated milk and sugar from my diet. I can, with confidence say that I have derived 100 per cent beneficial results from this practice in the past two months. I am thankful to the author as well as Suma Varughese, and express my special thanks to editor Shivi Verma for her excellent presentation and editorship. Baidhar Swain, Bhubaneswar Corrigendum Apropos the article Inside a healer’s world published in the July 2018 issue of Life Positive magazine, Aditi Surti has been wrongly referred to as an Access Consciousness facilitator. The error is regretted. - Editor Response 09 Response.indd 9 18/07/18 2:25 PM

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Mandala 11 Farewell, Dada Vaswani MANDALA left his physical body in 1966. Holding aloft the torch bequeathed to him by his Master, he remained true to spirit of the India of rishis—a harbinger of love, peace, and hope. Dada’s inspiring smile remains etched in our hearts forever, along with his invaluable words. “Whenever you have taken up work in hand, you must see it to the finish. That is the ultimate secret of success,” said Dada, as he inspired millions across the globe.   “Give, give, give—until it hurts to give! This will release you from bondage to the ego—and to things. An infinite potential lies hidden within us. We are unaware of it. Our true Self is the Atman. Tat tvam asi (That art thou)! There can be no limit to what we can do—and achieve!” he famously said. Farewell Dada. Your evergreen smile will now light-up the heavens, as it brightened the life of every person you touched on earth. Spiritual leader, humanitarian, philosopher, educationist, orator, and author Dada J P Vaswani, head of the Sadhu Vaswani Mission, passed away in Pune on July 12, 2018, just 20 days before his 100th birthday celebration. Dada was 99, and the Mission had planned a grand celebration to mark his 100th birthday on the 2nd of August. With a worldwide following, the calm and simplicity of Dada encompassed one and all from every walk of life. His famous words were “love, love, and love.” ‘The Moment of Calm’, was a global peace initiative by Dada. His birthday is observed as World Forgiveness Day. “Vegetarianism is the only way for world peace,” he said. Every year, the Mission observes November 25 as Meatless Day. Born in Hyderabad, Sind, Jashan Pahlajrai Vaswani was a brilliant student but chose to give up a career in academics to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious uncle and guru, Sadhu T L Vaswani, who founded the charitable institution Sadhu Vaswani Mission in Pune. Dada took over the baton after Sadhu Vaswani Dada JP Vaswani’s evergreen smile and childlike enthusiasm towards life endeared him to millions across the globe Mandala (shivi verma's conflicted copy 2018-07-13).indd 11 16/07/18 2:56 PM

12 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Viktor Frankl We often imagine scary images, words, and stories during stressful times. We also struggle hard to overcome these problems with our limited resources. But the rescue of 12 young boys trapped for two weeks inside a cave in Thailand, has broadcast the message of the power of meditation, in successfully overcoming a life-threatening situation very resoundingly to the world. On June 23, a group of 12 members—aged between 11 and 17—of the Wild Boars football team, along with their assistant coach, Ekapol Chanthawong— aged 25—entered the Tham Luang Nang cave in the Northern Province of Chiang Rai to celebrate a team member’s birthday. The cave usually draws countless visitors around the year, without any mishaps. However, it was flooding season, and the boys were trapped when a seasonal downpour flooded the tunnels. As the world waited for their rescue with bated breath, it was totally a different scenario with the boys. Aisha Wiboongrungreung, mother of the youngest boy, pointed out that it was astonishing to see the children sitting calmly with no lines of stress on their faces, waiting to be rescued. Turned out that Ekapol Chanthawong, born in Myanmar, before becoming a football coach, had spent several years as a Buddhist monk and learnt how to conserve energy by restricting movement and meditating. According to the local news, it is this expertise that enabled the trapped boys to remain calm and alive. Stanford University meditation expert Leah Weiss, who was taught by the Dalai Lama, says that meditation was probably the tool that kept the group alive. “For Buddhists, meditation is a go-to in times of distress or danger,” she added. Meditation calms you by lowering your heart rate and breathing rate, which lessens your oxygen utilisation, and allows you to be with the present. Three cheers for meditation! How meditation saved lives Ekapol Chanthawong (left) saved the lives of his boys by teaching them meditation, thus enabling them to remain calm Mandala (shivi verma's conflicted copy 2018-07-13).indd 12 16/07/18 2:56 PM

Mandala 13 Even before the sun rose on June 21, a huge gathering of 50,000 yoga enthusiasts conglomerated at New Delhi’s Red Fort to celebrate the fourth International Day of Yoga. The event was organised by Brahma Kumaris and supported by the Ministry of AYUSH. It began with speeches delivered by Rajyogi BK Brijmohan, additional secretary general of Brahma Kumaris, Mount Abu, and Rajyogini, Dadi Janki, chief of Brahma Kumaris. Participants present at the event performed several exercises and hatha yoga kriyas. Addressing the enthusiasts, Dadi Janki said, “Yog means union with the supreme soul. It teaches you to become the light of God; serve others by being a lighthouse yourself. All you need to do is to care, share, and inspire.” Brimming with a sense of pride that the Indian culture of yoga is being promoted at a global level, Sudarshan Bhagat, union minister of state for tribal affairs, said “Practising yoga keeps your mind and body healthy and keeps one away from unnecessary stress and diseases.” He also lauded Brahma Kumaris for their grand initiative on the Yoga day. The event was followed by the live telecast of the Prime Minister’s speech from the Forest Yoga day with Brahma Kumaris Research Institute, Dehradun. “From the snowy Himalayas to the scorching deserts, yoga is present everywhere. In today’s express lifestyle, situations often end up in a conflict between people, societies, or nations. In such a scenario, yoga emerges as an effective unifying force.” Derk Segaar, director of the United Nations Information Centre, claimed yoga to be India’s most precious gift to the world. “Yoga was adopted by the UN general assembly in 2014 and was celebrated in almost every country. This illustrates how deeply the ancient Indian practice of yoga resonates with people around the world,” he added. Among the guests present were Dr A K Merchant, national trustee, Bahai Community of India; Firoz Bakht Ahmad, chancellor, Maulana Azad National Urdu University; Ven. Lama Lobzang, secretary general of the International Buddhist Federation; and Ven. Ezekiel Isaac Malekar, priest, Judah Hyam Synagogue. Truly, India is winning the world over, with yoga. Dadi Janki addressing the gathering on the International Day of Yoga Mandala (shivi verma's conflicted copy 2018-07-13).indd 13 16/07/18 2:56 PM

Fun is simple Happiness lies in the simplicity of giving love and appreciating what we have—not in materialistic pursuits, says Vidya Murlidhar Imagine yourself at the venue of the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. You are in the audience seated at the edge of your chair, palms sweaty, brows furrowed, and heart thumping. The air is rife with nervous excitement. It is the final round and your child is up on stage with a handful of other voracious spellers. He walks up to the microphone with eager, confident steps. As a parent, all you can do for him is say a heartfelt prayer in desperation and hope that when the soft voice of the ever-smiling Dr Bailly pronounces the word, it is one that your child knows. What you want is for your child to win. Except you are now told that this next round of the spelling bee is unconventional. Whaaat? The child must not only spell but also define the word. He cannot question the origin or the root of the word. There are no alternate pronunciations. The child is judged on the profundity of his answer. The stage for this round is sprawling. It is life itself and the voice that announces the word is not of the charming doctor, but it is the gentle voice of God. You still want your child to win. “FUN”—the divine voice announces. Your child looks perplexed. Such a simple word? The clock ticks away and your 13-year-old child, initially hesitant goes on to describe his interpretation of the meaning of the word. “Fun—F-U-N. It is a vacation with my family and friends to beautiful seaside locations. Fun is a trip to Hawaii or the Bahamas.” Ah! He did it, you think. Your shoulders relax, and a smile graces your face. Only to hear the dreadful bell go ‘ding’. It’s not the right answer. Baffled, you look around to see the same quizzical expression on the faces of all around. Why is this answer wrong? You are deeply disappointed. As the next finalist walks up, you wonder what the correct answer is. 14 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 HEARTSPEAK HEARTSPEAK.indd 14 16/07/18 12:33 PM

Giving and sharing love is joyful “F-U-N. Fun is a grand party with dancing and singing and hmmm…plenty of food and drinks?” The child sounds nervous. He tries to put himself into the shoes of every adult in the room and answer, and sees this as the most common way to have fun. ‘Ding’ goes the awful bell again. As the third finalist walks up to the microphone, his grim expression indicates that he is giving this some serious thought. “F-U-N. Success is fun. Success in academics or sport. Winning is fun,” he quips when it is his turn. A ‘ding’ echoes in the hall once more. Why are these wrong, you wonder? As you look around, confusion is writ large on everyone’s faces and they are as perplexed as you. “Let me rephrase the question,” the magnificent voice announces. It’s sound; deep yet gentle, envelopes you with a warmth. “What makes you happy?” asks the voice and the spotlight falls on the fourth child, “Getting a new video game makes me happy,” the 14-year-old gingerly announces. “Why?” “Uh...I don’t know,” mutters the child. Ding! The spotlight moves to the next child. Smiling, he answers “Going to a waterpark.” “Why?” Before the child replies, an angry parent interrupts. “What’s going on? My child was not wrong when he said going to a party was fun. Nor was the other when he said a new toy Heartspeak 15 HEARTSPEAK.indd 15 16/07/18 12:33 PM

makes him happy. These are kids, and this is what makes them happy. What’s wrong with it? I demand an explanation!” “Let me ask you then. What is fun? What makes you happy and why?” the benevolent voice booms. The parent yells, “A cruise with abundant food, wine, and beautiful people! Why? Why? Because it lets me escape from the drudgery of my everyday life!” Ding! “Hey! Can You tell me what You are up to? Are You playing around with us? Can you please just leave and let our kids go back to the actual normal game? This is the final and they have worked hard to get here. It’s no joke.” “Relax,” says God, “A group of intellectuals is where I thought I could make my point. That’s why I am here.” Saying so, He shines the spotlight on a three-year-old in the audience who is seated on his mother’s lap. “Little one, what makes you happy and why?” The little boy flashes a beaming smile. He knows. He jumps down from his mama’s lap and, with his chest puffed and tiny palms fisted by his side, shouts out, “Playing with my puppy makes me happy because he makes me laugh.” “What a wonderful answer! You see this child innately knows fun is in the simple act of giving Fun is in the simple act of giving love. A very young child may not share a new toy but walk into a room and he will be the first one to run up to you to give you a hug. All you need is to be like him. We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article. Mail us at [email protected] love. A very young child may not share a new toy but walk into a room and he will be the first one to run up to you to give you a hug. All you need is to be like them. Instead, you spend the first few years teaching your children to achieve to find happiness and then they, like you, spend the next few years trying to escape. Going on a vacation is fun if your intention is to explore a new place and embrace its culture and people—not if you are going to escape the life you created for yourself. Partying is fun if you party to celebrate togetherness—not if you hit the bottle to forget your problems. Success does not lie in accumulating trophies but in feeling joyful for what you have. It lies in knowing your worth and respecting the other. I’ll leave you now but, in my opinion, the child who understands laughter and connection are what brings true happiness, is the winner.” Wow! You have spent all your parenting life training your children to be adults. You now know you need to unteach your children so that the next time they are in the spelling bee on the sprawling stage of life where they must define ‘fun’, they have the right answer. They say, “M-E. Me—I am fun.” 16 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 HEARTSPEAK.indd 16 16/07/18 12:34 PM

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“I am not the doer.” Sri Dwaraknath, in conversation with Pradeep Krishnan, shares his views on Creation, karma, and God, influenced by the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. Photo courtesy: Pradeep Krishnan 18 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 CLOSE ENCOUNTER Close encounter.indd 18 18/07/18 10:54 AM

S ri V Dwaraknath Reddy, born in 1924, is a seeker, author, lover of nature, a humanist, and a poet. He is the former Chairman of the Nutrine Confectionery Company and, for decades, has been engaged in spreading the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. After three decades at the helm of the company, he had relinquished the corporate reins and settled in the vicinity of Ramanasramam, the spot sanctified by the continued presence of Maharshi. Author of a dozen books on spirituality, like including The Dicey Problem of New Age Science, Birth, Play and Finale of Mind, The Physics of Karma, Death was never born, Life never died, Sri Reddy, a postgraduate in Chemical Engineering from the USA, is an original thinker and has the ability to lucidly explain complex ideas to the reader.In his writings, he blends rational precision with a deep understanding of philosophy, focused on the core teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. Commenting on them, late M P Pandit, savant of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, says, “It is the authenticity of his experience - psychological and spiritual - that touches the reader and makes him as humble as the writer himself.” Last year, during my annual pilgrimage to Sri Ramanasramam in Tamil Nadu, I had a chance to browse through his book Can God Improve my Balance Sheet? in the ashram library. “When you aspire to attain success like never before, your plan of action cannot be to conspire to make luck strike you and lightning strike your competitors! Though commendably simple and straightforward, the strategy is beyond your powers of manipulation. The success you desire must be won by invoking the inner potential in yourself. You must become the best you can be.” The above passage prompted me to meet the author. My wife and I visited Dwaraknath Reddy at his residence, situated just across Sri Ramanasramam. He has been living there for the past 35 years with his adopted daughter Sandhya. At the height of success in business, he had handed over the family-owned company to the younger generation and set up the Ramanarpanam Trust, under the leadership of his daughter, Anita Reddy, to help the poor and needy. So far, the trust has donated nearly `35 crores in charity, benefitting about 20,000 people and 1,200 children. About his writings, he said, “I write for consolidating my contemplations; I write for selfeducation. This is my meditation.” To my question about what prompted him to settle near Ramanasramam, he said, “All that I have known and all that I seek to know is contained in the manifestation of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. So, I have come to reside where His bodily presence stayed almost a lifetime. His silent gaze dwells on me. Here is the focus that I must merge with.” Close Encounter 19 Close encounter.indd 19 18/07/18 10:54 AM

Tell us about your family background and the setting up of the Nutrine Company? Ours was an agricultural family from Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, with a good cultural and ethical background. My parents were very pious and generous. My father, late B V Reddy, had high values and ideals in life, thanks to his education, B A from Theosophical College, Madanapalle, founded by Annie Besant. Later, attracted by the vision of late Jiddu Krishnamurti, he had become a member of the executive committee of the Rishi Valley School, to which he sent his three sons Surendranath, Raghunath, and myself. After completing education at the Rishi Valley School in 1940, I did my B.Sc. Tech course. Thereafter, with an aim to set up a sugar factory in our 100-acre land, my father sent me to study Chemical Engineering at the Louisiana State University, USA. Meanwhile, when Parry Company had the monopoly, the Nutrine Confectionery Company commenced its operations in 1951 from Chittoor. On my return, I was put in charge of the company, along with my elder brother. In the course of time, the ` five-lakh company became a giant with a turnover of `300 crores. How did you develop an interest in spirituality? What was the turning point in your life? As a student of science, I always had a rational and scientific mind and had no belief in God. But, when I was 35, the sudden death of my brother Surendranath (due to cerebral haemorrhage), who was very close to me, completely shattered me for several days. As there was no one else to manage the company, somehow or the other, I was pulling on. Soon, questions about life, death, and God., cropped up in my mind: If there is a God, why did my brother die at such a young age? Then one day, someone suggested listening to the talks of Swami Chinmayananda. When I came to know that Swamiji is taking classes on Mandukya Upanishad in Madras (Chennai), taking three days off, I went there. At the venue, hearing the melodious bhajans sung by Swamiji’s disciples, for no reason, tears started rolling down my eyes. I am sure it was not because of my brother’s death. For three days, Swami Chinmayananda expounded the concepts of mind and matter, work and worship, creature and creator, love and lust, and shadow and substance to the huge gathering. His words, “The truth of that God is the truth of you,” explaining the concepts of Aham Brahmasmi and Tatvamasi, stirred something within me. I felt the teaching was amazing. He took absolutely contradictory aspects and equated them and proved that it was the absolute truth. I listened to him with rapt attention and, slowly and steadily, the concepts of absolute and relative became clear to me. I understood that one functioning through consciousness is God, which is called Brahman or the totality of consciousness. That Brahman became many. Listening to Chinmayanandaji was the turning point in my life. 20 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Close encounter.indd 20 18/07/18 10:54 AM

Then how did you develop an interest in Ramana Maharshi? Chinmayanandaji was the one who put me on the track of spirituality. After listening to him, back in Nutrine, I started reading his books and contemplating on the ideas. Soon, he became my Gurudeva and the relationship grew to such an extent that I became one of the Trustees of Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, a position I held for about 15 years. In the meantime, I happened to read selected portions from Ramana Maharshi’s Who am I, Self Inquiry, and Talks that generated great interest. I felt that it contained the essence of the scriptures: the Gita, the Upanishads, and the Vedas. It was Chinmaya, the great teacher, who brought me to the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, the realised master. Before long, though I have not seen Ramana in person, his words started penetrating deep within. I was convinced that Ramana, the real Guru, helps one and all to realise the Vedantic truths of Ayam Atma Brahma, Prajnanam Brahma, and Aham Brahmasmi. How do you view the manifestation of Ramana Maharshi? A self-realised sage like Ramana Maharshi is a rare event of supreme splendour, manifested in the cosmic play. The world sees him as an exquisite manifestation, an exemplary person, a rare gift of time. Such a one lived amidst us, for a duration of time, and is recognised by a body-form. In terms of our relative reality, we say Ramana ‘lived’ and ‘died’. History recorded that he was born in 1879 and attained samadhi in 1950. But Ramana Maharshi ‘is’. Close Encounter 21 Close encounter.indd 21 18/07/18 10:54 AM

You had written a book on the law of karma. Please explain its workings. If any society has to function in an orderly fashion, there must be some methodology, establishing the order that we call God or Creator or Nature. The cosmos is governed by the laws of gravity, magnetism, nuclear forces, etc. Similar is the role of karma in one’s individual life. When the bulb that gives light suddenly gets fused, did the electricity die? It exists continuously. Likewise, when a conscious ego, a person, dies, the bundle of accumulated vasanas remains and gets carried over to another life, causing another birth. This continuity of cause and effect is called karma. Just as gravity is established by the intelligence of God or Nature, consciousness of a being works as karma. What remains unfulfilled at the time of death remains as incomplete and results in taking birth again—that’s how karma works. Do you think the planets influence one’s life? How do you view astrological predictions? Creation is holistic and in the web of causal interconnected strands of action, everything is the cause and effect of anything. Sage Nisargadatta Maharaj declared, “The stars influence you and you influence the stars too.” So, planetary influences are not the intimidating one-way traffic that mortgages one’s future to astrology. It is probabilistic and not deterministic. The path, speed, directions, and destination of a ball placed on the ground can be predicted with accuracy by applying the laws of physics. However, the path of a human being cannot be determined as he is bestowed with a consciousness and will. So let us leave our worrying to the planets and live our lives with will, effort, and self-confidence. The understanding of the Universe is baffling. Why are we born? The Masters tell us to find out for oneself the reason for one’s birth. Understand that there is absolute reality and relative reality. The truth is ‘life’ never died and ‘death’ was never born. Like a dream, death is a falsehood. During a dream, though In the silent depths of the ocean flow Mighty currents unseen, In the truth of this moment lie All the ages that have been. 22 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Close encounter.indd 22 18/07/18 10:54 AM

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you are asleep, you are alive. Realise that we are immortal through renewed mortality. What is the purpose of this Creation? Science knows everything about the ‘content’ of Creation, but nothing about the ‘intent’ in Creation. ‘Intent’ does not mean the will or purpose of an inscrutable God, and God should not be taken as a locus outside Creation, shaping it arbitrarily. Intent means a law of consciousness that ensures a continuity of causal flow so that the end is a return to the beginning, all the movement is sequential, and nothing is random. Intent is the infallible rightness in the Law. If God is posited as the law-giver, he is the Law too. I say God would then be equally comfortable with such an understanding on our part, for we would have at least moved beyond insisting that ‘chance’ is the arbiter of cosmic harmony. What according to you is the problem of New Age science? “God does not play dice,” said Einstein. In a note of dissent, Stephen Hawking said, “God is quite a gambler.” These quotes discuss whether Newtonian determinism or quantum probability is the truth in Creation. But Truth or reality cannot be extracted from relativity. It is Absolute. Therefore, it needs to be said, “God has no need to play dice, for He owns the casino.” His right hand picks up what the left hand may lose. In fact, Hawking was saying that the scientific concept of matter was shifting from the theory of relativity to quantum theory with its probability functions. He was convinced that chance (probability) remains the supreme arbiter of what was, is, and will be. With both supreme scientists, the word ‘God’ was a fleeting digression. Scientific investigation of reality progresses from speculation to experiment to observation. Ideas thus get rejected or accepted, and in the course of time, what was accepted earlier is abandoned and new concepts hold sway. We, the conscious individuals, are playing the dice in the casino of objective knowledge, within the four walls of relativity. However, the Absolute includes and exceeds all of relativity. Infinite Absolute Reality has been given the word ‘God’. The limited got the name ‘Man’. What is your concept of God? Sat-Chit-Ananda, these three words give meaning to our personal existence, pursuit, and purpose. They denote the three primordial and compulsive aspects that energise life. The Sat aspect of Atman is what penetrates through the mask and instinctively gives man his indelible concept of eternal existence. The Some say acupuncture is good for the body. All saints say egopuncture is excellent for the mind. 24 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Close encounter.indd 24 14/07/18 12:33 PM

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We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article. Mail us at [email protected] Chit aspect of Atman is what equates life with thought. The Ananda aspect of Atman beckons to the confused mortal through all the layers of gloom and he strives for lasting happiness. Ignorantly, man attempts completeness by material acquisition and is fooled. The fact of Sat-Chit-Ananda in each individual, in whatever state he may be, is the link that was never broken, the salvation that was never denied, the perfection that was never removed, and the light that was never extinguished. It is ever there, even now, not a thing to be gained hereafter. God is, even now, the Truth in man. How beautiful, how heartening, how divinely merciful. How do we solve problems in life? Really, what is a problem? Obviously, as long as one’s desires are fulfilled, wants satisfied, and nothing is happening contrary to one’s wishes, there is no problem. Is there? For one, the present situation becomes a problem because it is not taking shape the way one wanted it to. Understand that it is taking shape the only way it can, given the compulsion of the law of causal manifestation, given the precedent and prevailing forces that have produced the natural result. The fault is in one’s faulty understanding of reality. It is only the mind of man that thinks that such an error has taken place. So I say, man ‘has’ no problem; man himself is the problem. What message would you like to give to the readers? Understand ‘who am I’ and that the ego is not the doer. When doership goes, the ego-sense transfers itself to becoming a devotee. The purpose of doership is only to find out that one is not the doer. The highest achievement of the intellect is to learn that God is self-revealing. You do not require a torchlight to see the sun. Whatever is being done through the ego-sense is pervaded by Brahman. Typhoid may sometimes infect the body; I-phoid is the constant disease of the mind. 26 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Close encounter.indd 26 14/07/18 12:34 PM

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28 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 LEAD STORY Cover Story B.indd 28 19/07/18 2:05 PM

Every child is a Buddha By encouraging a child to breathe deeply from their stomach, parents ensure that the child’s connection with the abundant flow of the universe is not severed, and they stay rooted in their Buddha nature, says Sanjiv Ranjan In the times of Lord Buddha, there lived a Brahmin called Bhaggava Gagga who held a high office in the court of King Pasenadi of Kosala. One night, his wife gave birth to a son. On consultation with an astrologer, he was told that his son was born under the constellation of robbers. This indicated that the child would have within him the nature of a thief. Bhaggava was perturbed. He disclosed this information to the king. The king reassured him and told him to educate the child so that he may lose his evil propensity. The child was called Ahimsak, which means one who can do no harm. As the child grew up, he was extremely well-behaved and unusually strong in body. He was studious as well as intelligent. In due course, Ahimsak was sent to Taxila and accepted as a disciple by the foremost teacher at the exalted place of learning. Over there, Ahimsak served his teacher dutifully and humbly, and soon become his teacher’s favourite student. This ignited jealousy in the heart of his fellow students and they hatched a plot to alienate him from his teacher’s love. The first group of students went to the teacher and told him that Ahimsak was plotting against him. They were reprimanded by the learned man and sent away. Lead Story 29 Cover Story B.indd 29 19/07/18 2:05 PM

But the students persisted and finally were successful in poisoning the teacher’s mind. He began to doubt that a man with as strong a body and mind as Ahimsak would not harm his interests at the university. So, when his studies came to an end, Ahimsak asked his beloved teacher what he could offer to him as Guru Dakshina. His teacher said, “You must bring me a thousand human little fingers of the right hand. In that way, you would pay homage to all that you have learned from me.” The teacher thought that in this way, Ahimsak would probably be killed or caught by the king’s men and suffer the penalty of execution. Ahimsak was shocked at his master’s outrageous demand. But when told that everything that he had learned would not bear any fruit, till he submitted what had been asked, he relented and set out to fulfil his commitment to his teacher. He equipped himself with weapons and went into the wild forest where he would attack travellers and take a finger from each one of them. He hung these fingers in a garland around his neck, from which he received the name Angulimala. He collected 999 fingers this way and was waiting for his last victim so that he could fulfil his promise to his master. The Buddha knew that the king had issued an order for Angulimala to be caught and slain. And so, he decided to go into the forest to save him. He was warned to leave the forest, but the Buddha paid no heed. When Angulimala saw the approaching monk, he took out his sword and followed him. The time had come for his penance to end. He was about to get his 1000th finger. He began following the Buddha, but even though the Buddha was walking at a normal pace, he could not catch up with him, for no one can do so with a person who is flowing in the river of existence. He then called out to the Buddha and the latter stopped. With the deepest compassion in his eyes, he looked at Angulimala and said, “I stopped forever when I took the vow of non-violence to every living being. You are the one who is running away from yourself.” He was calm in the face of death. He looked at Angulimala steadily in the eye. A great change of heart came over Angulimala. A current ran through his body, and his suppressed purity broke through the dam of an enforced cruelty. He fell at the 30 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Cover Story B.indd 30 19/07/18 2:05 PM

Buddha’s feet who ordered him to enter the monastic order. And so, Angulimala became a Bhikshu. He was asked to centre himself on his breath. But each time he tried to meditate, images of the people he had slain would come surging up into his mind. He would run away from his past and open his eyes. The Buddha knew that this had to be healed; otherwise, he would never know his true self. So he sent Angulimala to beg for alms in a house where a woman was going through a very difficult childbirth. Angulimala felt deeply moved by her suffering. For the first time since he had been ordained, he felt compassion stir in his heart. He went back to the Buddha and told him what he saw. The Buddha ordered him to go back to the woman and heal her misery by saying, “Sister, since I was born, I have never purposely deprived a living being of life. By this truth, may you and the infant be safe.” To this, Angulimala said that he could not speak of such a grave falsehood. He had claimed many lives. The Buddha then asked him to go and say, “Sister, since I was born again with a noble birth [his transformation], I have never purposely deprived a living being of life. By this truth may you and the infant be safe.” So Angulimala went to the woman and sat beside her and spoke these very words. The Buddha knew that only truth can heal powerfully. The woman delivered her child safely. This Angulimala charged at the Buddha but was unable to catch up with him as the latter was flowing in the river of existence Lead Story 31 Cover Story B.indd 31 19/07/18 2:05 PM

incidence had a deep impact on Angulimala. By saving her, he felt redeemed. He could now accept his past and breathe deeply. Through his breath he entered Vipassana and through Vipassana he attained to sainthood. All the ‘Buddhas’ of this world are centred in the river of existence, as well as your precious child when they are born. Every child is born with Buddhahood in their being. Understanding the river of existence The river of existence is a potent energy field which traverses the entire universe and connects everything which forms a part of it, living as well as non-living. Like all the great rivers which are actually born of the sea, the movement of this river is always towards ‘The Source.’ Because it is all-pervading, present everywhere, information can be relayed across the universe instantly. This energy field is a highly benevolent force. It loves us with an intelligence which is intense as well as purposeful. All life is borrowed from the river of existence, and when we die, it is returned to its perennial flow. But even though it loves us, it does not interfere with our free will. We are free to connect or disconnect with it. When we connect to the river of existence, we move into the flow. It begins to orchestrate our world. We begin to resonate and respond to the supreme intelligence which created the universe. Synchronicity and miracles flood our life, and we can fully feel in our blood, the adventure of being alive. We cannot be controlled or manipulated by any force which resides outside us. All the ‘Buddhas’ of this world are centred in the river of existence, as well as your precious child when they are born. Every child is born with Buddhahood in their being. 32 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Cover Story B.indd 32 19/07/18 2:05 PM

But if we disconnect from it, we lose out on our essence. We forget that we are powerful beings having an occasional human experience, and that we are here on this planet to lend to it our fragrance. We feel condemned and unsupported. We feel rootless in a ruthless world. We can now be controlled and manipulated by forces outside us. Life becomes an uphill task. We connect through our breath We are connected to the river of existence by our breath. Our breath is the essence of our life. If you have ever seen a newborn baby breathe, you will notice that they breathe with their whole body. The breathing is deep, gentle, and rhythmic abdominal breathing. Deep abdominal breathing keeps the child centred in being. They are completely available to themself. They are nurtured by the river of existence and cannot be controlled by anyone. We all know how babies are a law unto themselves. They sleep when they want to, they wake up when they want to, they feed when they are hungry, and for that, they have their own time schedules. A baby will smile only when they feel like it and not in any compliance with your mood. They will cry if they are uncomfortable and not alter their crying unless they want to. Lead Story 33 Cover Story B.indd 33 19/07/18 2:05 PM

Nothing can be more vulnerable than an infant and nothing can be as out of our control. This is the essence of living in the flow. It endows you with a vulnerability which is powerful and which makes you grow and evolve with every second, at an astonishing speed. But as the infant grows into a child, they become susceptible to their environment. They are extremely vulnerable to the energy of people around. And then, societal conditioning begins. The tragedy of etiquette The moment an infant evolves into a child, we begin subjecting them to social rules in the garb of enforced etiquette. This is where the tragedy begins. Etiquette demands that the child be inducted into the concept of right and wrong. They are subjected to judgement and are taught to please elders with ‘good behaviour.’ They are considered to be a well-mannered child if they do not ruffle any feathers, do as they are told, and can be controlled. Any deviation from the above, results in a subtle rejection, where the child senses through the mannerisms or words of those around them, that they (the child) have unforgivably erred. They learn that when they do what they feel like, they are socially unacceptable. This generates tremendous stress in their tiny being. This shearing stress can express itself in any form, the three most common being fear, shame, and guilt. These feelings create repression in the child’s psyche, and they learn to hold back their feelings instead of freely giving vent to them. They learn to numb themself to the overflowing, overwhelming energy which threatens their status quo with those whom they love the most. To do this effectively, the body moves into shallow breathing. Shallow breathing does not allow feelings to be deeply felt. It does not allow an overflow. Shallow breathing favours repression. The moment the child moves into shallow breathing, they are pulled out of the river of existence. They stand upon the shores of society—naked, trembling, and vulnerable. They can now be manipulated and controlled because they have lost their connection with the flow. They have lost the current which would have taken them to their Source. When we connect to the river of existence, we begin to resonate and respond to the supreme intelligence which created the universe. We fully feel in our blood, the adventure of being alive. We cannot be controlled or manipulated by any external force. 34 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Cover Story B.indd 34 19/07/18 2:05 PM

One of the most valuable gifts you can give your child is to not coerce them into conforming to anything which generates stress within them. And the most powerful gift you can give your child is to ensure that their breathing stays deep forever. Because if their breath is deep, they will never lose their connection with the river of existence, whose very nature is the ability to look after all its children— effectively, efficiently, and resourcefully. If their breath is deep, they will live authentically, by virtue of being able to honour and express all their feelings fully, without judging them in any way. By being able to transform their emotions through love and awareness, they will have full control over their thought processes. Total control over their mind would bestow upon them the ability to live from a vision which is grand, clear, intuitive, and extremely innovative and creative—something which emanates from within them and serves the universe in a way which they and only they can execute.    Truth—the Hara connection All spiritual traditions, no matter what culture or religion they belong to, give tremendous importance to the breath because it is only through your breath that you can know your true nature. The Japanese tradition of being centred in the Hara is one such phenomenon. The Hara Lead Story 35 Cover Story B.indd 35 19/07/18 2:05 PM

is an energy vortex, a few fingers below the navel. It is believed that within the Hara lies the ‘elixir of life’ which flows into the river of existence. When your breathing becomes deep and when it touches the Hara, your being dips into the elixir of life. You begin to know your true nature. When you know your true nature, you become fearlessly centred in the truth. Truth is a function of being at ease with your ‘self’. If you are not at ease with yourself, you will never be truthful. You will always seek to hide under subterfuge. You will always run away from yourself. No matter how much you discuss the evil of telling lies, no matter how many sermons you give notwithstanding the punishments you dole out to encourage the truth, know that your child will never be truthful if their breathing has become shallow. If you want your child to be truthful you will have to spend time and energy restoring the depth of their breath; something which they were born with but was robbed from them by society and insensitive or ignorant parenting. Deep breathing centres the child in the Hara. Whenever any living being becomes Deep breathing centres the child in the Hara. Whenever any living being becomes centred in the Hara, their Buddhahood surfaces. 36 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Cover Story B.indd 36 19/07/18 2:05 PM

centred in the Hara, their Buddhahood surfaces. They become aware of the fact that they were enlightened at birth. A deep, calm fearlessness, even in the face of death, surfaces. The very presence of such a person is life-transforming, even if the presence is that of a child. When the breath touches the Hara, the individual mind merges with the ‘whole’. It moves into a complete resonance with the universe, just like it happens when an enlightened one stabilises in samadhi, the cosmic union. The unified mind has no beginning and no end. Its potential is vast, limitless, without any boundaries. It can gaze at infinity with an effortless ease. It can travel to stars billions of light years away because the clouds of the ego have not been allowed to restrict true vision. Every infant is centred in samadhi. The Hara is a biological reality The Hara is not an intellectual concept. It is a biological reality. Why else would a foetus in a mother’s womb, first breathe through the navel? Our first experience of breathing is through our umbilical cord, which is attached to our mother’s blood vessels. The foetus directly breathes through the Hara. This is because it needs to be connected to the river of existence to be created perfectly. The number of chemical, physical, and biological changes taking place within the foetus in utero is mind-blowing. Cells are rapidly integrating and differentiating through millions of chain reactions. Even if a single step is missed or ill-timed, it can result in gross deformities. Hence the river of existence, like a loving mother, ensures that the phenomenal intelligence which gave birth to the universe is available to this newly-forming ball of life.   Hara-kiri—the bane of a child’s life The Japanese term for suicide is hara-kiri. Hara-kiri was a suicide ritual where disgraced officials were told to slash open their abdomen with a sword. Lead Story 37 Cover Story B.indd 37 19/07/18 2:05 PM

When you disgrace your child, no matter how innocuous it may seem to you, you wound the Hara. The injury could stem from something as simple as calling the child a bad boy or a bad girl. Remember that a child comes to us from another world, a world where there is no judgement. So being called a bad boy or bad girl severely injures their relationship with the self. They stop loving the self due to the shock to their being. When you disgrace your child in any way, you disembowel them in a metaphorical context. You have left them on the shores of society to die slowly each day, minute by minute— minutes which span a lifetime. Most childhood traumas stem from three main deviations from love: •Judgement •Repression •Coercion Judgement The child comes to this world from a place where all beings are equally loved, where there is no sin, no virtue, no concept of good or evil. That is why when the child first experiences judgement, it comes as a shock. One of the worst things that you can say to your child is that they are a bad boy or bad girl. When a child feels judged, it destroys their spirit. It destroys their self-love and their connection with their own sacredness. The child does not need your judgement to become discerning. Discernment stems from love for the self. If your child loves their self, they will never let themself be sabotaged, neither by them nor by anybody else. But if a child feels judged or condemned, they will feel the need to punish themself. They will feel that they do not deserve good things in life and by believing so, won’t allow them into their life. Repression Repression is a by-product of the social evil known as conformism. Right from the moment a child is born, they are trained into societal submission. As long as the child does what pleases others, they receive the validating love that they need for their survival. But the moment the child wants to do something in their own way, they are heavily crushed if it does not suit the moods of adults around them. Through punishment and reward, the child is manipulated and trained in behaviour which is socially acceptable. They have to wake up, sleep, play, study, and interact in a way which pleases everyone around them. They cannot even express their distress or pain without somebody trying to distract them or talk them out of it. In the beginning, the child struggles 38 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Cover Story B.indd 38 19/07/18 2:05 PM

against the injustice doled out to them in the name of concern for their welfare, but eventually, they relent. They learn to be non-available to themself through shallow breathing. Their emotions get trapped within their unconscious mind, from where they rule their world and give rise to misery later in life. Repression gives birth to an unhealthy thought process. It fractures and fragments the child. Repressed anger simmers forever as rage. Repressed sadness turns into depression. It is not too difficult to prevent repression. All it needs is a little bit of love and lots of awareness. Coercion Coercion is a slightly different variation of repression. Every infant is highly attuned to themself. They know what their requirements are and when to ask for them. Children are highly sensitive to food. There is no such thing as a universally good food. If a child tends to avoid certain food articles, then it is best to refrain from forcing them to eat these foods, no matter how essential you may feel it is. The child will simply listen to their body and avoid anything which does not work for their physiology. There are plenty of children with milk intolerance, cucumber intolerance, and egg intolerance who have to resort to subterfuge in order to escape from such foods being forced down their unwilling gullets. Another form of coercion which severely damages the psyche is being coerced to go to school on a day they are not feeling up to it. Many children subconsciously create illness because they know that resisting their parents on this account will be a futile exercise. Therefore, it will be good if parents can allow them, once in a while, to not go to school while explaining to them the importance of attending school regularly. . Very often, children are coerced to behave in a certain way with elders or when they are in a social gathering. While it is okay to teach them good manners, the parents should never stop respecting the child’s own sense of discrimination, which is far superior to that of grown-ups most of the times. If you observe them avoiding an elder, do not to persuade them to go near him. Never force a child to do anything that they do not want to do. It will only spark off rebellion. Instead, have faith in your love for your child. That faith, on its own, will show you the way. Shallow breathing—the mother of all powerless states A dysfunctional state is recognised only when it affects a small part of the world population. If something is universally present, applicable to all, then it is considered to be a part of the human experience. Something akin to the above phenomenon has already happened when it comes to breathing. Lead Story 39 Cover Story B.indd 39 19/07/18 2:05 PM

Most of the world population has grown accustomed to shallow breathing and it is considered to be the normal way to breathe. In fact, if you remember your school times, you will remember the command: Chest out, stomach tucked in. Stomach tucked in does not give you the space required for deep abdominal breathing. In fact, the command should be “stomach out each time you breathe in and forget about the chest.” It will fill up on its own. As you have already understood, shallow breathing does not let you drink from the elixir of life. It takes your attention to the mind. You become the thinker of confusing thoughts. Your mind now rules your life. Fear, guilt, and shame thrive within you, turning your life into a powerless whirlpool of misery. Your body cannot regenerate. You become afraid to accept your feelings and allow them to flow. Truth becomes a burden which you carry in your heart because you are afraid to own up to it. You are not at ease with yourself. That is why ‘dis-ease’ finds its way into your body, mind, and spirit. We cannot allow our children to succumb to this deadly disease. We have to prevent it. If We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article. Mail us at [email protected] Every child is born with the same purity which Ahimsak had. Every child is centred in their breathing and does not recognise fear unless it is taught. Every child is nurtured by the river of existence. Every child is completely at ease with themself and the truth, until his love for themself is destroyed. Let us preserve the powerful act which deep breathing is, if we want the planet as well as humanity to flourish and continue. it has already gripped our children, then we need to find a cure for it. Even before we teach a child history, maths, and geography we need to correct their breathing. Teaching anything to a child before correcting their breathing is akin to teaching the art of lucid dreaming to someone who has insomnia. In fact, any education system seeking to do real good to humanity and having a lasting impact should aim at the resurrection and preservation of deep breathing in all phases of childhood. 40 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 Cover Story B.indd 40 19/07/18 2:05 PM

Dr. Newton Kondaveti feb 2018 .indd 1 17/01/18 3:00 PM

When work is worship When you work with all your heart and mind, your work acquires a meditative quality and your output becomes extraordinary, says Swami Chaitanya Keerti 42 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 ETHICS SWAMI CHAITANYA.indd 42 17/07/18 12:40 PM

Often, I meet people, and as I ask them how they are doing, they start complaining about their work; they are generally bored with the work they do. Either the work is not of their choice or they simply don’t want to work. They are forced to work as they have to earn money. They feel no joy in the work. It is very rare to find someone who is really happy and satisfied. What is missing in their work? I would say, a meditative quality or a prayerful heart. With a person who always finds fault with his work, it is certain that he or she lacks enthusiasm and blames it all on the work. It is enthusiasm that works wonders. Enthusiasm creates energy and changes the quality of work; then it is no longer a burden or a duty. The mundane also becomes sacred. Do what makes you happy For example, I know a friend in Denmark who was a good therapist. He was not getting any clients. One day he saw an advertisement in a newspaper: A school needed a cleaner. This therapist applied for the job of a cleaner and got it. He went to this school in the evening and did the cleaning job. He felt happy and healthy doing it all alone (there was nobody around to bother him). As a therapist, he was not so happy listening to the problems of the sickminded people the whole day. Those problems were depressing, and he too was getting affected by them. It is a well-known fact that more psychologists go mad or commit suicide than people of any other profession. Their head is a great sucker. I am giving this example just to convey that we need to do our work without getting too identified with it or making an ego issue out of it. The ego is poisonous. Also, we should not give too much respect to the so-called highclass work. People making roads should be respected as equally as the people working in corporate offices or government offices—they are all interdependent. You might feel pleased Ethics 43 SWAMI CHAITANYA.indd 43 17/07/18 12:40 PM

if someone comes to clean your office before you come, and you can have a bad mood if it has not been cleaned. The person who cleans your office needs to be treated gracefully, as the work he does is equally important—it can affect your work. Giving equal importance and dignity to seemingly ordinary work broadens our vision. The dignity of labour In this way, one can start enjoying life wherever one is, whatsoever one is. If one is a cobbler one remains a cobbler. Jacob Boehme was a cobbler; he remained a cobbler. Gora was a potter and he remained a potter. Talking about him, Osho says: Gora, one of the great masters, was a potter. After his enlightenment, he continued to make pots—that was the only art that he knew. But the art changed totally. His pottery became almost sculpture. Another man Giving equal importance and dignity to seemingly ordinary work broadens our vision 44 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 SWAMI CHAITANYA.indd 44 17/07/18 12:40 PM

We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article. Mail us at [email protected] was Kabir, who was a weaver. When he became enlightened he continued to weave, but his weaving became totally different from that of any other weaver in the whole history of mankind. The love, the blissfulness, the silence—it all became part of his weaving. Raidas, another master, was a shoemaker. When he became enlightened, he continued shoe-making, but now his shoes were such that people loved to keep them on their heads and not wear them on their feet. They were coming from the source. It was no ordinary shoe-making; it had a quality of its own. There are stories of people who were robbers and thieves, who have also attained. What was their secret? Just the same. And I know people who have lived in a Himalayan retreat for their whole life and have not attained to anything. It is not a question of quantity; it’s not how much you do but the quality that you bring to it. You can just walk and it can be meditative; you can just sit and it can be meditative; you can eat and it can be meditative; and you can just take a shower and it can be meditative. There was a Zen master who used to chop wood as an ordinary woodcutter, but when some visitor would come to learn meditation in his monastery, he would go to a particular place and sit there to teach meditation. Zen teaches ordinariness. It exalts in the ordinary. Life is ordinary and if we accept it totally, then the same ordinary life becomes extraordinary. Acceptance makes it so. Accept any work with joy; it becomes sacred and satisfying. Enthusiasm creates energy and changes the quality of work; then it is no longer a burden or a duty. The mundane also becomes sacred. Ethics 45 SWAMI CHAITANYA.indd 45 17/07/18 12:40 PM

46 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 nourish. Each of our activities and actions is an integral and important part of the whole. We are just a small part of the divine plan, but we must selflessly and humbly serve, offering our 100 per cent with a clear vision of the bigger picture. Hence, I believe that whether we sweep the roads, build a toilet, construct a road, nurse a patient, or educate a child, all of us have countless opportunities to contribute to a better Bharat. When we work tirelessly with this attitude, then our duty becomes our dharma, and that is the greatest way we can offer our gratitude to the freedom fighters, to our forefathers, to our soldiers, and to the countless many who put their lives on the line so that we can live in a secure, free, resilient, and strong Bharat. Every day, I am reminded of the sacrifices our soldiers make on the borders of the nation, protecting our security and comfort at the expense of their own. While on special occasions, like the 15th of August, we proudly remember their offerings and salute their commitment, I often think that we can do much more every day to express our gratitude. We are privileged to be born in this sacred land; its spiritual heritage and richness bears yoga, meditation, peace, and so many other gifts. However, with privilege, also comes responsibility. Each of us has a responsibility to make our actions, words, and thoughts grounded and rooted in the intention to make a better India; an India that stands proud of its non-material and material wealth, its intangible and tangible heritage. Often, we take our services or our jobs as merely an activity to put food on the table or pay our bills, but we must recognise HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji urges us to work with an attitude of dharma to contribute towards a Better India this Independence Day See the big picture that with every action, we have opportunities to create a better Bharat for all. There is a beautiful story of a man who happens to be walking by a site that is busy with construction activity for a new temple and sees multiple people doing different tasks. When he asks the architect what he is doing, he replies, “I am making the blueprint of the temple.” When he asks the guys doing the excavation and levelling the land, they reply, “We are levelling the land where the temple is to be constructed.” When he asks the sculptors, they reply, “We are making the idols that will be placed inside the temple.” When he finally reaches a labourer carefully picking out stones in the hot sun for hours on end, to pave the pathways of the temple, the humble but wise labourer replies with a glimmer in his eyes and a smile on his sweat-ridden face, “I am making a temple.” This story is so beautiful and so indicative of the kind of state of mind we all should cultivate and Swami Chidanand Saraswati is the president and spiritual head of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram, a spiritual institution based in Rishikesh. We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article. Mail us at [email protected] Guruspeak.indd 46 16/07/18 3:06 PM

Come; join us, as we gather with Masters and Teachers from around the world for a two-day Conference packed with powerful sessions and groundbreaking workshops that will open up the path to transformative experiences for life. For more details visit: https://arrrglobal.org/plrc6 In this Training Program: You will work on healing your ancestral patterns and achieve inner transformation. You will receive adequate wisdom for: facilitating individual consultations, learning the art of facilitating the family constellations for individuals and groups, Dealing with transgenerational influences on the inner child, Helping organizations to unblock negative influences that are affecting their health, performance, prosperity and reputation. Transformation Now! LIFE FOUNDATION The co-creative force behind the proposed Quantum Life University Brings to you Family Constellation: Transgenerational Healing by Dr. Newton Kondaveti, M.D. & Dr. Lakshmi G.V, M.B.B.S. Family Constellation Work The purpose of Family Constellation Work is to uncover the hidden dynamics of your family or relationships in an experiential way, so that existing energy can be observed and changed where necessary and undue stress released or reduced in the system. This is a gentle and sensitive yet immensely effective method of allowing the family or relationship energy to reveal itself through representatives, so that a resolution can unfold. Other Six-Day Residential Training Programs in 2018 “LIFE BETWEEN LIVES” 15th to 20th November 2018 “BREATH MASTERY” 1st to 6th December 2018 Contact for more details: Sridevi +91-9848019022, Rajashekhar +91- 9849094575 Email : [email protected] Website Link: http://www.liferesearchacademy.com/workshops PLRC6 (6th Past Life Regression Conference) Featuring top 20 experts in Past Life Regression from around the world. Theme: Co-create 15th – 16th Dec., 2018 at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. 25th to 30 October 2018 At Life Foundation Campus, Vikarabad, Telangana Newton Aug 18.indd 1 11/07/18 9:45 AM

Naini Setalvad explains the Pitta Dosha type according to ayurveda and recommends appropriate foods for this type of person, along with a wholesome recipe I have always given great importance to ayurveda—the ancient Indian scientific wisdom. In the pursuit of good health in ayurveda, the first step is to find out your body type. I too follow this with all my clients. Every person has a unique psychophysiological body type, and this is formed the minute we take birth, as our DNA is made up of the five great elements of the universe, i.e., earth, water, air, space, and fire. In short, these are the controllers which decide whether we have a healthy body or not. Remember one thing; the forces of nature work in our body as well as outside it. The more we recognise their great power within us, the more we tend to harmonise with the outside world. Food for the Pitta type 48 LifePositive | AUGUST 2018 FOOD Food.indd 48 16/07/18 12:40 PM

Dosha can be understood as a word meaning ‘that which changes.’ It is a vigorous life force which establishes your biological and psychological characteristics. So, the three dosha types—Vata Dosha, Pitta Dosha, and Kapha Dosha—apply to both, your body and mind, and each dosha is linked to two elements. Thus, to understand the difference between the three doshas is to become aware of the degree to which the three forces interact with each other.   Even though there are 10 basic body types, I am only going to educate you about the main three body types. Last month, we discussed Vata Dosha; this time, I am going to talk about Pitta Dosha. Once you figure out your body type and how to handle it, you will be able to map your way towards good health. What is Pitta Dosha? Pitta Dosha is located in the central region of the body, near the solar plexus region. ‘Intense’ is the best word to describe a Pitta Dosha type, as they are mostly controlled by the fire element and its various qualities. All transformational changes in the body and mind are affected because of the dynamic nature of fire. All feelings and emotions are also a function of Pitta Dosha. The location of the Pitta Dosha influences this type to intuitively reach for pure foods, clean air, fresh water, and meaningful relationships with friends who are supportive. When Pitta Dosha people have these around them, they are able to remain balanced in their physical, mental, and emotional needs. People who are, for the most part, the Pitta Dosha type are physically well proportioned with an athletic body but of medium size. Their hair is not pitchblack; it tends to have shades of light brown or maybe even red. They could also be the first to go grey or bald. Their fire personality ensures that they rarely feel cold, even in the winters. However, the heat is bothersome, so their fair, warm, and soft skin gets covered with freckles and moles, and they tend to break out in a rash quite easily. They tend to eat more when stressed. ‘Intense’ is the best word to describe a Pitta Dosha type, as they are mostly controlled by the fire element and its various qualities. All transformational changes in the body and mind are affected because of the dynamic nature of fire. Food 49 Food.indd 49 16/07/18 12:40 PM

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