Swami Vijnananand, the founder of Manashakti Research Centre

Swami Vijnananand, the thinker, saint of modern age.

When Saint Ramdas was still a young kid, he sat in an attic, contemplating about the betterment of world. Saint Dnyaneshwar endured excessive persecution from the people. But he prayed to God ‘Let everybody get whatever they wish’. Saints who devoted their life for service of others were present everywhere in the world, in every age. They left imprints of their selfless work in society for long period. Their guidance and direction benefited many generations in the past and continue to benefit the present and future. Name of Swami Vijnananand, the founder and first thinker of Manashakti Research Centre belongs to the same rich tradition. He can be regarded as the thinker, saint of modern age.

“The welfare of the universe is my constant thought.

Self-examination is my tool.

I have no enemies outside of me.

I may have some enemy inside me for sure.

Day by day, as my knowledge based work will grow.

One day the entire world will be mine.

Science and beliefs are in my skin.

Gratitude is my righteous path.

Insulting others is forbidden to me.

Peace and equality are my actions”.

In words Swamiji did not only pray for the welfare of universe, he literally lived the prayer for his entire life. He combined science and spiritual knowledge to offer various solutions for people to apply and make their life happy. Lonavala’s famous Manashakti Research Centre is using these solutions for people since 50 years through various useful activities.

Happiness in life seems like a tiny barley seed, but sorrow is felt like mountain, big and overwhelming. Howsoever we try, we do not get the happiness to the extent we desire. Whatever little happiness we get is not long lasting. Unhappiness clings to us forever even if we do not try for it. Tension accompanies success. Boon of wealth comes with the curse of jealousy. Many such questions keep badgering us. Parents worry about study, nature and health related problems of young generation. Many of us are fed up with the corruption in society. Health and tension related problems are equally troublesome for young and adults. Number of temples, mosques and churches are growing, but real religious, tolerant and virtuous tendency is diminishing. Virtues like sanskars, benevolence, neighborliness, humanity, nationalism, honesty are getting obscure.

To find basic answers for all these worries, Swami Vijnananand studied concepts of happiness and unhappiness of human mind in depth. He took the help of scientific laws and interpreted independent solutions to problems.

In his study, research and experiments, Swamiji found that a person can solve his problems by bringing change in his lifestyle by his own efforts based on laws of nature. When human efforts are combined with spiritual knowledge and science, we get results that last longer. He wrote many books on his research. He also consulted and verified his research and results with experts in various subjects. Around 1960, he published a series of 16 books on “New Way Philosophy” in English. Later he wrote approximately 250 books in five different languages. He also wrote articles in many leading Indian newspapers.

His work took off in many forms such as establishing Manashakti Research Centre, organizing study camps, designing mind test machines, conducting novel body-mind machine tests. Various pujas including Yajna puja suitable for modern times are associated with organizing social work activities or shramananda, knowledge rallies, etc. Gradually with such activities conducted over last fifty years, Manashakti Research Centre has acquired present status.

Today the main center is at Lonavala (Pune ) and many sub-centers are spread across mainly in state of Maharashtra, India. There are approximately 100 life devotees at Lonavala who work full time for the institution.   There are thousands of devotees all around Maharashtra who selflessly contribute in the form of time, i.e. one hour a day or money donation (Dhananand). This work is now spreading beyond  Maharashtra and India as well.

“Manashakti”, magazine, a Marathi monthly published by M.R.C has celebrated silver jubilee recently.  It is a magazine published from Lonavala ‘for lasting happiness and reducing unhappiness’ – which is its motto. This magazine has become popular in no time as it provides knowledge based amusement and motivation to each and every person in the family through its various columns.  It reaches 4 to 5 lakh people every month.

The activities of Manashakti Research Centre include various special study courses, machine tests and other solutions for every stage in life, i.e. from prenatal to post-death. 50 years ago, Manashakti Research Centre presented the idea of educating and giving sanskar to fetus at prenatal stage.  It also started scientific programs to educate people in this regard.   This initiative can be considered unique not only at local level but also at the global level. Currently other individuals / institutions do conduct such prenatal education programs, but prenatal education conducted by Manashakti Research Centre is extremely popular due to its distinctive noble purpose and methodology. Seminars on prenatal education are organized all over Maharashtra and are in great demand. These seminars are conducted in Marathi and English. There is also a three days study course to give extensive guidance on the subject. This study course is available at Lonavala, scheduled throughout year.

Diverse programs on personality development for children and youths have been proven useful for children-parents-teachers and are very popular. Solutions  based on scientific study of mind-brain-body trio; independent, logical and rational guidance to accomplish ambitious mission within specific period; devotees working within laid principles; team work without any materialistic or  financial gain or donations; democratic decision making process without personality cult; selfless extensive work for all; that goes beyond cast, creed and religion based on no profit no loss principle – are some of the characteristics of this institution.  

Manashakti Research Centre is conducting various activities to create well mannered, patriotic and humanitarian young generation for building nation. Many activities useful for educational institutions, schools, colleges, parents, teachers, administrators of such institutions are available. Activities available for adults include guidance on health, behavior, success, satisfaction, etc. In the article to follow we shall see the center’s initiative for youth welfare.

While Swamiji has setup activities from prenatal stage to the whole life span till the moment of death, the major emphasis is for the new generation. In the articles to follow, we shall see more on this subject.

Vijay R. Joshi.

Departing moment, not at peace, normally. (KNOW YOUR DEATH - 12)

Testimony of Utterances at Death 

(Ref - Equation of Happiness, Chapter 6, book by Swami Vijnananand)

Here we are looking at the ‘feelings of mind’ at the moment of departure.

As luck would have it, heroes (important, prominent people) all over the world, in all walks of life mostly have crossed the stygian ferry (journey of death) ailing (with disease, pains). Since the end is seen as unpleasant, it reveals the shaky foundation on which they (the heroes) design the plan of life. Throughout the life, a person is entangled in chain reaction of pleasure and pain. And when this chain finally ends in weeping, then it is a clear indication of our wrong approach towards life.

The last moments of happy, wealthy, healthy and fortunate people offers rare exhortation (advice of recommendations) for the surviving humanity. Some people hold an over optimistic view that happiness runs throughout the straight stream of life and it (happiness) ends peacefully (as a full stop) at the end of life. With an intention of keeping this naked truth alive in readers’ mind, dying utterances and notions of fabulously rich, ambitious politicians, brave, bold, healthy kings, and composed, sober jurists and other prominent persons in diverse fields are recorded.

One may aggressively attack this view and strongly put forward a view: Frequently the departing soul passes away in peaceful state. But as seen from the real experience and also on logical consideration this statement is not true in case of the people if they are leading normal material life of pleasure, displeasure and ambitions.

To some extent the peaceful departing is described in case of saint. The saint people with saintly attitude can leave this mortal world without any commotion (agitation or noisy disturbance). But the fact is that the saint never loved the life in usual sense of the term. Certainly, he has always remained detached throughout his existence on this planet. In fact, he has volunteered to suffer the torment (pains) throughout the course of his life.

Theophrastus (Greek Philosopher) and Descartes (French philosopher and mathematician) support our contention in their dying outbursts.

Theophrastus – “Life holds mere disadvantages than pleasures”

Descartes – “Soul, hour to quit this prison has arrived”.

On other side, we see that imposing, tyrant, oppressor emperors (who had all material means at their command) could not lay their hands on a process by which they could die satisfied. The richness, authority, mighty and ambitious can pay any prize for the satisfaction but it does not yield any results. In this light imperatively notions of the plutocrats (capitalists) wealthy lords, dominant politicians at the time of death should be studied.

Millions of high ranking and elevated heroes have died ailing. Here we have reproduced only representative, characteristic sayings. In a few cases, they are not exact to word, but the substance is authentic.

Dying declaration – What they indicate?

The dying declarations that follow are to be seen in this light. They remind the theory of equal and opposite, cause-effect relationship. No man who craves for happiness in life, in true sense, ever attains happiness. He is always seen concluding his sojourn   (temporary stay in this world i.e. life) facing untold miseries (the death is mostly/always unhappy time).

JUDICIARY 

Melvin W. Fuller, (U. S. Supreme Court Chief Justice): I am very ill.

Hugo Grotius, (Dutch Jurist, Statesman and Scholar): By understanding many things I have accomplished nothing.

Mark Antony (to Cleopatra): You must not pity me in this last turn of fate. You should rather be happy in the remembrance of our love, and in the recollection that of all men I was once the most famous and the most powerful, and, now, at the end, have fallen not dishonorably, a Roman by a Roman vanquished.

George Villiere, Buckingham (2nd Duke of) (letter): To what situation am I now reduced! Is this odious, little hut a suitable lodging for a prince? Is this anxiety of mind becoming the character of a Christian? From my rank I might have expected affluence to wait upon my life: from religion and understanding peace to smile upon my end; instead of which I am afflicted with poverty and haunted by remorse;  despised by my country and, I fear, forsaken by my God. I am forsaken by all my acquaintance, neglected by the friends of my bosom and dependents on my bounty; but no matter! I am not fit to converse with the former and have no abilities to serve the latter. Let me not however be forsaken by the good. Favor me with a visit as soon as possible. I am of opinion this is the last visit I shall ever solicit from you. My distemper is powerful; come and pray for the departing spirit of the poor unhappy Buckingham.

Aurungzebe (A long lived king in Moghul regime in India): Soul of my soul........Now I am leaving. I am pained that you are helpless. But what is the use? Every suffering I have brought upon, every sin to my credit, every mistake committed by me, I take the consequence with me. It is curious I had nothing when I took birth but I, at the hour of departure, have collected lot of sin. Now only God is before me......for my sin unimaginable afflictions await me. I am acutely being tortured.

Babar (first of the Moghul Kings in India by the side of his son Humayun who was sick he prayed): God! A living being is bartered for another: I surrender myself to save Humayun.

Julius Caesar: (To his assassin, among whom was Brutus, his one time friend): Thou, too, Brutus, my son!

Howard Catherine: (Henry VIII s 6fth queen - sent to gallows for adultery): I die a Queen, but I would rather die the wife of Culpeter........God have mercy on my soul. Good people, I beg you pray for me.

Sophia Charlotte: (wife of George III.) An attendant uttered inadvertently that her suffering was great and that post life will be more comfortable. Still conscious, Sophia gave out “Very True”.

Henry II: Shame, shame on a conquered king.

Louis XVI: People, I die guilt-free. Messieurs, I am innocent of all the accusations, I am made liable for. I crave that blood may cement the happy lot of the French people!

Napoleon: France! ...... Army! ..... Head of the army! ..Josephine!

Nero: (To a guard looking after his wounds) Why so late! Is this the way of a loyal servant?

POLITICIANS

Dt Robert Ley (under trial as war criminal; he committed suicide.) Farewell, I can’t stand this shame any longer. Physically nothing is lacking; the food is good; it is warm in my cell; The Americans are correct and partially friendly. Spiritually, I have reading matter and write whatever I want. I receive paper and pencil. They do care more for my health than is necessary, and I may smoke and receive tobacco and coffee. I may walk at least twenty minutes every day. Up to this point everything is in order, but the fact that I should be e criminal-that is what I can’t stand.

FrankIin D. Roosevelt: I have a terrific headache!

Mahatma Gandhi: (being assassinated) Oh God (He Ram).

Here are some more such dying words from other references.

http://www.familylife.com/articles/topics/life-issues/challenges/death-and-dying/famous-last-words

Two themes are continually repeated and contrasted by those who are near to death's door. "Hopelessness," ominous and depressing, whispers of a feared fate. "Hopefulness" gleefully shouts its confident message—"This isn't it! Death is not the end—IT'S THE BEGINNING!"

Winston Churchill, the man whose vision and battle cry was to "never give up," said on his deathbed, "I am convinced that there is no hope."

Thomas Paine, the great writer, has these final words attributed to him—"I would give worlds, if I had them, if The Age of Reason had never been published. O Lord, help me! Christ, help me! Stay with me! It is hell to be left alone!"

"Bring down the curtain—the farce is over." -French philosopher and comic, Francois Rabelais, who died in 1553.

"Our God is the God from whom cometh salvation. God is the Lord by whom we escape death." -Martin Luther.

"I am abandoned by God and man! I shall go to hell! O Christ, O Jesus Christ!" -Voltaire.

Ref - http://www.ranker.com/list/dying-words-last-words-spoken-by-famous-people-at-death/notable-quotables

O. Henry - "Turn up the lights, I don't want to go home in the dark." (William Sidney Porter) -  writer William Sydney Porter, known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer. O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and surprise endings.

George Washington, US President - "It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go." George Washington was the first President of the United States, the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Thomas Alva Edison - "It is very beautiful over there." Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb.

Edgar Allan Poe, writer - “Lord help my poor soul.” Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre.

Leonardo da Vinci, artist - "I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have.” Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.

Theodore Roosevelt, US President - "Put out the light."

Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt Jr. was an American politician, author, naturalist, soldier, explorer, and historian who served as the 26th President of the United States.

George Bernard Shaw, playwright - Sister, you're trying to keep me alive as an old curiosity, but I'm done, I'm finished, I'm going to die."

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics

Benjamin Franklin, statesman - A dying man can do nothing easy."

Benjamin Franklin FRS was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A renowned polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.

Elizabeth I, Queen of England – “All my possessions for a moment of time.” Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death.

Charles Darwin - "I am not the least afraid to die."

Charles Robert Darwin, FRS was an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory.

Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman Emperor - "Et tu, Brute?" Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman, Consul, and notable author of Latin prose.

Charles II, King of England and Scotland - "Don't let poor Nelly (his mistress, Nell Gwynne) starve." Charles II was King of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Charles II's father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, US President - "I have a terrific headache."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known by his initials FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – “The taste of death is upon my lips. I feel something that is not of this earth." baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood.

Steven Paul Jobs -  “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow." Jobs was an American entrepreneur, marketer, and inventor, who was the cofounder, chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc.
.

It is revealed that most of the so called successful people do not depart the life with tranquility. Some or the other desire is left unfulfilled. What is true for these people is also true for other lay persons.

Please note that we are assessing the status of mind at the departing moment in life at the time of death in order to examine what possibly can happen after death.

As the law says – “Energy cannot be created nor can be destroyed”.

At the death, the body remains while the life force (spirit/mind/some sort of energy) departs from the body. This departed energy existence, though not detectable to the present knowledge of science, cannot be denied. The question we are discussing is what happens to this departed energy. As seen commonly, the departing mind has some sort of desire which is left unfulfilled at the departing moment.

The future course this mind would follow is the possible outcome of this status at the death moment. In order to see the most common possible status, we have seen the ending moments of some of the prominent lives in different times.

In the last article in this series we shall try to see the logical outcome and the possibilities of the situation of existence after death.

Vijay R. Joshi

Medicine and Mind in 21ST Century (Part 1)

Swami Vijnananand Vision

In series of Blogs under “Disease Cure”, we saw in details the relation of Health with Emotions directly and Mind indirectly. The theory of ‘Recipropathy’ is also explained in details. The advice of Swami Vijnananand to “add peace to the prescription” is seen to be acceptable as per the latest findings in the field of human health. Some of these are listed below. 

Swamiji often mentioned while he put forward his analysis fifty and odd years earlier, that “I am telling the facts which shall be appreciated in 21^st century”.

While the mental stress related reasons have assumed major base for the ill-health and as depression has become the second largest disease of 21^st century, thinkers in the field are required to go into the details of remedies and peruse the  policy makers to evolve suitable policies for implementation.

We shall see some of the latest development in the field of health in light of the information provided under the articles in this series. (Source - Daily Science News)

1 Even mild stress is linked to long-term disability, study finds.

2 How our bodies interact with our minds in response to fear and other emotions.

3 Negative emotions in response to daily stress take a toll on long-term mental health

4 Emotions adjust not only our mental, but also our bodily states.

5 Our feelings and beliefs impact our every cell.

We shall see details in brief.

1 Even mild stress is linked to long-term disability, study findsMarch 24, 2011, BMJ-British Medical Journal

Even relatively mild stress can lead to long term disability and an inability to work, reveals a large population based study published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

It is well known that mental health problems are associated with long term disability, but the impact of milder forms of psychological stress is likely to have been underestimated, say the authors. Between 2002 and 2007, the authors tracked the health of more than 17,000 working adults up to the age of 64, who had been randomly selected from the population in the Stockholm area.

All participants completed a validated questionnaire (GHQ-12) at the start of the study to measure their mental health and stress levels, as well as other aspects of health and wellbeing.

During the monitoring period, 649 people started receiving disability benefit -- 203 for a mental health problem and the remainder for physical ill health. Higher levels of stress at the start of the study were associated with a significantly greater likelihood of subsequently being awarded long term disability benefits.

But even those with mild stress were up to 70% more likely to receive disability benefits, after taking account of other factors likely to influence the results, such as lifestyle and alcohol intake. One in four of these benefits awarded for a physical illness, such as high blood pressure, angina, and stroke, and almost two thirds awarded for a mental illness, were attributable to stress.

2 How our bodies interact with our minds in response to fear and other emotions
April 7, 2013, British Neuroscience Association

New research has shown that the way our minds react to and process emotions such as fear can vary according to what is happening in other parts of our bodies.

In two different presentations on April 8 at the British Neuroscience Association Festival of Neuroscience (BNA2013) in London, researchers have shown for the first time that the heart's cycle affects the way we process fear, and that a part of the brain that responds to stimuli, such as touch, felt by other parts of the body also plays a role.

Dr Garfinkel and her colleagues hooked up 20 healthy volunteers to heart monitors, which were linked to computers. "Our results show that if we see a fearful face during systole (when the heart is pumping) then we judge this fearful face as more intense than if we see the very same fearful face during diastole (when the heart is relaxed). To look at neural activity underlying this effect, we performed this experiment in an MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] scanner and demonstrated that a part of the brain called the amygdala influences how our heart changes our perception of fear.

"Lastly, we have demonstrated that the degree to which our hearts can change the way we see and process fear is influenced by how anxious we are. The anxiety level of our individual subjects altered the extent their hearts could change the way they perceived emotional faces and also altered neural circuitry underlying heart modulation”

In a second presentation, Dr Alejandra Sel, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Psychology at City University (London, UK), investigated a part of the brain called the somatosensory cortex -- the area that perceives bodily sensations, such as touch, pain, body temperature and the perception of the body's place in space, and which is activated when we observe emotional expressions in the faces of other people.

"In order to understand other's people emotions we need to experience the same observed emotions in our body. Specifically, observing an emotional face, as opposed to a neutral face, is associated with an increased activity in the somatosensory cortex as if we were expressing and experiencing our own emotions. It is also known that people with damage to the somatosensory cortex find it difficult to recognize emotion in other people's faces," Dr Sel told the news briefing.

However, until now, it has not been clear whether activity in the somatosensory cortex was simply a by-product of the way we process visual information, or whether it reacts independently to emotions expressed in other people's faces, actively contributing to how we perceive emotions in others.

The researchers found that there was enhanced activity in the somatosensory cortex in response to fearful faces in comparison to neutral faces, independent of any visual processes. Importantly, this activity was focused in the primary and secondary somatosensory areas; the primary area receives sensory information directly from the body, while the secondary area combines sensory information from the body with information related to body movement and other information, such as memories of previous, sensitive experiences.

"Our experimental approach allows us to isolate and show for the first time (as far as we are aware) changes in somatosensory activity when seeing emotional faces after taking away all visual information in the brain. We have shown the crucial role of the somatosensory cortex in the way our minds and bodies perceive human emotions. These findings can serve as starting point for developing interventions tailored for people with problems in recognizing other's emotions, such as autistic children," said Dr Sel.

3 Negative emotions in response to daily stress take a toll on long-term mental health
April 2, 2013, Association for Psychological Science

Our emotional responses to the stresses of daily life may predict our long-term mental health, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Psychological scientist Susan Charles of the University of California, Irvine and colleagues conducted the study in order to answer a long-standing question: Do daily emotional experiences add up to make the straw that breaks the camel's back, or do these experiences make us stronger and provide an inoculation against later distress?

Using data from two national surveys, the researchers examined the relationship between daily negative emotions and mental health outcomes ten years later. Participants' overall levels of negative emotions predicted psychological distress (e.g., feeling worthless, hopeless, nervous, and/or restless) and diagnosis of an emotional disorder like anxiety or depression a full decade later.

The results were based on data from 711 participants, both men and women, who ranged in age from 25 to 74. They were all participants in two national, longitudinal survey studies: Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) and National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE).

According to Charles and her colleagues, these findings show that mental health outcomes aren't only affected by major life events -- they also bear the impact of seemingly minor emotional experiences. The study suggests that chronic nature of these negative emotions in response to daily stressors can take a toll on long-term mental health.

4 "Emotions adjust not only our mental, but also our bodily states."
December 31, 2013, Aalto University

Researchers found that the most common emotions trigger strong bodily sensations, and the bodily maps of these sensations were topographically different for different emotions. The sensation patterns were, however, consistent across different West European and East Asian cultures, highlighting that emotions and their corresponding bodily sensation patterns have a biological basis.

The findings have major implications for our understanding of the functions of emotions and their bodily basis. On the other hand, the results help us to understand different emotional disorders and provide novel tools for their diagnosis."

The research was carried out on line, and over 700 individuals from Finland, Sweden and Taiwan took part in the study. The researchers induced different emotional states in their Finnish and Taiwanese participants. Subsequently the participants were shown with pictures of human bodies on a computer, and asked to color the bodily regions whose activity they felt increasing or decreasing.

The results were published on 31 December, 2013 in the scientific journal Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences.

Healing of body through Mind.

In the words of one of the leading thinkers in health care of this century:

“We have forgotten the inner ability of the body for self-cure and we are so much engrossed on the technology, we have lost touch with one of the most important things what body knows to do. Every empowered patient and every conscious health care provider should start to think this way about the health. It is the healers’ job to give calming influence to the amygdala, to remember the healing power of love, show support to nurturing, caring. I am not suggesting to ditch the power of   modern medicine and technology. It has its place of importance. But that alone is not enough! Even the good diet, exercise and taking vitamins is not enough!! We have to take next step to see how do we deal with the stress response and develop relaxation response so that we help the body to heal itself.”

(To be continued)

Vijay R. Joshi.

DISEASE - CURE (Cure Your Self - 7)

 Is Prayer Scientific? 

(Excerpts from book “Cure Yourself”, author Swami Vijnananand, S.V.)

Recipropathy neither encourages nor discourages the institution of prayer. Because, in one sense Recipropathy believes in the power of silence. From the view-point of truth, in meditation there is a lesser risk of positive untruth being uttered. The question can be viewed from two angles:

(A)                     An option can be exercised in favor of leading life of as much "reactions" as possible. Live detached life to your capacity.

(B)                    Try to make mind vacant, call it prayer or use any word of your choice. This option is open only if it is feasible for one to take mind in a state really devoid of emotion. There is nothing unscientific if the pursuer of prayers can visualize the true tenet of prayer. Abusing prayer is as much a dogma as abuse of prayer itself, yet a real prayer leaves no room for abuses of either description. Scientists who stamp action-less state as a mystic affair have more to learn from the fact that at the speed of light, length contracts to zero and clocks stand still. Strictly speaking, an action-less state in its truest sense is equivalent to the maximum speed of any mass conceivable; whether such possibility is feasible or not, is no issue at this point. This observation leads to contradiction; nevertheless, the contradiction is born out of scientific investigation. Till the contradiction is un-riddled by science, we have hardly any privilege to play the fool of prayer-believers. On the background of this premise a Recipropath can suggest the following points for the consideration of a seeker elevating his mind to a comparatively blank, vacant, detached state.

1.   As you set in for concentration, take a pen, note book and a mirror. Spend the first few moments in setting yourself and then look into the mirror. Stare straight in your own eyes.

2.   Speak to yourself. Be conscious of an energy penetrating through. Imagine that you now propose to explain to the origin of that energy, your actions in last 24 hours, as if you are submitting a report of yesterday to yourself. Begin with an interrogation: Can all actions of yours be defended? No white-washing now.

3.   It is a discourse between you and yourself. Promise yourself not to repeat what ills you should have refrained from. If it cannot be set right immediately, ask for time.

4.   Continue the check-up each day.

5.   If not on the first day, after a lapse of a few days following the daily check-up, try to spare a few minutes to close your eyes during the prayer.

6.   Try to visualize energy in yourself beyond your eyes, ears, and every tissue of yourself.

7.   Put up an attempt to forget every entanglement which may try to disturb you at the moment.

8.   If a thought is irresistible, open your eyes and record the gist of though disturbing you in the note book.

9.   Close your eyes again. If another thought disturbs you, repeat the same process. Register it in your note book.

10.                     On pursuing the process for a month, go through the entire record.  Subsequently every day before closing the eyes for the meditation, ask yourself if you cannot live without these thoughts even for a few seconds? You will be ashamed to find that causes interrupting your prayer were too trifling to imagine. The revelation will give your mind more tranquility as you resume the prayer.

11.                     Now, the success awaits you. At least for a few seconds, keeping your mind cool, undisturbed, collected may be achieved.

12.                     Repeat the process day after day. Use the note book as friend, philosopher and guide. It remains a good tutor. Day by day self-recognition will instruct you that each thought disturbing your prayer on previous days can be attributed to one emotion or the other. The record should serve you to understand that the so called engrossing thoughts are too petty to brood over. This finding strengthens your mind and assists you to do away with them during the prayer.

13.                     Another way. At times, at the resumption of prayer overpowering sentiment paralyses you - say embittering anger about one-time comrade.  Try to recollect a good point in the old mate. A note of music, instead of an old friend, may disturb the concentration. Imagine the tune's finest wave identifies with your "mind". The ultimate object of concentration is to realize that incredible speed resembles inertness and resort to a state of "active inactivity".

14.                     The process is languid. It is an uphill task to do away with petty emotions and angularities. Convince yourself that these angularities so dear to you, eat you up.

15.                     Analysis of anger may turn over a new leaf in life. Guess Mr. X and yourself at a cross purpose. You quiver with rage. In the situation, multifarious probabilities are conceivable.

(A)                    Mr. X may be your family member, friend or a well-intentioned relative, who in your eyes has committed a blunder. Obviously, you should ignore the unintentional slip.

(B)                    Mr. X may be, alternatively, your adversary. He wants you to get irritated. Your fury serves his purpose. Your resentment has to be curbed so that you would not assist your own foe.

(C)                    One more salient point. When Mr. X fans your anger, either he is unfair or you are in the wrong. If Mr. X has misbehaved, there is no propriety in yourself heating up and hitting at your own body. On the other hand, in the instance of your being inequitable, thank Mr. X that he struggles to put you on the right path.

16.                     Most often, adherents of Recipropathy experience sudden recovery from ailment. Yet, it is advisable to attribute it to "coincidental cure". Set aside part of your prayer in inflicting pain on yourself under such circumstances in acceptance of your unpunished sins. It is a gallant gesture in right direction. It gives you no license to commit sins during the rest of the day. It merely keeps the conscious awake and alert.

17.                     Wrath is not a solitary example. Every emotion can be dispensed with on proper analysis. An analysis offers a breathing space, infuses confidence and makes your mind vacant or steady. Slowly increase this period of vacuum and state of equilibrium. Infallibly and automatically, ability to work for the whole day in serene, unruffled way multiplies. It is the surprise gift of the prayer.

18.                     The process of inactivating the mind should be slow and natural. To convince ourselves is the most irksome adventure. We hesitate and eschew conceding Truth as a single factor that can redeem us in our worldly life; however, in theory truth is known to us having a supreme second-to-none strength. No purpose is served by declaring a war against ourselves, in a superficial sense. No doubt mind is to be ultimately won. Yet an undue haste bears no fruit. It impairs rather than repairs.

(To be continued)

Vijay R. Joshi.

DISEASE - CURE (Cure Your Self - 6)

 Emotion, Truth, Disease.

(Excerpts from book “Cure Yourself”, author Swami Vijnananand, S.V.)

All unequal members of the human race share equal knowledge of Truth. Allotment of Truth is selfsame. For this purpose truth known to every member of society is replete. A cup of water to the brim need not envy an overflowing tank. Since, even if what is offered to the cup has no room where it can accommodate it.

Why is untruth voted for? A liar necessarily clings to his version for a lap of luxury, for pleasing some emotion or the other.

Try to place this in terms of logic and mathematics:

        In truth there is no emotional outburst.

        Untruths cause emotions.

        Emotions cause disease (unease).

        Therefore, Untruths cause un-ease (disease).

        Therefore, Truth causes ease.

Plenty of instances already furnished, establish relation between emotion and disease. 

One more quote is added only for ready reference. "The effect of emotions on the adrenals is to produce higher blood pressure which favors the development of arteriosclerosis and other diseases of circulatory system. The thyroid is so much affected by mental depression that this emotion is mentioned by scientists as one of the causes of myxoedema. The pituitary body is also affected by emotions. Prof. Pel and others have noted cases of acromegaly after violent emotion. Dr. Sajous has often pointed out this gland as the central organ upon which all strong emotions react. The liver and kidneys are much affected by emotions. Jaundice indicates the disturbance of the former whereas, according to Clifford Albutt, many cases of interstitial nephritis can be traced to mental emotions."

"An objective truth as subjectively known" as probable cause of cure, ranks high and assumes top eminence in the eyes of respectable scientists.

1.   Lister declares, "Next to the promulgation of Truth, the best thing I can conceive that a man can do is the public recantation of an error."

2.   While replying a question reproduced in Part 14 of "Outline of Modern Belief" Sir James Jeans says, "I think it possible that the existence of suffering can be accounted for along the usual ethical lines."

3.   Alexis Carrel, the Nobel-prize winner asserts, "No one can learn to distinguish right from wrong, and beauty from vulgarity by taking a course of lectures. Morality, art, and religion are not taught like grammar, mathematics, and history. To feel and to know are two profoundly different mental states."

Earlier, accentuating the correlation between emotion and ailment, he viewed, "Thus envy, hate, fear, when these sentiments are habitual, are capable of starting organic changes and genuine diseases. Moral suffering profoundly disturbs health. Businessmen who do not know how to fight worry die young. The old clinicians thought that protracted sorrows and constant anxiety prepare the way for the development of cancer. Emotions induce, in especially sensitive individuals, striking modifications of the tissues and humours.

The French expression 'se faire du mauvais sang' is literally true. Thought can generate organic lesions. The instability of modern life, the ceaseless agitation, and the lack of security create states of consciousness which bring about nervous and organic disorders of the stomach and of the intestines, defective nutrition and passage of intestinal microbes into the circulatory apparatus. Colitis and the accompanying infections of the kidneys and of the bladder are the remote results of mental and moral unbalance. Such diseases are almost unknown in social groups where life is simpler and not so agitated, where anxiety is less constant. In a like manner, those who keep the peace of their inner self in the midst of the tumult of the modern city are immune from nervous and organic disorders."

The depressing anxiety of the man is: if he leaves untruth, nothing in life survives. This bewildering anxiety reflects paradox of life, when openly we all talk of sanctity. The celebrated scientist Sir Arthur Eddington apologizes, "One begins to fear that after all our faults have been detected and removed there will not be any of us left." This notion prevails in spite of the fact that, without exception, all principal schools of philosophy and religion preach truth as ne plus ultra value of life, existence of purified soul after death and so on.

If my mind is non-matter, and if nothing can be destroyed from this universe according to the law of conservation of energy, "I" cannot die. Purification of my mind during the life-span with the help of truth enhances my chances of perpetually living in disease-free state.

Disease can touch only the impure mind. The more unsullied it becomes, the more disease-free state do I reach by the pure laws of science, mathematics and logic. There should be no apprehension of the demon of death.

(To be continued)

Vijay R. Joshi,

DISEASE - CURE (Cure Your Self - 1)

General conclusions we arrived at:

(Excerpts from book “Cure Yourself” author Swami Vijnananand, S.V.)

Conclusions precisely based on facts, figures, logic and scientific experiments.

Two previous works, “Death of Disease” and “Cure without Medicine”, amply demonstrate how the medical schools violate the fundamental laws of science. This has been discussed in the previous blogs on “Cure – Disease” series. In the spirit of a true scientist, the medical practitioner should ferret out (discover) even if his trodden path happens to be a mistaken one.

In this treatise (Title: “Cure Yourself”), we shall discuss the rest of the problems that confront various medical schools and see if the patient can pragmatically help himself.

          Again, before drafting a full character of freedom from disease ‘the main task of this work’, it seems essential to recapitulate the general conclusions we arrived at in our previous work in this NEW WAY Series, viz., “Death of Disease”,  and  “Cure without Medicine”.

1.   Foundations need to be flawless. Nothing can be considered valuable which lacks the fundamentals.  All medical practitioners know it thoroughly well that their respective pathies offer no answers to fundamental problems in connection with disease, nutrition and protection. Masters of medicine admit this sorry plight of their science; evidence endorses the truth of this allegation.

2.   Where day-to-day practice is concerned, the practitioners subscribing to any pathy whatsoever do treat most of the ailments they come across and proceed to cure ALL diseases. May be they really lack knowledge of disease in its perspective, may be they ignore their ignorance for personal benefit, or  the dominance of ego leads them to act as they do.

3.   Of course, individually, each pathy contains partial truth. The degree of truth content varies from one to another: some have more truth in them, others less.

4.   No disease can possibly be cured unless the mind, too, is properly treated. The current media of treatment, psychotherapy not excluded, indulge in the common but serious error of "standardizing" their way of analysis and/or of treatment. Essentially, we must successfully isolate the H.C.F. (Highest Common Factor) of cause and cure of disease.

5.   The joint consideration of body and mind alone leads to correct diagnosis. But, lest we forget, the mind controls the body. Even eminent doctors subscribe to the view that 90% of diseases originate in the mind.

6.   Howsoever debatable the nature of the mind, for the purpose being discussed in these pages by focusing attention of certain undeniable properties of the mind, "visible expressions of the mind" we arrive at a sufficiently good starting point. Reason indicates the visible expression of the mind to be emotions, primarily six.

7.   Emotions reign supreme, not for a moment can we remain conscious without the presence of emotions.

8.   This necessarily leads to the conclusion that the H.C.F. (Highest Common Factor) of human agony is emotions. Consequently all diseases are strictly individual, diseases cannot be eradicated by treating them ad hoc, but only at an individual level by equalizing (balancing) emotions. The practicable modus operandi for equalization of human emotions is shown by the science of Recipropathy.  This approach is equally applicable to any one of the six primary emotions: envy, greed, ego, anger, sex, affection, as also for the secondary ones like fear, anxiety etc.

9.   An analytical approach to the claim put forth by modern medical schools, viz. that disease is on the decline, discloses the stark truth, the invalidity of the claim. Disease, far from decreasing, is in reality on the scent.

Discussing the role of emotions in disease and whether we could establish a link between our hypothesis and science, we went on with our quest in 'Cure Without Medicine'. We found emotions do act on the body, or in other words give pain of diverse kinds to the body. On its part, the body concerned exhibits an accumulated reaction on emotions, which initiated the first action. This reaction we term disease, almost invariably accompanied by pain.

10.         We then took liberty with mathematics and worked out a proposition that where PV equals pulse variation and other corresponding actions in their totality that take place in body, E is the emotion in question and D stands for disease. Now we all know that PV is always present only in the conditions of emotion and disease.

                      E  =  PV

                      D  =  PV

                      E  =  D

We arrived at the conclusion: state of emotion is state of disease.

11. Emotions are identical with untruth and ultimately with disease. To mitigate the menace of disease, "Truth" can be a tool that can serve as the means as well as the end. The entire exposition is supported by scientific logic, page after page.

At least in medical science we cannot afford to ignore this forewarning. A theoretical assertion in physics or chemistry does not vitally affect a commoner immediately, but in medical science it does. Being faithful to the revelation, scientists in medical field should hesitate to advocate their conclusions, which ultimately misguide the public at large. If no organism in the interstellar space is cast in the same mold, what right has the medical researcher to apply his inferences in case of one individual, to another individual? An inquiry into the details of this dilemma is warranted.  In natural course, the quest will bring the truth to the surface.

(To be continued ..)

Vijay R. Joshi.