Eating Healthy For Students

For students, eating at college is an entire new
ball game, with late night pizza delivery and food
from buggies. Even though some of these quick and
simple options taste great, they are probably
not healthy for a student's body.

The food choices students make can affect whether
or not they are able to remain awake during class
and whether or not they will come down with
mononucleosis when it hits campus. The problem
is not only about eating junk food, it's more
about not getting the proper proteins, carbs,
vitamins, and minerals that people need.

When it comes to defending against illnesses,
vitamins and minerals are very important. Just
because they are important, isn't a reason for
students to run out and stock up on vitamins and
supplements. It's best for students to get their
nutrition from food.

You can find vitamin C in citric fruits, Vitamin
A in milk and diary products, and vitamin E in
nuts, whole wheat products, and even green leafy
vegetables. This is the ideal way to get
nutrition, as your body relies on these vitamins
for many reasons.

When you eat on campus, skip on the soda's and
go right to the juice machines. Explore the
different entrees available and go to the salad
bar where there are fresh vegetables. You can
also try putting some broccoli and cauliflower
in the microwave for steamed vegetables. There
are always healthy cereals and plenty of fresh
fruit available in dining halls as well.

Always remember that eating healthy isn't just
about avoiding greasy foods. Eating healthy
involves getting a balanced diet and getting the
right nutrients and vitamins to keep your body
in peak performance - or at least awake during
your classes.

How to Improve Your Personal Life with Exercise and More

Life can be difficult and full of worries, and when you’re not taking good care of yourself, things can become quite demanding. Without a proper diet and exercise, along with proper sleep, you could find yourself run down extremely fast. This caused unwanted stress and anxieties in our everyday living. A major part of improving your personal life revolves around elements that can keep you from going off the deep end.

Get exercise with a proper diet

Getting the right exercise for your body does not consist of trying out for a marathon. Nevertheless, if you want to stay in shape and maybe lose a few pounds, here’s the perfect way to start.

Walk for 30 minutes twice a day with a backpack containing up to five books.
Instead of having an extra alcoholic beverage, eliminate it, replacing it with water.
Substitute daily one serving of starchy carbohydrate with two servings of green vegetables. Rather than skipping breakfast and lunch and overeating on snacks, try snacking consisting of five small meals daily. Make sure you incorporate that with fruits and vegetables.

The key is to watch what you eat and drink. You are guaranteed to feeling better; giving yourself more energy that will allow you to tackle other tasks. Stress will be coped with much easier. Another way for stress is massage therapy.

The Benefits of Massage Therapy

Massage therapy offers many benefits. It helps to start your day relaxed, which is essential for balance. A simple practice would be starting at your head and scalp. What people fail to realize is that until they have massage they do no know how much stress they are carrying. Once you have an awareness of where stress is lodged in your body, you’ll know exactly which pressure points to work. This is what massage therapy can do for you:

Relief of muscle tension and stiffness
Greater joint flexibility and range in motion
Healthier and nourished skin
Improved posture
Faster healing from pulled muscles

Getting enough sleep

It is a proven fact that when you do not get enough sleep, this can make you ill. There are even studies that says healing is done while we are sleeping, meaning deep sleep produces the bodies highest form of hormones. A constant sleep pattern is necessary for the immune system to function at its peak. Have a regularly scheduled bedtime. Avoid exercising within three hours before bedtime. If you have problems winding down, do something relaxing like watching television, taking a bath, or listening to soft music.

It doesn’t take money to improve our lives or even watching or favorite talk shows. All it takes is a little discipline and action, and we’ll be well on our way to better our personal well-being as we age.

Proper rest, exercise and training your mind to think positive are a great way to improve your life. The best thing you can do is getting started now. Prolonging good health only sends you back to the same patterns. If you want to improve your personal life, you must take action and maintain that action for the course of your life.

Something to keep in mind is that exercise alone has proven to relieve people suffering with asthma, diabetes, heart disease, etc. In fact, studies have shown that people who exercise live a longer, improved and happier life. In fact, exercise has proven to relieve and even heal symptoms emerging from arthritis. If you have back pain, you will benefit from exercise since it will relieve your pain as well. To learn more, check out books at your library or visit the Internet.

Learning The Rewards Of Reading

What have you been reading lately?
When was the last time you read a book?
Are you a wide reader?

In a gathering, you can tell who the wide readers are. Wide readers think and speak well. They win the admiration, respect, and good opinion of others.

Reading expands the mind. In fact, many people consider it as one of the satisfying pleasures of humans, for it involves physical as well as mental activities.

Reading is primarily a mental activity. After all, you read with your mind and use your imagination to paint the setting of the detective thriller you are reading. You use you mind to imagine the pain that the main character experiences as the story unfolds. You bring into play the different arguments and ideas brought up by the author in that self-help book you are holding.

To read effectively, reading helps you develop a wide vocabulary through extensive reading. A skillful reader has a wide recognition vocabulary. He may not know exactly what every word means, but he will have a good general idea of the meaning of the sentence.

Reading makes you alert and curious about new words. Other readers develop the dictionary habit. Every time they come across a strange word, they try to figure out what it can possibly mean by the context. If they cannot do this, they refer to the dictionary.

Likewise, reading develops intellectual curiosity by exposing you to a variety of materials. You learn to read by reading books of increasing difficulty and variety. As in other forms of activity, you learn by actually doing.

Reading trains you to have an active and open mind. Merely grasping the writer’s idea is not enough. You must make a positive response to what you read. Be an active, not a passive, reader. Develop the habit of drawing your own conclusions, the habit of active thinking, of agreeing or disagreeing with the author. Keep your mind open; understand and weigh the ideas that you read. A practical part of active reading is the drawing of conclusions.

Allow me to share four basic rules for effective reading and better comprehension:

1) Try to read more and more. Remember the saying that practice makes perfect. Practicing in the correct way makes perfect.

2) Develop the habit of reading for main ideas. Look for the subject and predicate. Do not waste time on details or little words.

3) Learn to read with focus and concentration. Think of what you are reading. Do not let your attention wander somewhere else. Good readers read with understanding.

4) Learn to budget your time. Experiment with your reading time. Try purposely to read faster. Give yourself a time limit on specific material that you read.

Reading is a stimulating mental activity. It expands your reality and capability. You have so much to gain in discovering the joys of reading. Go ahead; grab a book right now!

Impossible is Just a Word

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn't fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn't dreamed of being the homecoming queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happy with our relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher.

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can't do this. It's too hard. It's too impossible. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumble, bee no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result? Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do.’ And under one more, list the things that that are ‘impossible for you to do.’

Now look at all the headers strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads ‘you might be able to do.’

As of the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do.’

As you iterate through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

You see, the technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic.

Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up disappointed and disillusioned.

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities.

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be had work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, “No pain, no gain”? That is as true as it can be.

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.
Read more about personal development on http://begood4world.blogspot.com

Be happy ^_^

Happy as You Want to Be

Almost everyone have heard the hit single 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' by Bobby McFerrin. The song has a very catchy way of conveying its message of being happy to everyone. Bobby Mcferiin's simple message surely made a lot of people by telling them not to worry.

Living a happy, resilient and optimistic life is wonderful, and is also good for your health. Being happy actually protects you from the stresses of life. Stress is linked to top causes of death such as heart disease, cancer and stroke.

One of the better things ever said is - 'The only thing in life that will always remain the same is change', and in our life we have the power to make the necessary changes if we want to. Even if we find ourselves in an unbearable situation we can always find solace in the knowledge that it too would change.

Social networks or relationships are essential to happiness. People are different, accept people for who or what they are, avoid clashes, constant arguments, and let go of all kinds of resentments. If arguments seem unavoidable still try and make an effort to understand the situation and you might just get along with well with

Happiness is actually found in everyone, increasing it is a way to make a life more wonderful and also more healthy.

To be happy is relatively easy, just decide to be a happy person. Abraham Lincoln observed that most people for most of the time can choose how happy or stressed, how relaxed or troubled, how bright or dull their outlook to be. The choice is simple really, choose to be happy.

There are several ways by which you can do this.

-Being grateful is a great attitude. We have so much to be thankful for. Thank the taxi driver for bringing you home safely, thank the cook for a wonderful dinner and thank the guy who cleans your windows. Also thank the mailman for bringing you your mails, thank the policeman for making your place safe and thank God for being alive.

-News is stressful. Get less of it. Some people just can't start their day without their daily dose of news. Try and think about it, 99% of the news we hear or read is bad news. Starting the day with bad news does not seem to be a sensible thing to do.

-A religious connection is also recommended. Being part of a religious group with its singing, sacraments, chanting, prayers and meditations foster inner peace.

-Manage your time. Time is invaluable and too important to waste. Time management can be viewed as a list of rules that involves scheduling, setting goals, planning, creating lists of things to do and prioritizing. These are the core basics of time management that should be understood to develop an efficient personal time management skill. These basic skills can be fine tuned further to include the finer points of each skill that can give you that extra reserve to make the results you desire.

-Laugh and laugh heartily everyday. Heard a good joke? Tell your friends or family about it. As they also say -'Laughter is the best medicine'.

-Express your feelings, affections, friendship and passion to people around you. They will most likely reciprocate your actions. Try not to keep pent up anger of frustrations, this is bad for your health. Instead find ways of expressing them in a way that will not cause more injury or hurt to anyone.

-Working hard brings tremendous personal satisfaction. It gives a feeling of being competent in finishing our tasks. Accomplishments are necessary for all of us, they give us a sense of value. Work on things that you feel worthy of your time.

-Learning is a joyful exercise. Try and learn something new everyday. Learning also makes us expand and broaden our horizons. And could also give us more opportunities in the future.

-Run, jog, walk and do other things that your body was made for. Feel alive.

-Avoid exposure to negative elements like loud noises, toxins and hazardous places.

-These are the few simple things you can do everyday to be happy.

always remember the quote from Abraham Lincoln, he says that, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Spiritual Growth: the Spiritual Challenge of Modern Times

To grow spiritually in a world defined by power, money, and influence is a Herculean task. Modern conveniences such as electronic equipments, gadgets, and tools as well as entertainment through television, magazines, and the web have predisposed us to confine our attention mostly to physical needs and wants. As a result, our concepts of self-worth and self-meaning are muddled. How can we strike a balance between the material and spiritual aspects of our lives?

To grow spiritually is to look inward.

Introspection goes beyond recalling the things that happened in a day, week, or month. You need to look closely and reflect on your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and motivations. Periodically examining your experiences, the decisions you make, the relationships you have, and the things you engage in provide useful insights on your life goals, on the good traits you must sustain and the bad traits you have to discard. Moreover, it gives you clues on how to act, react, and conduct yourself in the midst of any situation. Like any skill, introspection can be learned; all it takes is the courage and willingness to seek the truths that lie within you. Here are some pointers when you introspect: be objective, be forgiving of yourself, and focus on your areas for improvement.

To grow spiritually is to develop your potentials.

Religion and science have differing views on matters of the human spirit. Religion views people as spiritual beings temporarily living on Earth, while science views the spirit as just one dimension of an individual. Mastery of the self is a recurring theme in both Christian (Western) and Islamic (Eastern) teachings. The needs of the body are recognized but placed under the needs of the spirit. Beliefs, values, morality, rules, experiences, and good works provide the blueprint to ensure the growth of the spiritual being. In Psychology, realizing one’s full potential is to self-actualize. Maslow identified several human needs: physiological, security, belongingness, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and self-transcendence. James earlier categorized these needs into three: material, emotional, and spiritual. When you have satisfied the basic physiological and emotional needs, spiritual or existential needs come next. Achieving each need leads to the total development of the individual. Perhaps the difference between these two religions and psychology is the end of self-development: Christianity and Islam see that self-development is a means toward serving God, while psychology view that self-development is an end by itself.

To grow spiritually is to search for meaning.

Religions that believe in the existence of God such as Christianism, Judaism, and Islam suppose that the purpose of the human life is to serve the Creator of all things. Several theories in psychology propose that we ultimately give meaning to our lives. Whether we believe that life’s meaning is pre-determined or self-directed, to grow in spirit is to realize that we do not merely exist. We do not know the meaning of our lives at birth; but we gain knowledge and wisdom from our interactions with people and from our actions and reactions to the situations we are in. As we discover this meaning, there are certain beliefs and values that we reject and affirm. Our lives have purpose. This purpose puts all our physical, emotional, and intellectual potentials into use; sustains us during trying times; and gives us something to look forward to---a goal to achieve, a destination to reach. A person without purpose or meaning is like a drifting ship at sea.

To grow spiritually is to recognize interconnections.

Religions stress the concept of our relatedness to all creation, live and inanimate. Thus we call other people “brothers and sisters” even if there are no direct blood relations. Moreover, deity-centered religions such as Christianity and Islam speak of the relationship between humans and a higher being. On the other hand, science expounds on our link to other living things through the evolution theory. This relatedness is clearly seen in the concept of ecology, the interaction between living and non-living things. In psychology, connectedness is a characteristic of self-transcendence, the highest human need according to Maslow. Recognizing your connection to all things makes you more humble and respectful of people, animals, plants, and things in nature. It makes you appreciate everything around you. It moves you to go beyond your comfort zone and reach out to other people, and become stewards of all other things around you.

Growth is a process thus to grow in spirit is a day-to-day encounter. We win some, we lose some, but the important thing is that we learn, and from this knowledge, further spiritual growth is made possible.

Do bodies like ghosts and spirits exist?

Q: Do bodies like ghosts and spirits exist? Number of stories is told on ghosts and spirits. Talismans, threads are tied in an attempt to ward off evils. Mantras are muttered to drive away the spirits. There are exorcists claiming similar action. Is it correct?

A: Really speaking, ghosts and spirits do not exist. What people say on the subject are just imaginary stories. Time has three dimensions, present, past, and future. Bhoot means past i.e., what is elapsed. A deceased does not exist anymore. He is counted to as belonging to the past (Bhoota). Therefore, Bhoot refers to the person who is dead and gone. There is nothing called pretha (spirit). A dead person is called as pretha ( pra+ ita) which would also mean as one who has already gone away. In other words Bhoot and pretha refer to that person who was there earlier but not now because he is dead. People who say that they have seen these ethereal bodies, normally also claim that they could be seen in night only. How? All phony things occur only in night. Whether these men claiming to have seen such unearthly bodies possess catty eyes or whether these airy bodies are made of radium type substance that could be seen only in dark is for anybody to guess. All the big and minute things in the world could be seen either with our naked eyes or thru specially made lenses. If Bhoots and Pretas were to be some sort of human bodies definitely they would have been visible or not visible at all. Fact however is, it is generally said to be seen by a person who normally suffers from deliriums or convulsions or whose mind is heavily influenced by stories of Bhoots and Pretas. Otherwise men who are sound, in body and mind do not claim for having seen them. As per principles of psychology when the man’s mind is subjected to certain bad influences (psychological trauma) he would be visualizing pictures of some weird objects and scenes. What is to be seriously pondered over here is that when a man is dead his body gets merged in the five elements of nature. And the soul takes a new body as per law of Karma. Then where is the question of Bhoot or pretha? Wherefrom it can originate?

If it is said that Bhoot or prêt refers to the subtle body then it should be clarified that the soul cannot discharge any bodily functions without the medium of gross physical body. If, talisman, black threads, mumbo-jumbo, exorcism were capable of warding off diseases, then the ward of the men indulging in such spurious practices should never succumb to any disease? Is it so? Their children also die and so also they vanish one day. If mantras or mumbo-jumbo could cure men from diseases then where is the necessicity for Doctors and Hospitals? Funnily, the cat will be out of the bag when a person who is said to be possessed of spirit is confronted with a difficult problem. Person desirous of examining them should ask for a Veda Mantra from a person possessing such spirits in case he is a Hindu or he must be asked to recite versions of Koran in case he is a Muslim. If done, these tricksters stand thoroughly exposed. Further these fraudulent men employ some smart tricks here to fool the credulous. So when the common man is unable to understand these phenomenons they tend to think that they (men of spirits) are capable of controlling the spirits. Frankly speaking there are no spirits, but these thoughts keep nagging the weak and the doubting thamases. The truth however is, every person shall reap what he sows and there is no escape from this law. . The just God is present everywhere and his law that person is rewarded or punished as per his previous karma or sanskars stands unchanged.

-Written by Vasudeva Rao

Q:Does God becomes aware whenever a wicked deed is performed or not? If yes, why it is not stalled immediately?

A:God tries to stall everybody from doing wicked deeds instantly. The proof for this is, while about to do an evil, the feelings of guilt, shame, crop up in the mind of the doer at the same time, whereas while doing a good deed the feelings of delight, enthusiasm springs in his mind instantly. All these things happen from the side of God. This is called the inner voice. Why human beings? Even in animals the feelings of doubt and shame crop up. When a piece of bread is thrown at a dog it eats at the same place with its tail wagging. The same dog when it steals a piece of bread it neither wags the tails not eats at an open place. It eats stealthily. Why? It knows that this is a food gained by stealing. Hence it is clear that God prevents the living beings from committing a crime. Yes. This much is certain. God does not snatch away the liberty of doing an action from any body. The Soul is beginning less and is free to do any action and this being the case how can He take away the independence of human beings? If he takes away the liberty, the Souls do not remain as Souls as such or there a longing to improve from their side. For ex, when examination is going on, the teacher would be watching the boys against copying. So many boys would be writing wrong answers and the teacher is observing them. He does not prevent boys from writing wrong answers but allows them. He is not coming in the way of their independence. If the teacher on the other hand were to dictate the correct answers to all, how could there be an improvement from the boys? What is the point then in teaching and conducting examinations to them? In that event, the students do not remain as students but become a piece of lifeless dolls. It is the duty of the teacher to teach them well. To study well and write correct answers is the duty of boys. In a similar manner it is the duty of God to provide the nature of Good and bad deeds through Vedas. It is not His job to get good or bad things done. The living beings do their Karma according to their freedom. They get happiness if they were to do good things inspired by Knowledge and suffer if they do vice versa. Apart from the knowledge given thru Vedas, God by remaining within their hearts would be prompting living beings not to do evil things. Of course, it is up to their freedom and power to heed to this advice or not. This is called the God’s attempt to prevent the occurrence of Evil deeds. Prevention does not mean taking away the freedom. In case, God was to take away the freedom of action, the imitative and Enthusiasm for doing a Work or not gets lost and the living beings become reduced to just dolls in the hands of God. And God becomes accountable for everything.
- Written by Vasudeva Rao

Is God Just as well as Merciful

Justice and mercy differ only in name. The object served by justice is the same as accomplished by mercy. Now the object of infliction punishment through justice is to prevent people from committing crimes and thereby enable them to be freed from pain and misery. What is the object of mercy but to rid people of misery? Your definitions of justice and mercy are not correct, because the infliction of just punishment in exact accordance with the amount of crime is called justice.

If the offender be not punished, mercy will be destroyed, for suffering one such criminal, a a robber, to go unpunished amounts to giving pain to thousands of righteous and law-abiding people. What mercy can ther be, the, in allowing one man to go unpunished and making others suffer? It will be an act of mercy indeed to that robber to keep him in prison and thereby prevent him from further commission of crimes. It will also be an act of mercy to thousands of other people to rid them of that robber or dacoit by putting him to death of keeping him in prison.

Goodness of Pure Mediation:

Reading the scriptures or listening to religious discourses does not make us better people. For improving our personality, health and perspective and also in the process attain self-realization, we have to meditate. Meditation is purely a matter of experience. Reading about the method and procedure, meaning and scientific aspects and benefits of “Yoga and “Meditation” from various sources does not help in actual meditation. That is only information; not knowledge. The information culled will prove to be useless unless it is applied to the practice of meditation. So to be a meditator, one has to practice daily.

For the practice of yoga there is no need of giving up all worldly activity, family, friends, society, profession etc. All we have to do is to set apart some time every day as part of the daily routine. It is not correct to think that spirituality and activity are incompatible. The Bhagavad-Gita advises us to perform action from our transcendental consciousness. So meditation and action are not opposites; rather, they go hand to hand. In ancient times meditation was considered one of the essential components of life. People would practice meditation as a part of their daily routine. In today’s context meditation assumes even greater relevance. For lasting peace, order, happiness and harmony in life, meditation is the best tonic and medication of all evils.

We are the only life forms in the universe who violate natural laws with impurity. Nature does not know how to pardon a violator. As a consequence, punishment is inevitable. This could be in the form of sickness and suffering, tension, stress, conflict, crime, terrorism, drought, flood, fire etc. We also violate national and international laws.

Keep peace and live in accordance with the natural laws; we have to develop higher state of consciousness.

What is consciousness?
Consciousness is the essence of life. It is just like a sap for the tree. Every word that we speak and act that we perform is an impulse of consciousness. Since consciousness is the most basic element of every one’s life. Knowledge of consciousness is the basic necessity of every one to exist and enjoy to the full, life. Consciousness is within us. It is not outside of us. It is a permanent, un-manifested, un-bounded, infinite, self-referral state. It is the source and goal of all creation.
By. Sh. Madan Raheja

Eggs: Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian?

To many peoples, eggs do not seem to be living beings. But they are too quick to their judgment. If an egg were left undisturbed in its natural habitat for sufficient time, it would show what it truly is. Let us go to the basics. Who lays the eggs? - A female member of a species. We can try to imagine a woman who has just delivered a baby and see her face lit up with joy and happiness despite the labor pains. The same sentiments are attached with the eggs when they are laid. One can observe them, if not first hand, then in various television programs showing how vigorously birds protects their eggs from predators. A bird will definitely try to harm us if we try to approach its nest because it wants to protect its offspring. This is nothing but the natural love of a mother towards her children.

Certainly, eggs are not laid for man and his dining table. This is a high level selfishness and treachery for man to believe so. The story about eggs can not be complete until we take up the issue of the unfertilized eggs. The unfertilized eggs are really the most severe embodiment of human selfishness. Look at his guts that he not only treats the birds as machines but he even declares it openly by confining the female birds separately. Man moves further up on the crime graph by generating the so-called unfertilized eggs. Let us clear on one point – without access to laboratory there is no way one can differentiate an unfertilized egg from fertilized one before killing it. For sake of argument, let us imagine a situation when one knows definitely that a particular egg is an unfertilized one. Now what is wrong in eating it? We would put forth a counter question; does anything become fit for our consumption simply because it is void of life. An unfertilized egg is certainly a thing coming out of an animal/bird. Is there any other instance of anything that is excreted by a living being and is fit for our consumption?
Another major argument against egg consumption is that the herbivores do not eat eggs, fertilized or unfertilized. If we accept to refrain from eating meat then we ought to refrain from eggs too, just as the herbivores do.

Worship of God..

Child of God…

According to Vedas, we all are his son and daughters. We all are capable of the most direct relationship with him without any intermediate. As we know, a child has the closest direct link to her mother and father. The child will not accept anybody between her and her father and mother. So is our relationship with God. Indeed, it is closer than any relationship that we know in the world. Therefore, we should be bold enough in rejecting anybody who intends to position himself between us and god. Nobody can claim to be his only child or his messengers. Every human being is capable of being in union with god provided he/she can prove him-/her-self to be his worthy child by way of noble acts in the world. Knowing him is the only way. Yajurveda (31.18) says, ‘nānyaḥ panthāḥ vidyate ayanāya’.

Worshiping God…

The soul is not made up of matter, and therefore, it never undergoes any change nor does it die. It’s eternal. The soul has been transmitting from one life to another and will continue to do so. Only the human life provides the unique golden opportunity to come out of this cycle of birth and death through self-realization and God-realization. For the soul to realize itself it must be able to de-link itself from the mind through meditation. When the soul is de-linked from the mind then it can truly know itself, called self realization. Subsequently, with the grace of God, that soul may be able to realize God. This and this alone is method to worship God, and to Him alone is worship due and to nobody else. This requires purity of mind through an upright moral code of conduct and continuous practice to control the functions of the mind.

According to Vedas, there is no sense in worshiping God in temple, mosque, church, or any other man-made structure. If we must look for a conductive location then it can be such location where the Mother Nature shows her pristine beauty in an unpolluted form. Yajurveda (26.15) says,

In the valleys of mountains and near the confluence of the rivers, our intellect gets purified (for realization of self and God)

- Dr. Haeish Chandra.

Vedas..

The paradox of human life is that what we seek is closest to us but we wander here and there in search for it. We overlook what is next to us. In an earlier issue we had discussed the beautiful Vedic verse yo vah sivatamo rasa… (Rgveda 10.9.2, Yajurveda 11.51, 36.15, Atharvaveda 1.5.2) – the absolute bliss is as easily available to us as is mother’s milk to a newly born child. We have drifted far away from the Cosmic Mother. We forget that we are Her child.

The Vedas Say:

Apam madhye tasthivamsam trsnavidajjaritaram.

Mrda suksatra mrdaya. Rgveda 7.89.4

Its meaning: I am in the midst of water and I have grown old while remaining thirsty. O God! You are the savior. You are the infinite reservoir of happiness; make me happy.

Purport: The human life has a strange characteristic that it never stops from its wants. It wants to fulfill all sorts of pleasure. But, the paradox is that the absolute pleasure is in our closest reach but we do not care to obtain the same, and keep wandering after a mirage-like illusion that the worldly pleasure will quench our thirst, and in so doing, we get old.

Where Do We Go Wrong?: We seek pleasures in life. We are ever thirsty for pleasures. There is nothing that quenches our thirst in a permanent sense. The result is that we keep wandering from one source of pleasure to another, endlessly to the extent that we get old enough when our strength to enjoy sensual pleasures diminishes. The wealth that we had gathered laboriously stares at us and we are even unable to enjoy it for the fact that our body has lost its vigor and strength. It never occurs to us that there is something called absolute pleasure and that is with God and He is in our closest proximity. We have to merely seek Him with genuine love and then and there He is with us. The paradox is that we are almost like a fish in water that is thirsty, too. We have nobody to blame except our own ignorance. We must come out of it. The moral is that we must everyday seek out God within us and purify ourselves out of our deeds that our inner self is chaste pure and clean. So, we would be able to ’see’ Him and quench our thirst for pleasure in a permanent sense. Once that tastiest sap has been tasted, we will never be thirsty again.

- Dr Harish Chandra

Sound sleep: the reason of joy

When we are awake then both our body and mind are active. During sleep, the activities of both body and mind are very much slowed down to the extent that they look inactive. But sleep is not simple. It made difficult due to dreams. There are dreams before we enter into the sound sleep.

Scientists said that there are dreams even after the sound sleep is over. That means that there are dreams before we enter in to the deep sleep and after it gets over, means before we are fully awake.
Some times we remember dreams and sometimes we do not. But dreams are always there.
So we can say that during the night we go through two kinds of sleep- one with dreams and another without dreams. Indeed that is true. When we dream then the mind is active. When we are in deep sleep then mind is tacking rest; it’s quite inactive.
So now we can say that there are three states, we are awake when both mind and body are active. We dream when the body is inactive but mind is active. The third state is that of the sound sleep when both mind and body are inactive.
That’s why the sleep with too many dreams is not as refreshing as the sound sleep is. But sometimes dreams are so sweet.
It seems that the dreams can be nice and bad too.
When we are awake then too the life can be good and bad. Sometimes we enjoy every moment. Sometimes the things can be painful.
It is same in the dreams. Dreams too have the mix of joy & pain. Actually, the mind too requires rest like the body does. It is important that we have sound sleep in the night so that both body and mind can become refreshing.
We must live in harmony with nature. The day is to work and the night is to sleep. Let’s not play with nature and harm our self.

Dharma is different from religion...

Dharma (Hinduism describes dharma as the natural universal laws whose observance enables humans to be contented and happy, and to save himself from degradation and suffering. Dharma is the moral law combined with spiritual discipline that guides one's life. Hindus consider dharma the very foundation of life.) is what everyone holds within, intrinsically and inherently. Of course, humans have the freedom not to follow the dharma but all other species must follow their respective dharma. Obviously, it means that every thing's dharma is determined by the Dharmaraja, the designer and creator of the creation. For example, the fire has its dharma of giving heat and light and it always does so. We have the freedom to follow the dharma or otherwise but then we must be prepared for the rewards in accordance with the Law of Karma that applies to us. So, the dharma for the human beings is what is acceptable to every objectively thinking, intelligent and reasonable human being. It is not that we decide what our dharma is; we merely discover it within our pure conscience.

Human is non-meateater....

The most common argument is that the humans is non-meateater or meat-eater, these are some dissimilarities between non-meateaters and meat-eaters

1. The non-meateaters’ offspring have their eyes open at the time of birth, like our children have, while the meat-eaters’ offsprings have their eyes closed at the time of birth.

2. The non-meateaters drink water by their lips, like we do, while the meat-eaters drink by their tongue.

3. Meat-eaters’ stomach is highly acidic to digest meat easily; stomach of non-meat-eaters and man is alkaline to digest carbohydrates easily.

4. Like this the saliva of non-meat-eaters and man is alkaline, while that of the meat-eaters is acidic.

5. Structure of teeth of man is similar to that of the non-meateaters. They are primarily flat molars to bite and grind the plant food, but are different from the long canines of meat-eaters meant for catching and killing the pray, and biting and tearing the flesh

6. Jaws of meat-eaters open wide to capture and grab the prey, but don’t move sideway, however, the jaws of non-meateaters, and also man, don’t open wide enough but moves sideways to grind the plant food.

7. meat-eaters have long and sharp claws; non-meateaters and man have no claws.

8. Meat-eaters have a strong sense of smell and their eyes can see in darkness too for catching the prey. Man and non-meateaters have relatively weaker sense of smell and sight.

9. Meat-eaters’ voice has generally a heavy accent and unpleasant. The voice of man and non-meateaters bears a lighter accent.

10. last but most acceptable example:

Let us imagine two small children (say, about 2 years in age). If the first child given an apple and second one a small rabbit, we wonder what would the children do once they are hungry. Assuming that the children had never seen an apple or a rabbit in past, respectively. The first may being to eat the apple after while. The question is: what would the second child do with the rabbit. Let us assume that the rabbit is tied by means of string such that the child can get very close to the rabbit and after some time when mutual trust and love develops, he can even touch it. Once he too is hungry, he may ask for food or would he ask for the rabbit to be killed and cooked for his meal. Even if he belongs to a family of meat-eater parents.

These all examples prove that human is non-meateater.

How does a tiny invisible soul use the big body?

If we suppose that the soul is tiny thing that resides in the body then question arises that ‘How does a tiny invisible use the big body?’, but it is not a very complex question to explain.
Some times I wonder how one driver pulls the big train. Best example is railway; we can see that only one man can move about 10 to 40 bogies at a time. But you know the truth; no man can pull this much of load by himself. It is the engine that pulls the load. Without the engine no driver can pull the train.
Then, what about our body? Could there be such a thing with the soul too? We call this engine our mind. Means the soul drives the mind and mind drives the body. You may say that in some countries trains have no drivers. Maybe, that train didn’t have a driver. But that train will definitely have its control station where there will be a human being to control the movements of the train. This is true even with complex robots. So it is clear that we are bundle of the body, mind and soul like car, engine and driver. Finally, it means that: the body can be seen. With the mind we think. And the soul really makes us feel joy & pain.
When we eat ice cream, tongue buds sense its sweet taste and inform the mind. The mind then relays the taste of the ice cream to the soul. The soul finally feels good. The soul is the real ‘I’ who feels good when I eat ice cream. It feels good because it is a conscious thing. It is made impossible with body and mind. Since the soul is so tiny, the mind too must be tiny. It’s not easy to know the great powers that the mind has. And, all this is true even though it’s very tiny. We can understand it with the example; today’s computers are one type of wonder. A small disk has several GB of memory. But human being is the greatest miracle. Our mind has tremendous memory and an incredible speed.
But the soul is the still greater wonder – a tiny thing that never dies and is conscious.
That means that all the wonders of a living being are basically the properties of the soul.

Property of the soul:

We can say that the most important property of the soul is the ‘consciousness’. Because we know that after death body becomes unconscious. It occur when soul leave the body. So consciousness must be the property of the soul.
Then question arises that if soul has its own consciousness then how our body behaves consciously when we are alive.
The answer must be that the soul lends its consciousness to the body when we are awake. But when we go to sleep the soul withdraw its consciousness from the body.
We can understand it with example that, to move vehicle there must be a driver. When driver comes out of the vehicle, vehicle can not moves it self. That means vehicle is like our body & driver is like our soul.
Not only death reminds us the existence of soul but also other things which are taking place in our day to day life reminds us the presence of soul. Like the good sound sleep. When a person goes to sleep then soul takes its consciousness. Then we do not have any idea what might have taken place around the body or even to the body. It proves that we are not a body alone. The real ‘I’ is the soul who has its own consciousness and resides in the body.
That means the body is made up of a matter like other objects(chair, stone) in the world who have no its own consciousness. However soul must be different from these matters.
The soul must be the very micro thing which is present somewhere in our body. It must be smaller than atom or electron. However it is very difficult to imagine the structure of atom. Atom contains electrons & nucleus. Nucleus contains protons & neutrons. Hence it is very difficult to imagine a soul which is superfine & smallest thing than atomic particles.
Thus we can say that ‘soul is the soul of living beings’.

Scientifically soul is present………

According to biological studies scientists say that ‘body cells have life too’. We are made-up of billions of cells. There is no doubt that we are an individual human being. Then what about the billions of cells?If we suppose that these cells are like tiny bacteria which enter in our body, but do not disturb our individuality. It is just like ant entering into an elephant’s ear and living merrily for several days. Both have their separate identity and individuality.

According to science at every moment old body cells die and new once are formed. Still we remain same. That means we have our own life and our body is a heaven for billions of other lives. That means my body is different from body cells, bacteria, virus, etc.

Then the major question arises that ‘Who I am? Am I not this body?’

I think the correct way to say is that ‘this is my body’ and not that ‘the body is me’. Truly speaking, I am the soul residing in this body. That means the human is collection of all the body cells like a vehicle is a collection of many components. But the death of human being makes us think about the soul.

It is very simple that when any vehicle stops working then we repair it, but we can not make the person alive again. That means something is very special with living beings. That proves that there is soul within body. When soul left the body it never returns. This is main difference between vehicle and us.

Means we are formed from body and soul. Perhaps the soul doesn’t change with time but our body changes quite. Some times we feel that we are the same person who was in the primary school some years ago. So in Vedas said that soul neither takes birth nor dies.

Actually death means that the soul has left the body. It is like we live in the home but when house become old we change the house. So true ‘I’ is soul present in the body. As long as there is soul in the body, it feels good or bad, joy or pain. Once the soul left the body, the body is no of use.

So we must make good use of body, because ‘The life is just for some years.’

If you enjoyed my post then please tell me your opinions through the comments and also you can suggest me to improve my new blog. Thanks!!!!!!

Arya samaj

Arya samaj (meaning Noble Assembly) is not a sect or religion. It is not a Vedic Mandir or Church. It is a movement of noble souls for the benefit of the entire mankind. If you want to be a part of this movement to bring a total transformation in your own self and in your community then join hands with some like-minded people in your neighborhood to establish a unit of Arya Samaj wherever you are. It requires nothing but the youthful zeal to be something different and to do something different. That fuel is hidden in every one of us and needs to be ignited to give rise to a fire that can give both light and warmth to the life.

Thought of life.

1) Money is unstable.
2) Every man plays his part on the stage upon this earth.
3) Beauty without virtue has no value.
4) The ambitious abide by their undertaking.
5) Killing anyone treacherously is no bravery.
6) Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and -wise.
7) Pride has a fall .
8) familiarity breeds contempt.
9) Avoid extremes.
10) Undue regard breeds suspicious.
11) Fire fallen on stone puts out itself in due course.
12) All rises must end in fall.
13) Man's life wholly depends at the mercy of Fate.
14) Cars and dogs reside in side the palace.However the elephant outside is offered everything he need.
15) Difficulty is the mother of invention.
16) Even the kith and kin do not like to stay with a person who follows the wrong path.
17) Even a wicked man can turn into a great saint if he follows good conduct.
18)It's no use pumping a dry well.
19) A man after money knows no law or relative.
20) No sweet ,without sweat.
21) Better an open enemy than a false friend.
22) A Little knowledge is dangerous thing.
23) He is real orator who express great thought in few words.
24) As you sow, so you reap.
25) Heart broken by insult ,cannot be repaired.
26) The illiterate can't protect his wealth.
27) Never imitate blindly ,otherwise you will punish like a monkey pulling up a wedge.
28) Failure is the step-stone to success.
29) You can take the horse to the water but you can't make it drink.
30) It is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it can be controlled by constant practice and by detachment.
31) With my good behavior , I can proudly say, I am a man and not be beast.
32) Ignorant,faithless and suspicious ruin themselves.
33) First deserve and then desire
34) let noble thought come to us from all sides.
35) An idle mind is devil's workshop.
36) he who controls his mind ,finds solace in life.
37) Preceptor's word should be always welcome.
38) Our body is gift from gift.
39) The perfect Soul knows that is the field of soul in which man grows virtues and vices.
40) The senses are so powerful that they forcibly carry away the mind of the great personalities even.