Uni5 Healthy Body
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How to Begin?
From the figure on the previous page we saw how health is maintained only by having good thoughts. Good thoughts only can take care of the restless mind. All this starts with the use of the intellect more than the emotional mind. The emotional mind always swings between different moods and this creates restlessness. The one action which we love to do would be boring if done repeatedly. This is the nature of the emotional mind. Whereas the intellect has no such mood swings. It always works for the common good. Generally we do not like to work using our intellect because it some times does not cater to our likes and dislikes.
O King! a man's body is his chariot, intellect is his guide. The senses (mind) are his horses. Equipped with fine horses disciplined and vigilant, The intelligent man, like an able charioteer travels happily on the journey of life. -Vidura Niti
It is difficult to switch to a healthy way of living if you are not used to it. Sakthi Foundation comes to your rescue by giving you the means to adopt a life style which would benefit you at all levels.
The Beginning
You have to do two things at a time to get the best start. One is mental and the other physical. Both help each other in boosting the other in the cyclic loop as we saw in the figure on the previous page. So both should go hand in hand.
Now here are the steps. Remember the library example in the previous page?. A good library has good maintenance and repair of books. So let us first start with purification of mind and body. We will later discuss what purification of mind really means. Then, quite naturally, it will trigger good thoughts in us and get us into the loop system of good health.
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Inquire & Enquire
Develop a mind that does Inquiry and not Enquiry. Though these words look like they have the same meaning, there is a subtle difference. The tendency is to use enquire when asking for information, and inquire when conducting an investigation.
We are always in the mode of enquiry, asking for information and gathering it. Enquiry increases intelligence which means information. We train our children to be more intelligent which means a bigger data-bank of information. Rarely do we encourage them to inquire which leads to sharpening of the intellect.
We give much importance to gathering information but hardly any to inquiry which means investigation. A goldsmith may have all the information about the gold he plans to buy but will not do so until he rubs the gold himself to investigate the validity of its purity. Unfortunately we live now in an age of information technology and take for granted whatever information is given by whoever we consider to be the higher authorities. We blindly believe information given by doctors, scientists and health professionals and don't stop to make an inquiry.
Inquiry here does not mean that you should go and personally research and validate claims. The inquiry is a self test based on personal experience, logic and reasoning and not based on emotional preference, blind faith and/or convenience.
In Vedic tradition, every morning a positive thought is fed to the mind. A positive thought in Tamil or Sanskrit language is called a Mantra. A mantra is a powerful positive thought and the king of all the mantras or the chief mantra is the Gayatri Mantra. Gayatri Mantra is considered to be the most powerful because it asks for strengthening the intellect, the mode of inquiry. The meaning of Gayatri Mantra is "O! Light of the Universe, may you enlighten my intellect". This positive thought should be fed to your mind everyday to live a healthy, blissful life.
The foundation of Sakthi Foundation is based on this Vedic approach of self inquiry and strengthening of the intellect. The knowledge we share with you in this web site is based on personal experimentation and logical reasoning. Most of the information is taken from ancient scriptures which then becomes the basis for personal experimentation and conclusions are derived from logical reasoning. Our strong foundation is based on inquiry, the strengthening of the intellect and not on emotional preferences.
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Critical Danger of Refined Foods
Imagine our guests visiting us without any basic amenities! We would be irritated if they depleted not only our home supplies of tooth brush, paste, soap, oil, towels but started using our underwear, garments, etc. This is how tasty refined food guests get into our body. Not only are refined foods devoid of nutrients but when they enter the body, they use our body's resources and exhaust our stores. Over a period of time, the nutrients which our body had reserved for normal body functions will be used for metabolizing the refined foods. This leads to serious metabolic disorders, other diseases and also lethargy and tiredness.
So, hereafter, question anything that you eat - is it refined or unrefined?
Combination of Mental Stress and Diet Stress
When we are mentally stressed we increase the oxygen metabolism in our body. This is like increasing oxygen contact, similar to iron causing rusting. In other words, mental stress promotes oxidative reactions in our body. To cope with this oxidative damage due to mental stress, the body needs more anti-oxidants. Now, look at our life style. We eat a diet stripped of anti-oxidants and steal our body's reserve for protecting these chemicals. To top that, we have mental stress which demands more anti-oxidants. You can imagine the havoc caused by the combined effect of mental stress and diet stress in our body.
It is a pity that most of us do not think in detail about all these facts, instead we blindly go for "healthy" life style and "healthy" dieting tips. Without understanding this basic truth we will not be able to maintain good health.
No wonder Ayurveda, the great medicinal system boldly declares that "an individual may eat good food, but if she or he has mental stress, the "junk" thoughts will steal their health". Now we can understand in modern scientific means, how mental stress causes diseases.
Keep the following quote from Sakthi in your mind.
Eat unrefined foods and think refined thoughts for maintaining a healthy body.
Conclusion:
All stress is caused by a restless mind. If the mind is taken care of all stress can be avoided. We will now discuss how to overcome the restless mind.
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How to Maintain Good Health?
We saw the cycle of disease and discussed the factors that cause stress. Now we will see the health cycle and how it operates and also see how when health is lost we can restore it as well as maintain it.
This is the ideal cycle. It is possible for all of us to do this. It is also the most practical way. One cannot imagine the benefits one will attain by following this method. One will enjoy life in all aspects by living like this.
Thoughtful Life is a Good Library
This healthy life style is like a well maintained library. Initially to arrange all the books is a very daunting task. Once the books are arranged, then only regular maintenance is needed for the library. Imagine going to a library where none of the books are in proper place. All the books are placed randomly. Would you enjoy such a library? Is there any purpose of such a disorganized library, nor for itself or for any one else. Understand that one who lives such a lifestyle with random thoughts is like such a library. Do you think that such a life could be fun? No. So, get your thoughts organized like a library. However, maintenance is essential. All repair of books should be done periodically. Thousands of books come and go in and out of a library due to its use. But a well maintained library does regular work to maintain itself. So does our life too. Disorganized eating habits, sleeping habits and thoughtlessness make life a mess. There is no fun in it, until we become organized in our thoughts and habits. Such a person becomes a library for everyone because everyone could learn from a person who has organized thoughts and leads a thoughtful life. A thoughtful person uses his intellect more than his emotional mind. This is the key to good health and mind.
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Right Thinking - Vedanta
As we mentioned earlier "ignorance" is the cause of all our suffering, which in other words is lack of "right thinking". In fact, suffering or disease is an alarm bell, warning you that you are ignorant about some issues dealing with your mind and body which require attention in the form of right thinking. Sakthi Foundation derives its knowledge of right thinking from Vedanta, the ancient knowledge of India. This is not a religion dictated by one person nor a single book of do's and don'ts. The attraction of Vedanta lies in sharpening our intellect through vigorous discussion and analysis and the conclusions drawn stand eternally true for humans for all Ages. Even in this technological age, this Truth gives unflinching light to guide us in our evolution.
Vedanta in Sanskrit means the "ultimate knowledge". This is the perfect science of experimentation, observation and finally drawing inference on the subject. All the scriptures in Vedanta are dialogues between two people discussing a subject.
We will use this profound knowledge of Vedanta to analyze the source of all physical and mental problems and even go beyond them.
Positive Thoughts
We will discuss how various diseases of the body and mind arise by lack of positive thoughts. Positive thoughts arise when we act through the emotional mind under the supervision of the intellect. Negative thoughts are fertilized by the emotional mind. Negative thoughts should be avoided because they manifest as diseases in the body and even the mind itself. Ayurveda , the science of health, in contrast to modern medicine attributes negative thoughts of the mind to be the cause of all diseases.
This is why in Ayurveda the mind and body is always taken into account together while treating diseases. In fact, an efficient Ayurvedic physician will focus more on the emotional state of the patient rather than prescribing herbal medications for only the physical symptoms. Herbal medications in Ayurveda are prescribed for immediate attention to the body and relief of symptoms.
A traditional Ayurvedic doctor would then pay attention to the root cause of the disturbances in the mind. Unfortunately, most modern Ayurvedic doctors ignore this fundamental aspect of treatment. Ayurveda is a perfect health system because it addresses the health problem by going to the root and does not fool the body by getting rid of the symptoms.
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