तस्मै श्री गुरुवे नम:

A letter to my guide Sandeep Maheshwari

    As I have mentioned in my previous blog on Vipassana, my spiritual journey started after doing 10days Vipassana course and I remember S. N. Goenkaji said once you get on your spiritual path you don't need to worry about next steps. Because you automatically come across people who are on the same journey or who will help you in your further journey directly or indirectly.

    Sandeep Maheshwari is the person who guided me towards the next steps and my actual journey of knowing body, mind and consciousness began under his guidance. Here is my first letter to the team of my spiritual teacher Mr. Sandeep Maheshwari.

 

Dear Team Sandeep Maheshwari,

    My name is Rasika Mane. I am from Kolhapur, Maharashtra. I completed my B.Tech. in Information Technology and currently I am working as a software engineer.

I have total 3.5 years of experience in IT.

    In 2016 during my college days, YouTube suggested me a video of Sandeep sir in which Sandeep sir told that he is not earning any money through his seminars or through YouTube, This video made me to go through his YouTube channel. I found some motivational videos there I watched 1 or 2 and left.

    During the end of year 2016 I was waiting for joining letter of my first job and was frustrated due to late joining, one of my friends suggested me Vipassana. I did Vipassana just to have some change, at that time, I was not at all aware of spirituality and all but I did it just because I knew meditation is good for mind and health, It improves focus and awareness, it makes us cool and calm. that's it! I continued vipassana meditation practice and it helped me a lot in improving my focus.

    Then in January 2017 I started my job, In December 2017 I got married.

After few days of marriage, I started feeling like I have achieved everything that I wanted in life.. I had a good job with enough salary(for which I spent 20 years of my life😅), a good family, good friends.

I was feeling contented. I started feeling like all my wishes got completed now what's next??

    I suddenly started thinking about the earth, the stars, the planets, the universe. What is life? Who am I? Why I am here? What is the purpose of my life? Not only my life but why everyone is here? Where are we from? What is birth? What is death? Where will we go after death? So many questions were started arising in my mind about which I never ever thought before.

    I started watching videos related to quantum physics, physics, solar system, science so that I can find what is there beyond this universe, but didn't get much. It is still a mystery to science as well.

    While searching the answers to my questions, I came to know that, there is only one way to find out 'who am I' and that is spirituality. (At that time I got what Vipassana is teaching, What's the exact purpose behind it). The whole purpose of any kind of meditation is to know 'Who Am I' and Vipassana is one of those tools.) I continued meditation for few months but didn't get anything from it. I thought meditation is not going to help me anymore, I was not able to find answers to any of my questions through meditation(may be I was not having enough patience). I stopped meditating. Still my intense curiosity about universe was there. 

    Then one day YouTube suggested me a video of Sandeep sir in which he was talking about the vipassana meditation and his kundalini awakening experience. I can't explain in words what I felt after watching that video. It was a ray of hope for me. I decided to follow his footsteps. if he can know, I too can know. 

    I watched all his videos on YouTube, apart from motivational videos lots of spiritual videos were there on his channel. I subscribed to his channel 'Sandeep Maheshwari Spirituality' so that I can't even miss a single peace of information from him. I got a lot of knowledge from him and I am really really grateful for the same. Without his guidance it was very difficult for me to continue on this path. I literally meditated on his every word.. every sentence.. every session and tried my best to perceive what exactly he is saying. 

    I am really very grateful to YouTube as well for suggesting me the right person's videos on right time😊.

    After that I never stopped. Its been 3 years now I am meditating regularly, trying to know myself, asking questions to my inner self, reading spiritual books, reading biographies of spiritual people but I still don't have answers to few of my questions. There are theoretical answers which I found but I am not satisfied with them. 

I know only I can find those answers, all the answers are within me. I will keep trying.

But definitely I would take whatever help I can take to reach to that inner giant.

    I know many people in the world will have these questions in their mind at some point of time in their life. I want to discuss these things with Sandeep sir and I am sure that the discussion will bring something really beautiful, something very interesting that will be helpful not only for me but also for others continue on the journey of knowing the ultimate truth.

Thanks & Regards,

Rasika

    After sending this email I have received a reply from team Sandeep Maheshwari to mention my contact details in mail (unfortunately I forgot to mention my contact details in mail) I replied to that mail with my contact number and eagerly waiting to talk to my spiritual teacher.

Stay younger Forever

       

 

            Almost everybody believes aging is inevitable. But it is just a belief. Nobody really dies of old age, they die of disease which accompany old age, which is preventable. If you remove toxins from your body, If you learn to get stress out of your life through meditation, If you change your environment, Increase antioxidants in your diet you can actually reverse the biological markers of aging.

One of the best ways to stay away from diseases and to remove toxins from your body is  

‘Water Fasting’

Our body does 2 major works 1st priority is to digest the food we eat and 2^nd is to recover our body.

Most of the time we eat acidic and alkaline food together (eg. Oranges + Milk). To digest acidic food our body releases one type of chemical and to digest alkaline food it produces another chemical. The reaction of these multiple chemicals causes gases and acidity which can turn to any disease from ulcer to cancer.

When we do fasting (I mean fasting only with water, No any fasting food), It not only breaks the chain of spreading disease in our body but also  our body directly shifts to its recovery mode and removes all the blockages/toxins from our body.

From spiritual perspective I always suggest Full Moon/Ekadashi fasting because we can control our mind better on those days.  

You can change the Blood Pressure, you can improve your hearing, and you can improve your eye sight. In short all the things which we think will go with the aging are reversible.  

Most of the people feel aging is normal. There are people who are 25 and look like a 40 and behave like a 40. There are people of 50 and have a biology of a person who is 30 and behave like a 30.

Humans have a biological clock that can responds to mechanism. We are the only species who is aware of this, so we can change it.

As per a scientific research our biological potential is 130 (I feel even more than that,  We can add more 30 to 40 years in this) which means till your 70 you don’t even begin your middle age, this is the best time of your youth.

So don’t ever feel you are getting old. stay happy, eat healthy, do meditation and take care of yourself.

Stay younger – Forever🌹

My 10 days Vipassana Experience

How and why I took the course:

      I completed my B.Tech in July 2016. After 2 months I started to feel very depressed and just wanted to get rid of people, The reason was everyone was asking me about my campus selection and job. The reason was--> I rejected 2 big MNC's and selected one company from my campus interviews and that company was not giving me early joining, I started to regret why I chose this organization.  They told me to wait for 6 months, and every month was like a year for me. People made my life hell by asking questions. In this situation I met one of my friend who was also selected in the same company and waiting for joining. She completed her 10 days Vipassana course and while returning to her hometown she came to meet me. She introduced me this course and somehow it had lodged itself in my mind.

What is Vipassana course?

10 days of complete silence, No talking, No reading, No writing, No gestures, No entertainment and of course no any other material access. Just 10 days of pure meditation.Pretty much sums up what a Vipassana meditation course is all about.

But spending 10 days in complete silence seemed like a tough challenge but, I love to accept challenges. I decided to test myself and I signed up for the course. At the time of signing up, my only goal was just to get rid of people and relatives. Not only did I survive, I actually learnt lot of valuable lessons to apply  for my lifetime. 

So lets start,

Vipassana quite literally means ‘to see things as they really are’. It is a process of self transformation attained through an intense process of observing oneself. 

The Technique:

For the first 2 days of the course, we are taught to observe our breath — feel the air going in and out of the nostrils. Then, we graduate to observing the subtle sensations on our body — the pricks, the throbs, the pulsations and of course the pain. 

The pain! Nothing had prepared me for the intense pain that I experienced during the course. Sitting cross legged in one place for close to 9-11 hours a day is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Vipassana says all sensations are ephemeral in nature i.e. they appear and disappear. Like the worries and joys we experience in our lives. What Vipassana aims to teach is the art of observing both the highs and the lows with equanimity. Without reacting to it.

This course has change my life completely. My meditation journey began from this course and it is still going on. I will definitely write some other article about my meditation journey, but for now lets know only about Vipassana.

So below is the time table for a day in Vipassana 10 days course:

4:00 am	Morning wake-up bell
4:30-6:30 am	Meditate in the hall or in your room
6:30-8:00 am	Breakfast break
8:00-9:00 am	Group meditation in the hall
9:00-11:00 am	Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's instructions
11:00-12:00 noon	Lunch break
12noon-1:00 pm	Rest and interviews with the teacher
1:00-2:30 pm	Meditate in the hall or in your room
2:30-3:30 pm	Group meditation in the hall
3:30-5:00 pm	Meditate in the hall or in your own room according to the teacher's instructions
5:00-6:00 pm	Tea break
6:00-7:00 pm	Group meditation in the hall
7:00-8:15 pm	Discourse in the hall
8:15-9:00 pm	Group meditation in the hall
9:00-9:30 pm	Question time in the hall
9:30 pm	Retire to your own room--Lights out

You can check Vipassana website for more information (Guys this course is Free-->This is a non-profit organization runs on donation)

http://www.pali.dhamma.org/

Everything they offer is free of cost breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Stay everything. The food is 'Satwik' (which helps you in meditaion) but still very tasty.

My survival:

After first 3 days I started missing my family and friends..As I said the Vipassana starts on the 3rd day which is very painful experience.. I didn't want to stay there anymore..The extreme pain was very difficult to handle..1 second was like 1 year for me till 7th day. It was really really difficult to stay there and meditate for 9-11 hours daily. I was missing the outer world very badly. There was no any option to go out..You can't go..

On 7th day I started enjoying the process, I became more curious about myself and  surprisingly on 10th day when I was free to go home I just wanted to stay there, I wanted to explore more layers of myself, but it was also not possible. Afterwards I took the course once again in following year. 

My Transformation:

After returning from Vipassana, I became more aware, more focused, calmer, more sensitive, I become aware of my every thought, My every action.

I started preparing for my dream company and cracked all the rounds of tests and interviews And coincidentally I received  joining from both the companies on the same date(The one I was waiting for and the current one) but decided to join my dream company.

Friends, achievements or disappointments are not important here but the lifetime learning is.

As I always believe "Everything happens for a reason" , Thanks to all the people and relatives who bothered me and Thanks to that MNC for not offering me immediate joining. 

Steve Jobs Said-->Connect the dots

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. 

Non-vegiterian food

Non-Veg food

Before writing this blog I should confess that I was a hardcore Non-vegetarian for almost 22 years of my life. I loved to eat Chicken and Fish a lot, But from past few years I stopped eating not-veg completely. I was eggiterian for few years but now I am pure vegetarian person.

Why I became vegetarian??? 

While reading Bhagavad gita I found some description about food  in it.
There are three types of food

1. SATVIK FOOD:  Such food promote longevity and bestow good health, virtue, happiness, and satisfaction. They are juicy, 'naturally' tasteful, mild, and beneficial. These include grains, pulses, beans, fruits, vegetables and other vegetarian foods. Hence, a vegetarian diet is beneficial for cultivating the qualities of the mode of goodness that are conducive for spiritual life.

2. RAJSIK FOOD: When vegetarian foods are cooked with excessive chilies, sugar, salt, etc. they become rājasic. Such foods are very bitter, very sour, very salty, very hot, very pungent, very dry, very spicy, etc. They produce ill-health, agitation, and despair. Persons in the mode of passion find such foods attractive, but those in the mode of goodness choose SATVIK food which makes meditation easier.

3. TAMSIK FOOD: Cooked foods that have remained for more than three hours, Foods that are impure, have bad taste, or possess foul smells come in the same category. Impure foods also include all kinds of meat and Non-Veg products. People who eat Non-veg are more ignorant and have lac of concentration and focus which brings obstacles in Meditation or even in our day to day activities.

After reading this I couldn't stop myself from doing research on Non-Veg food. Here I am summarizing the research.

1. Diseases:  Non-Veg food can cause more than 180 types of diseases which includes Cancer, Stroke, Alzheimer, Harmful Cholesterol, Obesity, and many Digestion & heart related diseases.

2. Mental Disturbance: As described in Gita Non-Veg food increases the ignorance in a person, Increases the emotions like Anger & Fear which are sufficient to disturb the peace of mind.

3. Cruelty: Some people says they love animals but still eat them????? Eating Non-Veg food even when Vegetarian food is available is cruelty. 

4. Live and let the animals live: It is scientifically proven that the people who eat vegetarian food live longer that the people who eat Non-veg.

5. Protein: The main reason people eat Non-Veg. The major diseases caused by Non-veg are due to its high protein only. As I always keep saying anything is more or less than need is dangerous, the high amount of protein in Non-veg only causes damage to our body. There are many vegetables and pulses which gives sufficient amount of protein to our body why not consume that protein??

6. Strength: This is another myth that Non-Veg food give you physical strength. There are many wrestlers and sport persons in the world who are vegetarian. Just observe animals like elephant and ox, They have so much strength & Muscles. Do they eat Non-Veg???

There are thousands of such facts related to Non-veg which I cant mention in a single article, But the point is why should we keep eating non-veg food after knowing all these side effects??

Initially I had some difficulties to quit Non- Veg, like whenever I was smelling non-veg food I just wanted to eat that but I started to imagine a dead animal in the dish and tried to feel the emotions of that animal while getting slaughtered by the  butcher. It helped me to quit Non-Veg. Now I can feel the pain even when someone else is eating Non-Veg in front of me.

Just try not to eat non-veg and see wonders happening to your body and mind.

Eating Habits

5 Eating Habits

below are the 5 eating habits that everyone should know:

1. Eat only when you are hungry:
Don't eat unnecessarily eat only if you are hungry. Remember extra food that we eat requires extra energy to digest that food. Which can make us feel tired all the time.

2. Eat mindfully:
Whenever you eat anything, make sure you are putting all your focus on your meal. This is very important as it can directly impact on your health. If you can't do it in the beginning, then for initial few days just count the number of times you chew a bite, It will help you to build the habit of eating mindfully.

3. Try to include maximum fruits in your meal:
Atleast 40% of your meal should be fruits. Fruits are very easily digestible and they keep you fresh and active.

4. Try to eat vegeterian food:
Whatever food you eat you become like that. There is a saying in hindi 'Jaisa ann vaisa Mann'. So you can choose wether you want to eat a dead animal or a vegetable full of life.

5. Avoid eating after sunset:

Not eating after sunset will help you to wake-up early in the morning. Have some good and healthy and neutritious breakfast within 2 hours after you wake up. Your body can absorb the required neutritions better in the morning.

Eat properly, Eat healthy and  Stay healthy