The Three Powers - Murugan Rahaysam

 

                                               

Desire – Knowledge – Action

Murugan in Hindu Mythology is the son of Shiva and Parvati. He has 2 wives Valli and Devasena. Murugan and his 2 wives represent 3 powers which all of us have and which we can develop in our life. Guruji in 3 session profound talk on the deeper  meaning of this. After each session Guruji asked us to write a brief summary of the days session below for our reference. Below are the summaries which I have noted after each session. Also in some cases I have added my interpretation or examples which I have added to make my understanding deeper.

                                                                Valli - Desire

Desires have arisen in us from time immemorial and have burnt us up, they have driven us to do so many things, some of them good, some of them bad and some of them which (look now) very ugly.

Every desire is generated out of rajas, that is active component of our self. It’s a natural energy which Guruji compares to a tribal wild lady. Only when she is married to wisdom will she be happy. Similarly when our desires are not clubbed with wisdom they will lead us to suffering.

Desires are waves of energy rising in the vastness of our being. The nature of our being is happiness or bliss. When we were  a small infant when there were very little desires, this nature shines thru easily and that is why infants are in such obvious bliss and happiness. As they become older as desires start coming, then this natural state of bliss is slowly obscured by the waves of desire which crop up.

When a wave of desire comes up, there  are 2 things which can happen

1. Its satisfied fully, this will lead for it to vanish and we will get a glimpse of our natural state of being in which it has come. We will feel the happiness and we think it was because the desire got satisfied the happiness has come, where happiness was the screen or background on which desire had come. The desire was obscuring the screen of happiness and when it vanished we got a glimpse of the background and we feel the happiness. However the problem is that once a desire is fulfilled , one more comes immediately or very shortly and again the screen of happiness is obscured and again we run behind to fulfil it

2. The desire is not satisfied or partially satisfied and it still remains fully or partially on the screen of our being and we are left with a lingering sense of unease. This sense of unease is not because the desire is not satisfied, it’s because it has not disappeared and we are unable to see the screen of our self.

The bigger problem is that it is not one desire or few desires thousands of desires have come in the past and obscured the screen so much , that we are not even aware that the screen is there.

Identification with the desire

 We have so much identified with the desire that we think we are the desire. We think that if the desire is not satisfied, we are not satisfied, and this leads to misery and unhappiness. Guruji says it’s this identification with the desire and the forgetfulness of the self is the root cause of all misery.

 

The Desire Framework

A Desire arises – Evaluate the desire – Is it connected to our role or Duty?

If yes – do it a Yagya , that as a service to mankind or the world without a goal of selfish achievement from the same and without attachment to the result

If no – Ignore it if it’s a small or petty desire which is not very essential for our well being .If it still persists, surrender it to the divine and let him take care of it.

In both the above circumstance be aware that I am not the desire, it has arisen in me , I don’t want bliss , happiness from the fulfilment of that desire as I am already bliss, happiness. Rather the desire is obscuring my natural state of bliss and happiness. That is why I am not going to pursue unnecessary desires, as it will make them stronger and they will obscure my natural state more. I will not resist them or pursue them.

As a person sitting on sea shore is aware of the waves of the ocean, I will be aware of the waves of desires which are arising in me. I will abide peacefully in the screen of happiness which I am .

Murugan - Knowledge

The World is infinite, some things we know very well, have the  confidence and satisfaction of this knowledge, many things we don’t know, we should  have the acceptance, humility  about this lack of knowledge. There is always possibility for things to be other than what we have imagined, known and believed to be, this realization gives us, peace when we accept  that . This combination of knowledge and ignorance, confidence and humility is real knowledge

True knowledge makes a person beautiful, not the beauty of features.

If we have to pray for something pray for knowledge as that will lead to all other achievement, if that is not there even if any achievements happens it won’t be long lasting or won’t give the desired happiness.

Real Knowledge comes only through grace.

Body is healthy through exercise, mind through avoiding negativity, soul is known through Seva, prayer and grace. It will come at its own time.

Diskha or Knowledge transfer happens  through meeting the guru, seeing him and being seen by him, through following his techniques, and it is completed by full surrender in him.

Many times we have had wrong knowledge that people are a certain way. We have wrongly believed them to  either good or bad and that has led to a lot of suffering to us, because of this wrong belief. Most of the time they have not even thought of us and they were in their own world, but our wrong assumption about them led to us suffering or bondage.

Also this is true specifically  about the objects which I thought was  giving me pleasure like alcohol,  non veg food etc where as they were actually giving me a lot of problems. Knowledge of their true nature led me to relief from the pain caused by them

Ignorance also has given a lot of benefit. We might chose take up a very complex problem, without real awareness of the true extent of the problem. If we were aware of the full extent of the problem, we may not take up many of the challenges we  have taken up in the past. This happened when I purchase my apartment without real planning as to the full extent of how I would pay for it. But the problems, caused by ignorance were solved by divine grace, because the intention was noble or sattvic .

And even in rajasic or tamasic situation it might cause suffering but if surrender is there, that suffering is minimum and divine will bring us out of that situation smoothly

Devasena -Action

Only Desire without action leads to frustration

Many times we have multiple desires but not able to focus on the desire which we want to achieve, this scattered focus leads to less results.

To decide on which desire to focus we need  Knowledge

Proper Goal +action = strength and happiness

Knowledge + action = success

Best is to do action for pleasing the divine for the benefit of the world

This because whatever goal the mind decides at the starting, over a period of time because the mind is  fickle  it keeps on changing and we are not able to focus on the goal. Once we have decided on any goal with a higher intention ( i.e. for pleasing the divine , serving the world) there won’t be confusion and we are able to work towards the Goal with full focus.

Goal of ordinary action is happiness

If we do action with higher intention every step is filled with happiness

Rajasic action i.e. with feverishness leads to sorrow

Tamasic Negative action i.e. out of anger, selfishness leads to misery

Sattvic action – out of enthusiasm will lead to happiness

Most actions have limited impact. The impact of the karma whether good or bad is for a limited time and then after the time is over the impact also gets over. This knowledge really helps us when we are feeling pain or suffering due to any karma. If we just remember that this will also pass with time, it will give us the  strength to go thru pain in much more balanced state.

Very rare karma has timeless impact. This  refer to the action by divine beings or masters in which their divine energy is imbibed in the action For e.g. Krishna giving the Bhagvad geetha to Arjuna is timeless action, the benefits of which are being felt even today after 5000 years.

The world is Maya which means ever changing. There is nothing  in the world which is constant

 

Karma is immediate and changes every moment, but impact of karma is for a longer period. We hold on to the impact of karma and keep it longer.  If a crow shits on us, we can choose to  curse the crow or go to hit the crow and disturb ourselves more or  we can choose to wash our cloth and move on. Thus the outside action is the same but impact on us  is much lesser because we reacted to the negative action with wisdom.

Knowledge, Devotion and faith in the divine minimizes the impact of the karma

Don’t worry too much about success, failure, joy and loss because all people have to die one day

Do your duties to the best of your abilities and keep moving thru the changing karma.

Whatever mistakes we have  made  in the past, we are innocent in the present. If we don’t realize this  we get into guilt consciousness and which leads to anger and sadness.

All divine qualities have been given to us , to exhibit , use it. Otherwise no point in having it

Deep rest of meditation is complimentary to action as it gives rise to dynamism. Thus we  should regularly meditate which will give us the energy to do our activities in the best possible manner.

 

 

 

 

My Journey from  Daily Non Vegetarian to a Vegetarian

I started eating non vegetarian food when I was child and continued for most of my adult life and I loved it. I used to eat it daily and a meal without non veg food would not be good lunch. There had to be some non veg dish in my meal, be it mutton, chicken, fish or eggs. The rare occasions there would be a pure vegetarian meal there would be a sense of dissatisfaction, my lunch would not be feel complete.  Even during festival days when most people would be vegetarian, I would eat sometimes non veg food. My logic was that since I was eating on most of the other days, what difference it would make skipping on that one day or few days when a festival was there. Anyway all food, vegetarian or non vegetarian was made by the divine, I was sure he would not mind my non vegetarian meals.

This small blog contains my journey to be a vegetarian and the reasons which prompted the journey. My mind is clearer, body is healthier and digestion is better and I really wish I had made this decision much earlier.  No one gave me enough convincing reasons to be a vegetarian or even if they attempted to give I would avoid listening. This blog contains some logical reasons which I feel would help you make the decision with awareness and logic.

The Importance of Food,  We are what We Eat...

While taste of the food is important while deciding the  food which we eat, the taste should not be the sole criteria on which we choose our food. We should be aware of the impact the food has on the body and the mind while choosing our food.

Impact on the body

Better Digestion

When I was eating non veg food daily, my digestion was not very satisfactory. There was a lingering sense of unease in my stomach, acidity was high, gas and burping would happen regularly and motion  was also not comfortable.  When I made the switch to a vegetarian diet I realised how much more comfortable my digestion is now compared to the earlier days. My experience has a scientific basis.

It is widely known and accepted that our human bodies are more suited to eat and digest vegetarian food. Many meat eating species have sharper teeth and smaller intestines which help in smooth digestion of meat. Human bodies have smaller teeth and larger intestines which are more suited for vegetarian food. The meat which we eat, takes upto 72 hours  to be digested which can lead to build up of toxins in the body. In contrast vegetarian food is easily digested in 8- 10 hours

The meat eating animals  stomachs secrete hydrochloric acid, meaning their gastric pH levels are maintained at around 1-2 even with food present, which is necessary to facilitate protein breakdown and to kill all the dangerous bacteria often found in raw meat. The human body produces a milder acid which is more conducive to a plant based diet.

Nutrition is factor

Our body is made up of the food that we eat. every day when we sleep, our body uses the nutrients in the food which we have eaten to heal itself. Food  is the building block on which our body is built. So from this perspective we should be more aware of food that we eat, the nutrient composition etc.

 

The American Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics is considered to be the foremost authority on diet and nutrition it the USA. For several years now (since 2009) it has held the position that meat is not necessary for human diets. It says: “It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.

“Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.”

 

Health Impact

Non Veg food weakens your bones.

Many countries which have high meat consumption have reported higher incidence of hip fracture and osteoporosis.

 Researchers observed the amount of meat these people consumed, and concluded that the more meat they ate, the more fractures they had. here's how and why: eating animal protein makes the blood slightly acidic, hence the burning sensation which usually follows a non-vegetarian meal. the body immediately reacts to this change of ph in the blood and neutralises it by pulling out the calcium from the bones. being alkaline in nature, calcium helps to neutralise the blood and is consequently lost in the urine. researchers conducted a study on volunteers who were fed animal protein and a test of their urine showed it to be loaded with calcium. this shows that the more protein you consume the more calcium you lose. meats also contain sulphur-based amino acids which further promote calcium loss. by cutting down meat, cheese and eggs from your diet, you can cut down the urinary calcium loss to a great extent. also, meats are rich in phosphorous, too much of which encourages calcium loss. on the other hand, whole grains and pulses provide your body with sufficient protein. vegetables and fruits tend to have roughly equal amounts of calcium and phosphorous which helps prevent calcium loss. a vegetarian diet of jowar, nachni (ragi), black channa, moth, rajma, masoor, whole mung, fruits and vegetables is loaded with potassium and is low in sodium. such a diet enables calcium retention in your bones.

More info at the link below

Too Much chicken can weaken your bones

Other Health problems

One of the main benefits of eating non vegetarian foods, is that the quantity of  protein found in non vegetarian food is much higher than in vegetarian food. But unfortunately even this protein if consumed in high quantities can cause health problems because our digestive system is not able to process so much protein in an efficient manner due to the reasons given earlier and it can cause cholesterol build up and so many other issues like heart problems Liver problems, Cancer etc.

 

Peta says “Carnivorous animals in the wild virtually never develop heart disease or suffer from strokes—ailments that humans can suffer an increased risk of developing due to their consumption of the saturated fat and cholesterol found in meat. Heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association. If humans were meant to eat meat, why do meat-eaters have a 32 per cent higher risk of developing heart disease than vegetarians?”

 

More info at the link below published by the World Health Organization

WHO on Cancerogenic property of Red meat

Impact on the mind

Improper digestion of food can also lead to imbalances in the mind.  The animal when it is about to be killed experiences a lot of fear, anger and pain which will be stored as subtle emotional energy in its body. When we eat the animal this subtle negative energy enters our system and negatively influences our mind and emotions slowly over a period of time. 

 

Factory farms and injections

If we consider non veg food as a product, have you ever considered the factory where its produced. In older days the animals were led to develop in farms freely by themselves and then killed when they were matured enough. But now with less space, higher demand and the growth of corporate culture in meat farming, they are grown in factory farms where the conditions are very unhygienic and unhealthy. There is no space and for most of their life they are in cramped and dark conditions. They are also given antibiotics and growth hormones impact of which i have given below. To be very honest , this is the point which first triggered by decision to stop non veg.

Antibiotics

As they are grown in very crowded conditions, there is a high risk of them getting diseases. If one of them catches a disease, the entire lot could contact the disease with a high financial loss to the producers. Thus they keep the animals/birds regularly fed with high doses of antibiotics which will keep them healthy. This causes drug resistant bacteria to develop in them ( as given below) and there is a high chance of us consuming the drug resistant bacteria when we eat the meat, which reduces our immunity power

 

More info at this link

https://india.mongabay.com/2019/10/unmeasured-burden-drug-resistance-in-farm-animals-threatens-human-health-in-india

Growth Hormones

The faster the animal grows , the more profitable it is to the meat producer. They have to spend less on food, space and realize the cost invested in it earlier. Thus a large number of meat farmers inject the animals/birds with growth hormones to make them grow earlier.  These hormones will be in the flesh of the animal and when we eat such hormone injected meat, it can cause multiple health issues. This has been particularly  a cause for early puberty in children and  also linked to certain types of cancer.

 

The environmental effect

Meat eating has a high effect on the environment, in terms of land used to produce food for the animals and water used to feed and clean the animals. 51% of the land on planet earth is used for meat production. Chicken production releases 25% more CO2 than grain production

It takes more than 15,000 liters  of water to produce 1 kg of meat, while producing 1kg of rice  only requires 3000  liters of water. it takes up to 10 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of meat. More than 90 percent of all Amazon rainforest land cleared since 1970 is used for grazing livestock to feed animals. In addition, one of the main crops grown in the rainforest is soybeans used for animal feed.

Kindness

There is a lot of cruelty and the pain in the production of meat . I would just say that most of us                  ( including me in my meat eating days) know about this fact , but choose to ignore this. Little bit focus or awareness that animals also feel pain and suffering could lead us to drop the meat eating habit easily.

Good options for vegetarians

I have been vegetarian from last 4 years and I can honestly say I never felt the pinch in my taste buds  even once. In Vegetarian foods there are lot of options where in we can get the same or better taste compared to non vegetarian.

If we eat bland cooked meat or fish it has no great taste. The main taste which we get in eating non veg food is more due to the spices and cooking method than due to inherent taste in the meat. Once we realize this we can cook certain vegetable using the similar spices to get a good taste without all the health hazards. There are also newer and more exotic vegetarian options like different types of mushroom, tofu, zucchini, broccoli and avocado which can satisfy both the mind and taste buds. The internet has all the recipes and guidance in this regard.

As Veganism and Vegetarianism is becoming popular all over the world, Even while travelling in traditionally meat eating countries of Europe and England, I always had good vegetarian options.

Availability of Vegetarian meat

Mock meat is a concept which has really helped me to make this transition from meat eating to vegetarianism much more easily. Vegetarian  meat   are products that mimic certain qualities of animal-based meat like textures, flavor, or appearance, for example. They are made from a variety of ingredients such as soy, textured vegetable protein, or wheat gluten, to name a few. They give a similar taste to meat and  help us to enjoy the taste of our favourite food preparations. For Eg I have frequently enjoyed Butter ( veg) chicken or Biryani made from vegetarian meat.

Good mock meat in India is available at the links below

https://www.gooddot.in/

https://vegandukan.com/collections/mock-meat

https://veggiechamp.in/

Making the journey – Winning over the mind

Though all the above information is very clear and logical, the mind gets swayed by desires. Even now after so many years of being a vegetarian , I sometimes get tempted by the smell of chicken frying. But then I remember my higher purpose of transitioning to a vegetarian lifestyle i.e. my health and long term well being and the moment passes.

Eating food is a deep samskara or pattern and it is very difficult to change the pattern or habit which might have come from so many years. It is tied to the very core of our mind and emotions, and logically we might decide a certain food is not good or healthy for us and decide to reduce it or stop it but there is a high chance we get tempted when we see it and all our noble intentions are gone with the wind.

Or even if we stop it suddenly, it will bring so much tension and stress in the mind when we see others having the food which we are tempted of having. To make this transition smoothly, I would like to share my experience

1. Start slowly- My stopping non veg was a gradual process, rather than abrupt stop. I first slowly cut down on chicken, reducing the frequency from daily to once a week, than once a month, then even lesser then stopped it. Then to the other forms of meat, so it was a slow process which gave my mind and body time to adjust to this new diet and was not a shock to my system. You can follow your own timeline based on your mind and body and this will ensure the transition is a permanent one instead of a temporary one based on some emotional feeling.

 2. Start a yoga practice. Breathing practices and meditation really help in managing the desires of the mind, and really I was able to bring my mind more under my control and divert it from a unhealthy lifestyle which would have brought me so much pain and suffering in the long term to a more healthier lifestyle.  The techniques taught by the Art of Living are very effective in this regard in living much healthier lifestyle. You can find more info on this at

3. More tips on Winning over the mind at this link

Winning over the Mind