Sweets for Hanumanji

On April 17th (2018) evening we reached Kaziranga forest guest house and while we were taking our luggage to our room, a calf came and stood near the car. 

I remembered that there were some plantains with us and I wanted to give one to the calf. But by the time I brought it out, the calf had walked away. I felt a little disappointed.

On 23rd of April we were in Guwahati and visited Basistha temple, which is a Shiva temple constructed by Ahom king Rajeshwar Singha in 1764 along with the gift of 835 bighas of land for the ashram. 

According to the legend, the ashram was founded by the great saint Basistha (Vasishta). There is a waterfall here, and the cave in which sage Vasishta is believed to have meditated is located 5 km inside the ashram.

                                             Cave where  Sage Vasishta meditated 

Hanumanji demanding sweet

When we reached the temple and as I got out of the car, a calf came towards me. As I took out a plantain from the car to give to the calf, I felt somebody pulling my dress with nails. It was a monkey and I got shocked, put the plantain inside the car and closed the door. By then the calf moved to the other side of the car and I told my husband to open the other door, take out the plantain and give to the calf, which he did.

A man nearby was watching this and told me, 'Give a plantain to the monkey, it is expecting one too.' I was considering it, when I saw some more monkeys approaching. I knew I couldn't give to all of them, so dropped the idea and went to the temple. But I felt a bit bad because I chant Hanuman chalisa daily and I didn't give plantain to the monkey when it asked for it.

On the next day we went to the Kamakhya temple. 

                                                                                     Kamakhya temple

                                                                              Bhairavi temple

When I came out after darshan in the main temple and was in front of the Bhairavi temple, suddenly a monkey appeared out of nowhere and snatched the plastic bag of prasad, with coconut, a packet of sweets, and a box of kumkum (that was precious for me) and ran off. It climbed a parapet, opened the bag, took out the packet of sweets and dropped the remaining to the ground. I reached the spot immediately and picked up my valuables. I was happy at this symbolic sweet offering to Hanumanji.

Similar incidence with my daughter

In 2013, at the Pashupatinath temple in Nepal, she sat along with her friends in front of the Bhairava temple to meditate. Due to lack of space, she kept the rudrakshas and the prasadam behind her. Sometime later, a monkey came, grabbed the pack of rudrakshas and ran away. My daughter was sad to lose the Rudraksh.

A stranger helped out, as they watched the monkey sit at an elevation, and asked for the prasadam, which he threw up at the monkey. As the monkey reached out for the sweets, it dropped the packet of rudraksha. She ran and picked it up, heaving a sigh of relief.

Bhairav and Bhairavi.

It is interesting to note where the two incidents happened, the first one in front of Bhairav temple, and the second one in front of Bhairavi temple. In both cases, the monkeys took away things from us while we were on the left side facing the temple and got it back from the right side.

Hanumanji blessed the kumkum for me and the rudraksha for my daughter!

How to do daily Havan at home

Messages of the Spirit

On coming back home after I felt the intense vibration in my third eye during the group meditation in Sri Lanka, I continued my daily meditation connecting with the third eye of the Ganesha idol. Three months later, my Guru sent a message for me to meet him and he gave further instructions for my path. He told that all obstacles on my path have been removed and I needed to be more open to receive from beyond. In my mind, it was, ‘Obstacles removed! Who removes obstacles? Of course Lord Ganesha.’ Now I understood why I was guided to do that meditation!

Majestic Eagle for further guidance

Three months later when we visited the Eagle Square, or Dataran Lang in Langkawi, I was immediately captivated by the 12 metre-tall statue of Eagle. 

It is one of Langkawi’s best known manmade attractions, a large sculpture of an eagle poised to take flight. When I looked into its eye, I felt it was conveying something. 

I couldn’t make any sense at that time.

Eagle is supposed to convey the powers and messages of the spirit; it is man's connection to the divine because it flies higher than any other bird. The eagle is symbolic of the importance of honesty and truthful principles.

The eagle with its keen eyes symbolizes perspicacity, courage, strength and immortality, but is also considered "king of the skies" and messenger of the highest Gods. With these attributed qualities the eagle became a symbol of power and strength in Ancient Rome.

I had yet to wait to get the meaning it was trying to convey. Inside the 3D museum in Langkawi, there it was! The eagle was handing out the key for my further journey. 

I got the message and thanked the Universe for continuously guiding me on my path.

When Eagle appears, it bestows freedom and courage to look ahead.

What is the good time for spiritual practice?

First, do we need to do any spiritual practice at all? Well, it depends on what you want to do with your life. If you look at the animals, they are completely programmed. They will eat when they are hungry, sleep after sun set and procreate at specific times. They can’t alter it.

It is humans who are endowed with the power to change the course of their lives. They can, by their deeds, rise to divinity, fall to the status of a demon, or just remain human. If we intend to exude divinity, we need to start spiritual practice in our youth, or preferably earlier than that, which may be possible if you are blessed with parents who have spiritual practices.

I will start in old age

This is what I have heard many times, ‘This is the time to enjoy life. We will turn to spirituality when we turn sixty.’ Oh, really? After spending sixty years of materialistic and mundane physical life, you think you can turn to spirituality? Unfortunately, it just doesn’t happen.

What spiritual practice is good to start with?

As  human beings, we are always in search of peace and bliss. If we consider that as the center of the circle, which is our life, we can reach that center through various methods. The secret is in being at it. Persistence and perseverance are needed to reach the goal. Having said that, we have to choose a technique that can be incorporated into our lives without causing too much inconvenience to us, or the family members.

Fortunately for me, I was spiritual from the beginning and puja, praying and chanting started right from early childhood. But my spiritual practice got a boost when I learned Reiki in 1997, though I was totally unaware of the spiritual aspect of Reiki at the time of getting the training.

Reiki is a good method to start with, because it gently leads you on, bringing whatever is needed for your spiritual growth.

Does the time of practice matter?

Undoubtedly Brahma Muhurta (4 to 6 am) is the best time for spiritual practice. When majority of the people are sleeping, we can feel the silence and it takes us deep within ourselves. It helps us to transcend our physical nature and get in touch with the spiritual dimensions.

I was in the habit of getting up at 4 am from early on, but when I ask people to get up early, I ask them, ‘Can you get up at least 10 minutes before  6 am?’ so that they can have a glimpse of the Brahma Muhurta. But unfortunately, many of them can’t keep at it even. 

In the twilight zone between day and night (dawn and dusk), everything is in a state of flux. So our ability to transcend limitations is more. If you can’t meditate during the Brahma Muhurta, dawn and dusk are next options for meditation or other practice.

Reiki practice – in the morning or night?

When we do Reiki healing in the morning, it is charging us. We are filled with balanced positive energy, ready to take on the world.

Reiki healing at night, before going to sleep, does the cleansing. Whatever negative energies we have accumulated during the day, through interactions with others that lead to emotional turmoil, from reading the newspapers or watching TV, or from our overactive mind that enjoys negative thinking, Reiki removes all of that and we are assured a peaceful sleep.

So, ideally, it is better to do Reiki healing twice daily,  just before sleep and on getting up first thing in the morning. But, as I told earlier, we have to decide what will be conducive for our routine life. If one is  a home maker, going out and interacting with people to get things done and watching TV serials, self-healing in the evening/night is good.

If you are in the corporate world and has to meet so many deadlines and the office work needs a lot of mental energy, healing in the morning will charge you up to tackle the day efficiently.

Ultimately it is your choice, considering what is it that you want, and what is your life style.  

My changing routines

During the years with growing up children, it was our routine to do puja, prayers, chants and Reiki self healing at dusk time. Now that I am free to adjust my schedule, I do my meditation and Reiki practice at 3.45 am and 9 pm, apart from puja/chanting at 8.30 am and 6 pm.

Lord Krishna influencing the Havan

Since the time I got instructions from Kalima to do havan on Tuesdays and Fridays, I have been following it religiously. On February 2^nd 2018 morning, we got a beautiful gift of Radhakrishna idol. It exuded so much energy and I was so captivated by its beauty.

February 2^nd happened to be a Friday and I started doing havan in the evening as usual. As the flames started to dance, I was seeing images of Krishna, holding the flute, dancing etc., the flames were so different from usual, with distinct images appearing one after the other. I felt they needed to be photographed and got it done. There were 24 photographs.

When I went through the photos, I thought I needed to share this with like-minded individuals, they were so unique. I started making a presentation as a prelude to a video, and were putting comments on each photograph. As I started, I thought, ’There are 24 photographs, what comments am I going to put on all of them?' But it was unbelievable, the words just got streamed through me.  And here is the result. Hope you will enjoy the divine beauty of the havan flame.

Butterfly- back with another message

Today morning when we finished yoga at 6.35 am, it was still dark outside. Since it was quite cold, we had opened only a small area of the window. After closing the window we walked to the other end of the 20 feet hall to pick up the keys and my shawl before locking and getting out. Suddenly a big butterfly started flying around my husband. It kept flying for sometime and then sat on the book shelf. We were surprised to see a butterfly while it was still dark outside, and the yoga hall was on the third storey.

Many cultures associate butterflies with souls. I am well aware of the previous messages butterflies had brought into my life. Jokingly I asked my husband, “Who is trying to contact you?” During our morning tea time he told me that while doing yoga, he was thinking of a close relative who died some time back.

Later when I was having a telephone conversation with my daughter, she remarked, “I don’t know why this song is stuck in my head since I woke up today morning. Sometimes it happens that when I wake up, there will be a song playing in my mind, but they are always relevant for the day. This one doesn’t make any sense.”

Then she started singing the song, it was Adele’s ‘Hello’ song. The words went like this:

“Hello from the other side

I must've called a thousand times

To tell you I'm sorry

For everything that I've done

But when I call, you never seem to be home

Hello from the outside

At least I can say that I've tried

To tell you I'm sorry, for breaking your heart

But it don't matter

It clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore”

While she was singing the song, I told her about the butterfly’s visit in the morning. Suddenly it made sense. She went into a cold shiver. Those words were addressed to my husband. And it made absolute sense, coming from the departed soul he was thinking about while practicing yoga!

The sickness of wellness tourism

Disillusion with modern medicine has brought an increase in the awareness levels on alternative and complementary medicine. When conventional medicine fail to control symptoms and the side effects start showing up, people look for treatments that are  natural and help them feel more in control.

Yoga centres, ayurvedic spas, naturopathy/wellness centres and energy healing centres are mushrooming along the length and breadth of Asian countries. They are inspiring tourists to embark on feel good trips to engage in wellness activities. These wellness programmes are generally tailored, packaged and marketed to lure the wealthy westerners.

In 2015, India figured among the top 20 spa markets, accounting for 4,734 spas, providing employment to 55,862, earning revenue of $1.46 billion. People are travelling in huge numbers to tourist destinations seeking healthcare. Often they prefer to take wellness treatment outside their native country where the quality of healthcare is high and the cost is significantly lower. Wellness centres provide numerous options for sight-seeing, touring and exploring healthy diets.

Wholesome rejuvenation & other benefits

Rejuvenation of mind, body and soul is possible using alternative therapies. Wellness tourists may be under the guidance of skilled professionals. They can get personalized attention. They may save substantially as the cost of treatment in health tourism destination is much less than that of home country. This provides a chance to experience a new culture, and an opportunity to participate in stress release programme. They get to enjoy natural beauty and relaxation during the recovery period.

The lurking sickness

Not all centres are having the main focus on the wellness of the participants. If one is sensitive to the energy, it becomes difficult to stay in that environment even for two days. When all involved in providing service are totally money centred, it becomes very palpable and suffocating.

When one looks deeply at the attitude of the providers involved- agents in native country, co-ordinating agents, people who render the treatments, it is rare to find that all of them are genuine. All the money is taken in advance and when they find the service not up to the expectation or not in accordance with what had been promised, there is nothing that can be done.

The yoga teacher, who is guiding you, may have just got a crash course certificate and he himself has not yet experienced the benefits of yoga. There is no way that the person receiving ayurvedic massage can ascertain that the oils used for massage are genuine or the technique of massage is correct. I have come across people who didn’t have any health issues and got into problems after massage. I also happen to see a person canvassing people to join his meditation session, and his own mind’s restlessness was very evident. Under his guidance, what calmness and peace of mind one can achieve is anybody’s guess!

Finally, wellness tourism may give rise to sex tourism, which may hamper culture of the health tourism destination.

Keep expectations under check

Before embarking on a wellness tourism trip, it is important to have realistic expectations. Do your home work well and have a reality check on the background of the wellness centre and the health providers.

References:

1.       http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/travel/030717/india-ranked-12-among-wellness-tourism-nations.html

2.       http://rdmodernresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/224.pdf