MyLifeYoga

Yogananda as a high school student. Painting by his younger brother

The eighth limb of yoga is Samadhi. This is a state when the mind is completely still and consciousness enters a different state. It is rare to find a description of how the Samadhi state looks to an outside observer. Here is an account given by Yogananda’s younger brother Sananda Lal Ghosh. Both Sananda and Yogananda are quite young when this story unfolds. Yogananda is still in his teens. Sananda refers to Yogananda as “Mejda” (this means middle brother in Bengali). Their father is also an accomplished yogi and does not approve of public demonstrations of yogic powers. So when this incident happens both Yogananda and his younger brother are trying to keep it secret from their father:

One day when I was with Mejda I asked him what Samadhi was, and if I could see him in that state. At first he hesitated, saying, “You are too young. You wouldn’t understand.” Then he paused and said, “All right, come to my room tonight after midnight.”

Excited, I had no difficulty in remaining awake that night. At midnight, I got up and made my way to Mejda’s room. He was sitting on his bed, meditating. A mat had been spread on the floor in front of his bed in readiness. He asked me to sit on it, and then told me:

“Samadhi is withdrawing the mind from the body and merging it in God through a method of concentration. Salvation from this world of maya is achieved through Samadhi. When the mind of the devotee becomes wholly absorbed in the sound that arises from the anahata chakra, the twelve-petaled lotus of the heart center, the center of feeling, the buddhi, or the intellect, at the ajna chakra becomes pure and fixed upon God. All motion in the body ceases. This state of mind interiorization and body stillness, and resultant inner awareness of God, is called yoga (union). The devotee realizes that he is not the mortal body; he is the immortal Spirit that became the body. This perception frees him from all sorrow. He realizes that, like Spirit, he is ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Joy.” Continue reading →

In March 1995, a physician was working on writing an article “Laughter – the best medicine” for a health journal. The name of the physician was Dr Madan Katari and as he researched his article he came across studies that pointed to immense benefits of laughter. Impressed by what he had found he decided to test it to see if it would really work. He managed to convince four other friends to help him with this experiment.

On 7 am March 13 Dr. Madan Kataria and his four friends assembled in a park in the neighborhood and began by telling each other jokes. In just a few days the word spread and the group quickly grew to 50 people. The technique was that the group would stand in a circle and one person would move to the center and tell a joke and the rest would laugh. But they quickly ran into a snag. As the stock of jokes diminished, poor tasteless jokes surfaced that offended more than humored. The group faced dissolution as members threatened to quit. Dr. Kataria asked for one more day to see if he could solve the problem. Continue reading →

A new study has unambiguously implicated sugar’s role in causing Diabetes. Here are eleven things you need to know about sugar:

1. Sugar is Toxic

This study proves that sugar is toxic. Its connection with causing diseases like Diabetes is now confirmed. This is done with the same level of confidence that connects cigarettes with lung cancer.

2. It is not just Diabetes

While the focus of the study has been Diabetes, it does not mean that this is the only bad effect of sugar on our bodies. Now that the cat is out of the bag, other studies will follow. Expect more skeletons to fall out of the closet.

3. You may have to take charge

Given the weight of scientific evidence, it would be logical to expect a regulatory response so that addition of sugar to processed foods is severely controlled. However do not hold your breath for this. Just like the tobacco industry fought for decades denying in-your-face scientific evidence, this may happen here too. The key take away is that you have to take charge of your health rather than wait for authorities to act. Continue reading →