Ekadasi upavasam and Autophagy

Ekadasi upavasam and Autophagy

Ekadasi upavasam and this year Nobel prize..what is the connection. .Please read on...

This year's Nobel prize for medicine has gone to a Japanese scientist Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi for his research on autophagy. Autophagy means to "self eat". In other words, the process by which the human body eats it own damaged cells and unused proteins. Autophagy is a natural process and also one which occurs in cases of starvation. The failure of autophagy is one of the main reasons for accumulation of damaged cells which eventually leads to various diseases in the body. Autophagy is important to prevent/fight cancer and also plays a vital role in degrading and 'consuming' cells infected by bacteria and viruses.

We have to observe here that ancient India had recommended a practice of fasting (Ekadasi) one day in a fortnight. Many of us religiously follow this practice to this day as a penance for spiritual progress without any idea of the biological and therapeutic benefits of this practice. Through this process of fasting induced autophagy, our body repaired its damaged and degenerated cells or used up the proteins of the damaged cells for its survival.

Whenever modern science conquers a frontier in any field, it somehow relates back to a quaint spiritual practice followed in India for generations.

A day in a fortnight spent in prayer and divine contemplation was a tonic for the mind and soul while the practice of fasting ensured that the body would heal and rejuvenate itself.

Clearly, our ancients believed in a process of holistic healing of both the body and the mind.  They were able to, quite remarkably, connect the yearning for spiritual progress in a human being with the biological necessity of the human body. One cannot but marvel, and bow our heads with admiration and reverence, at their wisdom and deep scientific understanding of the body and the mind.

What's​ the size of God?

What's​ the size of God?   Excellent reading

A boy asked the father: _What’s the size of God?_ Then the father looked up to the sky and seeing an airplane asked the son: What’s the size of that airplane? The boy answered: It’s very small. I can barely see it. So the father took him to the airport and as they approached an airplane he asked: And now, what is the size of this one? The boy answered: Wow daddy, this is huge! Then the father told him: Like this is God, His size depends on how distant you are from Him. The closer you are to Him, the greater He will be in your life!

How quickly can God be realised?

THERE IS NO NEED TO GO TO TEMPLE TO MEET GOD, BUT GOD ONLY SHALL COME AND MEET YOU 

A king was strolling on his terrace in the evening. 

By chance, his sight fell on the market where he saw a saint roaming around. 

The saint was walking  in such a blissful state as though he did not belong to this world at all.

The king was a man of good culture. The king instructed his men to stop that saint wherever he was and take him to the saint immediately. 

On receiving the command, the king’s men immediately readied the chariot and took the king to the saint. 

The king apologised for stopping him in the middle of the market and prayed him to answer one question.

“What is your question?” asked the saint.

The question asked by the king was

: “How quickly can God be realised?”

“Oh king! You know the answer very well,” replied the saint

“How is that I know the answer?” confusingly asked the king.

The saint then went on to explain saying: 

If in my mind, had I thought of trying to meet you, then there would have been many difficulties along the way, and it would have taken very long. I am not even certain whether it would be possible to meet you or not. 

But whereas, in your mind, you thought about meeting me, and you were able to do so immediately? 

Oh king! In the same way, if it comes in God’s mind to meet you, then there will be no delay in meeting him.”

“But how can the thought come in God’s mind to meet me?” asked the king.

To which the saint replied: “How did you get the thought to meet me?”

The king said: “When I saw that you were blissfully immersed in your own world, totally oblivious of everything around you like the noisy street, market activity, stores with valuable items, men and attractive women, you immediately got my attention and then I thought of meeting you in person.”

The saint said: “O’ king! In the same way, when you become immersed in God and always remain ecstatic about him and lead your life with complete happiness and contentment, oblivious of the worldly attractions, then the thought will come in God’s mind to meet you, and he will come running to meet you.”

This is all that is required to meet God — nothing more and nothing less.

We should strive to be blissfully immersed in our own world, irrespective of situations in our life. 

This is a sign of our evolution as a human being — and this is something God takes notice of immediately. 

He is tired of seeing people pray to him about same old things, of driving problems away, or asking for materialistic gains.

But God rarely comes across people who are happy all the time and who also spread joy around them, and hence they attract immediate attention from the almighty. 

So let us become unconditionally cheerful and spread joy all around