The science behind pranayama

Instincts and Dreams!!!!!!

So....... Its been some time since my last post. This post too is not too elaborate or something that requires detailed analysis or deep thinking.

Some thoughts come in life just like that and go. May be in real life or may be in your dream. Just wondering whether it is natural or some interconnection is there in these things. I bet almost all of you would have come across this at least couple of times in your life.

1. Well, at times, when I am conversing with someone, I had felt that I said the same dialogue sometime somewhere to some person (persons change or no clarity in them but the dialogues are 100% the same).

2. Some thoughts in life come as an instinct. We cant say it as a future predictor as it does not happen every time. But sometimes, we feel 100% sure that something is going to happen particularly and that happens. One example is when I was about to write my M.com Examination and I was travelling in bus to the Exam Hall, I had a thought in my mind that my handbag is going to be pick-pocketed. I was thinking what will I do if that happens or some thoughts like that. Exactly the same day it happened and I realized this once I got down from the bus. Everything including my hall ticket is gone. Is it just a coincidence? or our mind really alerts us? If yes, why it does not happen everytime?

3. Another thing to mention here is dreams. Dreams are part and parcel of our sleep. But sometimes we feel that a particular dream is coming again and again. Some examples are missing a bus/train, falling from a high building or tower, writing your exams even after you settle in your life, tooth falling, seeing people die, or seeing dead people alive. These are the most common dreams for everyone. Why these dreams come? Do they have any specific reason or do they show any signal of what is going to happen in the future?

These are the thoughs I wanted to share with you guys today. Have you also felt the same things some time in your life?  Please do share them.....

Thanks for reading!!!!!

Our Manthras and Slokas

I remember a teacher in my school days who asked,"You are telling many slokas but they have no meaning. Is it not something funny? Of course, her religion is Christianity and their Holy Script, The Bible can easily be understood when you read it. It is also translated in many languages. Even if you do not get in-depth knowledge in it, you can really understand the basics. In Hinduism, we basically cannot identify only one script as our Holy Script. We have many scriptures like Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads and Bagavath Gita. And all of them are in Devanagari (writing Sanskrit). Almost all of the mantras and slokas that we tell now are in Sanskrit and thats why we do not know their meanings now. When you refer to my previous post "A very basic question" I would have talked about Gurukula education where we studied these vedas and puranas only. So obviously people knew its meaning when they recited the mantras. But gradually, with our adaption of western education system, we stopped learning our scriptures and texts and hence we do not know anything now. Coming back to my teacher's question. At that age, I did not have the mind maturity to answer her back saying "Our Slokas and Mantras all have meaning. Only thing is they are in Sanskrit, which is not a popular language now and hence we do not understand their meaning.  Just because we do not understand them, we cannot say that they have no meaning."

Now, everyone of you might have also encountered same question atleast once in your life. Or you could have thought atleast in your mind, We are telling these slokas as a part of our everyday life. But what is the meaning for it? How many of us really know the meaning of "Bhajagovindam" or "Vishnu Sahasranamam" or "Shiva Sthuthi"? 

When we talk about Hindu Spritualism and Science, This is one of the major hurdles which is preventing us from knowing many things from our scriptures. If only we know sanskrit, we can understand the meaning. And if only we know the meaning, we can see its application in everyday life and wonder about the knowledge and wisdom of our ancient people. But that is almost impossible.

Luckily, with the improvement of technology, we can find many details in google with one click now. But is it enough? Can we say that all of our scriptures have been translated and even if they are translated, are they in an understandable mode? The answer is probably no. So, what can we do? All that we can do for the time being is we should attempt to learn the meaning of the basic slokas and mantras that we recite in everyday life (Not talking about the bigger or
complicated lenghthy mantras but atleast the basics).

When we attempt to try this and keep continuing this as an ongoing process, we ourselves will know many things one by one. Yes, our mantras are carefully framed and each one has tons of positive energy and vibration, which is once again a science (Secret key to happiness).

Let us learn the meaning of one basic sloka today :

Gajaananam Bootha Ganaathi Sayvitham 
Kapitha Jambu Phala saara Bakshitham 
Umaa Sutham Shoka Vinaasha Kaaranam 
Namaami Vigneshwara Paadha Pankajam 

Meaning

Gajaananam - I namashkar Gajananam (who has the face of an elephat)
Bootha Ganaathi Sayvitham - Who is served by the Bhoothas (Bhutha Ganangal)
Kapitha Jambu Phala saara Bakshitham - Who eats the core of fruits (kapitha and jambu are kinds of fruits)
Umaa sutham - who is the Son of Uma (Parvathi)
Shoka vinaasha kaaranam - who is the reason for our sorrows to get destroyed
Namaami vigneshwara paadha pankajam - I bow my head to lord Vigneshwara's lotus feet.

Please refer to this website to know the meaning of some other basic slokas. And let us pass on our hidden gems and secrets to our next generation too... of course, with its proper meaning.

http://www.slokakids.com/index.php?renderpage=slokasflash.html&catgid=8&catgname=Ganesh%20&selecteditempath=http://www.slokakids.com/Slokas_swf_files/Gajaananam%20Slokagajaananam.swf