Rudraksha - The Beads Known as Shiva's Tears

The word Rudraksh literally means “tears of Shiva”.

Rudraksh are the dried seeds of a tree, which grows in a select locations of South East Asia, predominantly in the upper Himalayan mountain range of the Indian subcontinent bordering Nepal. A few Rudraksh trees have also been sighted in parts of the Velliangiri Mountains, in the Western Ghats.

There are many legends in Indian scriptures and mythology that describe the divine origin of the Rudraksh tree. According to one legend, Shiva sat in meditation for many millennia with his eyes closed. Upon opening his eyes, he shed tears of ecstasy, which fell to the earth and became the holy Rudraksh tree. Rudraksh beads were Shiva’s gift to the world.

The fundamental nature of the Rudraksha is to cleanse your aura. An aura can be pure white to pitch black and in between there are million shades. The person’s aura can tell you about that person’s health and mental state and his karmic structure.

It doesn’t mean that the moment you put on a Rudraksha, you’ll have a halo around your head or neck. When a person tries to purify himself every little support helps. A Rudraksha mala becomes one of those supports.

Medically research has proven that a Rudraksha mala lowers blood pressure and calms your nerves down. People with many skin ailments also seem to find relief after wearing the Rudrakhsa mala. The Rudraksha also protects you from negative energies around you. It Is especially good for people who travel a lot because traveling and different kind of foods cause a havoc in the person’s system.

We usually prefer that it be worn alone in a silk thread. Often when it is strung in silver or gold, the beads tend to get cracked.

You can wear it after purifying it 24 hours in ghee and 24 hours in milk. Wipe the beads with a clean cloth, but do not wash them with soap. Conditioning should take place every six months.

It is good to wear it at all times and even during the bath if you are not using with hot water or chemical soaps.

Rudraksh should not come in contact with metal, therefore it is advisable not to place them in metal containers.

A Rudraksha is supposed to be a one time buy, and a lot of fake Rudraksha malas are being sold in the market. In fact there is a very poisonous seed called Badraksha, and that mala too is being sold in the market. It looks a lot like the Rudraksha.

Buy the mala from a reliable source, as it is not easy for a layman to know the real mala from a fake one.

The following is a list of Rudraksh available through the Isha Yoga Center, which have been selected by Sadhguru for use by the common man, with the corresponding attributable properties:

Panchmukhi : These are five-faced Rudraksh which can be worn by anyone above 14 years of age. It helps cultivate inner freedom and purity.

Dwimukhi : These are two-faced Rudraksh intended for married persons. It is supportive for marital relationships and should be worn by both husband and wife.

Shanmukhi : These are six-faced Rudraksh intended for children below 14 years of age. This Rudraksh aids in proper physical and mental development and draws qualities of motherly love toward the child.

Gowrishankar : These are beads which look like two beads fused together and can be worn by anyone above 14 years of age. It aids in prosperity and balancing the Ida and Pingala nadis (energy channels) and activates the seven chakras.

Navagraha temples map

Effect of different houses in Horoscope

From each house different aspects of human life can be studied. Here it is being revealed what all we can study from each house.

First house

From the house we can know about the physique, early life, childhood, health, character, physical build, complexion, virtues, will power, fame, beauty, age, comforts and sorrows, mind, physical frame, nature and one's inclinations. Gemini, Libra, Aquarius and Virgo signs are good in this house.

Second house

Wealth, paternal property, family, friends, cattle, imprisonment, captivity, eyes, nose, voice, beauty, singing, love, comforts, savings, sale and purchase, brokerage, food, artistic tendencies, habits, reason of death, accidents, selfishness, personality and secrets are studied from the second house.

Third house

Younger sisters and brothers, servants, courage, valour, trade, perseverance, ornaments, bravery, patience, asthama, kidney, cough, breath problems, Prannayam, Yogic tendencies, cleverness, nephews and nieces and other family relations are studied from this house.

Fourth house

Mind, peace, family life, motherly love, home, village, vehicles, friends, relatives, houses, property, gardens, stomach ailments, entertainment, deceit, kindness, affection, land related matters, neck and shoulders are studied from this house. This house in particular relates to the mother and vehicles. Cancer, Pisces and Capricorn are the favourable signs here.

Fifth house

Education, children, grandfather, skills, feelings, fame, brains, managerial skills, humbleness, womb, losing a job, means of earning wealth, sudden monetary gains like lottery or gambling, digestive power, virtues, eloquence and worldly aspects are studied from this house.

Sixth house

Enemies, worries, diseases, quarrels, law suits, wounds from knife, subordinates, harm, maternal uncle, maternal grandfather, pain, debts, misunderstandings, sorrows, ailments and wrong actions are studied from this house.

Seventh house

Spouse, health of spouse, love, sex life, daily jobs, pleasures, problems related to sex life, ailments of sex organs, business, marriage, love affairs, success or failure in love, beauty, appearance, character and complexion of the spouse, divorce, differences among husband and wife, business partners, diplomacy, happiness, death and problem of pile are studied from this house. Scorpio sign is strong here.

Eighth house

Age, mental tension, death, love for archaeology, settling abroad, secret plans, savings, buried treasures, knowledge of past lives, life after death, debts, wars, loss of wealth, cause of death, untimely death, lowliness, downfall, travel by sea, sex disorders are studied from this house.

Ninth house

Fortune, righteousness, religious inclinations, change of faith, glimpse of the Divine, Guru, Sadhana, divine help, virtues, travelling on pilgrimage, father, luxuries, mental build up, travel by air, charity, Yagnas, grandchildren, kindness, fame, leadership, duty, sincerity are studied from this house. The planets Sun and Jupiter are favourable if placed here.

Tenth house

State, fame, job, retirement, respect, father, benefits from father, business, father's job, respect in the society, authority, rights, luxuries, pleasures, profits, nature of job, office cadre, State job, foreign tours, self confidence, knowledge and style of life are studied from this house. Here the signs Aries, Taurus and Leo are considered strong.

Eleventh house

Profits, earnings, fulfillment of needs, secret wealth, ornaments, clothes, vehicles, cattle, travel by air, elder brothers and sisters and their numbers, gains from them and free and independent thinking are studied from this house.

Twelfth house

Losses, charity, spending, punishment, fine, bad habits, relations with outside world, enmity, eye problems, extravagance, sudden losses, emancipation and death are studied from this house.

The above mentioned aspects of life can be studied from the respective houses.

In brief we can say that we can study the personality from the first house, wealth from the second brothers and sisters from the third, mother from the fourth, education and children from the fifth, enemies from the sixth, spouse from the seventh, age from the eighth, fortune from the ninth, work from the tenth, earnings from the eleventh and spending from the twelfth.

Crafts

Boxes

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Relationship is an offering - Sadhguru

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Remember to Acknowledge

You can acknowledge others in many ways. When someone calls you, acknowledge the call. When they send you something, remember to say thank you. When someone does a good job, say so. When they apologize, acknowledge that too.

It’s especially important to acknowledge acts of kindness – doing so reinforces the act and encourages more of the same. We all benefit.

Almost everyone loves to be acknowledged. We love to have our phone calls returned, to be told we are doing a great job, to be thanked for working so hard, to have our creativity appreciated.

People remember acknowledgment and they appreciate it. When you need a favor, or advice, the fact that you have previously taken the time to acknowledge someone often comes back to help you. It makes others want to help you and to see you succeed.

Also, people who have been acknowledged genuinely and with love are very forgiving. They will see beyond your mistakes and failures and forgive you freely. Needless to say, all of this makes your life easier and far less stressful.

Is there any benefit to fasting? - Sadhguru

Sadhguru: In yoga, the ideal break between one meal and the next meal is eight hours. You can manage these kinds of meals even when you are working outside. But a minimum of five hours is a must for everybody. This is because only when your stomach is empty, your excretory system functions properly.
See, you can do this as an experiment: let us say your measure that you are eating so many calories, or your one meal is this many grams. You make the same meal into two portions and eat it twice a day. If you make the same meal into ten portions and eat ten times a day, you will see when you eat ten times; you will put on more weight. This is simply because the excretory system is not efficient. A lot of garbage, which would have gone out of system, will not go out of the system because constantly the stomach is full. When there is food in the stomach, when the digestive process is happening, the excretory system does not function very efficiently. Only when the stomach is totally empty, the cleansing happens well.
Have you observed… when you are very sick, very weak, and you get up from the bed, how you walk? Every step in full awareness, isn’t it? As you become less of a body, your awareness of other dimensions within yourself naturally becomes enhanced. When food is served before you, if you are too much of a body, if you are hungry you know, both your hands will go for it. When you are very hungry, all your body wants to do is eat. But now, you could take a moment, before you start eating, to silently express your gratitude to everything that has brought this food to you – the land, the farmer, the vendor, the person who cooked it, the one who served it, and to the food itself for offering its life for yours, before you start eating. A simple act like this loosens you from your body. It reminds you that you are not the body. When you are very hungry, you are the body. Just give it a little space and suddenly you are not that. Hunger is there, you are there, and it is okay. Misunderstanding this has led to simply torturous fasting.
It is important that you don’t fast forcefully. If you observe the natural cycle of the body, there is something called a mandala. The mandala means that every 40 to 48 days, the system goes through a certain cycle. In every cycle, there are three days when your body does not need food. If you are conscious of how your body functions, you will become aware that on these days, your body does not need food. And without effort, you can go without food on that day.

Once in every 11 to 14 days, you may not feel like eating. On that day, you should not eat. You know, even dogs and cats have this awareness? Have you noticed that on particular days, they will not eat? They are aware of their system. On the day the system says “no food,” it is a cleaning-up day, they will not eat. Since you don’t have this awareness, they fixed Ekadashi. Ekadashi comes once in every 14 days in the lunar calendar. At least every 14 days, you could go without food. If you are unable to go without food, if your activity levels are such and you don’t have the necessary sadhana to support you, then you could go on a fruit diet. Just observe your own system, and you may notice that on certain days, you do not really need to eat. Forcing food on those days is not a good thing to do.

Suppose one wants to fast for a certain period, it must always be supported with the right kind of spiritual practices or sadhana. If you forcefully fast without preparing your body and mind sufficiently, you will only cause damage to your health. But if your body is properly prepared, if you are mentally also in a certain state, if you are prepared energy-wise, then fasting can be of much benefit to you.
If you are constantly drinking coffee or tea, then, if you fast, it will become torture for you; fasting will be very difficult. So if you want to fast, first of all prepare the body by eating the right kind of foods. If it is a great torture when you hold back your urge to eat, you will only cause damage to the system. Maybe you are thinking of performing some kind of a feat “I did not eat for three days,” and you want to go and tell that to the whole world. Please don’t do such things. It is of no benefit to you. You will just make yourself weak, that is all. Just understanding the body and coming to a deeper understanding of how the system functions and what is the best thing to do, is more important than doing something like this.

It may not be a good thing for everybody to fast, but it has many benefits if it is done with proper understanding. So finding the right situation for the system and taking off food at that time will be a good thing to do.

Source: http://www.blog.ishafoundation.org/