Guest guest Posted March 4, 1999 Report Share Posted March 4, 1999 krishNabhaktas, Some of you must have read the excellent postings of sri Shrisha Rao on the Dvaita list regarding the translation of sri krishNAmR^ita mahArNava by sri madhvAchArya which described the spiritual benefits of doing the fast on Ekadashi. For those of you have missed it, they are available in archives of the Dvaita list at www.dvaita.org. I have been reading some books on the medical benefits of fasting that I want to share with you. One of the books has some portions available on the web. The book is called " Miracle of fasting " by Dr. Bragg. One chapter of the book is available at the web site www.bragg.com. I recommend the book to people who want to explore the issue further. Some of the benefits mentioned are: * Fasting will clean the toxins out of the body especially in the digestive system. All the toxins accumulated in the colons and intestines will be flushed out.. He recommends drinking 8-10 glasses of water per day during fasting to flush out the toxins. He says that you can see the composition of urine change during fasting (Sorry to be graphic here). * All the toxins accumulated from the environment and the food will be flushed out during fasting. * Fasting can be used to control diabetes and other diseases. * The body will feel light and energetic after fasting. He says that he could go and climb a mountain immediately after fasting. * Mind will be clear and stress-free after a fast. Your will power will increase. Other recommendations are: * Use a juice fast of drinking carrot, tomato and other juices to transition to complete fasting. * He also recommends longer duration fasts of 3, 7 and 10 days when you get more comfortable with single day fasting. * When you break the fast, start with light foods like Juice and salads especially after longer term fasts. * One can do a normal set of activities during day when you are doing a single day fasting even though it may take some time to get to this stage. Even though I do only a partial fast with very limited amount of food instead of the full fast at this time, I have realized some of the benefits mentioned above. I know that several readers of this list do a complete fast on Ekadashi. I request them to post their experiences with fasting, how did they get started on fasting and the benefits they have realized. mAdhva society in general has been following the Ekadashi fasting to a large extent compared to other traditions. I just want to point out the various benefits of fasting in addition to the spiritual benefits outlined in sri krishNAmR^ita mahArNava. srimadAcharya has given us a very valuable tool to improve us in spiritual, physical and mental ways with Ekadashi fasting. Regards, Vasu -- ================================= Vasu Murthy Bell Atlantic Global Networks web page: members.xoom.com/vmurthy vmurthy W:703-247-7314 Fax:703-247-7359 ================================== Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 1999 Report Share Posted March 5, 1999 Hello everyone, Quite a few rituals and day to day practices have fallen by the wayside, not because people don't want to observe them but are not familiar with their merits. Poor recordkeeping definitely has contributed with some things especially appearing farcical. It would be very educative if we bring some of these to light. Some examples. 1 . Before eating, why do we have to circle the plate or banana leaf with water?? 2. What is the purpose of Chitravathi and why only during the first meal?? 3. The merits of practicing Madi. You get the drift and there are hundreds more. Explanations vary from the logical to down right absurd. I have myself heard several versions and would therefore not like to provide one at this time and would rather leave it to you all to come up with a legitimate answer. I am afraid that the whole thing will get watered down further over the years and the future generations will have no record to substantiate the reasoning behind these practices, let alone defend it. Here is a funny example. It appears that the head of the family would always pick up their pet cat and cover it with a basket to contain it and thus prevent it from messing up the annual ceremony of his departed mother. This used to go on year after year. A few generations later, the family did not have a cat. However come, ceremony time, one of the sons used to borrow a cat and cover it with a basket. Absurd, but they thought it was part of the ritual !!!! Similar absurdities are floating around so it may be in our best interest to set the records straight. Food for thought. Regards. Ramarao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 1999 Report Share Posted March 5, 1999 Dear Rama Rao, Thanks for the joke. Really I enjoyed it. Hope to get some more jokes for the three conditions written in your letter. With blessings to you & Uttara. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.