Facts on Raw Food By Pujya Guruji

I asked an intelligent group of people "What is the main cause for an ecological imbalance?" Some were CEO's of corporations, some were environmental activists, some were professors of chemistry and Zoology. They said:

Industrialization, lumber logging, wood cutting to make boxes, too many cars, flora chlorides from refrigerators and sprays, population pressure on forests..etc

They were all correct in their own way. Seeing developments from their own expertise, they held a particular cause as the cause. But none of them had a solution to the crisis on hand. No amount of talk of over exploitation will stop others from over industrialization, or logging or population expansion or from building and using more cars.

It is strange that none of these intelligent people said or thought "The cooked food” we consume as the fundamental cause.

They had all taken for granted that the food they eat is the only food. They thought that nothing was required to dramatically change in their own lives.

Some frequently asked questions answered:
Q. What is raw food (Amrut Aahar) or uncooked food?
A. Any natural food item which is not cooked or processed by heat can be called raw (or uncooked) food. This includes fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables, sprouted grains, cereals either in their natural form or with minimal processing like cutting, grating or making juices.

Q. Is it not difficult to digest raw food?
A. Not at all! It is a myth passed on by our elders that raw food is difficult to digest. Actually, it is easier to digest and assimilate raw food.
For example: It takes just 13 hours to digest raw food, whereas it takes about 24 hours to digest cooked food and it takes about 72 hours to digest non-veg and fried food.

Q. But isn't cooking an important part of modern society?
A. Yes man has made it so, without realizing that cooking food is an unnatural and destructive process. Different cooking methods destroy the food to varying degrees. If you were to have raw food and juices, then all the nutrients are preserved. The body directly absorbs and assimilates such food very quickly. Such food is very high in pranic energy also.

Q. You mean to say that cooking has some disadvantages also?
A. Yes of course! There are several disadvantages. Of the several forms of cooking, steaming or boiling seem to be the least harmful. Boiling should be done in minimum water and the water retained and used. Pressure cooking should be done only for optimum time. Deep frying is the worst form of cooking, as it renders the food almost indigestible.

Modern equipments like inframatic or microwave ovens are best avoided. The reason is that they heat up food by setting the molecules of food into vibration. Even after you remove food from the oven, this process continues for some time. This is likely to damage our gastro-intestinal lining, leading to diseases.
However to cure such diseases, requires a whole new approach to life. Patients are therefore advised to seek help from qualified and competent persons.

The Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY) Programmes have consistently proved to be the best training for changing lifestyles to the extent of even curing chronic diseases.

Q. How about milk? It has calcium and is a complete food. Should we not drink milk?
A. This is another peculiar characteristic of man. No other animal drinks milk after infancy, neither does it drink milk of other animals. Whereas man continues to drink cow/buffalo milk even after infancy. The nature of the calcium present in milk is such that it is not absorbed by the body. Every time you drink milk or eat meat, your body loses calcium regardless of how much calcium you take in. This can result in a decrease in bone density, thus leading to fatal disease called "osteoporosis".

Q. So why should we avoid drinking milk?
A. After the age of 4 years, the human system is incapable of fully digesting milk. The enzymes renin which helps in the digestion of milk is present only in children upto 3-4 years of age. Thus adults will find difficult to digest milk, and it will create mucus. In England, milk is called "mucus". Hence people with any problem related to the lungs or sinuses should stop having milk and milk products. They will find instant relief. Curd and butter milk are bit easier to digest than milk.
Over 95% of the people are lactose intolerant. Milk contains mainly lactose sugar. Thus drinking milk can lead to allergies or even diarrhea. Modern doctors realize these facts. They recommend sprouts and soya-milk as the vegetable source of calcium, which is vital for the body.

Natural food is the life giving food. Cooking food takes away their liveliness-imagine how alive you would be if you were cooked for half an hour! By eating such dead food man gets diseases, heart problems, hyper acidity, cancer etc. By eating dead food and stimulating oneself with spices, alcohol and drugs, man becomes corrupt, greedy and violent. On the other hand, the more man eats natural food, the calmer and creative he becomes.

-Guruji Rishi Prabhakar

(Founder of Siddha Samadhi Yoga- SSY)

PROCESS OF CURE

Body is the best doctor and knows how to cure itself.

Body only requires REST to heal.

What is REST? Mind being empty enough to listen to the body and
attend to its needs is called REST.

Normally body is driven by the mind through its habits, obligation, greed and its vision!

REST!...All will be well. Eat, walk sleep, sit, stretch, keep warm as per body needs.

See the miracle of recovery and feel a light body with a mindful of enlightened spirit!

This is Swasthya or Health- Being in oneself!

-Guruji Rishi Prabhakar

PRANIC ENERGY...THE REALITY

Q. What is Pranic energy?

A. Pranic shakti or Pranic energy is the universal life-force present in all living things. It is present in varying degrees in the plant kingdom and in raw food.

Q. So all raw foods are good to eat?

A. No, not necessarily so. Even amongst the raw and natural food, there are different categories as follows:

Positive Prana food: This type of food is abundant in Pranic energy, vital to the body. All the fruits, nuts, sprouts, greens and most of the vegetables come under this category.

Amongst the vegetables, ash gourd is highest in its pranic content. Pepper is also high in prana. 

Zero prana food: This type of food does not give any pranic energy to the body. Potatoes and tomatoes come under this category.

Negative Prana foods: This type of food takes away the pranic energy of the body instead of giving energy. It means that they activate the wrong energy channels of the body. The metabolism is incorrect and therefore they deplete the Pranic energy. Most of them are nervous stimulants and are known as aphrodisiacs. 

The list of negative food (descending order) is: non-vegetarian food, fried food, garlic, onion, chillies, asafetida (hing) and brinjals.

Other negative-prana food items are: mind-altering ‘drugs,’ intoxicants like alcohol, stimulants like tobacco, cigarette, coffee, tea and antibiotics.

Q. A few of the items mentioned in   the negative-prana category are actually used as medicine. How do you explain this discrepancy?

A. Nature has provided unique properties in plants and herbs. Certain items may have medicinal value in certain conditions. However, the same should not be used regularly or as a food-item. Or else they become an addiction.

For example, we all know that garlic has some medicinal properties, which can prevent heart-trouble. As people get used to its taste, they overuse it     as a food item and justify the use. Moreover, eating proper raw food can itself prevent disease.

       

                                        - By Guruji Shri Rishi Prabhakar

Food and Fasting

The highest things happen when you are in fast. You have got the greatest purity when you are in fasting. When you put water, food you suddenly contaminate your consciousness. You will experience now as we eat, drink water all the silence will disappear you will get into Rajas i.e., I want to do this. I want to do that will start right away now.

Go to Hell. What is the problem? I am perfectly all right. The world is perfectly all right without me also it will run. It is there now but as soon as you put food suddenly you seem to come something to the world you want to come and do something. All the world.

See there are different ways of getting PRANA in the world. The highest prana comes from the AKASHA emptiness. From emptiness you get the highest source of PRANA.

When you meditate what happens? You become AKASHA TATWA. When the AKASHA TATWA i.e. emptiness enters you then the whole thing is rejuvenated. You experience this meditation is the direct access to Akash.

Emptiness in the mind. Emptiness in the Body emptiness everywhere. The shunya (zero) power will begin to take over. That’s the Highest, purest, greatest powered Prana. No amount of Yogasanas can come close half a minute akasha. That is why Samadhi is so much more powerful than other methods.

If you were to go by Pancha-koshas this is the subtlest Kosha. This is the kosha of the ego. Akasha can also enter through Vigyanmay Kosha. See when you realize you cannot have an answer the intellect cannot give the answer, there is no answer. When the intellect totally fails to closen when you have got the answer you are sure i.e. everything is closed. As soon as you know you don’t know and you admit you don’t know you cannot know when you come to the place where you cannot know then Vigyanmay Kosha opens there is Prana enters. Like a crack in the Vigyanmay Kosha. This is called as Pranyoga. When you come to know that you cannot know this is pranyoga. Suddenly the enlightenment an opening and you feel very exhilarated.

One of our boys here. He has gone to a programme called Forum. In forum they do only this they show you, you don’t have an answer and suddenly the man is very relieved because he comes to know realize there is no answer and its perfectly all right to be in no answer. That opening is certainly very beautiful but higher than that this is direct attack to Anandmay Kosha and not too many people can remain in that state of instability or not knowingness. Everybody tends to known to know as soon as they know Vigyanmay kosha closes and prana is no more entering the man is now very firm that he knows that he doesn’t know and he knows that he doesn’t know that is the problem because he knows he cannot know but now he comes to intellectually understand that he knows that there is nothing to know and that becomes a knowing.

You know concepts will become, will catch hold of you instead of openness. So all these Prana yoga teachings/trainings all very trick they work only as long as with a teacher who going on abandoning and disciplining your intellect left to yourself you will closen yourself very easily.

So nobodyness automatically be Anandmay Kosha opens. Here this ‘is not nobodyness' the intellect breaking down. Coping to a state of knowing it cannot know and being able to be in state of not knowingness is the Vigyanmay Kosha, You descend it so that prana can enter. You can call it as Energy or Brahmatattva, Universality or harmony with universe. See we are restricting ourselves. The restriction goes away and enormous power begins to float through and that is the life energy. The more life energy is flowing the more vital you are. The lesser the vital energy is flowing less vital you become. “Kundalini” is nothing but this Brahmatattva we call it by different names.

In S.S.Y Kundalini opens automatically you have to do nothing so this is Vigyanmay Kosha. This is the logical argument leading to nowhere gets you the state where you don’t know and you accept you don’t know and you are very happy and you are all right.

Now manomay Kosha. What is the procedure through Manomay Kosha. Manas is simply taking in things from the Senses memory things are being displayed. We attach holding on to the thoughts we give it a reality so when we start noticing that everything is happening and we are not doing this Sakshi Bhawa is manomay Kosha way of decepting through it. You witness the manomay instead of attaching yourself to the manomay Kosha you all can understand this because you all are meditating.

So it is not by focusing on the mind on the content of mind that you will get to anywhere but by simply detaching yourself from the mind itself you will get to somewhere so letting the mind they hold on to the mind instead of coming to the state where they don’t understand they want to understand they call it Jnana yoga.

- By Guruji Shri Rishi Prabhakar

What Foods Are Eaten on the Raw Food Diet?

1. Leafy Greens

Leafy greens are said to be one of the healthiest foods on the planet, as they are rich with calcium and many other vital nutrients that can help you to live a long and healthy life. The darker the green, the healthier they are for you. Leafy greens include kale, spinach, collards, endives, lettuce and many more.

2. Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are also an excellent part of the raw food diet. Fruits are not only sweet and tasty, but they can contain up to 80% water, which helps to hydrate your body from the inside out. Fruits and vegetables include avocados, pineapples, mangoes, peaches, pears, apples, all types of berries, carrots, broccoli, celery and radishes.

3. Herbs and Spices

Herbs and Spices are not only healthy but they can add flavor to all your favorite dishes, whether sweet, sour or salty. These include ginger root, cinnamon, nutmeg, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, sage, dill, mint and lemon balm.

4. Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are high in protein, and contain all the essential oils that your body needs such as the essential omega fatty acids.

5. Other Foods
Other foods that are a part of the raw food diet include protein powders and shakes, raw cacao, maca powder, carob powder and healthier sugar alternatives as well as many other foods. You may not able to find all these foods in your local grocery store, but you can find them in most health food stores. 

 

All of the above foods are rich with antioxidants which help to neutralize toxins and free radicals so that you can live a long and healthy life, free from diseases. In  addition they contain all the necessary enzymes and amino acids for your body to create its own nutrients.

Pranayama - A Science of Breathing

1. Breath and Prana

Breathing is a vital process which starts at the time of birth and stops at the death. The important Oxygen is provided to all the parts, organs and cells of the body. The maximum time a person can survive without oxygen is about 4 minutes. All the metabolic processes require oxygen. Oxygen is life, a vital force. This vital energy is called Prana.

2. Mind and breath

The mind, consisting of thoughts and emotions is closely related to the breath. When the mind is calm and relaxed, the breathing is smooth and slow. If you are stressed breathing is fast & shallow but mostly through chest. When one gets angry, the breathing becomes fast and forceful, in depressed states sighing, when in pain gasping, in anxiety shallow and rapid. In this way, the mental and emotional states affect breathing.

3. Rhythmic Breathing is Pranayama

All the processes and organs like heart, brain, digestive organs, endocrine glands in the body have rhythms. Also the breathing has specific rhythms. Pranayama is Rhythmic breathing, bringing the breath in natural rhythm by controlling the process of inhalation, exhalation and retention.

4. Physiology of Yogic breathing

In process of breathing, one uses diaphragm, intercostals muscles in the chest. The diaphragmatic breathing is called vertical breathing and is considered a more efficient way to inhale air than inhaling while expanding the chest which is called horizontal breathing. In pranayama, one should utilize the diaphragm efficiently to get more oxygen without making more efforts. The diaphragm is attached to the organs like heart and lings, also the liver, spleen, pancreas and stomach from the bottom side. Efficient movement of the diaphragm makes the functioning of these organs more efficient.

"RAW FOOD" The Sole Of Good Health

1. More Energy

One of the biggest raw food benefits is having more energy and feeling younger. Raw food contains simple sugars, enzymes, nutrients, and minerals that our bodies need in an easily digestible form.

2. Easier & Faster Digestion

Raw foods contain living enzymes that help your body digest food quickly and easily. These enzymes are destroyed when food is cooked above 118 degrees Fahrenheit. When you eat a big cooked meal, a large amount of energy is required to digest the meal. With raw food, digestion & elimination are quick and easy.

3. Lots of Fiber and Naturally Detoxes Your Body

Raw food assists in naturally detoxing your body. When you eat plenty of raw foods, you're getting lots of fiber, allowing your body to release mucus, toxins, and accumulated waste. When you eat clean food (fresh fruits and veggies), your body can focus on detoxing, instead of having to focus on digesting unhealthy, artificially processed, dead, and packaged foods. Good health requires good elimination?and fiber assists in that process.

4. More Nutritional Value than Cooked Foods

Foods cooked above 118F will lose enzymes, nutrients, minerals and vitamins. You can compare the energy that surrounds living food to the energy that surrounds cooked/dead food using Kirlian photography. Living foods have more energy, which can be seen with Kirlian photography.

Mudras for Pranayama

1. Chin Mudra

This mudra helps gain control of the lower parts of the lungs in Adham pranayama. Join the tips of the thumb and index finger in as perfect circle as possible. The other three fingers should be kept parallel to one another. Place the Mudra on the thighs and breathe deeply.

2. Chinmaya Mudra

This mudra helps us to breathe better into the middle sections of the lungs in Madhyam pranayama. Join the tips of the index finger and thumb as in Chin Mudra and then curl the other three fingers into the palm. Place the Mudra on the thighs and breathe deeply.

3. Nasarga Mudra

This mudra manipulates the nostrils to control the breath through a single nostril at a time. Turn the index and middle fingers down in against the bridge of the nose with the thumb against the right nostril. The ring and little finger are placed against the left nostril. This is also known as the Nasika Mudra and is used in the alternate nostril breathings practices.

4. Brahma Mudra

This mudra is used in the performance of complete yogic breathing in which we consciously breathe in different lung sections. Make both hands into a fist with the thumb inside the fist. Now hold both hands with the opposing knuckles touching each other in front of the navel and breathe deeply.

5. Adhi Mudra

The upper regions of the lungs are especially utilized when we breathe in the Adhyam pranayama with the Adhi Mudra. Close all the four fingers in a fist over the thumb. Place the mudra on the thigh and breath deeply.

6. Vishnu Mudra

Vishnu Mudra is a hand position with the tip of the middle finger on the point between the eyebrows at the root of the nose. This point is known as the Bhrumadhya Bindu and is related to the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus of the neuro-endocrine system. The index finger closes the right nostril while the ring finger closes the left nostril. The thumb and little finger are spread into a wide "V" shape. This is an excellent mudra for the practice of the alternate nostril and single nostril pranayamas as it has added advantage of focusing the mind on the Bhrumadhya.

7. Jihva Mudra

Relax the lower jaw, and slightly open the mouth, so that the tongue may be rolled into a trough-like "V". This is called the Jihva Mudra or Tongue Gesture. Fold the tongue backwards and press the tip of the tongue by the hard palate, leaving narrow openings on either side of the tongue. This is used by in Sitkari pranayama.

Why it is Difficult to change our Food Habits?

The food we eat is the result of habitual conditioning. It is not just the issue of individual food preference. It is something that is handed down for generations in a family, caste or community. That is why you cannot change the food habits of people, just by asking them to do so. To be able to shift your choice of food, it requires an enormous shift in  other  areas  of  your  life  also. 

Every person eats because of the level of consciousness he is in - he eats a certain kind of food, in a certain kind of way, and he likes it to  be  the  same. If you give me what I ate as a child, I simply cannot eat it now, because there is a shift in consciousness. And whatever was sweet at that time. 

How does one bring a change in food habits? -  Why are people  able to  shift  their  food  habits in  SSY? It all depends on your state of consciousness. To be able to shift your food habits requires a shift in your consciousness. I have seen many naturopathy practitioners advise their clients to change the kind of food they eat. But the same people eat wholly cooked food at home. What sense does it make to tell others to make a shift, when you  are  incapable of doing the same? Most naturopathy doctors believe that - raw food diet and fasting is a therapy - it need not be a consistent practice. But, we know now, that daily consumption of raw food is essential for good health.  It is something that we must eat and enjoy eating. 

However, people go to naturopathy hospital with no such orientation. And out there, nobody is allowed to bring in any food. They are not allowed to get out  and under very strict conditions and great pressure, they succeed temporarily to  change  the  diet  of  this person. No wonder then, that as soon as this person leaves the hospital, he heads for junk food with a vengeance. This is not natural living - natural living cannot happen through a ten-day stay in a naturopathy hospital. The key is - ‘You must have the freedom to eat, and yet you should not eat unhealthy food. 

The freedom to eat what you want to eat, and what you want itself must change, rather than restricting  the  food.’ Everybody is trying to restrict themselves - they crave for certain foods, but consume something else, and call it a diet. “I am dieting” which means that, “I have changed my food with great difficulty - I am eating something, which I don't want to eat.” When you eat what you don't want to eat, it is called dieting; but, if you  eat what you want to eat, you are eating the food your choice. This is when it is the food that you naturally choose, and, life is set in a new and healthy pattern. It becomes a part of your life and there is no need  to diet. 

So, what you want, and how to shift what you want is important. In the Siddha Samadhi Yoga Program - SSY, a clear understanding takes place about what are the advantages of these natural foods. In addition a change takes place on the Panch Koshas (Our five subtle  bodies) all five levels of our being are cleansed and a shift in our consciousness takes place. Here, one begins to see life in a new light. Thus, it becomes easy to imbibe this new shift in eating healthy foods and it stays with you as  a part of your lifestyle. 

- By Guruji Shri Rishi Prabhakar

Pranayama Breathing Exercises

Let us take a look at some of the different Pranayama breathing exercises that are performed as a part of yoga.  

1. Anulom-Vilom Pranayama

Anulom-Vilom or alternate nostril breathing is one of the most common types of Pranayama. In this yoga breathing technique, you inhale through one nostril, hold your breath, and then exhale through the other nostril. This simple breathing technique has a very powerful impact on health and helps to combat problems such as allergies, sinuses, snoring, and migraines.

2. Ujjayi Pranayama

Ujjayi, or the ocean, is another powerful Pranayama breathing technique. In this technique you have to inhale and exhale through the nose while constricting your throat so that a sound akin to those made by waves is produced. This breathing technique really strengthens the lungs and helps in combating ailments of the respiratory system.

3. Kapalabhati Pranayama

Kapalabhati is an advanced yoga breathing technique which focuses on powerful exhalations by clenching the stomach muscles. This technique strengthens the core muscles and also allows all toxins to be removed from the body with the exhaled air.

4. Surya Bhedan Pranayama

This is a Pranayama as well as a technique of arousing the Kundalini Shakti. Surya Bhedan aims at piercing and arousing the Pingaia Nadi. This Pranayama arouses and increases the latent powers of a person. It provides heat to the body and purifies blood. Its regular practice increases the red corpuscles in the blood significantly, and provides relief in the dreadful disease of leprosy. It invigorates the mind and increases will power. 

Benefits Of Fruit Juices

1. Orange Juice

Fresh orange juice are rich in antioxidants. It can be used to fight against some healthy issues such as heart disease and cancer. It also boost your immune system.

2. Grape Juice

It reduces acidity, increases blood circulation, corrects defects in lungs and blood, good for liver, skin, nerves, joint pain, etc. People with low BP can use grape juice regularly.

3. Carrot Juice

It is rich in vitamin A and removes bacterial infection from the kidneys and good for refractive errors in eyes, strong bones and healthy teeth. It has a lot of nutrients including iodine. It is good for ulcers, treating cancer, strengthens the nervous system, increases memory, good for pregnant mothers.

4. Cucumber Juice

Drinking cucumber juice can provide you with a good quantity of vitamin A. It cools the body, detoxifies, good for kidney problems and joint pains.

5. Apple Juice

It has vital vitamins, protects body against illness, strengthens immune system, increases appetite, good for kidneys and diarrhea. Apple juice reduces bad cholesterol levels and enhances cardiovascular health of a person. The risk of getting heart disease is reduced significantly by drinking apple juice.

6. Lemon Juice

Lemon juice is good for a source of Vitamin C. Good for cough, cold, asthma, bronchitis. It is also good for the blood and acts as a cleaning agent.

7. Pomegranate Juice

Pomegranate juice has excellent antioxidant properties. Good for high BP, liver related problems. Kills worms in intestines and strengthens the body.

8. Pineapple Juice

Pineapple juice contains almost all vitamins and minerals essential for the digestive system. It stimulates the kidney, relieves intestinal disorders and has diuretic properties. It Cools the body, good for indigestion.

Raw Vegetable Diet

A large variety of vegetables are found in nature. Vegetables are an integral part of a healthy diet. They are rich in vitamins and minerals and low in sodium, fats and calories. They are totally free from cholesterol. They are the rich sources of antioxidants. Most vegetables consist of phytochemicals, which prevent some chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancers. Generally, vegetables are eaten in a cooked form. But we can get numerous health benefits if we eat the vegetables in a raw form. They are most nutritious in their raw forms. It is necessary to thoroughly wash the vegetables before you eat them in raw form.

Benefits of Raw Vegetable Diet

 

1. Essential Nutrients

Processing and cooking of the vegetables can destroy the essential nutrients. Cooking dark green leafy vegetables can destroy about half of the antioxidants and carotenoids. It can also destroy some essential enzymes in vegetables. Therefore, eating the vegetables in a raw form is advantageous. Raw vegetables are highly rich in minerals, beneficial enzymes, natural sugars and trace elements. All these essential nutrients are required for normal and stable body functioning. For example, carrot is a rich source of vitamin A, while asparagus contains high amounts of foliate and vitamin C. Chicory is a rich source of calcium, vitamin B-6, riboflavin and magnesium.

2. Essential Elements

Raw vegetable diet offers health benefits such as increased energy, better digestion, improved skin appearance, weight loss and decreased risk of heart disease. Raw vegetables contain high quantity of magnesium, potassium, fibers, foliate and health-promoting phytochemicals. These elements minimize a risk of developing diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Due to high fiber intake, the functioning of digestive system is improved.

3. Use of Raw Vegetables in Recipes

While using the raw vegetables, wash them thoroughly in order to remove any dirt and pesticide residues. Try to keep the edible peels on the vegetables whenever possible. The peels of many vegetables contain large amounts of fibers and nutrients. You can use raw vegetables in other forms to incorporate more vegetables in your diet. You can add raw vegetables to dough and batter to prepare muffins, breads and cookies. Select a wide variety of salad greens such as collard, arugula, kale, chicory, mustard greens, watercress and spinach. Choose pasta prepared with vegetables such as beets or spinach. You can thicken or enrich the soup with cooked and pureed vegetables instead of whole milk or cream. Eating a variety of colorful vegetables not only provides healthy nutrients, but also makes your meals more interesting.