The Need for Fasting

Upavasam or Fasting is an inseparable part of our Indian culture and tradition

from millions of years. Many of our generation do not know the true meaning
and purpose of Upavasam. We simply follow it as a ritual that is coming as a
part of our culture and tradition from different generations. The meaning,
purpose and the methods of following Upavasam too have changed along with
the change in generation. It had changed so much that is being written off by
the current generation as a mere superstitious cultural practice. Thanks to Dr.
Mantena Satyanarayana Raju who has revived this age old practice of
Upavasam which is at the brisk of death. He has been doing a wonderful job in
preaching the true meaning, purpose and methods of fasting over a period of
time. As told in my previous blogs he is a great Orator and Teacher. His
teachings are quite interesting and inspiring. He presented this age old science
of fasting in a very simple, sensible and very convincing manner that inspired
millions of people across the state of Andhra Pradesh and across the world to
follow.
Before going deep into the discussion of Upavasam, it is quite essential to
understand the duties of our body first. As discussed in the previous blogs,
according to Dr. Raju, the humans are day predators. We eat, wander and work
during the day and sleep at night. Based on this nature of our body, it performs
2 types of duties 1) The day duty and 2) the night duty.
(1) Day Duty: It performs two major functions during the day duty. Since we
eat food in the day, the first function of our body is to digest the food we ate,
convert the digested food into Energy and to supply the generated Energy to
our body in order to make us work. And the second function is to produce
billions of new cells that die every day.
(2) Night Duty: It again performs two major functions during the night duty.
The first function is to clear the pollution that was formed by eating food,
drinking water, breathing air and the pollution that was created during the
metabolism of our cells within the body. And the second function is to repair
the infected and injured cells of our body.
If we observe the secret of health in animal beings, we might find that the
animals perform their duties perfectly by eating and wandering for 12 hours
during the day and relaxing the other 12 hours during the night and vice versa
by the night predators. They are totally following the dharma of their body and
thus they are healthy. This is not happening in our case. Unless the body
completes the day duty, the body doesnt start the night duty. We are not only
eating, working and wandering the whole day but also doing the same till
midnight 10PM to 11PM. Moreover, instead of eating fruits and raw vegetable
salads we are eating all sorts of junk and heavy food that is cooked in oil,
masalas and spices. Worsening the situation further we began to reverse the
dharma of our body by working at nights and sleeping during the day. By the
time the food gets digested, it will be 4AM to 5AM. The body then begins the
night duty of repairing and cleaning which should have begun at 8PM to 10PM
the previous night. By the time it finishes 2 0r 3 hours of work; we again wake
up and begin our work of eating and moving. Unlike the day duty the body cant
wait to finish the night duty. It has to stop the cleaning and repairing job
midway to start the day duty again. The waste material accumulated
throughout the day remains in the body converting it into a garbage bin. If you
dont clean your house dont the mosquitoes, flies, insects and dust etc.
accumulate and make your house dirty and stinky? Similarly, if you dont clean

your body, the waste accumulates inside the body paving way for bacteria and
virus cells. When these cells grow in number the body sometimes tries to clean
them up by stopping you from eating and moving. It first makes your tongue
bitter and kills your hunger along with making you dizzy in order to keep you
away from eating and moving. In this way it tries to keep you without food for
couple of days in order to finish the task of cleaning and repairing. Accordingly
it cleanses and repairs the body if you listen to its call and avoid eating and
moving for a couple of days. If you dont listen to its call, it leaves you on your
own
for
suffering.
Upavasam:
Upavasam is a Sanskrit word. Upa means with and vasam means staying
combined together staying with. The word Upavasam has a great health and
spiritual significance. Upavasam literally means staying oneself with the
Universal Self. Our Indian ancestors are wise enough to embed this great
science of fasting in our culture for the benefit of the entire mankind. India is
highly regarded as the Spiritual Land of Yogis, Saints and Sages from its origin.
These yogis, saints and sages were highly honored for their knowledge and
wisdom by the people of India during those days. Those great intellectuals
introduced Upavasam or fasting to the common civil society with a motto of
providing good health and spiritual development among them in the name of
Punya or virtue. They believed, only the God and Punya are the two things
people surrender to. Therefore they said, If you fast the entire day and night
without food, you will gain punya and the God is also going to get pleased with
you. Therefore they selected some of the auspicious days like Saturday,
Ekadasi, Siva Ratri etc. for Upasam. The list of auspicious days grew as the
people began to believe this custom. Later, the custom of Upavasam was added
to some other rituals related to marriages, deaths, Pujas and other traditional
ceremonies. A great secret is hidden in introducing these practices in our
culture.
(1) By keeping a fast for the entire day and night, we are allowing our body to
clean
the
waste
that
is
accumulated
due
to
our
metabolism.
(2) When the body is clean, the mind remains calm and focused. A focused
mind is what we required to grow spiritually. Yogis, Saints and Sages believed
that God is found only through meditation. He is found within self. Therefore,
they dont look upwards in the sky or somewhere else for the God. They used to
sit, close their eyes and meditate to attain the Universal Bliss. In a poverty
ridden country like India, where the majority of population has to struggle for
their livelihood, it was not easy to make them meditate. People were suffering
from all sorts of miseries and sorrows in life. One can convince a person or
group of persons to meditate to eradicate their sorrows. But to convince a large
section of the society it was a daunting task. Therefore they had to take
support of the Universal force called God in order to make the entire
community fast at least for a few number of days in a year.

(3) There is a custom in India where people fast on certain auspicious

occasions and festivals in the name of God. For example, during Varah Lakshmi
Puja and Satyanarayana Vratham etc. upavasam is maintained. The reason for
fasting during such occasions is that your concentration stands still on God
thereby you sit along with the God with total focus. If you fill your stomach
with food while performing the rituals of puja your body becomes lazy, you lack
concentration and your mind gets distracted from the ritual and might feel
sleepy. It is not sure whether one gains the punya or the God is pleased for
your puja; one thing is sure that your body is going to get pleased and cleaned
if you maintain upavasam throughout the day. The ritual of puja is meant only
to focus your concentration away from food and other work on a single target
called God throughout the day, thereby serving the purpose of cleansing your
inner body. It is said that God lives where there is purity and cleanliness. Since
the Yogis believe that the Paramata or the Supreme Soul resides within our
body, it is therefore emphasized to keep it pure and clean. It is this reason
Upavasam has gained spiritual significance.

(4) There is a custom in India, whenever a person dies in a family; the entire
members of the family remain on fast for 11 or 13 days. During these 13 days
people remain on a single meal of fruits and the food that is cooked without
salt, oil, masala and spices. And they follow a ritual of single meal as mentioned
above every year for 16 days and arrange a mass meal program called Pind
daan feeding large number of people according to their individual capacities.
There is a general belief in the Hindu Religion that by doing so the souls of their
forefathers are pleased and they bless them from Heavens. Whether the Souls
of forefathers bless you or not but your body do bless you if this ritual is
followed. There lies a great secret of health and a serious thought is applied in
it by the wisest ancestors of India. We all owe a lot to those wise men who

embedded such a rich ritual in our custom. Hats Off to their foresight and
Wisdom. When a person in a family dies, the entire family is surrounded by the
shadow of miseries and sorrow. Whenever a person is in grief, misery or
sorrow, his brain releases some kind of hormones that blocks your activities
within the body. You dont feel hungry, you dont feel active, you dont like to
work, and you dont like to talk. You just want to sit alone and cry. Cry cry
and cry till the last drop of tear dries. The body will be in no position to
respond. In this kind of situation, if you eat food; can the body digest? Never..!
It is not going to digest. The members of the family do not want to eat as they
know what their body wants. But can the visitors who been there to console
and pay homage to the body let you sit without eating? Never! They try to
console you by offering a glass of water or a piece of fruit or handful of meals
along with a few words of condolences and courage. You have to eat
unwillingly in order to obey their wishes. But the body is in no mood to obey
your orders during such instances. It takes time for the body to get into
normalcy. That is the reason why they are asked to remain on fast for 13 days
on single meals. This ritual has been introduced by our wisest ancestors with a
great foresight. They hadnt stopped over there. They very well knew that we
might forget this grief and sorrow in no time and eat all sorts of junk thereafter
and damage our health. Another 16 days of fasting ritual is introduced to check
our health in the name of remembering the forefathers and having a single
meal for 16 days seeking their blessings from the heavens. We are gaining two
important benefits with this ritual. Firstly, you are giving an ample time to the
body for cleaning and repairing work by skipping 2 times of meals a day.
Secondly, you are serving the needy people by arranging a mass feeding. You
are again deriving two benefits here by providing free meals to the people. First
of all you are gaining your health by avoiding two meals a day and secondly,
you are getting good wishes and blessings of the people who have come there
to eat the food. You dont have to borrow money from others to feed the needy.
You are asked to feed from the food that is saved by you from skipping meals
twice a day for 16 days. What the forefathers might have blessed you if at all
they could have? They might have blessed you to live longer, live healthy and
live happy. This is what you get by following this ritual. You get healthy, happy
and live longer.

(5) There is another custom in India especially in the South, where the entire
members of the bride and groom family remain on fast during the entire
marriage ceremony. The reason again is the same. In earlier days marriages
are held for 5 long days. Each day a different ritual is to be performed. There
involves lot of work for these members until the ceremony ends. If you fill your
stomach with food it is obviously not possible to work actively and effectively.
Moreover there is every possibility of food poising and getting sick. 5 day
marriages are no more seen now but you can still notice that the family
members of the bride and groom eat at the end of the ceremony by finishing all
the rituals.
If you follow these age old gem like rituals you might grow spiritually as well
you become healthy. Whether you fast in the name of God or Punya or you fast
without these you will be benefited without any doubt. Rest in the form of
Upavasam is the necessity of the body and these rituals are the opportunities.
Try to grab these opportunities and fast on the traditional occasions like every
ekadasi, vaikunta ekadasi, sivaratri etc. and serve your body.
How many people of this generation fast on these days? Rarely any! The junk
we eat is far more than our ancestors have had. Even then they followed those
rituals sincerely and lived happy and healthy. We simply ignore them as
superstitious customs. There is an urgent need to explore those hidden secrets
of our customs and share the knowledge and wisdom of our great ancestors on
a large scale to safeguard these rich rituals. Dr. Raju has done a great job in
this regards. He not only revived the age old custom of fasting but he has given
new life to it.
In my next update I will be providing you few more information on fasting and
the
exact
method
of
fasting
by
Dr.
M.S.
Raju.
Keep watching the space for more updates.

My First Lankanam Experience

In these 18 months of Natural Way of Living, it was the first time I felt really
sick with severe fever. Full credits to the Municipal Water for successfully going
through the defense of my immunity system. As my daily routine I was drinking
5-6 liters of water every day. On Tuesday the 2 nd of September 2010 while I
was fetching water from the tap one of my friend warned me of pollutants in
the municipal water since 3 days. I drank the same water the whole day
ignoring his advise. The next morning I found my body little sluggish while
practicing asanas. My body wasnt moving the way I desired therefore I picked
up the pace and practiced asanas for 2 hours (my usual time) and I took
shower after practice. I was quite tired and there was no willingness to eat.
Obeying the orders of my body I moved out to work without breakfast. By
afternoon on 3rd of September 2010 every part of my body is aching and is
shivering with high fever. I realized that my friends warning proved right and
some aliens intruded my body causing the trouble. I immediately rushed back
home and laid on bed unmoved till my wife came back home from work in the
evening. The real drama began from here. When she found me at home at that
hour of the day, she immediately sensed that I am not feeling well and checked
my temperature by touching her hand on my forehead. Without holding a
moment she asked me to visit a doctor immediately. I gently denied her
request and conveyed my willingness to try Lankanam a fast unto recovery.
She nodded her head with a worried look even though she knows it is a
paramaushadham a superstar medicine. And Lemon? She asked! Because she
knows the importance of Lemon and honey during Lankanam and thankfully we
had enough honey at home. I said, I got them while getting home. She then
made me a glass of honey lemon juice and I slept for a while after drinking it.
I recollected every word of Dr. Mantena Satyanarayana Raju on Lankanam for
confidence. According to Dr. Raju one has to give complete rest to their
stomach and intestines by starving food so that the entire energy is used by our
body to kill the intruded alien bacteria or viruses. You might say that our body

needs energy to fight the bacteria and if we do not eat where the energy going
to come from? Well nature cure has a solution for that. The medicine we use
during Lankanam is water and honey lime juice in a manner described in my
previous blog Fasting - A Super Medicine. The role of water is to clean the inner
body by carrying and excreting the waste. The role of lemon juice is quite
important here. It works like an anti-biotic in our body as we are all familiar
that lemon is a rich source of Vitamin C that helps in the production of antioxidants or antibodies. Dr. Raju always recommend people to maintain enough
antibodies within their bodies by following natural life style abiding the need of
taking anti-biotic externally. And now the Honey its a rich source of
potassium which gives you instant strength. Apart from energizing your body
honey improves your immunity system by eradicating free radicals. Lankanam
means giving rest to the entire body so that the body cells finish their work
effectively. It might take 1 day, 2 days , 3 days or even more depending on the
type of virus that had intruded and the immunity system of your body.
It was all going well until I was made to face the first hurdle. My mother came
to know about my illness and she along with my sister rushed over to see me
with fruits in her hands. When she learned that I am on Lankanam she got
worried and tried to convince me for visiting a doctor. When I assured that I
will be visiting her next morning fully recovered; she left home offering her
blessings and love. I again laid on the bed for relaxation.
The day finally ended up and the night arrived. It was the turn of my wife this
time. She was waking up every hour at night and checking my body
temperature. This way she hadnt slept the whole night and neither let me
sleep. This worried lady was taking every possible care of me without speaking
a word. I was eagerly waiting for the dawn because I was expecting to get well
by next morning. On 4th September 2010, by the time I opened my eyes it was
already 9 AM which is quite unusual to me. I immediately tried to wake up in a
hurry but realized that nothing had improved in my condition. I gently got up
and completed my cleaning activities and again laid on bed.
When the neighbors knew about my illness they approached me; shared their
own concerns, worries and advises. When I told them about Lankanam they
started shouting on me and even on Dr. Raju as if he has no other work to do.
Any how I managed to get rid off them and continued with the routine. My wife
wanted to stay with me seeking leave from work but I managed to send her to
work. I took complete rest the whole day on honey and lemon water in a
prescribed manner and had a nice sleep for couple of hours til my wife got back
home in the evening. For a moment, I was terrified to see my wifes mobile
ringing. It was a call from her Mother. I told her not to tell her parents about
my illness as I was not in a position to listen their concerns too. She thankfully
obeyed my request and saved me from another attack.
The temperature was high and had severe body aches throughout the night. I
was getting short of breathe, my pulses were beating faster, a severe headache
etc. I realized a fierce battle is getting on between my body cells and the aliens
and I was confident that this night is going to be a decider. My wife was
worried over my temperature as usual. I convinced that I am totally alright and
nothing to worry because I was confident on the atmosphere I have provided to
my cells during these 18 months of Natural Way of Living. I have no idea how
the night passed away and I again woke up around 9-00 AM on 05th of
September 2010 but to my happiness I am well recoveredall aches
disappeared and the temperature too come down to normal. But I was feeling
little weak. I could see the happiness in the eyes of my wife. She too was on

fasting yesterday as part of our weekly practice. She was quite hungry and
getting ready to make some breakfast for me as well. I showed my regret to
eat any cooked food as of now because my tongue was still bitter. She then
made me a glass of fruit juice. Since it was Sunday and we remained at home
taking rest till afternoon. I started sensing movements in my intestines which
is a good sign of my recovery. Now the cells are on their regular work. Its time
to feed them now. I decided to have a light food for lunch and we visited a
market, bought one big size papaya and had it in Lunch. Had a big nap for few
hours after lunch in the afternoon.
When I didnt visited my mother yesterday morning as promised, My dad
visited me and he started insisting me to visit the doctor immediately. He even
gone on to explain the heroics of medicines and doctors terming the practices
taught by Dr. M.S. Raju are out dated though he practically dont appreciate
the allopathic medicine. I didnt argued much with my dad and kept quite
listening to him nodding my head to whatever he said. I convinced that I am
alright now and nothing to worry about me. Finally he left me with a sigh of
relief.
We had some hot Maggie noodles in dinner and gone to bed. I slept peacefully
the whole night as my temperature was normal. My eyes lit up early in the
morning at 5-30 Am on 06th September 2010. I had a light breakfast of Idlis (a
South Indian recipe) and got back to work. Had a wonderful lunch of my usual
brown rice with lentils. I bet Dr. Raju might have wanted me to stay on liquid
for another day for better results. I was feeling much better but not yet fit
enough to get on to my yoga mat. I need to put up a few kilos of weight in
order to practice asanas.
I felt like sharing these experiences as some of you might face the similar kind
of situation at some point of time or many of you might have already faced it
while following Dr. Rajus Nature Cure Lankanam. After experiencing this I
would suggest any body who try to follow Lankanam make sure (1) that your
body is capable of fighting the intruded bacteria or virus (2) You are following a
healthy life style suggested by Dr. Raju like good diet and exercises (3) You are
free of chronic disorders like heart, liver, kidneys, diabetes etc. (4) If you feel
uncomfortable can visit a doctor. Pregnant ladies are not advised to try this.
Neither Dr. Raju nore myself is against allopathic medicine. It is a boon to the
man kind. In fact, there is no better medicine than Allopathy when it comes to
the treatment of accidents and surgeries. Dr. Rajus Natural Way of Living is
only an attempt of prevention as we all know that prevention is always better
than cure. Swamy Ramdev Baba rightly says, curing a diseased body is like
saving a house caught up in fire; where as natural way of living is like saving
the house from being caught up in fire.
The main purpose of Lankanam is that if you let your body kill the bacteria in
this way, you never know when the same bacteria intrudes your body again.
Because it kills them without your knowledge. According to Dr. Raju when our
body cells kill the aliens on their own; they record the mothod of killing them in
our memory and whenever they attack us again in our life time, they simply
finish them in style. Take an example of chicken pox. No form of medicine can
cure chicken pox though they might help. When children gets effected from
chicken pox they are kept in a cool and separate place till it gets cured. It is our
body cells that kill them. Once you get chicken pox and it wont repeat you
again. Based on this memory, vaccination is introduced. Once a vaccination is
given to the kid, it is stored in human memory and when that particular

bacteria or virus intrudes they gets killed without our knowledge. It doesnt
mean that polio doesnt attack our body if vaccination is given. It does; but the
vaccination stored in our memory kills them immediately on intrusion. The task
is again carried out by our cells. Being a human we get prone to millions of
bacteria and deadly viruses. Every minute our body fights with all these
intruders knowingly or unknowingly. Water purifier might clean the bacteria
but our body fails to kill those simple creatures.
Our body is simply based on the theory use it or waste it. When you use your
body it improves its potential if you keep it unused it becomes rusty. Take
another example of animals. If you observe the cows and buffallows are always
found in places of high pollution and still they remain healthier than humans.
They never had water filters, cleaned and cooked food as we do and still they
are better. They drink polluted water at pools and swim in stinking water and
still remain healthy. Every time it rains millions of people are getting prone to
different types of infections and rushing to the hospitals. Swine Flue, Bird Flue,
Dengue, Malaria, Filaria, Typhoid and many other diseases terrorize us. Dont
you think these diseases attack the cattle and other animals? They does but
still they arent effected. Simply because they battle it out without medicines.
Their only medicine is Lankanam. If you have raised cattle or if you have lived
in villages you might have noticed that no matter what happens the cattle
doesnt eat a single gulp when they feel sick. They simply sit a side without
moving till their cells kill the intruded bacteria. Lankanam is the secret of their
resistance power. These animals are more prone to diseases than us as we
remain in our homes and offices most of the time which are always clean and
tidy. The difference between animals and us is that we clean our external body
ignoring the internal body which has such a long nervous system and so many
vital organs functioning every time for us. Where as animals keep their inner
body clean ignoring the outer appearance. Finally I would like to say that keep
your inner body equally clean as your outer body by practicing occasional
fasting as suggested by Dr. M.S. Raju. Following a weekly fasting in the manner
suggested by him is a very healthy practice of keeping yourself fit and healthy
internally and externally.
Anybody who has gone through any such experiences in life can feel free to
write their views and reviews. Keep watching the space for more updates as
usual.

Dassera Fasting Fun

You might find the title Dassera Fasting Fun little awkward in this health
related blog post Natural Way of Living. As mentioned in my previous blog
post, we (me and my wife) have been fasting once a week for a few months
now. We initially began our fasting on Saturdays and after 7 weeks we have
decided to fast on Sundays. This was our fifth Sunday on fasting. We might
move on to Monday fasting after finishing another 2 Sundays. In this way we
have planned our fasting cycle, though we are not sure how many weeks,
months or years we go. As of now we are having fun and enjoying the benefits
of fasting. Every Indian understands the prominence of fasting as it is deeply
embedded in our culture. Fasting is usually associated with religious customs in
Hindu tradition of India. We have been following a practice of fasting on certain
auspicious days from ages. Indians believe, fasting on certain festivals and
auspicious days of the month gives them the punya the fruits of good deeds.
There are many misconceptions regarding the fasting in certain community of
people especially the educated community. People feel that fasting means a
foolish effort to make one weak. It is a superstition that fasting gives you
Punya. Many people write-off the benefits of the age old custom of fasting as a
mere superstition of our illiterate ancestors without any knowledge.
Dr. Mantena Satyanarayana Raju has done a great job over the years in
promoting the benefits of fasting and equally raising the curtains over
misconceptions of fasting.
According to Dr. Raju, our ancestors who embedded the custom of fasting in
our culture were not the fools. They were in fact, the power houses of
knowledge and wisdom. Millions of years ago, there were no comforts of
science and technology that we are enjoying today. Every individual has to
work real hard, dawn to desk to earn his bread for the day. In such a situation,
if anybody asks a person to follow a weekly fasting for the betterment of his
health, would he suppose to fast? Definitely not! They hadnt suggested weekly
fasting for such people. They were asked to fast until they recover, only when

they feel sick which is popularly known as Lankanam. For all those, whose work
involves less or no physical effort, are asked to keep on fast every weekend or
every eka dasi - every 11th day of the month. Making a few people follow this
practice was not a big deal but to make every individual in the country to follow
this practice of good health is a daunting task. If you ask anybody to follow any
practice for a good health; he is definitely not going to follow you. With a great
vision and wisdom of knowledge they embedded this practice of fasting in our
culture adding sanctity towards God. It is because of their foresight we are still
following those healthy practices in the name of Punya. Millions of years had
gone and another million might go, but let me tell you these practices of good
health are going to stay. That is the power of their wisdom and foresight. It is
not sure whether this practice of fasting is going to guarantee any Punya but it
surely guarantees a good health.
For those who think fasting makes one weak. Here is the answer of Dr. Raju.
According to Dr. Raju fasting means giving a complete break to the inner
organs of the body especially the digestive organs like stomach, small intestine,
large intestine, pancreas, gall bladder and the Liver. How do you feel the next
morning when you go to the office after enjoying a holiday on Sunday? Do you
feel energetic or you feel weak? You definitely feel energetic because you had
a rest yesterday. The similar thing happens with your body when you give rest
for the day. Fast one day on honey-lemon water as per the instructions of
natural living and experience the difference or find the experiences of a person
fasting regularly. You are going to have the feeling of rebirth the next morning
after fast. Such will be the level of energy during the next day of your fasting,
even though you hadnt consumed any food for the last 24 hours. All your cells
are charged up enjoying a rest during your fast. Such is the effect of fasting.
Fasting doesnt make you weak. It instead makes you strong by saving the
energy that would have used for digesting all the junk food you consumed. Our
body uses energy for digesting all kinds of junk we put in throughout the day.
It also uses the energy to excrete the unwanted junk deposited through food.
Fasting is a boon to our liver because it is the most functioning organ of our
body. It has tons of other functions without our intervention. When we fast, it
works on its self repair and maintenance program. Repair and maintenance of
the liver means; increase in the span of our life and overall health condition.
For more on fasting, please refer my earlier blog post Fasting A Super
Medicine.
One must always remember that every tasty food is a burden to your body.
Nothing in this creation is going to last long if loaded with more capacity than
required. This is the very reason that the life span of modern man is declining
at a rapid pace. The average life span of a man has reduced from 100 years to
70 years. There is no surprise if it further goes down by 50 years in the
generations to come. Our forefathers used to eat all those tasty food
occasionally on festivals and marriage ceremonies. Today the lifestyle
especially in the metro cities has totally changed. Every day is a festival here,
thanks to the increasing number of eatery chains in the city. This lifestyle in
major cities is resulting in the increasing number of lifestyle disorders at an
early age. This is where Dr. Raju has declared his battle against the odd eating
habits of city people. Of late, he has been seen promoting a fasting practice on
Sundays and other festive holidays, as people tend to eat more junk during
these days.
As told earlier we have been fasting for quite some time now and having great
fun. Though we are not intended to follow fasting on Sundays and holidays for

ever, we firmly decided to stay on fast even on festivals if they fall in our
schedule. We did that before on Vinayaka Chaviti, the festival of Lord Ganesha
and also happened to be the festival of Ramadan for Muslim friends and
brothers. But staying on fast on Dassera day was a kind of challenge. Dassera is
one of the Grand festivals of India. It is celebrated over a period of 10 days and
10th day being Dassera is celebrated all over by sacrificing goats to the Goddess
Durga. Dassera means joy and happiness. We usually visit every elder of our
relatives on the Dassera day and seek their blessings. People from all works of
life and places gather at the eldest member of the family for seeking his
blessings. After a series of blessings, meetings and gup-shups, they end up
with a feast of non-vegetarian dishes, alcohol, songs, dances and fun.
My wife was getting nervous a day before, to face them on fasting. She was
worried because people never let an opportunity to insult you. We were already
infamous as grass eaters in the circle. She was actually planning the ways to
face them and explain their queries way before one week. She looked quite
frustrated and was getting irritated over me for being so calm and negligent. I
very well knew that future plans are not going to work when you are to engage
with many people around. Therefore, I asked her to hold her nerves and be
calm and take things as they come. The dawn of Dassera finally arrived. It was
the Pranayama and Meditation time as we dont practice asanas on the day of
fasting. I asked my wife to focus on the moment and concentrate on the
present practice of Pranayama and Meditation and leave the rest on time. We
had a wonderful session of Pranayama and Meditation which lasted for 2 hours.
The mind was still, calm and focused. Now it was time to visit my parents first
for seeking their blessings.
We had our first glass of honey-lemon juice and began our journey to my
parents. All our brothers and sister gathered and sought blessings from parents
and elders. We then moved to my in-laws house and sought their blessings.
Surprisingly, none of our parents had offered to eat. I actually expected some
sort of lecture from my father and father-in-law for fasting on a festival like
Dassera. But none of them had their complaints. We were happy that they have
now realized the importance of fasting which is a vital part of natural living. So
far it all ended well. The real challenge was to come here on. We were to visit
one of our Uncle who is the eldest member of our family and lot of people from
different places are supposed to gather at him.
On reaching him, we realized his house is full of visitors as expected. People
thronged in from different parts of the city to seek his blessings. Virtually the
house was so crowded that we didnt find a seat. Most of the faces in the crowd
were known ones but believe me they couldnt recognize me for some time.
One of them even asked my wife, Your husband hasnt come?, where as I was
standing by her side. She pointed me with a big smile on her face. I was the
center of attraction in the crowd out there. All those who knew me or had seen
me last Dassera began to glare at me. I looked around and said to myself,
come on Ram! You are going to be flooded with questions. Get ready!
A lady came close to me and asked, Are you alright?, I mean, I know you are
following natural way of living since you told me last Dassera and you have lost
some kilos of weight by then. But you look too slim and weak this time.
Seriously, is everything OK with your health? This is too much and its
unbelievable that a man can reduce this much and be healthy. She had been
repeatedly asking whether I am seriously healthy? For a moment, I was short
of words for her doubts on my health. I know, I have to answer her
convincingly and at the same time I need not try to prove that I am healthy. By

the time I began my reply, a person in the group shouted, these dieting and all
sort of things are rubbish; which are meant to spoil the health. Look at him;
how healthy was he last time and how weak he is now? Stop this nonsense
thing immediately and eat healthy. Another voice raised asking, brother you
were fine with big and healthy personality before, what was the need to do all
this? I can understand about dieting but you are doing too much. Dont spoil
your health. Start eating immediately. This way everyone in the crowd began
to give their opinions and suggestions. Everyone was talking as if I am not at
all eating and fasting all the 365 days. During all the conversation, I remained a
mere spectator listening to their program. Most of them were drunk and
against my lifestyle. I realized, none of them are going to listen my version and
any effort to explain them will fall in deaf ears.
After all the discussion, we took the blessings of our uncle and all other elders
of the family. He then offered me a plate of snacks. I actually wanted to tell him
that I was on fast but again I thought that might spark another debate, which I
didnt wanted at that time and therefore, I picked up the plate quietly. Looked
here and there for a while and smartly passed on the snacks to a kid by my
side. The kid was happy with my gesture and I was happy for his rescue act.
We then got back to our home bidding adieu to a memorable Dassera Fun.
The good thing was that in spite of so many questions and people making fun of
my lifestyle I hadnt lost my cool. Moreover, it boosted my moral. We felt happy
that we deserved to be true disciples of Dr. Raju at least for one day.
When we got back home, I got a doubt and asked my wife. Tulsi, How do you
think Dr. Raju is going to arrange his sons wedding ceremony? He is so health
conscious that he designed a new form of cooking called healthy cooking
without using oil, ghee, masala, salt, spices etc. for the benefit of society. What
type of food u think is he going to offer his relatives and visitors? Will he
provide the natural healthy food he is been teaching all the time? Or will he
provide the usual food that is cooked in the community? Or will he provide both
types of foods? My wife started scratching her head and said, both.
Great people always has to face such tough things in life as Mahatma Gandhi
did with his son. Well let us leave the question on time and Dr. Raju himself.
This is it for now. Keep watching the space for more updates.

Dr. Mantena's Light on Fasting

I have been regularly posting updates on the super medicine called fasting
from quite some time now. In my previous update Fasting Dr. Mantenas Way

I tried to explain some of the queries that come across me from the readers
and at the same time mentioned certain tips and suggestions to be followed
during fasting. I hope many of your doubts might have been clarified in that
post. Still there are certain issues that are to be looked into while practicing a
fast. There is a wonderful CD of Dr. Mantena Satyanarayana Raju called
Lankanam Parama Aushadham. You can find this CD from any of the
franchisees
of
Dr.
M.S.
Raju
or
you
can
log
on
towww.manthenasatyanarayanaraju.org to order the CDs online. Unfortunately
the CD is available only in Telugu.
Dr. Raju has explained all the facts and concerns of fasting in that CD in great
detail. In the mean time let us try to throw some light on fasting by Dr.
Manthena Satyanarayana Raju.
Who and When to Fast?
You might have so far learned many facts on fasting through my previous
blogs. But still many of you might be in dilemma whether or not to begin
fasting. When and how do I begin fasting? Do I really need fasting to cleanse
my body? Is it safe to fast without proper guidance? These sorts of questions
might be bothering most of you. Here is the solution for all such queries in Dr.
Mantenas Light on Fasting.
It is discussed in most of my previous blogs that a regular fasting is very
healthy for our body and therefore one should fast at regular basis and how the
Indian ancestors embedded this great science of fasting in our customs and
traditions. We often send our vehicles to the garage or service stations for
repairs and maintenance at regular intervals. We are very concerned about the
vehicles that carry us to the destination of our work. But are we that concerned
about the body the vehicle that carries us to the destination of our life? Hold
a hand on your heart and ask yourself do I equally love the body - the vehicle
of life as the way I do with the vehicle of machine? Fasting at regular
intervals cleanse and repairs the body similar to the way our vehicles are
serviced at regular intervals. Long fasting is like repairing the engine of your
vehicles. Smaller repairs can be done by any amateur mechanic or service
person but when the engine gets repaired it has to be done by a specialized
technician or mechanic in a well equipped service station. Similarly, you can
undertake smaller repairs like single day fasting on your own at home without
any risk. For serious engine like repairs to your body or longer fasting, your
experience isnt going to get enough. You need the experienced and specialized
team of doctors at your disposal. Nature Cure Ashrams and hospitals are best
for such fasts. Please do not repeat fasting for more than 1 day at home on
your own. It is not advisable. You might feel it easy and comfortable but do not
undertake longer fasts without proper guidance. Let us now try to learn who
should fast, when to undertake fasting and for how many days:
(1) Fasting once in a week: All those individuals who are obese, all the office
goers and businessmen who work in shelter under the fans, air conditioners
and air coolers, all those who have bad body odors, all those who eat their
dinner at late hours of 10PM - 11PM, all those foodies who enjoy nonvegetarian food must fast once in a week in order to repair and clean their body
internally. According to Dr. Raju Sunday is the best day for fasting. Fasting on
Sundays reap number of benefits. People tend to eat more junk on Sundays and
holidays as they either cook vast varieties of food at home or go out for lunch
or dinner. If you fast on Sundays you get away with the junk that might have
gone in your stomach thereby saving your time and money. At the same time

women at home get relieved of their cooking and cleaning work. Ultimately the
body gets enough rest to repair and cleanse the inner system. If you are fasting
on Sunday, please dont stay awake till midnight 11PM or 11-30PM on Saturday
and eat all the stuff you might have ate on Sundays. Eat seasonal fruits on
every Saturday at 5PM - 6PM as dinner. No further eating please. People in
India especially the south; dont call it a dinner if they dont finish it up with
rice. The fruits get digested by 7PM to 8PM and the body begins its night duty
of cleaning and repairing from 8PM onwards on Saturday itself which is very
beneficial. Continue fasting on Sunday as described in my previous blogs and
take your usual vegetable juices and sprouts in the breakfast on Monday.
People with high calories can remain on fruit juices and fruits throughout the
day in breakfast, lunch and dinner. Do according to your convenience.
(2) Fasting once in a Fortnight: All those who work hard in the sunlight, wind
and dust to earn their livelihood, people who are lean and weak, children and
individuals aged above 60 can fast every ekadasi (11th day of the month) or
twice a month.
(3) Fasting the next day after Festival and other Ceremonies: Indians do not
need a reason to celebrate. No country in the world might have had so many
festivals and ceremonies than India. Out of the lot we have some major
festivities once in a while during the year. The major the festival, the bigger is
the list of dishes, desserts and cuisine. The women of India leave no stone
unturned to cook all varieties of delicacies to please their men and children. No
individual would like to let the opportunity to eat so many delicacies go.
Therefore they eat everything that is offered and end up suffering in the next
day or the day after from all sorts of indigestion and gastric troubles.
Therefore, every individual is advised to fast the next day after such festivities
and functions like marriages or birth days or anniversaries etc. The way you
clean your house after the festivals, marriages and other functions clean your
body by fasting.
(4) Other Occasions: Whenever you feel uneasy, unhealthy, sick, unwilling to
eat, suffer from gastric and digestive disorders etc. remain on fast without a
second thought. Dont eat forcefully and spoil your body. Give rest to your body
by fasting and all your worries are looked after by the body.
Who should not fast?
Now let us look into the other side of the coin and learn who should not fast?
All those people who are suffering from diabetes especially those who are on
insulin, those who are addicted to coffee and tea (till they sacrifice them and
overcome headaches), those who consume medicines for certain ailments,
those who are very feeble and weak, those who have very low in blood, feeding
mothers, those who often feel dizzy are not advised to fast. All these people are
first advised to follow the dietary regimen of Dr. M.S. Raju; improve their
condition and can try fasting when they have gained good health and
confidence.

The hidden Science of Fasting in Curing

Diseases

In my previous blogs, I tried to focus on Lankanam The Fasting unto recovery

and its invention. So far we have learned fasting as a super medicine and its
ability to cure diseases. Like every one of you I have also doubted the benefits
of fasting until I experienced the benefits myself personally. I thoroughly
practiced fasting when I was sick on quite a few occasions and practically
experienced the benefits of fasting. Only then, I began promoting this
wonderful natural ailment of fasting.
As discussed in my previous posts, Lankanam or fasting unto recovery is
neither invented by me nor Dr. Mantena Satyanarayana Raju. But Dr. Raju to
the best of my knowledge is the person who is responsible for its revival in
modern society. He has done a great job in promoting the hidden Science of
Fasting in curing diseases. The educated community had already written off
benefits of fasting as superstition. It is Dr. Rajus intense research and
scientific explanation through his programs and campaigns all over the state of
Andhra Pradesh, fasting has revived. He is a gifted speaker. The way he
explains the subject is quite convincing and commanding. In one of the
conversation with Subrath Mohanthy from Cuttuck who is also a beneficiary of
Natural Way of Living said that we the people of Andhra Pradesh are quite
lucky to have a person like Dr. Raju. In fact, the entire mankind benefited by
him is lucky to have him on this Earth. If he wouldnt have there, I wouldnt
have written this blog and Subrath and many others wouldnt have been
benefited through my blog. When I reckon the efforts of Dr. Raju, I remember a
few lines of Robin Sharma the leadership expert and the author of the Monk
who sold his Ferrari, The Love and affection towards fellow humans is like the
Rent we pay for finding a place on this beautiful Earth. And who is paying
better rent than Dr. Raju? According to Osho The God is neither a noun nor a

pronoun. It is a verb an action! It is the truth! It is the brightness! Dr. Raju

makes this statement true. I have received so many comments on my blogs
blessing and praising Dr. Raju for his efforts. He is a Messiah for those suffering
from various forms of diseases. A single candle is essential to lighten up the
entire room. He is the power house that is generating so much energy to
lighten up different houses across the world. He might be situated at a far
distant place; his preaching are spreading across the globe and lightening up
the lives of people suffering from various diseases.
Dr. Raju through his Campaigns, books and programs on TV, has been
intensively involved in educating people about the oldest form of medical
science called fasting and its energies in curing all sorts of diseases. Let us try
to focus on what Dr. Raju has to say on the hidden secrets of fasting in curing
diseases. Does burning our stomach without food really help curing diseases?
Let us raise the curtains now:
If our body comes across any trouble, it tries to resolve the issue on its own.
This tendency has come to our body naturally by birth. If our body hasnt done
this job we would have died way back. In fact, we are not the one to die. It is
the body the dies. The body needs additional energy to save itself from the
trouble that has come to it. Excess energy of our body is utilized in digesting
the food we eat and the work we do. The body spends 75% of our total energy
in completing these two tasks. Whenever the body lands in trouble it try to
save this 75% of energy and utilize in completing the task of saving itself from
the trouble by making a master plan. If the man usually eats and move around
for his work during trouble, it cannot complete the task. Therefore it creates a
master plan and makes the man sit at home without eating and moving out to
work. The implementation of master plan begins from the tongue. If the saliva
tastes sweet as usual, the man would definitely eat all sorts of foods. The body
thus, takes the first precaution by making the tongue dry and bitter by
releasing some sort of enzyme in order to kill the desire to eat. If we are active,
we might move around and work usually. The body thus, takes the second
precaution by creating dizziness and aches all over the body and makes you
feel tired, week and feeble in order to make you sit or lay at one place without
moving. In this way the body tries to save the energy and utilize it with full
force in the task of defending itself from trouble. Until the task of defense is
completed we neither feel like eating nor moving. This is the dharma of our
body. Any of you got these symptoms? You cannot deny it by saying no. Every
human goes through this situation. Though it is another fact that you might
have ate and moved around during these symptoms. Just imagine once! For
whose benefit the body is doing all this? All its effort is to make you feel
convenient. Is it asking you to borrow some energy from the President of
America? Is it asking you to climb hills and jump down the valley to get the
energy? Nope! The entire energy to carry out thedefense mechanism is within
me. I can get rid of the trouble myself. If you sit quite without moving, that is
enough for me. I will take care of the rest says the body. Cant you listen to
this little request of your body for some time? So far it has allowed you to eat
all sorts of food and do all sorts of work. Have you ever thanked this wonderful
body? In spite of that it has done its duty silently without any complaint. But
today, when the body is in trouble it asks you to help by keeping yourself quite
without eating and moving. If we listen to this request of our body we always
remain healthy and happy. You dont need any education, intelligence and
medical sciences to listen to the call of your body. In fact, these are the hurdles
in listening to the call of our body. There are some doctors who always criticize
the benefits of fasting. Does anyone get cured off the diseases by burning the
stomach by fasting? They simply write off by calling it a mere superstition and
unscientific method. They forget this is the Science of Nature. They also forget,

way before the invention of Medical Science and even before the birth of the
term Science, this Science of curing diseases by fasting had born. That is the
Natural Science of the Science of Nature. No one can change the rules of this
Science. This Science will save all the living beings as long as they live. The
animals are still following this science and living without any disease. At the
end, I would like to conclude that those who believe this Science will live
healthy like animals and those who dont will suffer like humans with all sorts
of
diseases
and
sorrows.
Dont forget to keep watching the space for more updates.!

Fasting - The Father of All Medicines

Earlier in the month of July2010 I posted a blog Fasting A Super Medicine
followed by a series of other updates on fasting providing some vital
information. Recently I have come across some of the speeches of Dr. Mantena
Satyanarayana Raju on fasting. It was so inspiring and informative that I
immediately felt to make another addition on the subject. After listening to his
lessons on fasting I realized that Fasting is not only a Super Medicine but also
the Father of All Medicines.
I never get tired of speaking about the charisma this man Dr. Raju has. He has
inspired millions of people with his deeds. He is undoubtedly one of the
greatest Orators and Teachers Andhra Pradesh has ever produced.
Unfortunately his lessons are limited to Telugu speaking people. This blog is an
attempt to take his message to the rest of the world. Hopefully, I will be doing
justice to this daunting task. It is really an honor and privilege to work in the
path of Dr. Raju. Another unique feature of Dr. Raju is the way he presents the
subject. He makes things appear very simple and easy. Biological Science was
always a tough subject that never excited me from my school days. It is
because of Dr. Rajus simple teaching methods I am able to understand and
follow this much. There is no big deal in explaining the subject to the literates.
Explaining a subject like biology to illiterates in simple terms and making them
understand is what matters. And Dr. Raju has mastered this very art of making
the subject understood by one and all with ease.
Before knowing why fasting is called the father of all medicines, Let us now try
to understand our body in a simple manner. Our body is just like a Kingdom. As
people in the Kingdom, our body has 100 trillion cells. Similar to the way Army,
Navy, Air force and Police exist in a kingdom for the external and internal
security of the kingdom; our body too possesses a strong defense mechanism
in the form different glands that protect our cells from external and internal
threats. Similar to the way anti-social elements disturb the law and order of the
kingdom from time to time, the bacteria and viruses try to disturb the peace of
our body. Depending upon the type of threat the respective department of a
defense mechanism takes charge and protects the Kingdom. The same thing
happens within the body. Depending upon the type of a threat the glands of our
immunity system responds accordingly. War like situation is called an
Emergency in the kingdom and Fever or Illness in the body.

Whenever the body falls sick, it demands some co-operation from us. It says,
there is an emergency situation within the body that has to be sorted out
immediately. Therefore, stop eating anything and lay down unmoved without
being involved in any kind of work in order to accomplish the task immediately.
If we listen to the call of our body and rest quietly unmoved without eating
food, it saves 75% of our energy and utilizes the same in fighting against the
virus or bacteria that has caused the trouble. Our body exactly knows which
part is infected, which type of bacteria or virus is responsible for the infection,
where and how many of them are hidden in the body. The Medical Science has
developed tremendously in the recent years. Innumerable diagnostic methods
are invented to diagnose the patients. But sometimes, even these advanced
diagnostic tools fail to identify the type and the place of viruses infected in the
body; but the body never fails. It knows exactly whats in there. Whatever the
type of infection that has formed the minute body cells are always ready for
counter attack. The body drives the army of antibodies on the enemies with
more vigor and enthusiasm on Lankanam or Fasting unto recovery than in a
normal situation as it saves 75% of the body energy. The body instantly
produces the antibodies depending upon the number and type of virus or
bacteria that has intruded. The unique feature of these antibodies is that they
kill only the bacteria that are harmful to the body. They do no harm to the
friendly bacteria of our body. If you use the antibiotic it definitely kills the
harmful bacteria and viruses but at the same time it also kills the healthy cells
and friendly bacteria of our body. Exactly the same way, the civilians including
men, women, children etc. were killed along with soldiers when the Americans
bombarded on Iraq during Iraq-America War of Gulf. On the other hand when
you do Lankanam or Fasting unto recovery, the body saves 75% of the energy
as discussed above and utilizes the same in producing healthy antibodies to
combat intruded bacteria and viruses without killing our body cells. This battle
by antibodies of our body is like the battle of Ahimsa by Mahatma Gandhi
against the British Empire during the Independence movement of India without
killing the civilians. The antibodies born during Lankanam or Fasting unto
recovery remains in the body and stay ready to kill those type of infections,
bacteria and viruses as and when they enter our body again. They guard our
body against such viruses at alert and see that previous trouble to our body is
not repeated again. For example, Taliban attacked Pentagon and Twin Towers
on 11th of September 2001. Till then the American Security Agencies have no
idea of such attacks. After that they realized such threats and maintained a
strict vigil and foiled any such attempts by the terrorists on their terrain.
Similarly the cells of our body guard us all the time from such intrusions.
Regular fasting increases the immunity system of our body. On the other hand
it is a well known fact that regular use of antibiotics reduces the immunity
system of our body. No medicine in the world except fasting is called the father
of all medicines. All the medicines in the world are made up of a substance. The
only medicine produced by the body is not of a substance. There is no living
being on this Earth that hasnt taken this medicine of Lankanam or fasting unto
recovery. All living beings utilize their antibodies to protect themselves of
diseases. Let us learn from animals and try to live healthy and happy.
Ever since I began writing on Lankanam, I have been getting a common
question from most of the visitors to my blog. They ask, The human immunity
system differs from person to person and therefore, is it not risky to do
Lankanam for people like the kids and aged ones who has low levels of
immunity system?
First of all, I request one and all to go through all the topics of my blog on
fasting in previous updates section. I suppose that will answer all your worries.
Secondly, Lankanam if you understand properly is an attempt to listen to the

call of our body and give an opportunity to rectify the problem on its own. The
body tries all its best to counter the problem it is facing inside. When it fails to
cope with issue, there is nothing wrong in taking the medical aid. Listen to your
body carefully. It will let you know whenever it needs help. You will realize
when you need help. Start Lankanam for minor problems first viz., cold, cough,
viral fevers etc. Suppose if you were caught up with Jaundice, Typhoid, Malaria,
Chikungunya etc. your body might not tackle it straight away. Try to give it a
chance for 1 or 2 days by fasting on honey and lemon in the manner prescribed
in my previous post fasting a super medicine. If you see any improvement
continue for the third day and if you got still better fast for another day till you
recover totally. If any time you find the situation getting worse, consult a
doctor. It might be day one, two or three. Listen to the call of your body and
seek external help of doctors if needed. This is the way to start safely and
gradually. There is nothing wrong in consulting a doctor and taking medicines.
Neither Dr. M.S. Raju nor I are against the modern medical science. The only
intention is to educate people about this great Science of fasting which is a
very crucial part of natural way of living.
I hope you liked and enjoyed this art. Keep watching the space for more
updates!

Fasting - A Super Medicine

If you are an ardent follower of Dr. Mantena Satyanarayana Raju, you might
have heard him frequently saying Lankanam Parama Aushadham which
means Fasting A Super Medicine. Yes! There is no better medicine than
fasting. It is a Super Medicine because it cures any kind of disease. Apart from
that it makes you strong by increasing your immunity system. It is not Dr. Raju
who called the slogan first. It is our ancestors, yogis and rishis who
experimented, experienced and given that slogan some millions of years ago. It
is Dr. Raju who is taking us back to the roots through his selfless valiant efforts
to the society. Fasting is the oldest medicine than any other forms. It is
prevalent since the origin of living beings. Just give a thought for a moment
dont humans used to get sick before the existence of doctors? If yes, how they
used to get cured? It was fasting which cured them from diseases in those
days. It is the first thing one has to do when you feel sick. Whenever you fall
sick give a break to your stomach and trust me it does wonders. There are
around 84,000 living beings on earth. Do they need any doctor to cure their
illness? They dont because they listen to the call of the nature and follow it. If
you have been raised in rural areas you better understand this. Have you ever
noticed any cattle feeding when sick? No animal try to eat when it falls sick. It
sits a side without moving until it gets cured. But its quite opposite to us
humans. We try to eat even though we dont feel like. Whenever we feel sick,

the body urges us not to give any food. You dont get hungry when fallen sick.
The body does not release the gases which make you feel hungry when sick.
Moreover the taste buds release a kind of chemical which makes your tongue
bitter. You dont feel like eating. Instead of fasting we eat food forcibly with a
false assumption that skipping food weakens our body. In fact, it strengthens
our cells which fight the intruded bacteria.

Everybody must understand that no medicine kills the bacteria or virus intruded
in our body. It is our cells that fights and kills the intruded bacteria or virus
into the body. Medicines can only help our cells to fight better and stop the
virus spread further. You do a great favour to the body cells by skipping a meal
during sickness. If you eat food during illness, the job of your cells increased.
They need to digest your food, cleanse the waste material entered through
food, fight the bacteria and other viruses that entered through food apart from
the one already intruded in the body. Apart from eating food we commit
another mistake. We try to work or move all around the place without resting
on bed. When you move around or do any other work even a sitting work needs
energy which the cells have to generate for you. Whenever you feel sick simply
rest on bed until you feel better. By resting yourselves, you help your cells fight
bacteria or virus in a better way with full source and stamina.

I wish to share you an incident occurred with me recently. I was badly bitten by
a bunch of over 1000 mosquitoes and insects all over my hands, neck, ankles
and knees of my foot while trying to pluck a Brinjal plant. A couple of days later
it started itching all over my body. I realized something bad had happened to
my body. I thought of fasting for a couple of days. But my mind didnt want to
take risk. Therefore I consulted a doctor and took vaccination. Even though the
itching hadnt stopped and it continued for another couple of days creating
havoc in my life. Then I recollected the golden words of Dr. Raju and decided to
fast. I heard him saying on TV that you dont die if you fast for couple of
days. 2 days of fasting on honey and lemon water cured my itching
completely. I knew fasting could do the trick but I hadnt had enough courage
to stay on fast for a couple days skipping my work. We-the people living in
metros do the same mistake every now and then. We always try to get rid of
the illness immediately without letting our body do the job. The same reason is
resulting in the reduction of our immunity system. We are lacking resistance to
fight diseases because we are making our cells lazy and useless. If we use
medicines to cure simple ailments like cough, cold, sneeze, headache etc.
where is the chance for our cells to work and show their effectiveness?

Fasting means giving rest to the stomach and intestines. Giving rest means a
complete rest-providing no food at all throughout a day. When we do not eat
anything, the waste material is not produced in the body. It is like keeping the
body off duty during day. What we do when we are on leave? After finishing all
our daily routine we try utilize the leisure time cleaning our home. In the
similar way when we provide leisure to our body by fasting, it tends to clean
the waste material submerged inside the body. Usually when we take food, the
night duty of the body is to clean and repair. When we fast the body remains on
cleaning and repairing duty for the entire 24 hours a day. We work hard for 6
days a week in order to earn our livelihood. Dont you feel relieved when you
are off the work during weekends? Why dont you let the opportunity to relive
the body for one day in a week? According to Dr. Raju one has to fast at least
once a week in order to remain fit and free of diseases. We trouble our body by

consuming more food on Sundays. I think it is better to fast on Sunday rather

than some other day. In Dr. Rajus opinion it is always better to fast whenever
we are indisposed, when there is no appetite and on festival days etc.

Our elders knew this secret of fasting and were going on fast on certain days of
the month and on the day when we worship by attaching sanctity to it. Every
ritual of our tradition is connected with health. We are asked to fast on certain
days of month in the name of some God or Goddess only due to health reasons.
Sanctity and fasting has a deep relationship. When you worship by eating
stomach full of food you dont get the concentration required to pray the God.
In fact, you tend to get lazy, dull and sleepy. On the other hand, if you worship
empty stomach your concentration standstill on the prayers you offer to the
God. When you offer prayer with single minded concentration your brain
remains calm free of thoughts and emotions. As we all know that 99% of
diseases are caused by a disturbed brain. As famous Yoga guru BKS Iyengar
says that the mind is the king of all senses, the breath is the king of the mind
and the rhythmic vibration of the nerves is the king of breath. In order to
control these three elements one needs a great concentration which can be
attained by pure sanctity. When these elements are controlled you remain free
from all diseases. This sanctity is nothing but sanctity to our body and soul.

Many people are afraid to remain on fast thinking that they become weak by
fasting. I and my wife have decided to take up fasting every Saturday in the
name of Lord Venkateswara. With this we gain health as well as sanctity. But
when our parents learned about this they got worried about our health. They
fear we might become weak. All our efforts to convince them have gone in vain.
Leaving the decision to the time we progressed. People willing to reduce their
weight or people who are conscious about their health can try fasting in the
harmless manner as detailed below:

Water and honey plays a vital role during the fast. Honey is the best food,
which keeps you away from hunger and helps in fasting very well. It is like
nectar. If we take honey energy is produced even while stomach and intestines
are off duty. Honey gives more energy than food. It is better to fast with the
help of honey. On the other hand, it is only the water that benefits the body
while fasting. If all the waste material is to be cleaned it is the water, which
does the job. The water after going into the body soaks the waste material and
purges it out through fasces, urine, sweat and carbon dioxide. It is futile to go
on fast without taking water. Likewise, it is no fasting if you take tea, coffee,
fruit juice and a light diet. If you do it you neither clean the body nor give it
food. Even very little amount of food means stomach and intestines have to
work to digest it. It means it is another usual day. Since it is the water, which
helps cleaning process, it is better to fast while taking more water.

Let us now see how to take water while fasting:

1) As usual take up 1.5 liters of water as soon as you wake up as a part of your
first installment. This helps you have a free bowel movement with the pressure
of water.
2) Take another 1.5 liters of water with a gap of an hour.

3) An hour later take a glass of water with 2-3 spoons of honey and limejuice
whether or not you are hungry.
3) An hour later take another liter of water in couple of installments.
4) By the mid afternoon take another glass of water with honey and lime juice.
5) Take another liter of water in couple of installments again after an hour of
taking honey and lime juice.
6) In this way take water with honey and limejuice 5-6 limes before you sleep
in the night.
7) You can stop taking water around 7-8 P.M to avoid frequent urination at
nights disturbing your sleep.
8) If anybody feel week or any difficulty can take coconut water.
9) It is better to keep yourself busy by reading spiritual books or prayers on
fasting.
10) You can take up to 250gms of honey during a fast which gives you ample
energy.
11) The next day you can continue with your usual routine.
Many people fast but they do not derive the intended benefit. There is no harm
in fasting without taking honey but there wont be any benefit if you do it
without taking water. Moreover it is harmful. Many take pride in saying that
they can fast without taking water. Some other feel (especially women) that
the God do not accept their prayers if they drink water. Do not fast on such
false assumptions. Fasting is only meant for attaining sanctity through
concentration. Neither the God punishes you for taking water on fasting nor do
you deprived of your fruits of fasting. If you take no water or less water the
purpose of fasting is lost. Let us overhaul the body by fasting once in a week
and guard the body from diseases.

The Substitute for Fasting

In the past few months I have not tried fasting. Ever since I changed my
profession, I hardly got an opportunity to fast. These days I am seriously
learning, practicing and teaching yoga to a handful of people. As a result, I
hardly got an opportunity to get on with fasting. There is another reason for me
to quit fasting. I learned from some of the ancient yoga texts and Guruji BKS
Iyengar has also mentioned in many of his writings that yoga is not for him
who gorges too much and also not for him who starves himself. According to
hatha yoga pradeepika, a yogi is not supposed to starve himself by fasting.

Before quitting the fasting practice immediately, I wanted to make sure that
fasting which gave me so many benefits before; why not benefit the yogis? So I
kept on fasting once in a week along with my yoga practice. I had no problems
at all for the first few months. In fact, it helped me in repairing my body and
relieving my pains from the practice of yoga.
As my practice intensified, I began to experience fatigue, body aches and lack
of strength in performing some of the balancing and inverting asanas, where
you need some energy and power to perform. I then gave up weekly fasting. I
gradually began to gain strength and power to practice my asanas. As you all
know that fasting is meant to cleanse and repair our internal body. Soon I
realized that asanas are not only cleansing and repairing my anatomical body
but also my physiological body. After following Dr. Rajus natural way of living I
found myself light and healthy but after adapting yoga in my life seriously I
gained robust health and I hardly remember of getting any symptom of
sickness in the last couple of years. With the blessings of Guruji Shri BKS
Iyengar and Dr. M.S. Raju I am going well in my life and also taking the
teachings of these two Legends to the people in my own possible way.
I always had a question in my mind about Dr. Raju. He is been traveling
throughout the state to teach the natural way of living to the people of Andhra
Pradesh. Where does he get the time to fast and how be him going to manage
the fast while traveling and talking for hours? I then revised his books called
dasa pustakalu hoping for an answer. Dasa Pustakalu is a set of ten handbooks
which every household should maintain at home, in which he has written many
of his personal experiences along with misconceptions about natural lifestyle
and explanations related to them. Revising these gems called Dasa Pustakalu
did not disappoint me. I got the answer looking for. Here it is:
During his childhood Dr. Raju used to get sick very often. In spite of using
medicines he used to get sick frequently. In the year 1985 he learned about the
practice of Lankanam the fasting unto recovery and ever since he followed
this practice whenever he falls sick. He used to recover from fever in a very
short span of time than ever before without spending a single rupee. He then
began to eat rich, natural, whole, unprocessed and raw foods which kept him
away from doctors for months and years. From the year 1992 he began to
practice fasting every Saturday and from the year 1994 he began to eat 25%
cooked food without oil, salt and 75% raw uncooked food. From the year 1997
onwards he began to eat his dinner before sunset. This cleanses the body in
day to day basis therefore he happened to end the weekly practice of fasting.
To understand this you need to go back to my previous posts on fasting and
recollect the duties performed by our body and how fasting helps our body to
perform those duties effectively and how this dinner before sunset substitutes
fasting.

Some of the ancient yoga texts say that your food should be according to the
rise and fall of the Sun as the energy from Sun stimulates the Jattharaagni-the
fire to digest food in our body. You need to have a light breakfast and dinner in
the morning and in the evening as the Jattharaagni will be low during those
times due to mild sunrays. Low Jattharaagni will hamper digestion if you eat
heavy food. As the Sun is at the peak in the mid day, it is advised to take heavy
meal in the Lunch. High Jattharaagni will help digest any sort of food during
this time. Today we have forgotten this very law of nature and inviting all sorts
of diseases and disorders.
Dr. M.S. Raju in his book water and you explained the duties of our body in a
simple and clear manner. Page 12 water and you says that the body has two
duties to perform the day duty and the night duty. The body remains healthy
as long as it is performing these duties effectively. If these duties are
interchanged the body loses health and life expectancy is reduced. It suffers
from diseases.
1. Day Duty: The body discharges two types of functions during the day. The
first is to digest food, transport this digested food to the cells, convert it into
energy and move the waste material to the excretory system. The second
function is to produce millions of new cells in the body against the millions of
cells that die every day.
2. Night Duty: The body discharges two types of functions during the night.
Firstly, the waste material produced during the day through consumption of
food is purged to a certain extent through excretory system in the form of
fasces, urine, sweat and carbon dioxide during the day. The cells purge the
remaining waste material during the night. Secondly, many cells in our body
get diseased everyday. The body repairs them. Likewise the body protects us
from injuries, wounds and ill health.
If the body has to perform these functions effectively the body needs sufficient
water, space and enough rest. Now let us assess what amount of water, space
and rest we are providing to our body. Let us analyze what an average
individual does in his day to day life and how his body bears the brunt.
1. Morning Activity: Let us assume that an average individual wakes up at 7AM.
Immediately after brushing the teeth he needs coffee or tea. Some time later
say around 7-30 AM or 8AM he needs breakfast.
2. Afternoon Activity: He then gets back to his work and around 12PM or 1PM
again he will have some lunch.
3. Evening Activity: By the evening he finishes his work around 5PM or 6PM and
would like to have some tea and snacks.
4. Night Activity: Finally at night he will have his dinner around 8PM or 9PM and
go to bed at around 10PM or 11PM.
Now let us analyze the duties performed by our body in respect to our activities
in detail.
The tea or coffee consumed around 7-15AM will at least take 15-20 minutes to
digest; say it got digested by 7-20AM. Now it has to convert this into energy
and supply it the cells and carryout the waste to excretory system. By the time

it begins its work the breakfast comes in at 7-30AM. Now it has to digest this
again. The breakfast is obviously heavier than the tea or coffee and it will
consume more time to digest. Gone are the days where people used to follow
the sun rays in the eating schedules. The kind of stuff we eat in our breakfast
today easily consumes 2 to 3 hours of time to digest the food. Say, by 11-30AM
it finishes up the digestion. By the time the body begins its other function of
converting the food into energy, transporting it to the cells and sending the
waste to the excretory system, there comes the Lunch at around 12PM or 1PM.
The Lunch obviously is heavier than the breakfast. It may take around 3 to 4
hours to digest. Let us assume that it got digested by 4PM. Do we let the body
perform other functions at least now? No! We dont! There comes the snack in
the evening at 5PM or 6PM. And what we have in snacks? All sort of junk that is
available in the market. It again takes 1 or 2 hours to digest. BY the time the
digestion is finished it is the time for a dinner at 9PM or 10 PM. Are we going to
eat light dinner? No! We eat tummy full of stuff leisurely sitting with family
members at night as everyone is available at home. These days people in
metro cities are eating less in the noon as they feel dull which hampers their
performance at work and gorging full of their tummies at night as there wont
be any work apart from sleeping. It takes another 4 to 5 hours to digest the
food.
Majority of you might agree that you get a sound sleep at late night around
1AM or 2AM and some even say that they get sound sleep early in the morning
hours at 4AM. That is because your digestive system stops functioning at that
time. It completes the morning duty and starts performing the night duty when
you are completely at rest.
We have forgotten the very basic nature of our creation. We humans are day
predators. We hunt for food in the day and rest at night. The body needs 24
hours to perform its two duties 12 hours in the day and 12 hours in the night.
If your day begins at 7AM, you must allow your body to finish its day duty by
7PM. Because of our unnatural lifestyle we are over straining our body in
performing the day duty by 6 to 7 hours and under performing the night duty
by same length of time.
The body does most of its cleansing, repairing and healing work during its night
duty. It will be around 2PM the body finishes its day duty. The night duty
begins thereon. It continues smoothly as long as we are at sleep. The trouble
begins from the moment we wake up. As soon as we wake up the cycle rolls on
with tea at 7-15AM and the body thereby stops its night duty underperformed
by 7 hours. The fortunate thing is that the body does not continue its night duty
as it does with the day duty. Had it performed the night duty like its day duty
one would die immediately due to indigestion? But if this continued for long
anyway would lead to serious health hazards, as we see millions of people
suffering from various lifestyle disorders.
Here we are analyzing the problems the body of an average individual is facing
due to his lifestyle. This analysis based assuming the consumption of normal
food. The teas and coffees taken in between, sweets, deep fried oily food and
snack with lots of creams, butters, spices etc are exception. You can imagine
the rest.
There some people who intentionally follow this lifestyle but there are also
some people who do due to lack of choice. For those who are willing to
compensate this over strain on body but their schedule of work or nature of

work do not allow them to change their lifestyle drastically can follow a weekly
fasting schedule as recommended by Dr. Raju.
Now let us briefly try to understand how fasting compensates that over strain
and how it helps the body to balance the day and night duty effectively. Please
go through fasting Dr. Rajus way in order understand the process of fasting.
When you fast in Dr. Rajus way, suppose you have decided to fast on Saturday,
the fasting begins from Friday night after dinner and ends with breakfast on
Sunday morning. The night duty of the body begins at around 2PM on Friday
and it goes on till 7AM on Sunday. As you have not consumed any food there is
no day duty for the body. Therefore it continues its cleansing and repairing
work. It does the night duty continuously for 30 hours in the period of fasting.
How many hours your body is under performing in 6 days? 42 hours in a period
of 6 days. By fasting once in a week you are compensating the load of 72% (30
hours) on your body. Isnt it wonderful? Believe me, biweekly fasting is a boon
to your health.
There are many people like me who cannot undertake fasting biweekly due to
various reasons. If you make little changes in your lifestyle and discharge your
daily activities as given below, then that will substitute the benefits of fasting.
Your body will get ample time to perform its functions effectively on day to day
basis without needing a fast. Here is the schedule:
1. Morning Activity: Try to wake up at 4-30 or 5AM early in the morning. Drink 1
or 1.5 liters of water, clean your bowels and exercise for at least an hour.
People who cannot exercise can take a walk for an hour or two. By 6-30AM or
7AM have a glass of vegetable juice made up of any of these veggies like
carrots, beetroots, cucumber, tomatoes, coriander leaves etc. It takes not more
than 20 minutes to get digested and you will get ample enzymes that are useful
to the body from them. You can have your regular breakfast by 7-30AM or 8AM
as usual. Eat light breakfast without oil, ghee, cheese etc. so that the food gets
digested easily.
2. Afternoon Activity: Have your regular lunch at 12-30PM or 1PM. Many people
are used to eating fast food items in the day as that would save the time and
keep you light. But thats not right. Eat well enough in the lunch as your
digestive power is at peak.
3. Evening Activity: Get back home and eat a light dinner before Sunset by 630PM as the digestive power is mild during that time. Prefer to end up with
fruits in dinner.
Do not play your mouth in eating objects apart from this schedule. No snacks,
no teas, no coffees, no juices, no soft drinks etc. in between. Water is the only
exception. You can drink 2 glasses of water every hour or two maintaining a
gap of half an hour before meals and 2 hours after meals.
Let us now analyze how our body discharges the duties with this schedule:
The vegetable juice taken at 6-30AM will be digested by 6-50AM and the
breakfast taken at around 7-30AM will be digested by 8-30AM or 9AM.
Moreover the morning exercises assist in digesting the food quickly as it raises
the digestive power. Your body will have enough time to perform rest of the
functions before lunch.

The lunch taken at 12-30PM or 1PM will be digested by around 3PM. Here again
the body has enough time to perform rest of its day duty.
If you finish your dinner by 6-30PM with light food, it might be digested by
9PM. The body was resting at around 2AM under the normal activities. How
many hours you saved with this schedule? Around 5 hours a day! How many
hours it is going to be in a week? It is about 35 hours a week. Even if you have
taken some heavy food couple of times in a week still you are compensating 30
hours which is equivalent to a weekly fasting.
I still have problems in following this schedule. I have no time to take
vegetable juice in the morning as my yoga class is scheduled at 5-30AM to 730AM. After taking up the class I prefer to practice for 2 3 hours in the
morning. Sometimes I end up drinking a glass of milk or juice half an hour
before practice. I begin my practice at around 8-30AM till 11-30AM and will
have my lunch around 12-30PM or 1PM.
I again have my class from 4 PM onwards. Therefore I cannot finish my dinner
before Sunset. My dinner time is around 8PM 8-30PM. I have no choice in this
case. Moreover my appetite is high as my work involves physical exertion and I
have only 2 meals a day. Therefore I cannot tend to have small meals at night.
I slip into sound sleep by 10PM and wake up at 4-30AM without a miss. I have
been following this routine for quite some time now and enjoying my life as
never before.
In conclusion I would like to make it clear that fasting once a week is good for
people involved in sedentary work. For people who needs excess physical
exertion in their work it is not required. You can just follow the other
alternatives to cleanse and repair your body. You must understand that the self
uses the body to make the journey of life. You must always take care of your
body as you take care of your vehicle. If you ignore the vehicle of your life
called the body then the soul will dump you. Live healthy and let others live the
same way.
I hope you enjoyed this article. Keep watching the space for more updates.

The Real Cleansing

You might have seen many government promotions asking to keep the city
clean. Every individual likes to keep his house and the surroundings clean. But
do we really know what to keep clean? There is an ancient proverb in India
saying, before conquering the world one has to conquer his own house first.
Similarly, before cleaning the house, surroundings and the society one has to
primarily clean the body.

According to the ancient science of Yoga, everything is in the body. It is called

the kshetra (the location). If this kshetra is used for good deeds, it is called
dharma kshetra and if it is used for bad deeds, it is called Kuru Kshetra. There
is one knower of this kshetra the Soul which is called as kshetrajnani. People
usually look out for the Paramaatma or the God in temples, churches, mosques
or skywards but the God resides within every individual. We have forgotten the
real path that leads us to the Paramaatma. Instead of looking in, we have
scattered all our senses and consciousness towards the illusionary and unreal
world outside. Yoga is one such practice which teaches you to move
inside your body, which ultimately takes you to the Paramaatma. Doing mere

asanas is not Yoga. Yoga sadhana involves processing, refinement and

purification of all the 23 elements of the body. The 23 elements include the
Pancha Mahabhootas (5 Elements of Nature - Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether)
the Pancha Jnanendriyas (5 Sense Organs - Eyes, Ears, Nose, Tongue and Skin),
the Pancha Karmendriyas (5 Organs of Action Hands, Legs, Mouth, Generative
and Excretory Organs), the Pancha Tanmatras (5 subtle characteristics of sense
organs - Taste, Smell, Sound, Shape and Touch) and the 3 facets of Chitta or
Consciousness the Mind, Intellect and Ego.

According to ancient yogic texts there are 5 types of Koshas or sheaths or

layers known as 1. Annamaya Kosha The anatomical, skeletal or Structural
sheath 2. Pranamaya Kosha the physiological or organic sheath 3. Manomaya
Kosha the mental or emotional sheath 4. Vijnanamaya Kosha the
intellectual or discriminative sheath and 5. Anandamaya Kosha the pure and
blissful sheath. The yogi has to go through all these sheaths or layers to reach
the Self or the Soul. Apart from Annamaya Kosha none of the sheaths are
visible with the naked eye. Therefore, the yogi has to conquer and gain mastery
over his physical body before being able to experience the other sheaths. You
must be wondering why Am I telling all this here. It is because the Annamaya
Kosha or the physical body is the main source for all the drama in the whole
world. It is the kshetra or location for all the 23 elements mentioned above.
I always termed Dr. Mantena Satyanarayana Raju as a Karma Yogi not because
he does yogasanas. I call him a yogi because from the first moment of the
morning till the last moment of his day, his consciousness is totally on his body.
This is nothing but meditation. No discovery or invention is possible without
meditation. Instead of concentrating on external objects he is concentrating on
hisinternal organs of the body. Meditation is possible only when you move
inwards.
The Legendary Yogacharya Sri B.K.S. Iyengar says, My body is my temple, the
Asanas I perform are the Prayers offered to the Lord. If you dont keep your
temple clean the God doesnt reside in it. Instead, the demons reside.

Numerous pollutants and toxins are secreted by our body every day during its
continuous metabolic activities. The body tries to excrete these secreted toxins
and pollutants on day to day basis. If these toxins and pollutants are excreted
promptly, the body doesnt face any trouble. Ever since the growth of
civilization, the man got busy in eating and has no leisure to excrete these
toxins. Due to the increased volume of toxins and pollutants inside; the body
releases bad odors. To counter this odor, he is using the pastes, soaps,
powders, deodorants and phenyls etc as a substitute but he is never thinking
about the cause for using such things. We are keeping the Toilets neat and
clean by washing the pollutants and toxins released from the body everyday
with toilet cleaners and phenyls available in the market but we are not cleaning
the inner body- the real source for the waste that is hidden inside our body. If
the women dont have enough time to clean their toilets, they even hire people
to clean them but they dont let it go. Such is the love and affection for their
house. But have you ever tried to keep this body-the abode of Paramatma or
the God with such love and affection? Are you keeping this temple that clean?
Had you ever got this idea before? Have you ever realized what kind of mistake
you are making? We have neglected this temple so far. At least now let us
pledge to keep this temple clean. Let us see how the health doesnt come?
Since we have decided to keep this temple clean, let us now try to learn how
the toxins and pollutants form in our body and what kind of harm they cause to
our body.
Formation of toxins and pollutants in the body:
Dr. M.S. Raju has been continuously teaching these things for the last 20 years
wherever he goes and through the medium of TV, CDs/DVDs and several books
in a very simple and understandable way. You dont need to be a medical
student or a Doctor to understand his teachings. He makes things look so
simple and understandable because he speaks the language of people. Today I
am about to bring you some of the excerpts of Dr. Rajus dasapustakalu (a
handset of 10 books) how to clean the body from inside?
Our body is a combination of few trillion cells. When millions of cells combine
together forms an organ. When several organs combine together forms the
body. If this kind of body has to live, there must be some kind of metabolic
activities in the cells inside our body. There are three very essential necessities
to run these metabolic activities of the cells. They are the air, water and food.
We get these three essential requisites in the form of gas, liquid and solid from
nature. The cells in our bodyproduces energy from the air, water and food we

provide. We are alive as long as they produce the energy. Whenever the fuel is
used to produce energy, there forms the pollution also. For example, if the
wood is burnt, you get the energy called fire. Along with fire you also get the
pollutants like smoke, coal and ash. Similarly when our body cells produce
energy by consuming the fuel called air, water and food, they leave pollutants
like carbon dioxide, sweat, urine and stool. Apart from these, millions of cells
die every day due to the completion of lifespan or in a battle with the intruded
bacteria and viruses. They kill everyday millions of bacteria intruded in the
body. These dead cells are nothing but toxins and pollutants to the body and
therefore the body tries to excrete these pollutants on day to day basis. Is our
body really excreting these toxin and pollutants effectively? Are we helping the
body enough in fulfilling its task? Or we are making the task more difficult? Let
us analyze.
The causes for toxins and pollutants remaining in the body:

Every individual maintains a perfect time table for food. He set a time table for
tea, breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner etc. There is ample time set for eating
and drinking. But he had forgotten to set the time table for passing on the toilet
and the stool. This has become the major cause for forming pollutants inside
the body. Every individual is using 2-3 hours time a day for eating. If every
individual allots at least 1/4th of that time in eliminating the pollutants, that is
more than enough. Since the man is intelligent and he can use his intelligence
for wrong purposes, he has those problems. Whereas the animal does not know
the wrong usage of its intelligence and therefore it follows the natures
instincts. The animals cannot hold the waste inside their bodies as they do not
know the ways to hold it. Whereas humans, women in particular do not drink
enough water required for the day with the fear of going to the urinals for
repeated number of times. With that they are blocking the waste toxins and
pollutants from excreting through urine. Moreover we are eating 3 to 5 times a
day; but we are not properly ablating the stool formed out of that. 25% of the
dead cells are excreted through stool on day to day basis. With the growth of
civilization and the so called modernization we began to eat more junk food and
made ourselves busy in chasing the material objects so much that we forgot to
allot some time for cleansing our intestines. With that the waste toxins and
pollutants are remaining in the body. With the fear of losing the makeup or
powder or straining the clothes or due to irritation we are not allowing the
body to excrete the waste through sweat also by putting on the fans or air
conditioners. There is no other way of sweating. With that the waste that is to
be excreted through sweat remains in the body. If our work involves lot of
physical exert moving the limbs then the capacity of lungs increases and carries
out more carbon dioxide through every exhalation. Today, the work involves
only the movement of fingers; therefore the waste remains inside. In this way
the waste toxins and pollutants that should be excreted from the four excretory
organs are left inside our body. We are excreting only 1/4 th of the waste
leaving 3/4th of the waste in our body. We are totally ignorant of the harm in
leaving such toxins and pollutants in the body. Let us try to learn the harm they
do to our body.
The harm caused by the waste toxins and pollutants to our body:
Our body possesses a wonderful cleansing mechanism. If small dust particles
enter the eyes or any plaque or food particle is formed in your teeth, the body
does not rest until it removes those particles causing trouble. The body of such
nature tries to excrete the waste formed inside through the four excretory
organs to its fullest capacity in the form of sweat, urine, stool and breath.

Those waste toxins and pollutants are being brought to the gates but they are
again turned back as we are not providing enough opportunity to get them out
completely as mentioned in the above head the causes for toxins and
pollutants remaining in the body. In this way the body tries to excrete them
but failing which it is storing at those places where there is no resistance or
less resistance. The waste is therefore stored in the body wherever no activity
or less activity is there. It is this reason why different people in a family get
different types of problems even when they eat same kind of food. Let us see
how these toxins and pollutants turn into diseases.
If the water fetched in a pot is left unchanged for 10 days numerous bacteria
and viruses are formed in it. Sometimes if you store the cooked food for one
night, by next morning you find it stinking and by afternoon you can see the
bacteria moving over it. In the same way the waste we reserved in our body
gives birth to bacteria and viruses causing diseases. Whichever the organ or
part of the body the bacteria reach, that organ gets diseased which we call
infection in Medical terms. The diseases are named after the organs where the
bacteria reach and cause the disease. If the bacteria are intruded in the joints,
it is called Arthritis, if it is in Esophagus it is called Bronchitis, if it is in the pits
by the side of nose then it is called Sinusitis and so on. The major reason or
source for all the diseases is the waste that is stored inside the body. People
usually say that I got so and so disease. I got diabetes, I got lungs cancer, I got
bronchitis, I got cholesterol etc. as if they borrowed from outside or they got it
from somewhere else. Neither the doctors, medical sciences, environmental
pollution, pesticides nor fertilizers used in the crops or the parents and age is
responsible for the pollution inside. It is our negligence and ignorance that is
responsible for all the damage. The diseases do not come from anywhere out.
They are formed inside our body. Whatever the kind of environment you
provide inside the body remains in that way. It is rightly said by some of the
ancient yogis, you can either make your inner body a garden or a graveyard. If
you send dead bodies in it (animal food), it becomes a graveyard. If you send
grass and plants it becomes a garden. But today, even that is not enough. You
need to regularly water your plants, clean the garden on regular basis and
provide right kind of manures to keep it clean and green.
After going through all this you might have understood now, what to keep
clean? It is not the toilets you need to clean, it is not the surroundings you
need to clean, it is not the city you need to keep clean, it is the annamaya
kosha the physical / anatomical body you need to clean first. You cannot
expect the government to take the initiative and say keep your body clean as
it is sleeping since independence of India. By the time it awakes, you may no
longer be there to see the awakening. Therefore being intelligent individuals
with brains awake on your own and bring the change in your life by
immediately following the path of Dr. Rajus Natural Way of Living.
I hope you enjoyed this article. Keep watching the space for more updates.