The key to good health

In keeping with the views of the renowned Ayurvedic physician Charaka , World Health Organization also defines that a perfect good health is the state where there is a harmony of the vibrations of body, mind and soul . Disease is the state where this harmony gets disturbed. All healthcare attempts to preserve these vibrations undisturbed.

Of all the stimuli like sound, music, colors of light, heat ,electricity and magnetism the most effective is music which is able to restore the harmony among the vibrations of body , mind, and soul because it can affect function at a basic level of sensory response. A proper music is enriched not only with cosmic energy for the purpose of healing our body and mind but also with divine and spiritual power.

The great healers have existed in the past who worshipped gods and believed the efficacy of prayers along with medical treatment. Among them were Hippocrates, the legendary Greek father of western medicine and the great Persian physician Avicenna. Charaka also recommended the recitation of Vishnu Sahasranama in addition to medicines for alleviation of diseases especially fever. It was Plato who said “ No attempt should be made to cure the body without treating the soul”.

The ancient art of chanting is recognized as a path to healing and enlightenment as sound can unfurl the inmost petals of feeling and transport the mind to calmness. Now the modern medical science also recognizes its therapeutic effects on the body and mind. It highlights the co-relation between science and spirituality. In the words of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale,”God inspired inner peace produces well-being mentally and physically and is thereby the greatest boon to health     ‘.

Life is to be enjoyed , live it qualitatively .

    

Dhammapada, a hand book of Buddhism provides an exhaustive science of better living and complete techniques of Self-development culminating in the experience of complete Freedom or Nibbana.

  Decay and death are universal. As with a stick the herdsman drives his kine to pasture even so do old age and death drive out the lives of beings.

        Craving, anger, hatred are all the clingings which are the root cause of man’s miseries. There is no fire like lust, no grip like hate, no net like delusion, no river like craving. The remedies for these evils lie in the values and virtues to be followed in life. They are Self-control, Non-injury, Truthfulness, Love and Compassion.

          Self-control means living in self-control with respect to all our sense-enjoyments and does not mean their total denial. Non-injury doing no harm is understood as a mental attitude to our relationship with others in life. Truthfulness is a value of life to be lived at the intellectual plane. The intellectual honesty to live truly to our convictions in full dedication to our chosen ideals adds a serene beauty to an individual’s life. The success and beauty of the individual life contribute to the glory and greatness of the nation. Love and compassion are helpful in overcoming and sublimating the negative tendencies in man and are the cementing forces for living harmoniously in Society. Company of the good helps one to cultivate good habits and values and shed negative ones.

                    Action is the Sine-qua non of life. Any living organism if it is to live must necessarily act in the world .One should work in such a thoughtful manner that he should not repent afterwards. The secret of success lies in the quality of action and it depends on the ideals which guide and inspire an individual. The loftier and nobler the ideal, the greater will be the beauty of his actions and efficiency.

            The material growth and prosperity raise the standard of living where as the spiritual inner rehabilitation improve the standard of life One should earn in youth to save for a comfortable life in old age. One who does not earn pine away like old herons in a pond without fish.

       Both the standard of living and standard of life have to be equally developed and balanced in order that one may sail through life’s different challenges with ease, poise, comfort and cheer.

   When life is dear to all, why not live it qualitatively ?