Hari Aum.
I started my fifth purascharana of the ashtakshara mantra of Vishnu today. This is an auspicious day as per Vedic astrology with siddha yoga consisting of dwitiya tithi occuring on a Wednesday. The nakshatra today is Hasta which is good for spiritual activities.
I was planning to take a longer break of about six weeks after completion of the fourth purascharana. However, I found that I was not really enjoying the 'break' at all. The perils of the coronavirus in particular made me feel that this is the time to do more sadhana/spiritual practice not less!
I plan to do 15 malas (i.e. 15 x 108 recitations) per day with the aim of completing this in approximately one year and five months. Obviously this depends on health and other circumstances but I would like to do my best to complete it in this time-frame.
The purpose of this purascharana, as with all the others, is spiritual progress and for the peace and wellbeing of beings in all lokas (planes of existence). May we all develop true devotion to God and thus experience spiritual peace, bliss and wisdom--this is the sankalpa/intention behind doing this purascharana.
Specifically, in these difficult times, when the world is facing a pandemic, I hope this purascharana will go some way in alleviating the suffering of people (my Guru, Sivananda, and other gurus say that mantras of God reduce physical and mental suffering and give people peace and strength).
Aside from prayers to God, we all have a responsibility to take action to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection for ourselves and others. Self-effort draws the grace of God.
As I'm sure you know, outside of China, the country that is most seriously affected by this infection at present is Italy. In the last couple of days, Italian doctors working with coronavirus patients have spoken openly about what a nightmare it is. They have said the infection spreads easily between people and also that it seriously affects the lungs, so that patients require intensive care (including middle-aged people, not just the elderly).
The point here is not to panic (as panic does not help anyone) but to emphasise that this should be taken seriously and every possible action to protect ourselves and others should be performed. No healthcare system in the world will be able to cope with huge numbers of very sick people needing intensive care (and therefore many will die if this happens). The following actions have been advised by public health teams of various countries and are sensible (I am following this advice):
1) Wash your hands frequently often (thumbs and wrists included) for at least 20 seconds. (If you are in a place where you can't wash your hands, use hand sanitiser/alcohol gel)
2) Do not cough/sneeze on anyone. Use a tissue to cover your nose and mouth while coughing/sneezing and then throw the tissue away. If no tissue available, use your bent elbow instead
3) If you have travelled to a high risk country or have had contact with a person with confirmed coronavirus, you should stay at home and avoid contact with anyone for 14 days. If you become sick, seek medical advice by contacting your local medical service (but do not just walk into hospitals and clinics as you can infect others; check to see what your local public health guidance is for people with suspected coronavirus. In some countries, doctors/medical teams visit suspected cases at their homes to reduce the risk of spread to others).
I am staying at home as far as possible and avoiding public transport and crowds as much as I can to reduce the risk of catching the virus; I am particularly worried about the possibility of my young daughter and elderly members of the family getting it (the very young and very old are usually at most at risk from infections). I hope that, by the time I return to work as a family physician in a few months (after my maternity leave is completed), routine consultations in this country will be mostly done online instead of face-to-face; this will help to reduce the risk to both patients and doctors, and would be a sensible approach worldwide.
See link below for the World Health Organisation information on coronavirus Covid-19. Please pay particular attention to the section 'what can I do to protect myself and prevent the spread of the disease?'
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
See link below on how to wash hands properly:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-51754472/coronavirus-how-to-wash-your-hands-in-20-seconds
Hope we all stay well and can continue our sadhana to attain knowledge of our true blissful immortal nature, beyond all the sufferings of this world.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
I started my fifth purascharana of the ashtakshara mantra of Vishnu today. This is an auspicious day as per Vedic astrology with siddha yoga consisting of dwitiya tithi occuring on a Wednesday. The nakshatra today is Hasta which is good for spiritual activities.
I was planning to take a longer break of about six weeks after completion of the fourth purascharana. However, I found that I was not really enjoying the 'break' at all. The perils of the coronavirus in particular made me feel that this is the time to do more sadhana/spiritual practice not less!
I plan to do 15 malas (i.e. 15 x 108 recitations) per day with the aim of completing this in approximately one year and five months. Obviously this depends on health and other circumstances but I would like to do my best to complete it in this time-frame.
The purpose of this purascharana, as with all the others, is spiritual progress and for the peace and wellbeing of beings in all lokas (planes of existence). May we all develop true devotion to God and thus experience spiritual peace, bliss and wisdom--this is the sankalpa/intention behind doing this purascharana.
Specifically, in these difficult times, when the world is facing a pandemic, I hope this purascharana will go some way in alleviating the suffering of people (my Guru, Sivananda, and other gurus say that mantras of God reduce physical and mental suffering and give people peace and strength).
Aside from prayers to God, we all have a responsibility to take action to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection for ourselves and others. Self-effort draws the grace of God.
As I'm sure you know, outside of China, the country that is most seriously affected by this infection at present is Italy. In the last couple of days, Italian doctors working with coronavirus patients have spoken openly about what a nightmare it is. They have said the infection spreads easily between people and also that it seriously affects the lungs, so that patients require intensive care (including middle-aged people, not just the elderly).
The point here is not to panic (as panic does not help anyone) but to emphasise that this should be taken seriously and every possible action to protect ourselves and others should be performed. No healthcare system in the world will be able to cope with huge numbers of very sick people needing intensive care (and therefore many will die if this happens). The following actions have been advised by public health teams of various countries and are sensible (I am following this advice):
1) Wash your hands frequently often (thumbs and wrists included) for at least 20 seconds. (If you are in a place where you can't wash your hands, use hand sanitiser/alcohol gel)
2) Do not cough/sneeze on anyone. Use a tissue to cover your nose and mouth while coughing/sneezing and then throw the tissue away. If no tissue available, use your bent elbow instead
3) If you have travelled to a high risk country or have had contact with a person with confirmed coronavirus, you should stay at home and avoid contact with anyone for 14 days. If you become sick, seek medical advice by contacting your local medical service (but do not just walk into hospitals and clinics as you can infect others; check to see what your local public health guidance is for people with suspected coronavirus. In some countries, doctors/medical teams visit suspected cases at their homes to reduce the risk of spread to others).
I am staying at home as far as possible and avoiding public transport and crowds as much as I can to reduce the risk of catching the virus; I am particularly worried about the possibility of my young daughter and elderly members of the family getting it (the very young and very old are usually at most at risk from infections). I hope that, by the time I return to work as a family physician in a few months (after my maternity leave is completed), routine consultations in this country will be mostly done online instead of face-to-face; this will help to reduce the risk to both patients and doctors, and would be a sensible approach worldwide.
See link below for the World Health Organisation information on coronavirus Covid-19. Please pay particular attention to the section 'what can I do to protect myself and prevent the spread of the disease?'
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
See link below on how to wash hands properly:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-51754472/coronavirus-how-to-wash-your-hands-in-20-seconds
Hope we all stay well and can continue our sadhana to attain knowledge of our true blissful immortal nature, beyond all the sufferings of this world.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
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