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One of the greatest gifts of Acharya Shri Tulsi to his followers is in the form of many readymade scientific formulae with an appropriate spiritual and religious background, for achieving mental peace, physical fitness, self-rejuvenation, transformation, discipline, confidence and self-control. Anuvrat, preksha dhyana and anupreksha could be considered most outstanding of these. All these can easily be understood and practiced even by a common man without any distinction of caste and creed. This kind of dedication and approach by the religious leaders for the betterment of mankind is a rare phenomenon these days. As a matter of fact, under the overall leadership of Acharya Shri Mahapragya, the whole concept of preksha dhyana or sadhana may be considered one of the major breakthroughs of this century in the field of biomedical sciences. The present article deals specifically with the concept, mechanism, scope and application of preksha dhyana or sadhana in the light to its interaction with the neuroendocrine system, known to exist in the human body. To be more specific, with the background of spiritualism and neuroendocrinology human beings have all the potentiality for self-rejuvenation, self-transformation and control of any kind through a well-coordinated practice of the preksha mediation system as preached and explained by Acharya Shri Mahapragya. Concept of Preksha Meditation System The aim of preksha dhyana is to sink deep into spiritual thoughts and experiences to comprehend truth and reality directly without any predilections, prepossessions and preconceived notions which may otherwise distort our vision of truth. Seeing as against thinking is the first part of preksha dhyana. The second part of this is called anupreksha, which means contemplation on the consequences of what one has seen in the first part. Preksha dhyana thus includes both contemplative and perceptive kinds of meditation. Both are aids to the knowledge and understanding of truth. Preksha dhyana in toto means to perceive and contemplate reality in a correct way. Deep mediation, dispossessed mind and right thinking are the essential elements of preksha dhyana. It is a long and continuous process and needs a lot of preparation, practice, understanding and patience. It seems obvious that the practice of sadhana or preksha meditation cab bring about a complete self-transformation. The process of self-rejuvenation results from self-control, which is inherent in this system of meditation. The human brain produces electric currents in the state of dhyana. It produces electricity when the natural activities are reduced. The alpha rays produced by the brain in a state of complete repose bring about a state of tranquility. This tranquility is not experienced when the mind is engaged in thinking. People often express satisfaction when the mind is tranquil. It is the alpha rays which produce such a state of mind and this cannot be considered a spiritual experience. In short, if one makes one's mind clam and quiet, it will produces alpha rays. The main purpose of sadhana is to dissociate the soul from all kinds of objects. It does not aim at acquiring supernatural or miraculous powers. It aims at self-purification, which is achieved through the development of transcendental consciousness. Sadhana is a attempt at developing the numerous personality. The secret of sadhana lies in self-awareness and complete self-watchfulness. Concentration of mind is the first step to meditation. The basic factor in meditation is competence. The meditator should have the competence to began and stop a thought process at will. Concentration is essential for both meditation and samadhi. Samadhi involves the highest form of concentration. Asana (training inn physical postures), pranayama (breath control), kayotsarga (immobilization of the body), and dharana (concentration of the mind) are the basic constituents of sadhana. Possible Interaction with Science This concept of the preksha meditation system gives a clear indication of the interaction of spiritualism with science. Thus it provides a good scope for the sahak, munis, yogis and the scientists (psychologists, psychiatrists, paraphysiologists, psychophysicists, endocrinologists and neurophysiologists) to interact with each other in a coordinated manner to explore more and more than mysteries of nature. The nervous system may be divided, rather arbitrarily into two parts. That which controls the skeletal muscle may be called 'somatic'. That part which controls activity in the smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, glands and other visceral organs may be called 'autonomic'. The letter was so named by Langley in 1898. 'Autonomic' is not a particularly apt term since the system is nor more autonomous than most parts of the somatic system. However, its synonyms, 'the involuntary nervous system' (Gaskell) and 'the vegetative nervous system' (Meyer) are also open to criticism. The system is no more 'involuntary' than most parts of the somatic system. An appropriate answer to this discrepancy can be found in the hibernating animals and also in humans who practice yoga, samadhi, sadhana, etc. and thus have good control over the so-called 'involuntary functions' in the body. Animal Hibernation versus Preksha Meditation Thus, basically there is a close resemblance between the process of true hibernation and the typical form of samadhi, sadhana, etc. which a yogi undergoes. This indicates that to great extent by lowering the body temperature and the rate of respiration, among other things, humans also can achieve an increased span of better life as the hibernators do. What is truly wonderful is that now it is possible for a common man also to do so through the practice of preksha dhyana thanks to the deep study and experimentation undertaken by Acharya Shri Mahapragya now for many years. Scope and Applicaation There are several common disorders or ailments which are primarily due to mental tensions or due to a certain state of mind at a given time. To elaborate this point further, there may be persons with certain fixed types of disorders such as mental tensions, B.P. fluctuations, depression, anxiety, anger, fear, cowardice, mental fatigue, mental block, low I.Q., poor memory, hypersensitivity, etc. There may be others infected with pride, greed, deceit, fear of death and guilt. There may be still others suffering from severe and chronic drug addiction or serious emotional disorders. All these disorders cab be progressively removed with specific types of meditational approaches. Beside these, pain, hunger and sexual desire can also be controlled without any medicine and with no side effects. In the absence of such a system one has to resort either to heavy drinking for intoxication or to the use of tranquillizers and other drugs in large quantities. Thus the scope and application of the preksha meditation system )for the treatment of a large number of diseases and disorders, mostly mental in origin) are undoubtedly great and already significant achievements have been made in this direction. Besides the points mentioned above, the practice of medication gives enough stimulation to the normal human brain to achieve certain miracles or to know thing about which nothing is known. In the past, out rishis, munis and achieved many things through similar meditational practices. The present is an age of science and millions of dollars are being spent to carry out investigations into hear disease, brain disorders, cancer, ageing, etc. but the results are still far from satisfactory. The practice of preksha dhyana has provided very interesting clues in this direction. In the end, it will be very appropriate to mention that the concept of preksha dhyana has truck root with the help of anuvrat and these tow put together have proved man's infinitive potential for achieving self-rejuvenation as well as moral transformation of the world. -------------------------------------------------- Mail
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