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A short History of alcohol

ALCOHOL: A SHORT HISTORY

Fermented grain,fruit juice and honey have been used to make alcohol (ethyl alcohol or ethanol) for thousands of years.

Fermented beverages existed in early Egyptian civilization, and there is evidence of an early alcoholic drink in China around 7000 B.C. In India, an alcoholic beverage called sura, distilled from rice, was in use between 3000 and 2000 B.C.

The Babylonians worshiped a wine goddess as early as 2700 B.C. In Greece, one of the first alcoholic beverages to gain popularity was mead, a fermented drink made from honey and water. Greek literature is full of warnings against excessive drinking.

Several Native American civilizations developed alcoholic beverages in pre-Columbian times. A variety of fermented beverages from the Andes region of South America were created from corn, grapes or apples, called “chicha.”

In the sixteenth century, alcohol (called “spirits”) was used largely for medicinal purposes. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the British parliament passed a law encouraging the use of grain for distilling spirits. Cheap spirits flooded the market and reached a peak in the mid-eighteenth century. In Britain, gin consumption reached 18 million gallons and alcoholism became widespread.

The nineteenth century brought a change in attitudes and the temperance movement began promoting the moderate use of alcohol—which ultimately became a push for total prohibition.

Best Time to Start a Company

Don't wait. Here are six  reasons to launch a venture today.

Now that you know my belief that starting a company is your best hope.....

1. You're young

The best time to start a company is when you are young. The younger, the better. Youth is a beautiful thing. It's the perfect combination of ignorance and innocence. Stupid decisions are excused as learning experiences and the worst outcome of most youthful transgressions is a few days in worse, going broke.

I believe  that it's easier to pour your life into a company when you're young, creative, fresh, and fired up.

I've never met an entrepreneur who said, "Wow, I wish I hadn't started so young." The world is full of regrets and one of the main ones is from entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs lamenting that they didn't start off earlier.

2. You're miserable at work

Life is too short to sit behind a desk and be miserable. Show me someone who makes a million dollars a year but hates his job and I'll show you an unhappy guy. Show me someone who makes a tenth of that and I'll show you someone who is 10 times as unhappy.

I've always believed that misery loves company for a reason. Look inside any company and you'll find a boatload of misery, the best fuel to start your own company. We grow up rebelling against our parents. Many grow companies to rebel against former bosses.

Use your nights, weekends, and lunch breaks to form your ideas and network and start laying the groundwork for your eventual prison break. And when you're confident you're on to something, jump. I assure you that you'll never look back, even if all you have at the end is less money in the bank and a learning experience.

3. You're out of work

There's nothing like a good ol' fashion layoff to turn you from a worker into an owner. It shocks and beats the comfort out of you. It's a mini death forcing the least introspective to examine all aspects of their lives.

Let's be clear, everyone who is laid off should not start a business. But a layoff is a great catalyst if you're already thinking about making the move.

When you're fired or let go, many fall into the trap of focusing energy on the people who "wronged" you. Just the opposite. Look at the firing as a blessing in disguise and motivation to reevaluate your life. Put everything on the table—new opportunities you have been ignoring, industries you're interested, and starting your own gig. 

4. You have no responsibilities

Start-ups and life responsibilities are often inversely related, if not mutually exclusive. The more responsibilities you have, the less likely it is that you will start a business.

While age and responsibilities are often related, they aren't always.  So start a company when you have the time and the energy and the freedom to do so. Don't wait until it's too late and you're trapped by a mortgage, private school tuition bills, and annual family vacations that you need to fund.

Providing for others and keeping up with a lifestyle you've grown accustomed to makes it hard to start companies, especially for the first-time entrepreneur. If you are single, married without kids, or thinking about getting married and starting a family—and considering jumping on the entrepreneurial train, do it now before you decide that it's just too late.

5. You have an incurable obsession

Our great country was founded on the idea that anyone with an idea can strike it big

Starting a company is the hardest thing you will ever do professionally. It's you versus the world. And the world wins 90% of the time.

Start a company after you sit on your idea for a while—and you can't get it out of your head. You're obsessed. You're incurable. No matter how much you try not to think about the business, it keeps coming back. You start working on the idea during all your free time. You can't stop talking to friends and family about it. And you feel like you will never forgive yourself if you don't take a chance.

This incurable obsession must be consistent over an extended period of at least three months. Let it sit. Let it settle. And don't confuse it with the entrepreneurial seizure, a more temporary excitement that will wane if you give yourself time to really think about the idea.

6. Do it today

You can try to pick the best time to start a business. When you are old, young, rich, poor, fat, thin, with hair or balding. But any attempt to do so won't make you more or less likely to succeed. Entrepreneurs come in all sizes, shapes, ages and colors. And, believe it or not, our country doesn't have a monopoly on business creation.

Great businesses have been created in times of prosperity. Great businesses have been started when we the country was facing its darkest hours and the entrepreneur was at her lowest low.

If you're reading this story, you're interested in starting your own business. And if you are reading to the end (yes, you! I'm talking about you!), you're about to jump and seriously consider it. Why else would you read 1,500 words about a topic you weren't passionate about?

So let me make it simple for you—the best time to start a business is TODAY. Not tomorrow. Not in two weeks. Not after you get promoted, pregnant, married, or your MBA. TODAY! You're not getting any younger. Your life is not getting any simpler. 

See that cliff in front of you that you're scared to go over? Run up to it once again. But this time, actually jump. What you will find below is the life you wanted to live and all you need to do is get over the fear that's keeping you back.

To see more about how I decided to start my first company rather than take a job, and how fear is getting in your way, check out my talk from late last year.

Rakesh Navaneethakrishnan

Steve Jobs on Changing the World

Steve Jobs with Beard.

How to Create the Thoughts You Want

All of us have started accepting the fact that ‘thoughts create our world.’ While it is an exciting revelation for some, this awareness is making life miserable for some others, as they are unable to control negative or destructive thoughts and create positive and creative thoughts.

• Be conscious. You should be conscious of your thoughts. Every moment one thought or other will pass through your brain. Don’t try to control them in this phase as that may lead to stress. Just be conscious

• Pause. Whenever you become conscious of a negative thought passing through your brain, just pause that thought. You can even visualize as if there is a ‘pause’ button some where near to your right ear and just press that button and pause the thought!

• Replay. Replay that thought in your mind. Suppose the thought was ‘I don’t think I will win this contract,’ just replay that thought again in your brain. Here also you can visualize a ‘Play ‘ button next to the ‘pause’ button!

• Ask. While the thought is ‘paused,’ ask yourself, ‘Is this what I want?’ You will get an answer from your brain ‘NO.’

• Explore. Ask yourself, ‘what is that I want?’ Then the brain will say, ‘In fact I want the contract to be won.’

• Reframe. Reframe the need statement in the present tense as mind operates in the present. You can reframe this as “I am winning the contract, come what may,”

• Play. Now you press the ‘Play’ button and hear the sound “I am winning the contract, come what may.” Replay this statement again and again and again. While you are driving to the client’s office to sign that contract, let this statement be played continuously in your brain.

The Entrepreneurial Lessons

RAMAYANA

10. Make sure you have a clear vision and cause

Ravana’s brother Vibhishan, who had come to Rama’s side questioned him, “How will you defeat this huge army with your limited resources?” The reply which Rama gave is the greatest lesson ever for a leader. He said, “You have to make sure you have a clear vision, and a cause worth fighting for.” In the case of Ramayana, Rama’s cause was to rescue his beloved Sita and the vision was to defeat the evil forces.

9. 4 foremost ingredients of Entrepreneurship: Character, Courage, Ethics, Valor

Rama told to Vibhishan that the four wheels of the chariot are character, courage, ethics, and valor. Character is the most essential thing for a leader. As an entrepreneur, you must know who you are and what you stand for and communicate the same to your people through actions rather than words. Leadership and respect doesn’t come from a business card. It is the ethics, the value system you embody that does the needful. Courage is the ability to take unpopular decisions, while valor is the courage to defend those very decisions.

8. Be a storehouse of strength, energy, and passion

Rama said that the horses of the chariot are strength, energy, and passion. In a battle and so in your entrepreneurial venture, you must have the strength to discriminate between the right and wrong, and the zeal and perseverance to keep working towards your goal.

7. Brand is bigger than the "owner" of the brand

A big challenge on the way to Lanka was to cross the southern sea. People suggested inscribing the name “Rama” on the stone and then throwing it. Surprisingly it worked and a construction of the bridge started by monkeys ‘Nal’ and ‘Neel’. After sometime Rama decided to help and he threw a stone in the ocean. To everyone’s amazement, it sank. Everyone realized that it happened because the stone was not inscribed with “Rama”

Lord Rama was confident that he does not need to use his "brand" as he was THE "brand" and tried to repeat the magic. But it did not work. It was not "branded" with "Rama".

This explains that a brand is always bigger than the owner of the brand. An entrepreneur should feel good when people recognize him by the name his company.  He should feel happy that his brand is becoming bigger than him.

6. Be armed with knowledge, strategy, intelligence, skills, commitment

These are the weapons that helped Rama win the mammoth battle and would help you in this exciting and demanding journey. Rama said to his army before entering into the battle, “Arm yourself with these and no war will be lost.” After the battle, his army—the group of men and monkeys defeated the heavily equipped Ravana and his forces.

5. Consult subordinates on important matters and allow them to give their opinions freely

When Vibhishan defected, Rama took him under his protection. He then had a talk with the various army chiefs some of whom disagreed with Rama. Instead of punishing them, Rama got them to accept his decision. Everybody felt that their opinions had been heard and that their objections had been clarified. Empowerment of subordinates to question his decisions was a key and unique quality of Rama which contrasted with Ravana who never allowed anybody to contradict him.

4. Treat everyone equally

Rama was a prince who interacted freely with the people. Rama did not have any biases regarding developing relationships with people of a lower social status. Thus he accepted the hospitality of the chief of the fisher folk and allied with the forest tribes who were out of the light of normal society. In fact, Rama gave them positions of equality. This was not only due to the war conditions since he maintained the same relationship when he won the war. Not surprisingly, he received great loyalty from all.

3. Stand courageously in the face of great adversity

Following Sita's kidnap, Rama wandered poor and ruined in the forests searching for Sita. The Ramayana is full of touching details of Rama's sadness and his memory of Sita. Yet this grief did not prevent him from searching for partners even when the enemy was unknown. Rama maintained his courage even at the darkest hours and in doing so inspired his army to not only continue the unequal fight, but also win it.

2. Have a future oriented plan

The objective of Rama was future oriented. He was ordered to stay away from Ayodhya for 14 years in a forest. This long term actions gave Rama enough time to plan, organize resource and strike against Ravana at an apt time so that mission could be completed without failure.

1. Follow a code of ethics and be ready to sacrifice to follow it

Rama brought ethical decision making in all areas of his life. There are many leaders who make a sacrifice once in order to build credibility and then use it to make unethical decisions later relying on the knowledge that their initial sacrifice would make them immune to attacks. When Ravana paraded to battle on the first day without sufficient preparations and was rendered weaponless by Rama, he was allowed to return to his fort because Rama followed the code of loyalty that an unarmed enemy should not be attacked.

Courtesy Siliconi magazine

Questions That Create Success

Ask yourself these on a daily basis.

Think that success means making lots of money?  Think again.

Pictures of dead presidents have never made anybody happy. And how can you be successful if you're not happy? And buying things with that all money isn't much better. A new car, for instance, might tickle your fancy for a day or two–but pride of ownership is temporary.

Real success comes from the quality of your relationships and the emotions that you experience each day. 

That's where these questions come in.

Ask them at the end of each day and I absolutely guarantee that you'll become more successful. 

Here they are:

1. Have I made certain that those I love feel loved?

2. Have I done something today that improved the world?

3. Have I conditioned my body to be more strong flexible and resilient?

4. Have I reviewed and honed my plans for the future?

5. Have I acted in private with the same integrity I exhibit in public?

6. Have I avoided unkind words and deeds?

7. Have I accomplished something worthwhile?

8. Have I helped someone less fortunate?

9. Have I collected some wonderful memories?

10. Have I felt grateful for the incredible gift of being alive?

Wholesale Business Opportunities

Wholesale trade includes establishments selling products to institutional users, commercial users, industrial and/or contractors, merchants, and retailers. These businesses don’t sell directly to ultimate household consumers. Wholesale distribution firms sell both durable goods (industrial supplies, office equipment, or furniture) as well as non-durable goods (periodicals, chemicals, groceries, writing paper, or printing paper).

How To Tell Lies Successfully

The difficulty with lying is that the subconscious mind acts automatically and independently of our verbal lie, so our body language gives us away. This is why people who rarely tell lies are easily caught, regardless of how convincing they may sound.

The moment they begin to lie, the body sends out contradictory signals, and these give us our feeling that they are not telling the truth.

During the lie, the subconscious mind sends out nervous energy that appears as a gesture that can contradict what the person said.

Some people whose jobs involve lying, such as politicians, lawyers, actors and television announcers, have refined their body gestures to the point where it is difficult to ‘see’ the lie, and people fall for it, hook, line and sinker.

They refine their gestures in one of two ways. First, they practise what ‘feel’ like the right gestures when they tell the lie, but this is only successful when they have practiced telling numerous lies over long periods of time. Second, they can eliminate most gestures so that they do’ not use any positive or negative gestures while lying, but this is also very difficult to do.

Try this simple test when an occasion presents itself. Tell a deliberate lie to an acquaintance and make a conscious effort to suppress all body gestures while your body is in full view of the other person. Even when your major body gestures are consciously suppressed, numerous microgestures will still be transmitted. These include facial muscular twitching, expansion and contraction of pupils, sweating at the brow, flushing

of the cheeks, increased rate of eye blinking and numerous other minute gestures that signal deceit. Research using slow motion cameras shows that these microgestures can occur within a split second and it is only people such as professional interviewers, sales people and those whom we call perceptive who can consciously see them during a conversation or negotiation. The best interviewers and sales people are those who have developed the unconscious ability to read the microgestures during face-to-face encounters.

It is obvious, then, that to be able to lie successfully, you must have your body hidden or out of sight. This is why police interrogation involves placing the suspect on a chair in the open or placing him under lights with his body in full view of the interrogators; his lies are much easier to see under those circumstances. Naturally, telling lies is easier if you are sitting behind a desk where your body is partially hidden, or while peering over a fence or behind a closed door.

                                          The best way to lie is over the telephone!

                                                                    TIPS

Practice lying in front of a mirror or video camera. Observe your facial expressions. Try making your eyes go big and letting your mouth hang open a little for an innocent or believably shocked look. Also, practice looking like you're holding back tears. When you smile, show your teeth a little and crinkle up your eyes and cheeks. This is a "sincere" smile, an ear-to-ear one that covers your whole face.


Know when not to lie. Finally but importantly, if you're going to lie, know when it's perfectly stupid to try and do so. There are many ethical and faith-based reasons for not lying, and those are within your own personal realm of struggle to deal with.

Beards And Businessman

There was a study published fairly recently about the trustworthiness of a man based on his facial hair. The study published in The Journal of Marketing Communications found that men with medium length neat beards were more effective at gaining the audience’s trust for most products. How can we apply this knowledge to what we do in our businesses? Should we immediately begin growing our manly beards? Does this mean we don’t have to shave daily? What if I can’t grow a beard? I’ll explore these questions and draw some conclusions based on this new knowledge.

History paints a pretty clear picture of how beards were viewed and what they stood for. The beards journey began swimmingly with the beard being widely adopted and viewed as a sign of positive attributes such as sovereignty, dignity, wisdom, sexual virility and high social status. It wasn’t until shortly after the enlightenment in Europe that the beard’s reputation began to turn. The beard became less popular and even had a tax levied on it in Russia around 1705.

In our modern business setting there is no rule governing the adoption of beards by businessmen. (I should state now that I am limiting this discussion to men’s beards. I don’t believe woman’s beards have ever been popular.) However, with a simple scan of a busy downtown street in the business district of any town or city one might notice that the preference is for smooth cheeks. I believe that this is a fad that needs to change.

With this study being published it is now time for beard wearers to take their place among the businessmen. The study pitted men with beards and clean-shaven men and found that the man with the beard was perceived as more trustworthy and knowledgeable about their product. For businessmen this should be the key factor as these are among the two most important traits when discussing business deals. Perhaps in your next proposal an image of you with a beard or a mention of how your company feels about beards will win the job.

Here at fragment we have begun to uncover the value of the beard and are beginning to incorporate more beard onto our faces. I can only hope that by this reading you would decide to do the same as we strive for a more beard friendly workplace.

So to answer some simple questions, Yes we should immediately begin growing beards, No you don’t have to shave everyday, and if you can’t grow a beard... good luck to you in our new bearded business landscape.

Bhogar Biography

Bhoganāthar or Bhogar, the Jñāna Guru of Babaji, in the poem “Bhogar Jñāna Sagarama” (Bhogar’s Oceanic Life Story, consisting of 557 verses, verse number 2, lines number 3 and 4), identifies himself as a Tamilian, (Ramaiah, 1979; 1982. p. 17).[1] In the same verse he states that the great Siddha Kālangi Nāthar initiated him in Jñāna Yoga (supreme self-knowledge).

 

Kālangi Nāthar was born in Kaśi (Benares). He attained the immortal state of swarūpa samādhi at the ago of 315, and then made China the center of his teaching activities. He belonged to the ancient tradition of Nava (nine) Nāth sadhus (holy ascetics), tracing their tradition to Lord Shiva.

There are nine important shrines associated with this tradition, five of which are in the Himālaya Mountains: Amarnāth (where Shiva first taught Kriya Yoga to his Shakti partner, Parvati Devi), Kedarnāth, Badrināth (India), Kailāsanāth, (Tibet) and Paśupatināth (Nepal).

Meanwhile, Bhoganāthar practiced Kundalini Yoga in four stages. The first three stages arc described in a later chapter on “The Psychophysiology of Kriya Kundalini Pranayama”. Bhoganāthar chose the Palani Malai (mountain) in what is now southwestern Tamil Nadu as the site for intensive yogic practice (tapas) for the final stage. He attained swarūpa samādhi at Palani, through the grace of Lord Muruga, or the eternal youth, “Kumāra Swāmi”.

The Kumāraswāmi temple at Palani became the epicenter of his activities. He visited many countries astrally, and physically and through transmigration. In one of his songs Bhoganāthar claims to have flown to China at one point in a sort of airplane which he built: he held discussions with Chinese Siddhas before returning to India (Kailasapathy, 1969, p. 197-211). His visit to South America has been confirmed by accounts left by the Muycas of Chile:

“Bocha, who gave laws to Muycas, was a white, bearded man, wearing long robes, who regulated the calendar, established festivals, and vanished in time like others (other remarkable teachers who had come across the Pacific according to numerous legends of Incas, Aztecs and Mayans).” (Lal 1965, p. 20).[2]

He convened a meeting of many siddhas just before the beginning of the present Kali Yuga, in 3102 BC, to determine the best way for humanity to progress along the spiritual path during the coming period of darkness. The Yoga of love and devotion, Bhakti Yoga, was chosen as being the best means. Bhoganāthar was entrusted by the siddhas with the task of defining the rituals for the worship of their favorite deity “Palani Āndavar”, the Lord (Muruga) of Palani.

Many rituals that center around the bathing (abhishekam) of an idol of Palani Andavar with many substances, including panchaamirtam consisting of five fruits and honey, were developed by him and continue to be followed to this day. The idol had to be created from a substance that would last throughout Kali Yuga.

The most resilient of known substances, granite, was known to wear and crack after thousands of such rituals. So Bhoganāthar fashioned it out of nine secret herbal and chemical ingredients, nava pashanam, which made it harder than granite. Eight of the ingredients were combined in a mold of the idol. The ninth, was added as a catalyst, to solidify it.

In recent times the scientists who attempted to determine the composition of a small sample of the material of the idol, were startled to find that it immediately sublimated when heated. Thus its composition remains a mystery to date. The traces of the substance are contained in the ritual offerings in which it is bathed. When these are returned and consumed by the devotee, their spiritual progress is enhanced.

A mission to China and transmigration

Kālangi Nāthar decided to enter into samādhi in seclusion for 3,000 years. He summoned Bhoganāthar telepathically from Tamil Nadu to China to take over his mission. Bhoganāthar traveled by sea, following the trade route. In China, he was instructed by Kālangi Nāthar in all aspects of the Siddha sciences. These included the preparation and use of the kaya kalpa herbal formulae to promote longevity.

After Kālangi Nāthar entered into trance, Bhoganāthar assumed his teaching mission to the Chinese. To facilitate this, he transmigrated his vital body into the physical body of a deceased Chinese man, and thereafter went by the name “Bo-Yang”. “Bo” is a derivation of the word “Bhogam” which means bliss, material and spiritual.

This bliss, for which he was named “Bo-Yang” is experienced when the Kundalini shakti, the feminine primordial yin energy awakens, passes up to the crown of the head, the seat of Shiva, the masculine yang pole, in the Sahasra cakra at the summit of the head and unites with it. The result of this integration of feminine and masculine parts of the being, or union (“Yoga”) of Shakti and Shiva, Yin and Yang, is Satchidananda: Absolute Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.

Transformation of his physical body

Bhoganāthar decided to overcome the limitations of the Chinese body, with its degenerative tendencies, and prolong its life through the use of the kaya kalpa herbs long enough for the effect of Kriya Kundalini Pranayama and related yogic techniques to bring swarūpa samādhi. In his poem Bhogar Jñāna Sutra 8, verse number 4, he describes vividly what happened after carefully preparing a tablet using thirty five different herbs:

With great care and patience I made the (kaya kalpa) tablet

and then swallowed it:

Not waiting for fools and skeptics

who would not appreciate its hidden meaning and importance.

Steadily I lived in the land of the parangis (foreigners)

For twelve thousand years, my fellow!

I lived for a long time

and fed on the vital ojas (sublimated spiritual energy)

With the ojas vindhu I received the name, Bhogar:

The body developed the golden color of the pill:

Now I am living in a world of gold

(based upon translation by Yogi S.A.A. Ramaiah, 1979, p. 40-42).

He chose three of his best disciples and his faithful dog, and took thorn to the top of a mountain. After first offering a tablet to the dog, the dog immediately fell over dead. He next offered it to his leading disciple, Yu, who also immediately fell over dead.

After offering it to the two remaining disciples, who by this time were extremely nervous, and who promptly hid their tablets rather than swallow them, Bhoganāthar swallowed the remaining tablets and also fell over unconscious. Crying with grief, the two remaining disciples went down the mountain to get material to bury the bodies. When the disciples returned to the spot where the bodies had been left lying, all that was found was a note, in Bhoganāthar’s handwriting, which said:

The kaya kalpa tablets are working.

After awakening from their trance

I restored faithful Yu and the dog.

You have missed your chance for immortality. (Ibid.)

This kaya kalpa enabled Bhoganāthar to transform the Chinese body over a period of 12,000 years, during which time it developed a lustrous golden color. (The physiological transformation to the state of swarūpa samādhi was, however, completed only later, at Palani in the final phases of Kriya Kundalini Yoga and related practices. These phases will be described in chapter 11. Bhoganāthar’s own graphic description is recorded in the poem at the end of this chapter Initiation into Samādhi.)

In this poem Sutras of Wisdom — 8. he sings prophetically of the taking up of the practice of pranayama in modern times by millions of persons who would otherwise have succumbed to drug abuse:

Kriya Babaji, disciple of Bhogar

Bhogar Nath and his young disciple Babaji Nagaraj at Kataragama, illustration from Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition

 Kriya Babaji shrine, Kataragama

  

Will chant the unifying verse of the Vedanta.

Glory to the holy feet of Uma (the Divine Mother of the Universe. Shakti),

Will instruct you in the knowledge of the sciences, ranging from hypnotism to alchemy (kaya kalpa).

Without the need for pills or tablets, the great scientific art of pranayama breathing, will be taught and recognized

By millions of common people and chaste young women.

Verse no. I (based upon translation by Yogi S.A.A. Ramaiah, 1982, p. 40).

Becomes known as Lao-Tzu, founder of Taoism

After this incident with the Chinese disciples, Bo-Yang became also known as Lao-Tzu, and was accessible for nearly 200 years, and trained hundreds of Chinese disciples in Tantric Yoga practices, wherein semen and sexual energies are conserved and sublimated into spiritual energies. The advanced techniques which he taught involve raising the energies from the mūladhāra cakra corresponding to the perineum up to the sahasrara cakra during sexual intercourse with a spiritually minded partner, resulting in sublimated energy, tejas. manifesting throughout all the cells of the body. In the fifth century B.C., Confucius met Lao-Tzu Bo-Yang and afterwards said of him:

I know a bird can fly, a fish can swim, and an animal can run. For that which runs, a net can be fashioned; for that which swims, a line can be strung. But the ascent of a Dragon on the wind into heaven is something which is beyond my knowledge. Today I have met Lao-Tzu, who is perhaps like a Dragon. Among the Chinese, particularly, the Taoists, the Dragon is the symbol of Kundalini Shakti, the primordial force.

At the end of his mission to China, about 400 BC, Bhoganāthar, with his disciple Yu (whom he also gave the Indian name Pulipani) and other close disciples, left China by the land route. As recorded in the Taoist literature, at the request of the gatekeeper at the Han Ku mountain pass Lao-Tzu crystallized his teachings. He did so in two books, the Tao Ching, with 37 verses, and the Te Ching with 42 verses (MacKintosh, 1971).[3]

In book two he says ‘Do good to him who has done you injury’, which was also said by the contemporary Tamil Siddha, Tiruvalluvar in his Tirukkural (Tiruvalluvar, 1968). Taoist yoga traditions continue to seek physical immortality using techniques remarkably similar to those taught in Tamil Shiva Yoga Siddhānta.

Return to India

Along their way, they visited several shrines in the Himalayas and Kāmarūpa, the famous Tantric Shakti shrine in Assam.[4] He composed his greatest work of 700,000 verses near Mt. Kailasa with the blessings of Lord Shiva. It was later abridged to 7,000 verses, and is known as Bhogar Sapta Kandam. He later visited Gaya, India and Arabia.

Upon his return to Tamil Nadu he introduced the Chinese salts and chemistry, which he called Cīna-cāram and porcelain making. He submitted his 7,000 verse manuscript for evaluation to his guru, Agastyar at Courtrallam and to an academy of siddhas there. It was endorsed by all of them as a great work.

Following this, many siddhas, including Konkanavar, Karuvoorar, Nandeeswar, Kamala Muni, Satta Muni, Macchamuni, and Sundarandar became his disciples to study the sciences of kaya kalpa and yoga. He eventually turned over his teaching mission to Pulipani.

Establishes shrine at Katirkamam and attains swarūpa samādhi

After performing tapas at Sathura Giri, and Shiva Gin, he went to Katirkamam in Sri Lanka to perform tapas and win the grace of Lord Muruga. Under inspiration from the Lord he established the famous Yantra shrine, representing the 1,008 petalled lotus cakra, which blossomed in Bhogar there. Next he went to Palani where he attained swarūpa samādhi. He retired to Katirkāmam, where Babaji Nagaraj met him around 211 AD.

Second Mission to China

Later, after the period of the Six Dynasties (220 to 590 AD), Bhoganāthar returned with some Tamil disciples to China. He left his mission in Tamil Nadu with Pulipani, the Chinese Siddha. During the construction of the Brihitīswarar Shiva Temple in Tanjore, Tamil Nadu, around 900 AD.

Bhoganāthar advised its builders as to how to raise the eighty ton capstone to the top of the temple, more than 200 feet high. This was done through his disciple Karuvoorar and another Tamil disciple who acted as intermediaries and through messages tied to the legs of courier birds, like today’s homing pigeons.

At Bhogar’s suggestion a gradient ramp five miles long was built, up which the stone was pulled to the top of the temple. This was one of the most remarkable engineering feats of all times. About this time he also advised the King of Tanjore to build a small shrine dedicated to one of his greatest disciples, Karuvoorar, behind the Bhrihiteeswarar Shiva Temple.

Current Activities

While Bhoganāthar is reported to have left the physical plane at Palani, he continues to work on the astral plane, inspiring his disciples and devotees, and even in rare instances he transmigrates into another’s physical body for specific purposes.

How to Cleanse the Liver

Foods that Cleanse the Liver

 

Garlic

Just a small amount of this pungent white bulb has the ability to activate liver enzymes that helps your body flush out toxins. Garlic also holds high amounts of allicin and selenium, two natural compounds that aid in liver cleansing.

 Grapefruit

High in both vitamin C and antioxidants, grapefruit increasea the natural cleansing processes of the liver. A small glass of freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice will help boost production of liver detoxification enzymes that help flush out carcinogens and other toxins.

 Beets and Carrots

Both extremely high in plant-flavonoids and beta-carotene, eating both beets and carrots can help stimulate and improve overall liver function.

 Green Tea

This liver-loving beverage is chock-full of plant antioxidants known as catechins, a constituent known to assist the livers overall functions. Green tea is not only delicious, it’s also a great way to improve your overall diet. Learn more about the benefits of green tea.

Leafy Green Vegetables

One of our most powerful allies in cleansing the liver, leafy greens can be eaten raw, cooked or juiced. Extremely high in plant chlorophylls, greens literally suck up environmental toxins from the blood stream. With their distinct ability to nuetralize heavy metals, chemicals and pesticides, these cleansing foods offer a powerful protective mechanism for the liver.
Try incorporating leafy greens such as bitter gourd, arugula, dandelion greens, spinach, mustard greens and chicory into your diet. This will help increase the creation and flow of bile, the substance that removes waste from the organs and blood.

 Apples

High in pectin, apples hold the chemical constituents needed for the body to cleanse and release toxins from the digestive tract. This, in turn, makes it easier for the liver to handle the toxic load during the cleansing process.

Olive Oil

Cold-pressed organic oils such as olive, hemp and flax-seed are great for the liver, when used in moderation. They help the body by providing a lipid base that can suck up harmful toxins in the body. In this way, it takes some of the burden off the liver in terms of the toxic overload that many of us suffer from.

 Lemons & Limes

These citrus fruits contain very high amounts of the vitamin C, which aids the body in synthesizing toxic material into substance that can be absorbed by water. Drinking freshly-squeezed lemon or lime juice in the morning helps stimulate the liver.

Walnuts

Holding high amount of the amino acid arginine, walnuts aid the liver in detoxifying ammonia. Walnuts are also high in glutathione and omega-3 fatty acids which support normal liver cleansing actions. Make sure you chew the nuts well (until they are liquefied) before swallowing.

Cabbage

Much like broccoli and cauliflower, eating cabbage helps stimulate the activation of two crucial liver detoxifying enzymes that help flush out toxins. Try eating more kimchi, coleslaw, cabbage soup and sauerkraut.

Turmeric

The liver’s favorite spice. Try adding some of this detoxifying goodness into your next lentil stew or veggie dish for an instant liver pick-me-up. Turmeric helps boost liver detox, by assisting enzymes that actively flush out known dietary carcinogens.

Improve your kidney health

Proteins:
- Eat More: meat, grilled meat* or fish*, eggs*. 
- Reduce: boiled meat, boiled fish, offal, milk, and dairy products.

Lipids:
- Eat More: butter, Shea butter, raw oil.
- Reduce: heated butter, heated oil.

Grains:
- Eat More: all (millet, rice, sorghum, maize, wheat )

Legumes :
- Reduce: peanuts, dried beans, soybeans.

Tubers:
- Eat More: potato, sweet potato.

Fresh Vegetables:
- Eat More: cabbage, green beans, carrots.
- Reduce: tomatoes, eggplants, spinach,

Fruits:
- Eat More: bananas, strawberries, watermelon.
- Reduce: lemons, grapefruits.

Drinks:     
- Eat More: purified water, spring water, chicory.
- Reduce: alcohol, soft drinks, coffee, tap water.

Reduce body heat

• drinking coconut water of more than 3 litres in a day in bring down the body heat easily and very much faster
• drink atleast 3 to 4 litres of water per day so that the heat and other toxic materials in the body gets away in the form of urine and sweat which helps in preventing many diseases and reduces the body temperature(heat) to the required level of that person

Dont's
Do not over work yourself.
Do not take steaming hot food.
Avoid alcohol.
Avoid spicy, oily fried food.
Do not take eggs.
Avoid all non-vegetarian food.
Avoid eating chillies, pickles.
Limit your salt intake.

Do's
Take morning walk or go for swimming.
Do exercises and yoga for mental peace and meditation in the early mornings.
Take a lot of freshly cut salads and fruits.
Take plenty of water and fruit juices.
Try to take refrigerated food but not so cold as to catch cough or a sore throat.
Take butter milk, cucumbers, gourds, curd, melons,leafy vegetables and a lot of fruits.
Wear cotton clothes.
Take cold milk.
Take bath 2-3 times a day.

How to Find Inner Peace

Follow these steps to calm yourself. You may find this useful to do before you go to sleep.

Steps

1. Try to be in a quiet clean room with no distractions and get in a comfortable position (preferably on a bed). As an alternative, you could take yourself to a peaceful place outdoors.
2. Close your eyes and try to control the "images" you find your self imagining. For a simple exercise, imagine a cube spinning and then try to stop it. If it takes a while and spins slower until it gradually stops, then you are a more technical or logical person. If however it stops immediately, then you are a very creative person with a very artistic nature.
3. Try listening to slow calm music. Songs with harps, guitars and piano are particularly calming. If possible, avoid music with lyrics as this may distract you and make it more difficult to focus on your self.
4. If you can not find any peace or happiness, then try imagining one you love finding it or think of a time/memory you may have of a time you were happy. Afterwards you should feel VERY relaxed, happy and refreshed.

Tips

• Try non-cluttered rooms away from any distraction and just blank out everything from the world.
• If you have the space, create an alter where you can go to find inner pace. Try decorating your alter with images that have a calming influence on you i.e. a photo of a sunset, a beautiful meadow or a starlit sky.
• If your visions stray, just say to your self "concentrate" or other encouraging words. However you mustn't over-discipline; accept the fact that it's natural for your mind to wander. This is how some brilliant ideas can come in to your head and possibly even messages from spirit guides you have.
• If your life is going a little too fast for you, meditate whenever you feel you need it. It need not be for long - just take a moment to be still. It will brighten your day.
• After meditating, you may find it helpful and interesting to keep a record of any thoughts or feelings you had. Make a note of the date, and perhaps later you can look back and enjoy the progress you've made. Also, if you found a new technique to find inner-peace particularly helpful, jot it down!

 Warnings

• Just be aware of other people disturbing you whilst doing this - it could make you very frustrated. To avoid this, put a simple note on the door warning others not to disturb you.
• In finding inner-peace, you have to work your way through whatever it is that's stopping you from being peaceful. Prepare to face issues and feelings that you never realized you had. Don't deny yourself this - express what you are feeling in whatever way is comfortable.
• Don't ever take this for a quick thing. Accept that this will take time and the more you practice, the easier it will be in future.