married life

QUESTION: Dear sir, namaste;this is in follow up of "married" life subject answered by you to me dated 10/16/2011 and followed up. i am thankful and trying my best to gain from it.
i feel there are many factors which affect life and sometime despite knowing what to do ideally ,we are not able to follow it completly ,i mean something called fate or destiny does affect us.what are your views regarding the same and what should be done to overcome it.is there role of astrology and its basic remedies,not going into its details.what can be done that neutralizes our our past deeds(may be previous births ) which affect us now (karmic account)and prevent us from doing what we want or what we should do.
Many people believe in mahurata(auspicious time and days and inauspicious time and dates), how much really we should follow or not follow.
A different question to add how we should consider menstruating females life style ie. is that phase to be isolated and what should be her lifestyle during that time and what precautions should be taken during that time(ie.household activities like cooking etc.)so that it affects less the persons related ie.husband /others.
We are worldly people doing jobs etc also so please suggest us remedies which can be done practically apart from what is ideal.

ANSWER: 1. Everything that will be carried out and experienced by this body and mind of our's is already programmed and decided by the Almighty the moment we were born. Nothing is left to chance and nothing occurs by accident or by fluke. All these life experiences are designed by the Almighty to ensure that the Jivatma (embodied soul) moves up and progresses in terms of purity and divinity, whether it wants it or doesn't. The best course of action that one should follow is to rightly indulge in one's duty towards oneself and one's family via the occupation shown by God and devote the rest of one's time and energy towards attaining self-realization. This does not mean that one should give up all worldly activities all of a sudden. It means that one should slowly and gradually divert his mind more towards God and the attainment of higher states of spiritual consciousness through a life of Yoga and meditation. Ultimately, God alone is the doer and man the tool of operation. Knowing this, one should strive one's best towards performing one's duty and leave the rest to God without worrying about the results.

One's destiny or future cannot be changed even by a hair's breadth through astrology or religious remedies. The state one finds himself in is a direct result of one's past karma. No astrologer can alter or change one's life course even by the smallest extent. One has to persevere and workout these karma's through one's efforts alone. They have been placed in the life of the individual by the Almighty himself so man suffers for his sins, realizes his mistakes and reforms into purity and perfection. If changing or bettering one's life course was possible through an astrologer, there would have been no need for man to reach out to the Almighty. All the temples, churches, mosques and Gurudwaras would have astrologers sitting inside them as the presiding Lords and not God. So the wise man wishing progress and knowledge avoids the use of astrologers or astrology, knowing fully well that the correct and efficient path to progress is in cleansing his life of ignorance and attaining to the knowledge of the Atman (pure soul).

2. The one and only way to neutralize past deeds is through a life of purity, virtue, discipline and Brahmacharya coupled with God-contemplation. Yogic methods such as Bandha, Pranayama and meditation are the means by which this process is accelerated. All karma's are the result of our past misdeeds and can be worked out by our efforts alone and not by others.

3. For the Yogi who is leading a life of absolute Brahmacharya forsaking attachment to the fruits of his actions, doing his duty as directed by God and devoting the rest of his time and energy towards God-contemplation; all times, hours, days and months are auspicious. He has realized that the very meaning of this human birth is the attainment of self-realization and has no time to waste or while away waiting for auspicious moments or periods. This very lifetime, these years of one's life themselves are highly auspicious and divine. Animals and plants do not have the faculty to know the purpose of life or its aim. All their time is spent on survival, food, sleep and procreation. But man has been given this body, superior mind and intellect to reach this high purpose. This very human birth is an indication that the Jivatma (embodied soul) has now been offered a chance to reach the Almighty and become one with him. So every minute and hour is auspicious and divine.

The concept of muhurath (auspicious time) applies to people who have forgotten this purpose of the human birth and are spending their life away in the pursuit of sensual comforts and pleasures. For them, Godliness is separate from their own selves and this causes much fear, anxiety and worry. They resort to searching for auspicious occasions to negate this weakness and inadequacy from within. This does not apply to people on the path of Yoga and Brahmacharya if their involvement in virtue and truth is genuine and true. Why waste time and energy running after astrologers and auspicious moments when one in reality is the ever free and infinite Atman (soul) who is beyond the concept of time itself? For the honest and sincere Yogi who is leading a life governed by Yama-Niyama, who is kind to all, who wishes good for all and who leads a life based on purity, virtue and discipline, striving to realize God without harming anyone the least, which time is not a good time?

People lead a life governed by lust, untruth, violence, cheating, jealousy, illegitimate relationships and selfishness. Then, after spending an entire week in activities governed by such tendencies for selfish benefits, they visit a temple, church, mosque or Gurudwara and pray to God asking him for good luck and fortune! Then, they visit astrologers and spend much money on poojas, remedies and rites for prosperity and well being. Which God or astrologer can help these bundle of contradictions? If the same effort was applied at becoming more selfless, more true, less violent and more honest and sincere with oneself and with others, benefits and prosperity would follow all by themselves when the karma obstructing prosperity would vacate and empty. There would be no need to visit a place of worship, meet an astrologer or perform 'seva' (sacrifices) to please God. This body is the greatest and most auspicious temple with the Atman (soul) within as the presiding deity; for the Atman is no different from the Parabrahman (Almighty). He who is striving to realize this truth and unite with it through absolute ahimsa (non-violence), sathya (truth), astheya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (continence), aparigraha (non-possessiveness) is the greatest Sadhaka (aspirant) and this is the best seva (sacrifice).

So for the Yogi leading the right life with constant perseverance at not doing wrong, these limitations that apply to the non-Yogi do not apply.

3. Except for those activities that cause stress, physical strain and discomfort, all other spiritual activities and especially meditation can be practiced by the menstruating woman without exception. The process of menses is a very natural and normal phenomenon in a woman that has been designed by the Almighty himself to expel the unfertilized egg every month. There is absolutely nothing impure or unholy about this process. A woman should never be considered low, evil or be despised during this period. She should be given rest and allowed to carry on with her spiritual activities without exception. During the olden days, proper sanitation and methods of preventing bleeding were not very efficient. Hence women were advised to refrain from entering the pooja room, kitchen and other areas where there was a chance that blood flowing out without proper sanitation could fall on idols, utensils or food items kept in these places resulting in an unhygienic atmosphere. With the advent of modern and efficient methods of sanitation, women no longer face this problem of blood spilling out. Hence these rules can be relaxed.

Avoiding Yogasana, Pranayama and physical exercises that cause physical strain during these days, meditation and contemplation can be carried out by all means. We being the Atman (pure soul), contemplation and meditation on the Almighty is our eternal birthright and Dharma. None can prevent us from accomplishing the same at any minute or hour of the day or month. Since the period of menses involves physical weakness for a lady, avoiding rigorous physical activity is advisable.

ॐ तत् सत्
(That Supreme being is the absolute truth)

[an error occurred while processing this directive]---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: namaste sir,thanks for the clarification, actually your views are ideal but for a person doing full day job and then trying to follow what is ideal is challanging but not impossible. actually i feel that there should be some motivational figure whom we can meet and take inspiration or visit a scared or holy place , but there are very few of those we know, can you please suggest a few places/persons whom we can meet and get inspirations , if its possible i wish to meet you sometime whenever convenient.
actually I wish to do job at place where we can visit holy/religious places or natural places where we can listen to our own self and i wish this is fullfilled as our ultimate aim is not only money saving for our future but also giving to contemplate so that we get inspirations to improve our self and follow the ideals of brahmacharya etc. and other things as we need it for our progress...thanks once again sir....