A leaf with amazing power

This leaf has the ability to absorb the highest amount of solar rays. If you put it on water, the stem will always point towards the north. Human activity could be taken to another level by consuming this leaf. You will see it will not let you sleep.

This leaf is specially used in Asian country in Bangladesh and India. Its stem is so sensitive that it becomes a source of perception.

what is the significance of betel leaves when they\’re offered to the gods?

In the religions of Hinduium we offer this  betel leaf the god.

In  Bangladesh and India, it\’s very important. It\’s a very good digestive. It is alkaline in nature.

If you have any consumed small quantities of poison in the food that you\’ve eaten, it neutralizes all that. Any acidic poisons are neutralized including cobra venom. It could neutralize that to some extent. It\’s not that it will completely prevent but it brings down various aspects. So at the end of the meal, people consume this betel leaf.

In a martial culture, if somebody picks up the tamul paku, it means he\’s taking on a risky endeavor. He\’s willing to face the enemy head on. It\’s like a suicide mission.

Today in modern city, in the urban areas of  Bangladesh and India, in the crime gangs, they call it supari. That means I picked up a supari on you means I\’m going to come and assassinate you. So there, just the word spreads, there\’s a supari on him. Whoever kills him will get the supari. It comes with a price of course. So this is coming from a much ancient usage of if I pick up the tamul, that means I\’m ready for a suicide mission.

Why this leaf is considered so important ?

These two things have been related. That human activity could be taken to another level by consuming this leaf. And that leaf works only if it has at least an inch of stem. If you cut it close, it doesn\’t have the same thing. This leaf, I know almost any leaf can be used, but this particular leaf, if you put it on water, the stem will always point towards the north.

Do You know this?

If you put it in the water, in still water, it will naturally turn this way and put a point to the north. So if you\’re lost in the forest, you have a tamul paku (betel leaf) with you. You put it there in the water, it shows you which way is north. Once you know north, you know all the other directions.

I believe betel leaf and perception have been connected because it is a neurological stimulant, nervous stimulant rather.

If you consume it, your nerves will go into mild like that. So your neurological complexity and neurological activity and your perception are directly related.

Why a human being is able to perceive things a lot more than any other creature is we have the most complex neurological system. Actually, you should hear better, you should see better, you should smell better than any other creature.

But living in cities, it\’s been dulled down. isn\’t it ?

If you lived in nature, these things would be very very alert. Just like that, you would be far better than most creatures in terms of smelling, seeing, hearing, everything. But it\’s dumbed down because of excessive impact of both visual, auditory, and olfactory. Everything is overloaded living in an urban society. Because of that, it\’s kind of gone down.

Otherwise, if a human being lives in nature, he has the highest level of five senses because we have the most complex neurological system.

A little hype on that, you naturally perceive. So whatever tools which are used for perception, always there is.

Definitely, there is. So Hanuman(the hinduism)  and various other gods and goddesses are always covered with this particular leaf. And then this leaf is used. See, anything that touches anything leaves a certain imprint.

Right now, you\’re sitting here. If you bring your dog after you\’re gone, he knows where you were sitting. Yes or no?

No, I\’m not saying you\’re that smelly. But a dog would find out, isn\’t it? Where you have been sitting. It will not get confused. It will know where you were sitting. That means you left something. So any contact, you always leave something and take something. This is what we call as runanubandha.

This is why a yogi who wants to grow, a yogi who wants to not get confused with different types of imprints, usually avoids physical contact. And if you try to shake his hands, he does this. Because unnecessary contact is not necessary. Simply it\’ll confuse your perception. Depends what you wish to do. If you are spirit for human contact, then whoever you see, you go grab them. You grab them. But if you\’re fine within you, you\’re looking how to enhance this life, then you want to minimize the contact. Because too much contact will cause aberration in your ability to see life the way it is.

So English people started calling it betel leaf. It is not a betel leaf, it is vetal paku. It is separate. So this leaf has the ability to absorb the highest amount of solar rays per square inch compared to any other leaf. That\’s why it grows only in shade.

It cannot take sunlight because it absorbs too much. So because of this ability to absorb, particularly its stem is so sensitive that it becomes a source of perception and it is a point towards the north. And if you consume it, it enhances your neurological system and in turn your perception. And if it\’s been in touch with Devi or its stem is pointing towards Devi, it also absorbs whatever is her quality and then you want to put it into your system.

That is the idea. Or people just put it on their body. Some people put it to their Manipura, Anahata. Don\’t do these things because that needs a certain preparation. But you can consume it, not every day. Maybe once in a way if you want, you can consume it. It definitely, you can see there\’s a little up. It is a stimulant. Unlike coffee or tea, it is not aggressive like that. But it works.

If you have a heavy meal and then eat a betel leaf, then you will see it will not let you sleep. But at the same time, you don\’t feel hyper-activated. A gentle activation of the neurological system happens. So it\’s been in use for a long time.

And betel leaf also, there is a tradition. You should never tear it vertically because the spine of the betel leaf is very important. You should not tear it vertically. If you want to share it, if the leaf is like this, you must cut it like this, but never cut it like this.

So this, for this, metaphorically, there is a story. There was a king called Jarasandha. Jarasandha was a very powerful man and ruled with an iron fist. He was in the eastern side of India. He had ambitions to spread across his kingdom. So Krishna didn\’t want that to happen. They went there incognito, kind of, but then they revealed themselves. Then Jarasandha was a great wrestler and a warrior. So when they invited him for a duel, he said, you choose whichever way you want, I\’ll fight with you. So Krishna said, you will have to wrestle with Bhima. Jarasandha was as strong as Bhima and as skilled as Bhima. So he said, fine. So they got into a wrestling match. They say this match went on for thirteen days. Maybe they slept in the night, but thirteen days match went on without a decision.

Both were absolutely exhausted. They could barely stand up. Both were so exhausted, but nobody was defeated. Then Krishna just sat there looking at Jarasandha, whatever you do, the guy doesn\’t die. What is it?

He looked at it. Then he saw that he had a boon. Unless he\’s torn into two pieces, he will not die. So Krishna was sitting there eating betel leaf and nut. He took a betel leaf out of sheer frustration. Bhima looked at him, what am I supposed to do? I\’m finished. That guy is not dying. I won\’t give up. It\’s going on endlessly. What to do?

Krishna took the betel leaf and split it vertically. The next thing that Bhima did was he held his two legs and split him up and threw him on two sides of the arena. He died. So splitting the betel leaf vertically is a wrong thing to do.

In the homes, it\’s never done that. If you want to share it, you always break it in half like this. Because probably this is just a story to tell you, but the important thing is, the most important part of the leaf is the spine.

So if you share it with somebody, they must also get a piece of the spine. If you tear it this way, you may get it or they may get it. Both will not get it. So when you break it like this, both will get the spine and the stem in some way. So that\’s a reason why betel leaf and Devi are very connected because both are for perception, both are for enhancing human perception.