Aug
11
2011
In the service of God and humanity
In the service of God and humanity
Many people think a spiritual life means that one retreatsto the mountains, performs meditation and then lives peacefully forever in one’s own enlightened cocoon. However, that is not true, deep spirituality. That is not the essence of enlightenment. The essence of spirituality is service of others. Yes, solitude, silence and intense sadhana are crucial in order to establish the connection with God, in order to make the leap from a material life to a spiritual life. This lays the ground work. It is like wiring a house for electricity. In...
Spiritual health is measured by our ability to remain calm, focused and loving when life throws difficulty onto our paths. The practice of “no reaction” is something we should practice all day. We must learn to be like the ocean, whose waves come and go, but the ocean remains the same. Even a large, heavy rock thrown into the ocean causes only temporary ripples on its surface. The ocean’s depths remain unaffected. One of the best ways to learn no reaction is through silence. When we are anxious, angry or frustrated,...
Dear Divine Souls, Happy New Year! As a new year dawns upon us, as the morn of 2011 brings the eve of 2010 to an end, it is a good time to reflect upon our lives, our paths and our progress toward the ultimate destination of divine awakening and realization. So much in our lives, at times, feels overwhelming, frustrating, unmanageable….but at these times it is most important to remember that we are not alone. God is always with us. There is a beautiful story of a young toddler playing in...
At this divine time of Diwali we line our homes, our rooms, our offices and our streets with brightly shining dias. The brightly lit lamps signified the people of Ayodhya’s love for Bhagwan Rama and their joy at his return. On this day, we must pray that Bhagwan Rama returns to our own hearts and our own lives. In our lives, our greatest welcome to Him can be light not only in the oil lamp, but light in our hearts. If we light the lamp of love, of selflessness, of...
At this divine time of Diwali we line our homes, our rooms, our offices and our streets with brightly shining dias. The brightly lit lamps signify the people of Ayodhya’s love for Bhagwan Rama and their joy at his return. On this day, we must light not only beautiful lamps in our homes, but we must light the lamp in our hearts. The significance and symbolism of the Diwali lamps is that we must allow the Light of the Divine to burn away all our impurities so that our hearts...
Yesterday we celebrated the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhiji was truly the saint of the century, and as we pay our tribute to him we must never forget the message of his life. As we reflect on the greatness of Mahatma Gandhiji’s life and the tragedy of his assassination, let us look not only at facts but at meanings. What was the meaning of his life? What was the message of his death? What does he have to teach the world of today? We can answer these questions with the word “yagna.” ...
Divine moments with Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. All shots were taken at Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, India and at the Kumbha Mela celebration in Haridwar on April 3 and 4, 2010. Also featured are: Pujya Swami Ram Devji, Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi, PUJYA SWAMI DIVYANAND TEERTHJI, (SHANKARCHARYA OF BHANPURA PEETH, Father Dominic Emmanuel, Pujya Guru Sharananandaji, SANT SRI RAMSHEBHAI OZA, BHAISHREE, Shri Nishankji, Anup Jalota/ For more information about Pujya Swamiji and Parmath Niketan, please visit our website and facebook pages. Blessings to all from...
H.H. the Dalai Lama came here to Parmarth, on Pujya Swamiji's invitation, for the preview of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism, a historic project of India Heritage Research Foundation (www.ihrf.com) of which Pujya Swamiji is the founder/chairman. The ceremony was a huge, divine, unprecedented event in the Kumbha Mela with H.H. the Dalai Lama, India's most revered saints & dignitaries and thousands and thousands of people...
Holi is one of the most festive, joyous holidays of the Hindu year. It is celebrated primarily in the North of India and it falls on the full moon day of Phalguna (February – March). The festival is marked by great revelry during which everyone paints each other with brightly colored powders. Song, dance and bright red, green, yellow and pink powder are the hallmarks of the occasion. The meanings of Holi are numerous. For some, it is the festival of Springtime, the heralding of warm weather and bidding farewell to...