In life, to handle yourself, use your head, but to handle others, use your heart.
Swami Chinmayananda (1917-1993), writer, lecturer and Hindu renaissance founder of Chinmaya Mission International

I am unable to do anything. I like to remain as it is. what will be the positive difference more than this? Let the supreme attend to that.

Obama’s New Secretary of Technology “Sees Life According to Hindu Philosophy”

Source: www.abcdlady.com

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, USA, April 19, 2009: Following the trend of Asian Indian immigrants attaining important positions in the U.S. scene, Aneesh Chopra was appointed the new Secretary of Technology of the Obama Administration. At age 34, Aneesh Chopra is currently the Secretary of Technology in the Commonwealth of Virginia cabinet. Together with Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, their jobs will be “to make the government more effective, efficient, and transparent.

In an interview, Chopra explained how Hinduism’s asramas guide his life plan. “I think about life in terms of Hindu philosophy. There are four stages in life: educate yourself (bramacharya asrama), provide for your family (grihasta asrama), give to public service (vanaprastha asrama) and become one with God (sannyasa asrama). The challenge for me now is knowing if I have crossed over into the third, or if I’m bouncing back and forth between second and third.”

“My advice for South Asians who want to get involved in the community is threefold,” he says. “First, set a strategy and commit to it. Second, volunteer on boards and commissions. Finally, put time into a network, whether it’s the Indian American Executive Community, or even an university alumni network.”

(HPI)

Basically , We all are one. All our bodies made of atoms.

California BAPS Celebrates Swaminarayan Jayanti

Source: www.indiajournal.com

WHITTIER, CA, USA, April 16, 2009: An atmosphere of bhakti surrounded the Whittier, California BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir as devotees of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Sanstha celebrated the 228th birthday of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, founder of the Sampraday. Bhajans, folk dances, discourses, and inspirational skits filled the evening.

The program commenced with shlokas officially inviting Bhagwan Swaminarayan into the assembly and continued with bhajans sung in the melodious voices of children establishing the devotional course of the evening. Various skits and speeches highlighted the lessons imparted by Bhagwan Swaminarayan and Lord Ram. They had to overcome their share of trials and tribulations as did their devotees. However, their faithfulness and devotion even amidst turbulent times remains exemplary. Discourses by saints also talked about Atma-jnana, the knowledge of one’s Self.

(HPI)

"There are no neurotics or geniuses or failures or fools. There are only neurotic moments, flashes of brilliance, failed opportunities, and stupid mistakes. But these moments, pleasant or unpleasant, can never fix us into rigid, immutable characters. We cannot help but change. This book is about choosing the direction of your changingness and acting upon your choice." ~ David K. Reynolds from Constructive Living

Calm and quiet, and it is available. I just ignore the outside interferences.

Mahakumbabhishekam of Sri Meenakshi Temple

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

MADURAI, INDIA, April 9, 2009: Thousands of devotees thronged the famous centuries-old Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple to catch a glimpse of the mahakumbabishekam grand consecration, which was last performed nearly 15 years ago. Amidst tight security, devotees crammed the temple premises and filled every street leading to the shrine. The initial ceremonies for the function began on March 26 and the yagasala poojas began on April 2.

The consecration ceremony for the temple, which is more than 2000 years old, was performed last in the year 1994. Renovation works were undertaken at a cost of millions of rupees.

People started queuing up on the streets about one kilometer away from the temple right from 3 a.m in the morning. However, police allowed the public to enter the temple only at 7 a.m and a well co-ordinated effort by the police paved way for the smooth movement of the devotees into the temple through the specified gates.

One hundred and eight pots containing sacred waters from the holy rivers in India were brought to the temple towers amidst the chanting of hymns by the priests. The golden tower of the goddess Sri Meenakshi, which was plated with 30 kilograms of gold and completed only two days ago, was a marvel to all eyes.

Devotees were able to witness the consecration without suffering the scorching summer heat. The temple administration had made elaborate arrangements on the roof of the temple and carpeted floors helped the devotees to sit comfortably and witness the event. The holy waters were poured on the magnificent towers of the temple at 9.15 a.m. Thousands of people also witnessed the event from the open terraces in houses and shops surrounding the temple.

(HPI)

As a great fish swims between the banks of a river as it likes, so does the shining Self move between the states of dreaming and waking. - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

A Day Of Silence

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

INDIA, March 26, 2006: Nyepi, the Balinese day of silence, is a national holiday. Its roots are the practice of mauna, Hinduism’s contemplative silence performed for spiritual purposes. Since Hinduism went from India to Indonesia, the concept of Nyepi travelled the same route. The largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia, declares a national holiday each year — this year, on March 26 — to mark Hindu-majority Bali’s day of silence, Hari Raya Nyepi Tahun Baru in full.

The father of modern India gave his voice a day off every week. Mahatma Gandhi would keep mauna every Monday. If he had a meeting he could not avoid on a Monday, he would write down his answers on chits of paper and pass them on. (HPI)

Among Western Catholics, Family Discourages Clerical Life

Source: RNS

USA, April 20, 2009: Conversations around the kitchen table may be partially responsible for the shortage of Roman Catholic priests in the U.S. Almost 45 percent of Catholic priests planning to be ordained this year said they were discouraged from considering the priesthood, according to a survey produced by at Georgetown University for the U.S. bishops. Of those, nearly 6 in 10 said a parent or family member was the source of the discouragement. Fifty-one percent said a friend or classmate had counseled them against the priesthood, and 15 percent said a priest or other clergy had.

The percentages add up to more than 100 because respondents could select more than one category. The number of Catholic priests in the U.S. has dropped steadily since the 1970s, a worrisome trend for church leaders. In 2000, there were 45,700 priests, compared to 40,600 in 2008. The U.S. church will ordain 465 priests in 2009; 310 responded to the CARA survey.

[HPI note: Hinduism has the most populated clergy of all religions, when adding priests and sadhus. The number has been estimated at more than three million. To give it some perspective, Hinduism Today’s 2008 Hindu of The Year, Sri Swami Avdheshananda Giri, guides 500,000 sadhus in his Juna Akhara, ordaining thousands more on each Kumbha Mela.]

(HPI)

In the following quote, excerpted from the latest issue of Enlighten Next magazine, editor in chief Andrew Cohen zeroes in on the creative imperative and evolutionary urgency that he believes a new, twenty-first-century spiritual enlightenment is all about:

               " When spirit took the leap from formlessness to form, from nothing to something, from being to becoming, it emerged from emptiness as the creative impulse—the urge to become, the desire to exist. This creative impulse expresses itself at all levels of the human experience. Any human being can locate it at the lowest level of their being—at the gross physical level—as the sexual impulse, which is really the presence or movement of the big bang as a biological imperative. But at higher levels of being, humans are the only life forms we know of that are compelled to innovate and to create. We can see this especially in individuals who are pioneers in their fields, whether they are great philosophers, musicians, artists, politicians, or poets. Most individuals who are deeply talented are driven by a sense of urgency, an ecstatically urgent sense that “I must bring into life this potential that I see and experience in the depths of my own being. This must come through me.” If we get to know them, we will usually find that truly great human beings are driven by a passion that transcends their separate self-sense.... And in the way I understand it, the highest expression of this creative impulse is the urge to evolve at the level of consciousness itself."

I was brought up in a religious family. when i reached the age of eleven , I was offered a scholarship by the government to continue my studies in a government school and staying at the school hostel. Different surroundings and library with several other facilities made me grow up as an individual. At the age of twenty, I got the government job and posted to a back ward area. Where aboriginal vedas (hunters using only bow and arrow) and their special worshipping place called Kataragama provided deep transformation. Finally I have landed in Zaadz/ Gaia and got so many friends and I got into a more different world. Some unknown power is guiding me from unknown period. 

For all the questions, I have only one answer. It is Spiritualism. I am fully involved in it, practising it in day to day life.and also propagate it as much as possible. Every thing happens on its own.

Book Review: “Crimes Against India” by Stephen Knapp

Source: groups.google.com

USA, April 20, 2009: [Review by David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri)] Hinduism remains the most attacked and under siege of all the major world religions. This is in spite of the fact that Hinduism is the most tolerant, pluralistic and synthetic of the world’s major religions. Yet many have continued to promote their missionary agendas and plan the conversion of India to their beliefs.

Hinduism is the largest of the non-conversion, non-proselytizing religions and so offers the greatest possibilities for conversion. Yet most Hindus and groups sympathetic to them are not aware of this “siege on Hinduism” that continues unrelenting as part of the multi-national missionary business. In this context, the book of Stephen Knapp, “Crimes Against India: and the Need to Protect its Ancient Vedic Tradition”, is timely, well written and well documented.

Yet Knapp’s book provides a way forward, showing how Hindu Dharma can be revived, better taught, better communicated and more widely shared with the global audience, which is becoming progressively more receptive to Hindu teachings of Yoga, Vedanta and respect for nature. He documents the Hindu renaissance and the modern Hindu movement, which though small is growing rapidly as a Hindu response to this denigration of its venerable traditions. (To read the full review, click on the “Source” above.)

[HPI]

Twelve years back , we had to vacate our place , all of a sudden, We joined all else and came to the present place. So that we escaped so many unhappy events. That is supreme's guidance.

The British’s Resentful Relationship With A Hindu India

Source: www.newstatesman.com

MUMBAI, INDIA, April 23, 2009: It may be hard to credit now, as 700 million voters go to the polls in the world’s biggest elections, but back in the 1940s the wise men of the British Raj predicted that while Pakistan would prosper, India would soon be divided into smaller mutually hostile states. Pakistan, it was thought, would become a vibrant Muslim state, a bulwark against Soviet communism. India’s predominantly Hindu population, however, was presumed to be a source of weakness and instability.

Nobody expressed this view more forcefully than Lieutenant-General Sir Francis Tucker who, as General Officer Commanding of the British Indian Eastern Command, had been in charge of large parts of the country. His memoirs, While Memory Serves, published in 1950, the year India became a republic, reflected the view of many of the departing British: “Hindu India was entering its most difficult phase of its whole existence. Its religion, which is to a great extent superstition and formalism, is breaking down. We may well expect, in the material world of today, that a material philosophy such as Communism will fill the void left by the Hindu religion.”

Tucker was hardly alone among Raj officials. By then, it was almost an orthodoxy to believe that Hinduism was, if not an evil force, at least spent and worthless. Islam, on the other hand, was a religion the west could understand and with whose political leaders it could do business.

Rudyard Kipling, the great chronicler of the Raj, had long made clear his fondness for Muslims and his distrust of Hindus. He was appalled by the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two great Hindu classics, and repulsed by the jumble of the faith’s beliefs. In contrast, Kipling claimed that he had never met an Englishman who hated Islam and its people, for “where there are Muslims there is a comprehensive civilization”.

Such caricatures of Hindus were not uncommon, but it was when this view was espoused by major politicians such as Winston Churchill that it became truly dangerous. When Churchill argued vehemently against Indian independence in the 1930s, his fire was directed mainly at the Hindus. As the Second World War neared its close, the British prime minister was so consumed by hatred of the Hindus that he told his private secretary John Colville, ” The Hindus were a foul race.”

[To read the rest of this very informative article, click on the Source link above.]

(HPI)

No one else, except the Supreme.

India President Lauds Spain’s Many Yoga Ashrams

Source: www.hindu.com

MADRID, SPAIN, April 22, 2009: President Pratibha Patil has lauded the role of over 500 “yoga ashrams” in Spain in helping the Spanish have a feel of India. “The links between India and Spain cover many dimensions” Ms. Patil said at the State Banquet hosted in her honour by Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia here on Tuesday night.

“The friendly spirit with which the varied aspects of Indian culture are received in Spain is heartwarming. These include the more than 500 Yoga ashrams in this country that offer an introduction to India’s philosophy of life and a wholesome existence,” Ms. Patil said. “Our youth and students should be encouraged to interact,” the President said.

Earlier, the Spanish King, in his address to the banquet, described India as an “emerging power” highlighted not only by the dynamism of its entrepreneurs, IT engineers or filmmakers, but also by the wealth of its ancient culture, notable for its variety, creativity, heritage and artistic talent. (Hindu Press International)

England’s Annual Armed Forces Hindu Conference

Source: www.army.mod.uk

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, April 15, 2009: Hindus from England’s three armed forces gathered at Birmingham’s Shree Geeta Bhawan temple on April 8 for the Armed Forces annual Hindu conference. Hosted by Acharya Krishan Kant Attri, Hindu Chaplain to the Armed Forces, the conference brought Hindu service personnel together to hear speakers their own and other faiths.

Speakers extolled diversity and the Hindu values of peace, love, truth, tolerance, nonviolence, and good conduct, as well as commitment and loyalty to country.

Britain’s multi-faith chaplaincy was established to meet the needs of people from different faiths, provide appropriate spiritual guidance, and draw strength from one another. It now includes full-time chaplains for the Christians, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, and Sikh communities and will shortly be joined by a chaplain for those of Jewish faith. (HPI)

Colourless white is more prefered but I like all the colours of the Rainbow too.

My home is my home. i feel comfortable there. There is no imitation to that.

What is this mirror? It just reflects the surroundings. I think Obi and Bowman wrote about the mirror earlier. I need no mirror. When there was no mirror, people used to find their reflection in the still water. No one can see their reflection in others.We have to find ourselves within us like Ramana Maharishi. Actually self has no reflection at all.

Former First Lady Wants Yoga In Every Russian Home

Source: www.hinduonnet.com
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, April 23, 2009: Russia’s former First Lady Naina Yeltsina wants every home in the country to practice yoga for a healthy lifestyle.

“I have been practicing yoga for last two years. I think it is indispensable for people above 50. It would be good if it was practiced in every Russian home,” Naina Yeltsina, 77, said at a reception hosted here by the Indian Ambassador P. P. Shukla in honor of Yogacharya BKS Iyengar.

“Young people in Russia are very conscious about a healthy life style and yoga is the key to the physical and mental harmony,” noted Yeltsina’s daughter Ms. Tatiana.

"The one thing you can't take away form me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me.  The last of one's freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given circumstance."  ~  Viktor Frankl

The ten abstinences are nonviolence, truth, nonstealing, chastity,kindness, rectitude, forgiveness, endurance, temperance in food and purity.

Shukla Yajur Veda, Trishikhi Brahmana 32-33. YM, P. 19

Source: worldtamilhinduforum.blogspot.com
TAMIL NADU, INDIA, April 21, 2009: [HPI note: this is an article on the importance of feeding devotees during Hindu festivals] In every ethnic and religious community across the Indian subcontinent, no festival or ceremony is complete without annadanam (offering of food), or at least with the distribution of prasadam, the edible items offered during puja. Annadanams are based on the principle that the guest should be treated as God, for among the hungry crowd there is the anonymous sincere devotee, a saint or even a deva or deity. Indeed, each and every poor person is regarded in this way.
Just as as the Indian subcontinent extends from Mount Kailasa in the far North to Kataragama in the far South, so also the principle of annadanam is respected and practiced across the subcontinent. A popular saying among Kailasa pilgrims exhorts listeners to “offer food to the hungry and water to the thirsty in the name of Lord Siva.”
(HPI)

Running to nothing. Running from nothing. No runing at all. I am unable to run like others at my age.
My Philosophy is 'slow and steady winning the race'. There is no competition on this. Any day any time it might happen.

There is nothing to be denied, rejected or to ignore from this body. Everything is provided by the Supreme. This is considered as the Temple of the Supreme.

Temple Tanks in India Suffer With Draught and Neglect

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

CHENNAI, INDIA, April 20, 2009: Kapaleeshwarar temple administration has taken steps to control the death of fish in its temple tank at Mylapore. The measures include recycling the water to improve its oxygen content and steps to reduce the water temperature.

The Times of India had reported on April 17 that fish were dying by the thousands at the Mylapore temple tank. The cause of the death was unknown. The oxygen content of the water might have depleted considerably due to onset of summer and also because of lack of rains in the last couple of months,” said the temple authorities said in a statement.

The traditional sacred architecture of Hindu temples has large tanks or reservoirs built as part of the temple complex. They can be fed either by a well or by an aqueduct, as the tank in Vijayanagara. The tank is part of the mystical flow of the temple’s shakti and its waters are often considered sacred, but many temples tanks have suffered from neglect in modern times. (HPI)