Yellow is the brightest color in the visual spectrum. It is a favored color and what are the reasons for it. The sun is yellow and sunlight loved by all is golden yellow. It is the easiest color to imagine, it represents happiness and hope. Continue reading
We all have this image of Shiva meditating and we wish we could go into this wonderful state. However, the path to reach a meditative state is full of pebbles and sharp stones. Our conscious, subconscious and unconscious thoughts are the thorns, which are in the way. Continue reading
The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays. – Soren Kierkegaard
Prayer is heart talk. It becomes effective when it is isolated from the mind, when it is purely a heart feeling, when the external doors are closed, then only one door opens—the internal door. When all of the mind is closed, only the door of the heart opens. When the crookedness of the mind is has been stilled, when the agitations of the mind have become peaceful, when the deviousness and dubiousness of the mind has been transformed, then the heart becomes active. Prayer is only directed to God. – Swami Niranjanananda
Basant Panchami is being celebrated on the second of February. It is a festival, when we welcome spring and worship Saraswati.
It is also called Saraswati Puja. It is usually observed in late January or early February. Likewise, it is known as the King of all seasons. Since it is early greetings to spring. It marks the gradual transition towards the full bloom of spring. We wear Yellow and are not supposed to touch our books. We worship them. Yellow is the color of Saraswati, who represents creativity, knowledge and it is the color of the ripening mustard fields all over in northern India. Continue reading
How do I find silence? I live in such a noisy place. There are different sounds all around. The whistling of the pressure cooker from my neighbor’s home. The doorbells ringing. Cars going past. The cry of the ambulance or the police sirens. The birds are squawking and the crows are cawing. Dogs barking, vendors selling their wares. Oh dear, oh dear what shall I do? Continue reading
The one, who always worships Lakshmi, Sri Kamala, the one who dwells in the lotus, Padma, the pleasing one holding tender lotus bloom in her hands, the daughter of the ocean, the one who carries the pot of nectar in her two hands, the goddess Ira and the beloved of Vishnu will ward off all miseries. – Mahalakshmi Stuti, Skanda Puran, verse 8
Dear ones, this is a poem by Pablo Neruda.
You start dying slowly
If you do not travel,
If you do not read,
If you do not listen to the sounds of life,
If you do not appreciate yourself.You start dying slowly
When you kill your self-esteem,
When you do not let others help you.You start dying slowly
If you become a slave to your habits,
Walking everyday on the same paths…
If you do not change your routine
If you do not wear different colors
Or speak to those you don’t know.You start dying slowly
If you avoid feeling passion
And their turbulent emotions––
Those that make your eyes glisten
And your heart beat fast.You start dying slowly
If you do not risk the safe for the uncertain,
If you do not chase a dream,
If you do not allow yourself,
At least once in your lifetime,
To run away from sensible advice.
Don’t let yourself die slowly.
Do not forget to be happy.
How do we define freedom? It is a word used by all of us.
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. – Martin Luther King Jr.
Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better. – Albert Camus
He who is brave is free? – Seneca
Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose and commit myself to – what is best for me. – Paul Coelho
Forests, the clouds of earth,
Hold up to the sky their silence,
And clouds from above come down
In resonant showers. – Verse 120 Continue reading
The lake with no life?
It is a complex story and we have to start at the very beginning. How did Brahma become the creator of the universe? Continue reading
How do we view Brahma? There are stories about him and the most popular one is about the loss of his fifth head. Brahma was referred to as Pachanan (having five faces) but after losing his fifth head he became Chaturan. (having four faces). There are several stories given in the Shiva Purana. Continue reading
A tonoscope is a device that helps to make sound visible by displaying vibrations. This phenomenon known as cymatics happens when sound frequencies are driven through inert powders. Meaning of cymatics is the study of wave phenomena, especially sound and their visual representations. Simply explained it is the sound of visualizing audio frequencies. It is an acoustic instrument for enabling a singer or player to see instantly any deviation from proper pitch of the tone being produced. Continue reading
Dear Ones, we have a tribe in India called the Bishnois. They are a Hindu community of desert dwellers, who see no separation between themselves and nature. For them the tree is like a child, and they treat it with parental love. They live in mainly the Thar desert of western Rajasthan and the northern states of India. Continue reading
What does samyojana mean? In Sanskrit, it means knots which are within us and these knots have to be opened. They are chains which bind us spiritually. Continue reading
And indeed, what little of beauty and peace is to be found in the societies of men is owing to the daily performance of small duties, not to big doings and fine talk. – Rabindra Nath Tagore