Author Archives: Dr. Nalini

Food and its impact on us

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This magical, marvelous food on our plate, this sustenance we absorb has a story to tell. It has a journey. It leaves a footprint It leaves a legacy. To eat with reckless abandon, without conscience, without knowledge; folks, this aint normal. – Joel Salatin, a farmer who lectures on food.

What is our takeaway from this? Food must be partaken with awareness. We must respect it and must not indulge in waste. I have a story for you, dear ones. It is the custom in India in some of the villages to seek the help of the local villagers. Continue reading →

Creation of Ganesha

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Parvati longed for a person, who would be her guard like Nandi, who was always at Shiva’s side. One day when she was preparing for her bath on Mount Kailash’s, she told Nandi to sit outside. Nandi took his post, intending to carry out Parvati’s wishes. Shiva arrived suddenly as was his habit and he wished to enter. Continue reading →

How do I find my Guru?

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Guru is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘gu’ meaning darkness or dispeller and ‘run’ meaning light or dispeller. So, a guru is an individual, who dispels darkness and illuminates the path to knowledge. The Guru is seen as a guide on the path to spiritual realization, helping the disciple to understand the meaning and significance of the scriptures and attain higher wisdom. Continue reading →

To free ourselves from fear

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Where the Mind is without Fear.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arm towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is lead forward by thee
Into that heaven of freedom.
My father, let my country awake. – Rabindra Nath Tagore, Nobel prize Winner.

Continue reading →

How many options are there?

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Dear ones, I am writing today about Ardhanareshwara and the understanding of Transgenders. Ardhareshwara is a Hindu form of Shiva combined with his consort Parvati. Ardhanareshwara is depicted as half male and half female. Ardhanareshwara represents the synthesis of masculine and feminine energies of the universe—Purush and Prakriti. Another name for Prakriti is Shakti and they are inseparable. The right half is usually Shiva, and the left half is Parvati. However, the timeline is pre-Vedic. The earliest depiction of Ardhanareshwara (Shiva and Parvati as a single androgynous form) are found in the Kushan period art of Gandhara, dating back to 1st Century CE. Continue reading →

Ode to my Guru

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Swami Satyananda Saraswati, my Guru and founder of the Bihar School of Yoga, spent twelve years in Swami Sivananda’s ashram. In that period, he found that many persons wrote to Swami Sivananda, asking for help and treatment for their health problems. He would suggest that they practice Yoga. Continue reading →

The jeweled Net of Indra

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What is the connection and context of a net? Net often symbolizes interconnectedness, judgement or entrapment.

Today when we speak about the net, we think of the internet. It means interconnected network, a global system of interconnected computer network that allows users to share information, communicate and access a wide range of online resources. Continue reading →

Shaivite Tradition

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Shaivism is an ancient form Hinduism that focuses on the worship of Shiva. The term has been derived from the Sanskrit word Shiva, which refers to the Lord of destruction and transformation. Shaivites are devotees, who venerate Shiva and accept him as the Supreme God. They believe that he is responsible for creation, protection and destruction. He is portrayed as representing a fierce destroyer, an innocent, a granter of boons and a loving and compassionate husband. Shaivites strive to achieve liberation from the cycle of birth and death by living a life focused on Shiva and chanting mantras and hymns dedicated to him. Continue reading →

Follow the precepts of the Guru

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Love and loveless

The human frame will be an empty shell
If the soul within is lonely and unwell.

If the soul is clothed in flesh that feels both soft and rough
It is to get a sense of what it means to love.

The life lived in love is a gainer full twice over
On earth in joy and then in heaven’s clover.

Quotes from Tirukkural Continue reading →