Why are we criticizing the young all the time? One of the major factors is that Covid has made us judgemental and irrational. Whenever I meet people, their favorite subject is that the youth are behaving so irresponsibly and carelessly. Our main concern is that they may infect us. We forget our own youth. Continue reading
The message that Rama sent to Sita through Hanuman, breaks your heart. He said “Since you have gone, the rain that falls is boiling, the birds that sing prick my heart.” Rama said, Continue reading
Swami Satyananda has a very different view of snorers. We all know people who snore and we can laugh at them, or get mad at them, but they continue to snore unrelentlessly. Once I was travelling in the night train and two compartments away there was a man snoring. He was so loud, we could hear him over the chugging and whistling of the train. My teenage son was with me. We started imitating him, but it had no effect. My son, shouted and said bro please stop. It had no effect. We passed the night sleepless and our neighbor woke up bright eyed. Continue reading
Jealousy is a feeling which is corrosive and can consume us. Envy, greed and possessiveness can make us bitter. Jealousy has no respect for anyone. It can spring up in our mind anytime and then it governs our behaviour. It manifests itself into spite and criticism. Now how do we handle this. Continue reading
Distractions are part of our life. We cannot avoid them. Wherever you are, even in the midst of solitude, you will have distractions. I remember once I was sitting in a place which was so silent that the only sound was of my breath. This was at a height of 12,000 feet in a forest. I closed my eyes and then I heard the sound of dew drop. In the silence it was so loud. Of course I was distracted but I was so happy to hear the sound. Continue reading
There are three attitudes that control our actions. These are the three gunas, which are sattwic, rajasic and tamasic. When our mind is changing, it goes through these phases. These three gunas interface in our universe and with us all the time. Our mind in its infancy is tamasic and its ultimate experience is sattwic. Our nature goes through trials and tribulations and these result in the development of the gunas. Continue reading
Young beautiful woman meditating in lotus pose.
The Maha Mritunjaya mantra is a verse from the Rig Veda which is considered to be the most powerful way to gratify the highest power, the Shiva power. What is the meaning of this mantra? It means that we worship the three eyed One (Lord Shiva) who is fragrant and who nourishes all beings. Like the fruit falls off the bondage of the stem, may He liberate us from death, for the sake of immortality. The cucumber is given as an example. We pray to Shiva to grant us liberty from confinement of death just as a cucumber gets plucked very easily from its roots. Continue reading
Swami Sivananda loved all creatures unconditionally. One day a very wealthy visitor came to the ashram. The devotee had spent a couple of days in the ashram, where he had been bitten black and blue by mosquitoes. There was no mosquito net, the toilet was far away. It was also hot and there were no fans. Continue reading
This morning I had an argument with my husband. He was complaining that there was no space in the house. He prefers to practice his sadhana downstairs and I practice upstairs. Our home is full of books and they are everywhere. I responded to his remark by saying that you must have space in your heart and head. Space is relative. You can feel crowded in a mansion and free in a tiny room. Continue reading
“In 1943, my Guru Swami Sivananda gave me a mantra and told me to practice five malas every day. The practice took me no longer than three minutes in all. I practiced five malas regularly every day and during this period the most important link in my life was formed in those three minutes. Had I renounced my link with the mantra, I would never have achieved what I have today. These five malas saved me so today I can stand firmly as a swami, holding the torch of a spiritual culture.” Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
The meaning of Corona is rings of coloured light surrounding the luminous source, usually the moon or the sun. These rings are strikingly coloured. The classic corona consists of a bright aureole, bluish in the center and brownish on the periphery, surrounded by one or more rings of lesser intensity that are bluish on the inside and red on the outside passing through green and sometimes yellow on the way. Usually one ring is visible, but up to three rings have been observed. It is a breathtaking sight. Continue reading
The objective of Karma Yoga is to create a stable base for the mind. In meditation, the mind has to remain constantly on one object. However if one practices without purifying the mind, then feelings of tamasa (laziness, self-indulgence and self-absorption) dominate. Karma Yoga is an essential and vital part of one’s spiritual growth, because one is governed by one’s passions and desires. If one’s desires were eliminated one’s development would be obstructed. Desires must not be suppressed. One has to fulfil them or realize their emptiness. By curbing one’s desire, one is stunting one’s growth. Continue reading
I had a major spinal surgery last year. It was an emergency surgery, and it was something out of the blues. My dachshund was sniffing my ankle all the time. He was fifteen and was not a sniffer. I wondered why and the thought came into my mind, that did I have a tumour. Continue reading
The Upanishads describe prana as the breath contained within the breath. A person is dead when this breath leaves the body. It is called Mahaprana and is the instrument of consciousness. It nurtures and nourishes us. It is the energy which is gross and subtle, and which is present in all life form. It is present in the universe from the blade of grass to the most microscopic sign of life. It exists where there is life and this includes physical, mental, Intellectual, psychic and emotional health. To fully understand this life force, we have to be aware of the flow of prana. Prana is present everywhere in our bodies, it is inside the oxygen, which is in our blood, inside the bones, inside our veins, our arteries and is the subtle breath within our breath. Continue reading
Mantra means liberation from the thought processes of the mind (manyate trayate). When the thought processes are controlled by the mantras, the consciousness presents itself in its purest, truest nature. Mantras hold the pranic power of speech. The Vedas say that prana is hidden speech, while speech is manifest prana. We speak throughout the outgoing breath and can inhale only when we are not speaking. Continue reading