Tag Archives: ganga

Connecting to the Divine

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Listening or chanting to the Shiva Tandava Stotra gives one immense powers, beauty and mental strength. It removes all negative energies and makes the environment pure. During dawn and dusk listening to it is very effective. It is said that whatever activity one does during Brahma Muhurta, its impact is manifold more. It reduces the amount of energy consumed and doubles the productivity. During dusk lamps are lit and some families engage in Satsang.

I will give you a translation of the Shiva Tandava. Read it or visualize it verse by verse. Continue reading →

Sacred Rivers

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Rivers are considered sacred in Hinduism and are core of the faith. It is believed that one’s sins are washed away in the river as it is always flowing. The spiritual and practical significances are many. Many rivers are personified as Goddesses. Therefore, bathing in them is considered to be cleansed of one’s sins. The water of the rivers is used in rituals, and it represents the concept of purity and cleanliness.

There are seven rivers considered sacred, and they are called the Saptanadi. They are Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu/Indus, and Kaveri. Continue reading →

Shiva on my lips and Devi in my mind

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Are you willing to be sponged out, erased, cancelled, made nothing? Are you willing to be made nothing? Dipped into oblivion? If not, you will never change. – DH Lawrence

Let me Roam.
With nothing on the body
And with nothing in my hands
Let me roam on the bank of the Ganga
With the name of Shiva on my lips
And the thought of Devi and Durga in my mind
Let me even know that I exist,
And when I die
I will not know that I am dying. – Swami Satyananda

Swami Sivananda ‘s directive to Swami Satyananda:

We are instruments, we are mediums. We have to love everybody without passion and attachment. We have to serve everybody without expectation. We have to love God without asking anything from him. The purpose of our spiritual life is to have a vision of the Divine. God has given us everything; we did not ask for it, yet he has given to you everything without you asking for Him.

Dear Ones, three sayings are given. Please read them and take anything from them. If you just follow even one word like without attachment, or ask for nothing, you will be free.

Aim Hrim Klim

 

804 – Why does a Hindu bride wear special adornments?

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A Hindu bride was decorated with sixteen adornments on her wedding day. These adornments are called Solah (sixteen) Shringar. This ritual has been practiced since Vedic times. The story behind Solah Shringar is that Rati, who before she became the wife of God Kamadev (God of Love) was very plain. She prayed to Lakshmi and performed a severe penance. Lakshmi blessed her with sixteen adornments and Kamadev fell in love with her and married her. Continue reading →

698 – Isomorphism and awakening our Kundalini

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Isomorphism means similarity in its simplest meaning. There is similarity between the macro cosmos (universe) and the microcosmos which is the human organism. Yoga Darsana Upanishad (4.48—53) describes this. The eternal (sacred) tirtha (sacred ford, holy water, place of pilgrimage) is considered inferior to the sacred tirtha in the body, and external mountains and other places identified with the various parts of the organism. Continue reading →

264 – Anniversary Celebrations

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I was in Varanasi with my husband to celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary. Varanasi is considered the holiest city on earth for Hindus. It is supposed to be 5000 years old. The place where the supreme light shines, it is believed to be the home of Lord Shiva. When Shiva got married to Uma, the daughter of the Himavat, of Himalaya Mountain, he had to move from his abode in Kailash. Kashi was the most splendid city at that time and Uma was a princess and a goddess. It is believed that the river Ganga pays its respect to Lord Shiva by the direction in which it flows. The ajna chakra is on the banks of the Ganga and the Kashi Visvanath temple is where it is. Annapurna Devi‘s temple is next door. Continue reading →

258 – Let us dry the tears of Mother Earth

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We have to make Mother Earth happy. We have made her unhappy and it is leading to our annihilation. If only all of us collectively stepped back and self-examined our thoughts and emotions, we will be surprised at the despair accumulated in us. It is this desolation and sadness which is leading to war, terrorism and brutalism. Continue reading →

218 – Lal Ded, a truly liberated saint

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Lal Ded was born in the fourteenth century, and she was a feminist saint and a mystic poet. She had an education as in Kashmir, girls were educated. She was married at the age of twelve. Her in-laws ill-treated her. They starved her and gave her only a handful of rice to eat. She left her husband and became a disciple of Sed Bayu, a Shaivite guru. She shed her clothes and became a digamber swami. She was unembarrassed about her body, she had a huge stomach. In a few years she had eclipsed her guru in wisdom and bhakti. She taught that one should connect with one’s soul and remove ritual from our meditation. She told a priest that a temple and an image were just like stone. She was venerated by both Muslims and Hindus. Continue reading →