The Guru
The Guru is a unique symbol and understanding of Indian spirituality. In no other culture is a seemingly-ordinary human being held with such reverence and devotion.
The Guru is one who leads the student from darkness to light. Such is the …
Exploring the Evolution of Human Consciousness through Sanatan Dharma
A Glimpse of Shiva
Who is Shiva? Is he a puranic god, member of the trinity, who destroys even as Brahma creates and Vishnu preserves? Or is he the first yogi, who sat on top of Kailasa, smeared with ash, snakes round his neck, …
Discover Sat-Chit-Ananda Within!
Every individual soul is sustained by Divine presence, which is Sat-Chit-Ananda—Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss Absolute. The thrill of experiencing the grandeur of this Divine presence is beyond imagination, yet such experience is the goal of your existence.
As an individual personality …
Purusha Sukta
The Significance of the Purusha Sukta
The Purusha Sukta of the Vedas is not only a powerful hymn of the insight of the great Seer, Rishi Narayana, on the Cosmic Divine Being as envisaged through the multitudinous variety of creation, but …
The True Hanuman
Who is Hanuman? In Ramayana he is depicted as a vanara who helps Rama defeat Ravana and win Sita again. Often shown with the face of an ape in usual depictions with other monkeys.
But if one were to go deeper …
The Mystery of Ganesha
The Symbol & the Essence
This dialogue between a Seer and three of his disciples takes place in an ashram of old. The Seer, or Rishi, guides the young disciples into the mystery of Ganesha. The Seer is addressed …
On Hinduism (9)
Om, The Imperishable Word
ओमित्येतदक्षरमिद्ँ सर्वं तस्योपव्याख्यानं भूतं भवद्भविष्यदिति सर्वमोङ्कार एव।
यच्चान्यत्त्रिकालातीतं तदप्योङ्कार एव ।।[1]
OM is this imperishable Word, OM is the Universe, and this is the exposition of OM. The past, the present and the future, …
On Hinduism (8)
The Divine Mother
या देवी सर्वभूतेषु मातृरुपेण संस्थिता।
नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः॥[1]
To that Divine Goddess Who in All Beings is Abiding in the Form of the Mother,
Salutations to Her, Salutations to Her, Salutations to …
On Hinduism (7)
Sri Krishna and Shiva: Deeper into the Mystery
One is there, Self of self, Soul of Space, Fount of Time,
Heart of hearts, Mind of minds, He alone sits, sublime.
Oh, no void Absolute self-absorbed, splendid, mute,
Hands that clasp hold and …
Guru Purnima
The Guru is one who personally leads you from the darkness of ignorance and unconsciousness to the undying light of Truth and Immortality. The Guru is the mother who nourishes the spirit even as the biological mother nourishes the body; …
On Hinduism (6)
Shiva, The Great God
On the white summit of eternity
A single Soul of bare infinities,
Guarded he keeps by a fire-screen of peace
His mystic loneliness of nude ecstasy.
(From Sri Aurobindo’s poem, Shiva)
Shiva, in Hindu dharma, is perhaps …
On Hinduism (5)
The Symbol & the Symbolized
If Brahman, the Divine, saturates this whole Cosmos, sarvam brahmamayam jagat, then what of the objects within the Cosmos? What of the infinite life forms that populate the Cosmos? Hindu darshan categorically, through its several mahavakyas, states …
Dharmam Char
The mahavakya of the Shikshavalli says, Dharmam Char: ‘Follow Dharma’ or ‘Keep moving on the path of Dharma’.
Since the verb determines the movement and quality of the subject, so the word ‘char’ needs our attention first. ‘Char’ means ‘keep moving …
On Hinduism (4)
The Mystical Core of Hindu Dharma The Mystery of the Self
We are now ready to delve deeper into the mysteries of Hindu dharma. Once the Veda secret in the heart has awakened and leads forth the disciple, …
On Hinduism (3)
The Mystical Core of Hindu Dharma The Veda Secret in the Heart
There is a practice of Hinduism, similar to most other religions, that leads the mind outward, towards …
On Hinduism (2)
The Mystical Core of Hindu Dharma The Infinite Beyond
Hindu dharma has a deep mystical core that rises like sap into the various branchings of the dharma. Without understanding the …
Vivekananda: An Unfolding Dream
Is Swami Vivekananda important? To some, he is an apostle of Sanatana Dharma, a stalwart for the ‘Eternal Philosophy’ who led the Indian renaissance from centuries of hibernation. To others, mainly from the Left, he is a right-wing Hindu reactionary …
Reflections on Hinduism
Hinduism. . . gave itself no name, because it set itself no sectarian limits; it claimed no universal adhesion, asserted no sole infallible dogma, set up no single narrow path or gate of salvation; it was less a creed or …
All Religions Are Not The Same
Hindu Dharma Has a Scientific Temper
There have been many attempts to define the Hindu Dharma, or more appropriately, Sanātana Dharma throughout the modern era. Most notably, the Supreme Court defined it as a way of life, and not as a set of beliefs. …
A Perspective On Sanatan Dharma
India is an ancient civilization. In fact, it is the only civilization that has survived unbroken, and essentially unchanged, for nearly five thousand years. Much more than a nation, as understood in our modern geopolitical sense, India is a civilization …
Indic Resurgence
Towards An Indic Resurgence Based on Sanatan Dharma
The political and cultural narratives in India are changing — the signs and indications are everywhere. While the leftist-liberal narratives struggle to retain relevance in an emerging new India, the resurgent Indic …