Health & Ayurveda
A Testimony to Turmeric
Celebrated for its many benefits, this golden spice offers anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, enhancing well-bei…
Topic
Personal Practice
236 articles
Spiritual Life
Daily Spiritual Practice Is a Must
Finding and following a routine is the secret to success. Let’s talk about worship, introspection, affirmation and scrip…
Spiritual Life
I Surrendered to Kailash’s Embrace
How I defied the odds to rapidly prepare for a grueling but liberating trek on foot around the most sacred […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Educational Insight — Yoga
A Youthful Primer About Hinduism’s Eight-Limbed System of Meditation and Spiritual Striving From The Teachings of Satgur…
Spiritual Life
My Sabarimala Pilgrimage
A devotee’s experience of the grueling journey to Sabarimala Temple, hiking through mountain trails to Ayyappa’s reveale…
Spiritual Life
Celebrating Chandi Homa at Home
Despite its length and complexity, the fire worship of the Goddess carries great significance for me personally By Krath…
Personal Practice
How Vivekananda Gave Me Purpose
A chance encounter with an L.A. property where Swami stayed briefly in 1899–1900 launched me on a path of personal [&hel…
Personal Practice
Guru & Shishya
Exploring the Genius of India’s Guru-Shishya System of Spiritual Training and Transmission From the Teachings of Satguru…
Opinion
Why I Hold to Hindu Values
Our religion’s inherent tolerance and grasp of truth are keys to a peaceful world By Shreya Mahasenan Hinduism is known …
Temples & Pilgrimage
The Holy Ganga, from Varanasi to the Sea
For the millions of devout Hindus living close to Ganga, every day is full of blessings from the sacred river. [……
Philosophy & Scripture
All About Meditation
Mystical Guidelines to the Fine Art of Exploring the Wonderful Within of Yourself From the Teachings ofSatguru Sivaya Su…
Personal Practice
Initiation Along the Ganga
The sacred thread ceremony was a natural next step after my name-giving By Keshav Fulbrook As i stepped onto the [&helli…
Publisher's Editorials
Life’s Challenges Are Not to Be Avoided
We can recoil from difficulties or brave them. Here are three insights that offer hope and strength when times turn [&he…
Temples & Pilgrimage
Girivalam—A Walk to Liberate
My circumambulation of Arunachala mountain in Thiruvannamalai for three years leads me towards ending the circle of birt…
Personal Practice
Minister’s Message– The Light That Lighteth Everywhere
“There is One Supreme Light which ever burns steadily and surely,and that Light Eternal is God who lighteth every soul […
Personal Practice
Remaining a Hindu in College
How I found diverse ways to deepen my religious life during my university days By Dhanesh Rishi Budhram I am [&hel…
Publisher's Editorials
How to Experience Your Innate Divinity
The Upanishads are clear, man is not man, man is God. But actually encountering that amazing reality takes work. B…
Personal Practice
How Satsang Made Me a Strong Hindu
Finally, I had a place to ask questions and get lucid and authoritative answers on theology, practices and issues that […
Publisher's Editorials
Now Is a Good Time to Update Your Plans
The restrictions imposed by the pandemic can give us time to plan and manifest a positive future for ourselves and [&hel…
Personal Practice
Yoga: Today’s Yoga Evolves Beyond the Body
India Foundation’s Center for Public Diplomacy and Soft Power collaborates with Ritambhara Ashram to promote Internation…
Health & Ayurveda
<strong>The Magical Realm of Our Sleep</strong>
A Hindu view of sleep and dreams, with insights from rishis and experts in ayurveda and modern medical science By …
Temples & Pilgrimage
Sadhana: Pilgrimage: for Reflection or for Family
A comparison between traveling to holy places alone for self-reflection and going with one’s family for shared blessings…
Opinion
Minister’s Message: On the Importance of Spirituality
Understanding the self and understanding our social and spiritual obligations are the keys to success both in the tempor…
Philosophy & Scripture
Our Daily Journey In Consciousness
Understanding four states of mind: waking, dreaming, deep sleep and samadhi By Acharya Vamadeva Shastri Many of the grea…
Personal Practice
Dancing for Lords Ganesha and Siva
Two sisters from Arizona fly to Hawaii for a single purpose: to offer their loving talents to the temple Deities [&helli…
Temples & Pilgrimage
The Goddess: Discovering Divinity in Dissolution
How one woman’s curiosity led her to a profound encounter with Goddess Kali, affording her peace in the aftermath of [&h…
Personal Practice
Worship: Banking on Lord Rama
WORSHIP BANKING ON LORD RAMA ______________________ Why this unique “deposit-only” bank is cherished by thousands of dev…
Publisher's Editorials
Publisher’s Desk: Drawing Close to Ganesha
Publisher’s desk DRAWING CLOSE TO GANESHA ______________________ How sincerely approaching Him as a real being can deepe…
Personal Practice
Educational Insight: Karma Yoga
Exploring the benefits of selfless service and the art of spiritualized action By Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami WOULDN’…
Publisher's Editorials
Publisher’s Desk: The Journey to Liberation
PUBLISHER’S DESK THE JOURNEY TO LIBERATION ______________________ Though moksha may seem remote, there is wisdom in keep…
Publisher's Editorials
The Art of Listening
With the modern distraction of digital media, we must be more mindful than ever of person-to-person communications BY SA…
Hindu Basics
Educational Insight: Know Thy Self
14 DAILY ENLIGHTENMENT LESSONS ___________________________FROM THE TEACHINGS OFSATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI Art by A.…
Personal Practice
Tradition: Mealtime Blessings
Thanks: Buddhist monks in Vietnam bless their meal; an American family “says grace” • • • • • • • […]
Personal Practice
Personal Practice: Character Matters
BY SWAMI ATMASHRADDHANANDA “Build your character!” a good number of people in today’s world do not thi…
Personal Practice
The Power of Affirmation
The power of affirmation changes and remolds the putty-like substance that makes up the subconscious areas of the mind. …
Personal Practice
The Perfect Spiritual Apprentice
The Sage Shankarshana said, "O God! I wish to know the distinguishing characteristics of the apprentice (or beginni…
Publisher's Editorials
Keeping the Mind Clear
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a gathering of the Council of Hindu Temples of North America in Flint, [&hellip…
Personal Practice
Using the Power of Affirmation
The idea behind affirmations is that through the repetition of positive statements, we can improve our self-concept, mak…
Publisher's Editorials
“I Want To See God!”
The focus of many religions is on helping those who do not believe in God to believe in God. For […]
Personal Practice
Transforming Anger
By Sri Swami Nikhilananda There is no escaping anger. everyone gets angry. Sometimes I get angry. Emotions are a fact [&…
Personal Practice
Hindus of South America
The Indian subcontinent has not been the only source of major Hindu migrations in the last 50 years. Hundreds of [&helli…
Personal Practice
Yoga Goes to Goa
The West’s approach to yoga ranges from idle curiosity to celebrity craze, from exotic aerobics to healing panacea…
Teaching & Parenting
Better Dicipline
In a recent visit to Kauai, Hawaii, Jane Nelsen conducted a Positive Discipline training session for people who want to …
Health & Ayurveda
Freedom? Write On!
American President Abraham Lincoln was known for his wisdom. One day his Secretary of War, Edwin Santol, sought the pres…
Teaching & Parenting
For World Peace, Stop the War in the Home
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI When asked by the United Nations leaders how humanity might better resolve the confli…
Personal Practice
Missionaries Roil Northeast India
By Renu S. Malhotra As a child, I remember Northeastern India holding a magical pull for me. In our books, […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Books: How to Become a Hindu
Conversion remains a vital issue and a potent topic in the press today. On one hand, Hindus continue to lament [……
Personal Practice
One Swami’s Impact
By P.S. Phalgun I returned home from my fourth semester in college mentally and physically tired from final exam week. […
Personal Practice
Meeting the Sadhu’s Challenges
BY H. H. MA YOGA SHAKTI SARASWATI Personally I feel I have not done enough in this world. I became […]
Temples & Pilgrimage
Don’t Shackle Freedom
Madhu Kishwar, editor of Manushi magazine and a champion of the oppressed in India, offers her analysis of a proposed [&…
Personal Practice
The Greatness of Gayatri Mantra
BY KARUNAMAYI SRI VIJAYESWARI DEVI Dear embodiments of divine consciousness, Amma’s abundant Motherly love to you …
Teaching & Parenting
The Right to Nose Studs
For generations the women of Shivani Karan’s family have worn a traditional khil, or nose-stud. The 15-year-old gi…
Publisher's Editorials
The Many Joys Of Hinduism
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI Every two months here on our little island of Kauai we have the honor of sitting [&he…
Environment
We Came. We Saw. We Messed it up.
The diversity and relative instability of life on Earth is remarkable, and its history holds some stunning surprises. Si…
Philosophy & Scripture
How to Ease Karma
A few years ago, a devout hindu couple pulled up to the drive-in window of their local Taco Bell fast-food […]
Personal Practice
Sachin: “God is With Me”
In August of 1999 cricket star Sachin Tendulkar spoke on religion with Aparna Srinivasan of the Times of India. Below [&…
Temples & Pilgrimage
Milk Miracle Does a Boy Good
It was September 21, 1995, when in a temple in New Delhi Lord Ganesha quietly asked devotees, “Got milk?” Th…
Philosophy & Scripture
The Lessons of Five Millennia
By Nawal Prinja Irrespective of one’s religious faith, the start of the new millennium affects all of us, because …
Publisher's Editorials
Forcefields and Psychic Protection
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI Being on the path is a marvelous thing, but it is a path. There are jungles [……
Personal Practice
Nine Questions
Back in the spring of 1990, a group of teenagers from the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, Lemont, sent a […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Dada Vaswani in Africa
In December, Dada Vaswani, head of the worldwide Sadhu Vaswani Mission, visited several countries in Africa, including G…
Philosophy & Scripture
What to Do After 72?
Nachiappan was born May 29, 1923, in the small village of Managiri, Tamil Nadu, South India. He was in the […]
Personal Practice
Shakuntala Devi
Shakuntala Devi holds an undisputed place in the Guinness Book of Records for multiplying in 1980 two randomly chosen 13…
Hindu Basics
Hatha Yoga
Hatha yoga is a system of handling the physical body so that the mind and the nerve system are calmed […]
Personal Practice
Marriage as Science
By Amala Seyon Why is marriage so tough at times? Why do some lifelong relationships click, while others just tick [&hel…
Hindu Basics
Seven Steps Toward Golden Silence
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI Silence is very important. It is food for the soul. If we can make our mind [……
Hindu Basics
Nepal’s Home Art: Literally Off the Wall
By Hari Bansh Jha In an historically and religiously rich territory spanning a portion of northeast India and southern N…
Philosophy & Scripture
Journey to India And to Myself
BY AMBER SUKUMARAN I do not think that my husband and I see each other as the world does. Sometimes […]
Personal Practice
India’s Foreign Observers
By Francois Gautier Foreign journalists and photographers covering India are generally interested in three kinds of Indi…
Hindu Basics
Narayana Guru on Religious Conversion
BY UDAYABHANU L. P. PANICKAR Religious conversion has become a serious subject among Indians all over the world. My home…
Publisher's Editorials
Be Joyous! Keep Moving From Darkness to Light
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI People speak of the “light of understanding.” Before the bright light of …
Hindu Basics
Rising Above The Senses
BY SWAMI CHIDANANDA In the Hindu tradition three great principles or qualities have been laid down as fundamental practi…
Philosophy & Scripture
In The RSS Ranks
By Rajiv Malik I reached Sewa Dham around six-thirty in the morning to be greeted by the breathtaking scene of [……
Hindu Basics
Indra Devi at 100
By Mukunda Stiles Indra Devi has traversed the entire twentieth century. In the 1920s, she toured Europe as a star [&hel…
Hindu Basics
Puja’s Passion
Stephen P. Huyler began as an outsider. “I prided myself on my objectivity,” he says in his preface to Meeti…
Personal Practice
Conversion Is an Act of Violence
BY SWAMI DAYANANDA SARASWATI Religious conversion is a widely discussed topic in the Indian media these days. I think th…
Publisher's Editorials
The Donkey And the Carrot
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI All my life, since the time I was seven years old, I have made a great […]
Health & Ayurveda
Meet Yogi Hari
“The most effective way to teach children anything is to live it yourself,” says Leela Mata. She is wife of …
Teaching & Parenting
Postpartum Blues?
By Vatsala Sperling Pregnancy, childbirth and parenting present intense challenges for all women, challenges that are co…
Personal Practice
I Let My Family Look for My Prince Charming
By Shalmali Pal For some reason an Indian mother finds it necessary to stretch the truth when it comes to […]
Philosophy & Scripture
The Unifying Power of “Aum”
BY SWAMI NIRLIPTANANDA Modern science has impacted mankind in a short span of time. Over-dependence on technology and sc…
Personal Practice
What Happened in Dangs?
THE HISTORY BEHIND RECENT HINDU-CHRISTIAN CLASHES IN GUJARAT On January 7, 1999, the respected Sarvodaya leader Ghelubha…
Philosophy & Scripture
India’s Christian Challenge
By M.P. MOHANTY India found itself in the unwelcome focus of world attention when in late December churches were attacke…
Philosophy & Scripture
Sage of Sacred Art
With Rajiv Malik SITTING FOR HOURS CROSS-LEGGED on the floor of his Udaipur home, encircled by paints and brushes, B.G. …
Personal Practice
Where Are We Headed?
By Hari Bansh Jha Paramount among challenges faced by Nepal Hindus today are lack of religious training and an onslaught…
Philosophy & Scripture
Our Religion is Based On Veritable Truths!
BY SWAMI RANGANATHANANDA MAHARAJ The Sanatana Dharma is mainly the product of an extraordinary literature, the ten or tw…
Publisher's Editorials
The Goal of Life And the Spiritual Path
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Never have there been so many people living on the planet wondering, “What is t…
Opinion
Seeing God’s Face
By Anand Saxena Hindus have been criticized and ridiculed by Jews, Christians and Muslims for worshiping statues, and fo…
Temples & Pilgrimage
Sacred Is Secret
Photographer and art historian Stephen Huyler has spent the past several years documenting the personal worship of Hindu…
Philosophy & Scripture
Humane Society video exposes animal horrors
It’s a terrible truth, unknown to most Hindus. One million old cattle a year are sold at auction by poor [……
Philosophy & Scripture
Animal Sacrifice
By Poornima Harish You can love her or hate her, but you can’t ignore the lady. Maneka Gandhi, widow of […]
Health & Ayurveda
Food: Friend Or Foe?
By Vatsala Sperling When Hindu parents explain the meaning and purpose of our household rituals and traditions, children…
Philosophy & Scripture
Precious Youth, Civilization’s Cradle
BY SRI SWAMI GUHABHAKTANANDA Youth are the nation’s most precious treasure, the potential leaders to guide our tom…
Publisher's Editorials
Understanding the World Of Sleep and Dreams
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Dreams and the state of sleep have been a mystery and a puzzle to people of [……
Health & Ayurveda
Rediscovering Ayurveda
By VRINDAVANAM S. GOPALAKRISHNAN K. Nair had a gut feeling, and it wasn’t caused by his painful peptic ulcer. Drug…
Philosophy & Scripture
Yoga’s New Posture
By Lavina Melwani There are the yogis of Vrindaban and Kashi–and those of Manhattan. The past few years has spawne…
Philosophy & Scripture
That New Car Won’t Bring You Happiness
BY SUSHRI SIDDHESHVARI DEVI The desire for happiness motivates all creatures to act. Whether it is a tiny little ant [&h…
Philosophy & Scripture
Energy Highways
THERE ARE TWO BASIC ENERGY CURRENTS WITHIN OUR SUBTLE BODY. THESE ARE IDA AND PINGALA, WHICH SURROUND A CENTRAL MAJOR [&…
Philosophy & Scripture
Pagan, by the Grace of Gods
The Gods and Goddesses of Europe were sent into exile beginning 1,700 years ago with the advent of Christianity. Their […
Health & Ayurveda
Their Family to Yours
By Shikha Malaviya How to do homework without Throwing Up. Bullies are a Pain in the Brain. How to Bring […]
Health & Ayurveda
Breathe Your Stress Away
By Devananda Tandavan Stress is a natural and necessary consequence of living. But there’s no need for us to be [&…
Philosophy & Scripture
Foresake Frustrating Western Materialism
By Sri-la-Sri Sadhvi Meera Puri Indians have an inferiority complex about themselves. In fact, we should not feel inferi…
Philosophy & Scripture
Embrace Meditation And Live Beyond 100
BY H.H. SRI SRI SWAMI BUAJI MAHARAJ Like all entities in the universe, the human body is in constant change. Even [&hell…
Publisher's Editorials
Unleash the Power Of Affirmation
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami The need is now for positive attitudes. It is election time in the US, accusations ar…
Philosophy & Scripture
A Miracle for Jagdishwari
By Lavina Melwani The pleasant breeze was gradually turning into a howling wind. As Dr. Jagdishwari Nala sat at her [&he…
Publisher's Editorials
How a Vision of Our Divinity Led Us to Hawaii
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI It was in 1959 that my path led me to the Hawaiian Islands for the first […]
Opinion
Can Astrologers Be Spiritual Mentors?
BY UMANANDA QUONG For professional astrologers who encounter daily the hopes, fears, desires and aspirations of often de…
Philosophy & Scripture
Spiritual Growth
Chakrapani Ullal learned astrology from his father and grandfather. Early in life he came into contact with Swami Nityan…
Philosophy & Scripture
Bhangra in Barbados
By Lavina Melwani A mound of salt between them, the new bride, resplendent in her finery, shyly picks up a […]
Philosophy & Scripture
How the Vedas Divide the Heavens
The nakshatras, central to Hindu astrology, are the subject of this month’s four-page Insight section. Contributor…
Health & Ayurveda
How About a Diet to Die For?
By Devananda Tandavan As I have mentioned in the past, the traditional South Indian vegetarian diet is an excellent bala…
Philosophy & Scripture
Awaken Moral Force,See Unity in God
BY SRI-LA-SRI SANTOSHI MA JI I want to do something for society. Just because I am a woman, I do […]
Publisher's Editorials
Angelic Beings Are a Living Reality
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI Devotion to God and the Gods of Hinduism is alive in Bali, as our fascinating feature…
Philosophy & Scripture
Bali: Island Of the Gods
With SARA SASTRA in Denpasar, Bali, NYOMAN WENTEN in California and RIMA XOYAMAYAGYA in Texas Filmmaker Lawrence Blair, …
Philosophy & Scripture
Why Do Hindus Say, “I Am Not a Hindu”?
By the Editor There are two kind of Hindus: those who admit they are Hindu and those who will admit […]
Temples & Pilgrimage
Giving Demons and Deities Their Due
Perhaps nowhere on earth is Hinduism more energetic and culturally explicit than on the tiny island of Bali. It has [&he…
Philosophy & Scripture
Potent Pagan Powwow
For six days over the Summer solstice, 200 representatives to the World Pagan Congress met in Vilnius, capital city of […
Hindu Festivals
Kumbha Mela 1998
By M.P. MOHANTY These pilgrims had come from all over India; some of them had been months on the way, […]
Opinion
Finding Peace In Mother Ganga’s Lap
BY BHAGAWATI I sit in silent joy, the cooling Ganga rushing across my toes. A young local ashram child whom […]
Philosophy & Scripture
One Pilgrim’s Story
Is it possible to film the Kumbha Mela in all its complex, wild and unruly grandeur? Vancouver director Alan Morinis [&h…
Philosophy & Scripture
Marriage Arranging
Love marriage versus arranged marriage. Both work; both fail. In the West the concept of falling in love with that [&hel…
Environment
Flora’s Friend
By Lavina Melwani She’s a natural, and a more enthusiastic spokesperson for nature would be hard to find. Manju Pr…
Publisher's Editorials
Darshan, the Grace Of Seeing the Divine
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI In the Orient, whenever the cloud of despair covers the soul of a devotee, the darsha…
Philosophy & Scripture
Sparing The Child
By V. G. Julie Rajan Though they don’t say much about it, young Hindu adults today feel deep resentment and [&hell…
Philosophy & Scripture
Corporal Punishment Is Totally Needless
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IS TOTALLY NEEDLESSMY PARENTS AVOIDED IT, AND SO CAN YOU, BY ACKNOWLEDGING THE INHERENT DIVINITY OF …
Personal Practice
BOOKS
DOES YOUR DRESS REALLY MATTER? By Tara Katir, Kauai We all know the adage, “You are what you eat.” But [&hel…
Publisher's Editorials
The Problem with Taking It Out On the Children
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami The whole world is reevaluating how we treat women, children, the aged and infirm. Wa…
Philosophy & Scripture
Beating What Devil Out of Our Children?
By the Editor Beating children was never much of an issue in the old world. For most of human history, […]
Personal Practice
Turning Cruel to Cool
By Archana Dongre On the heels of the racist “dot buster” incidents which occur in major US metropolises, a …
Philosophy & Scripture
Growing Up Afraid
By Choodie Shivaram At times, I confess, I have hit my own son. He would take it quietly, and when […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Kundalini’s Rise and Fall
With its charismatic flare, kundalini exploded into Western consciousness in the early 1970s, primarily through the dram…
Philosophy & Scripture
Chakras: The Chapels Within
There are fourteen great nerve centers in the physical body, in the astral body and in the body of the […]
Publisher's Editorials
Pornography on the net: www.sex@home.com
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI Live and learn, live and learn. We learn something every day, and it is not always [&…
Health & Ayurveda
Fabric Begets Fashion
With tucks and pleats, flowing folds and knotted ties, Indians have for tens of centuries fashioned impeccable apparel f…
Philosophy & Scripture
Dipavali Debate
With reports from ANIL MAHABIR, DEVANT MAHARAJ and PARAS RAMOUTAR, Trinidad Each Fall the “Dipavali Village”…
Health & Ayurveda
Food and Breath: Sustaining the Body
BY BRAHMACHARINI MAYA TIWARI Food is divinely intertwined with the body. According to ancient Vedic seers, all things gr…
Health & Ayurveda
“I Can, I Will, I Am Able to Get Well”
By Devananda Tandavan Has there been anyone among us that has not injured himself, to only experience a complete and [&h…
Personal Practice
How to Become the Lord of Our Mind
By Swami Shankarananda Before my trip to india in 1970, i was an academic in the field of literature. I […]
Publisher's Editorials
To the Psychic, Nothing Is Really Ever Hidden
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI Many years ago, in the late fifties, while listening to seekers unfold from their sub…
Philosophy & Scripture
The Colors of Our Consciousness
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami The human aura extends out around the body from three to four feet, even from five [&…
Hindu Festivals
Malaysia’s Piercing Praxis
By Alvin Ung, Associated Press With fish hooks embedded in their backs and spears piercing their cheeks, hundreds of tho…
Personal Practice
Juggling Spirit & Politics
From a distance, Shakuntala Arya, 69, looks like an ordinary Punjabi housewife, not at all like the mayor of Delhi–…
Personal Practice
Tibet Yogi Wins at ’98 Winter Olympics!
By the Editor When I was first told that the Winter Olympics Committee had used its “host nation option” to …
Philosophy & Scripture
In Another Life…
Water terrified Bruce Kelly. Even the sight of a swimming pool caused him to tremble. He did not know why, […]
Temples & Pilgrimage
Blessed Blisters
By RAJIV MALIK, NEW DELHI In Delhi I am used to a very comfortable lifestyle,” said Delhi businessman Navin Yadav,…
Philosophy & Scripture
The Breath of God Is Our Breath of Life
By PARAMAHAMSA HARIHARANANDA God is all-pervading, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. Where is He not? He is present i…
Publisher's Editorials
Everyone Has a Guru, Knowingly or Not
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI Sri Sri Sri Vishvaguru Maha-Maharajji is seen in the picture to the right with me in …
Philosophy & Scripture
One Day My Religion Will Rule the World
By the Editor Harvard University’s groundbreaking project on religious pluralism in America [see “Stirring U…
Philosophy & Scripture
Stirring Up the Melting Pot
By LAVINA MELWANI, NEW YORK You are about to go on a pilgrimage. Not to India’s Kashi or Vrindavan, but […]
Opinion
Youths Need to Grasp The Value of Religion
BY VARSHA RAMOUTAR Religion can be defined as a belief in, reverence for, or worship of a deity or deities […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Let’s Go Beyond Tolerance
By LAVINA MELWANI, NEW YORK Imagine being covered in colors from head to toe and having to walk several blocks [……
Philosophy & Scripture
Call for Military Ministers
Armies since ancient times have required the services of religious guides. Consider, for example, Lord Krishna on the ba…
Philosophy & Scripture
The Weaver
The Tirukural, “holy couplets,” is a treasury of Hindu ethical insight and a literary masterpiece of the Tam…
Philosophy & Scripture
Not for Women Only
By POORNIMA NARAYANAN, DELHI On a mild winter evening i walked into the home of Madhu Kishwar–social activist, int…
Philosophy & Scripture
The Total Solar Eclipse
Every hotel in Guadeloupe has been booked for months by people eager to witness the coming total solar eclipse which [&h…
Publisher's Editorials
Getting Even Is Such An Odd Thing to Do
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Everyone has willpower. It is inherent to the makeup of the physical-astral-mental-em…
Personal Practice
Middle Class, Middle Path
“I am of the opinion that religious people have the courage to face the world positively,” said Shri Kishore…
Philosophy & Scripture
Can You Have Religion Without God?
BY THE EDITOR We first met the Dalai Lama in 1972 in Northern India. On that precious December afternoon Hinduism [&hell…
Personal Practice
Smitten by Sanskrit
With LINDA FORMAN in Sparks, Nevada Two hours before sunrise, when most houses lie slumbering, lights turn on in the [&h…
Hindu Festivals
Guadeloupe Lights Up
By SHARAD SAHAI Journey to Guadeloupe, the twin- island outpost of France in the paradisiacal French West Indies, and yo…
Philosophy & Scripture
Show Your Understanding
A fifth grade girl is very anxious about a math test she is taking the next day and approaches her […]
Health & Ayurveda
Reclaiming Sadhana: Nourisher of Health
BY BRAHMACHARINI MAYA TIWARI My early life was fostered by wholesome practices that preserved the good Earth–the p…
Philosophy & Scripture
Transformation into God’s Loving Image
BY SWAMI OMKARANANDA SARASWATI The little drop of water can support and bear millions of ships, and sustain billions of …
Health & Ayurveda
Wear Your Body Like a Sandal
BY THE EDITOR Human malady is no trifling matter. suffering and death prowl daily in the village of mortality, and [&hel…
Personal Practice
The Feat of Fire-Walking
Several South Indian politicians recently found themselves in hot water with their superstition-free, atheistic politica…
Personal Practice
Relinquish Duality’s Bane
BY (JADE) JYOTI CHANDRANANDA, USA True spiritual seekers couldn’t ask for better astrological alignments in 1998. …
Teaching & Parenting
The Art of Rapport
Talking to and guiding children is one of the beauties and responsibilities of parenting. It’s also the most chall…
Personal Practice
Guarding Lives, Dharma
By GOWRI SHANKER, CHENNAI Thirty kilometers South of Chennnai, Narayanan, a 28-year-old lifeguard at the five-star Fishe…
Philosophy & Scripture
Destroy Egocentric Desire and Anger
BY JAGADGURU SHANKARACHARYA SRI BHARATI TIRTHA Adi Shankaracharya says, “again birth, again death and again lying …
Philosophy & Scripture
Dharma in Daily Life: Yagna, Daan, Tapas
By Goswami Indira Betiji Hindus are not only Indians. anyone who be-lieves in the culture of the rishis and the [&hellip…
Philosophy & Scripture
The Path of Grace
DURING THE 12TH TO 16TH CENTURIES’ “BHAKTI RENAISSANCE,” five great schools of Vaishnavism arose, foun…
Publisher's Editorials
Forgiving Others Is Good for Your Health
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Most people today are working harder to correct the faults of others than they are th…
Personal Practice
Raising Consciousness Instead of Children
By the Editor When it comes to making choices for life, most cultures offer a profusion of one: marriage. Throughout [&h…
Philosophy & Scripture
Nonviolent Child Discipline
Fitzhugh Dodson was a high school teacher turned child psychologist whose personal quest in life was to find nonviolent …
Philosophy & Scripture
Vietnamese Hybrid Faith
By Dao Thu Hien, Associated Press In the world of conformist communist Vietnam, the once banned Caodai religious sect is…
Philosophy & Scripture
Is the March over?
By MARIO CABRAL E SA, GOA In 1567 the Captain of Rachol Fort in South Goa bragged to his Portuguese […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Twenty Vedic Laws
How often do you see a professional team of people misbehave on the job? You’re on a flight from San […]
Publisher's Editorials
Keeping Secrets, the First Step in Leaving Home
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI How to strengthen family ties is a very important question these days. It is said tha…
Opinion
Let Us Call Ourselves “Hindu Americans”
BY YASH PAL LAKRA According to the latest census estimates, there are about one million people of Indian origin living […
Personal Practice
Yeltsin Axes Restrictive Act
“On Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Association” was the Russian parliament’s legislative respo…
Philosophy & Scripture
Searching for Our Roots
When I was 12 years old, American kids would gang up at the bus stop, yelling, ‘Gandhi dot! Gandhi dot!’ [&h…
Philosophy & Scripture
Perfection Is in Your Luminous Essence
BY SWAMI SASTRANANDA Man (woman included) seeks and strives to be or have the best, the perfect, consciously or unconsci…
Personal Practice
Inauspicious or Not?
BY THE EDITOR Culturally clueless as you catch a flight to Calcutta for your first visit to India? Don’t despair. …
Philosophy & Scripture
A Saint’s Self-Willed Death
By CHQODIE SHIVARAM, BANGALORE Dear friends,” began Swami Nirmalananda’s short missive of December 23, 1996,…
Personal Practice
Italy’s Hindu Controversy
We have to overcome a misunderstanding asserted by Italian scholars that one has to be born in India to be […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Dissolving Boundaries
By JULIE RAJAN, PHILADELPHIA It is not an easy task for a Hindu writer born in India to break into […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Reaching for The Golden Ring
BY SWAMI SHUDDHANANDA BRAMACHARI Blessed are they who dwell on the deepest purposes of human life, especially in a world…
Temples & Pilgrimage
Home Sanctuary
What is the center of your home? The kitchen, the workshop, the living room or den? The ancients designated a […]
Publisher's Editorials
Returning Again and Again Until You Get it Right
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami The twin beliefs of karma and reincarnation are among Hinduism’s many jewels of…
Personal Practice
Bribery: the Poor Man’s Extortion
By the Editor Bribery is not india’s private province, though she has taken its subtle arts to profound, almost ph…
Personal Practice
Bribery in India
Excerpted from The Week, May 25, 1997, “Grease To Go Around” by VIJAYA PUSHKARNA, with contributions from RA…
Temples & Pilgrimage
Murugan’s New Home
With reports from Eddin Khoo and K Anuradha of The Star, from the Tamil language Malaysia Nanban and Ramesh Sivanathan, …
Personal Practice
Suicide and Free Will
As the suicide of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate group in San Diego in March an event predetermined by […]
Temples & Pilgrimage
Puja: With Honor, Offer Everything
BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR Honoring is a sign of divine love. That honoring is called puja. The ceremony of […]
Teaching & Parenting
Precious Precepts
Be they in India or transported to other cultures of the world, today’s Hindu youth are routinely tempted by Weste…
Publisher's Editorials
Meditation: the Key Is Preparation
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI Meditation is a long journey, a pilgrimage into the mind itself. Generally, we become…
Personal Practice
This Suicide Got No One to Heaven
BY SWAMI BRAHMAVIDYANANDA SARASWATI For the media to associate the lunacy of Heaven’s Gate suicides with Eastern b…
Philosophy & Scripture
That Old-Time Religion
By JESSICA SAUNDERS, Associated Press Judge Roy Moore displays a plaque of the Christian Ten Commandments in his courtro…
Philosophy & Scripture
The Spaceship Suicide
On March 23, 1997, the first 15 members of Heaven’s Gate, a self-described “cult of cults,” mixed phen…
Teaching & Parenting
To Beat or Not to Beat?
He calls it the conspiracy of silence: the universal and chronic use of corporal punishment in America. Prof. Murray A. …
Philosophy & Scripture
Eternal Partnership for a Healthy Society
By MA YOGA SHAKTI Originally, a long, long time ago, the ancestors of the Hindus settled in the lush and […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Silence is Golden . . .
Many think of silence simplistically, as just the absence of noise, or not speaking words. But silence, like life itself…
Publisher's Editorials
Two Powers: Gratitude and Appreciation
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI Much of life today is based on depreciation and denigration of public leaders, groups…
Philosophy & Scripture
Love Letter From God
BY LAVINA MELWANI, NEW YORK The year was 1925 and Pandurang Shastri Athavale was all of five years old. Wrapping [&helli…
Philosophy & Scripture
Mom, Please Come Home
Motherhood may be the most controversial career you can have these days,” opens this manual for stay-at-home moms.…
Health & Ayurveda
Vegetarianism: Roots of Righteousness
BY SWAMI PRAGYANAND Sanatana Dharma, today known as Hindu Dharma, the eternal religion, is an integration of nature and …
Publisher's Editorials
Good Money, Bad Money
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI My satguru, the venerable Sage Yogaswami, discriminated between good money and bad mo…
Philosophy & Scripture
To Be Elderly in India
By M.P. MOHANTY, NEW DELHI For untold centuries in india, it had been routinely regarded as immoral to neglect the [&hel…
Personal Practice
Devotional Artist By Fate
Lawrence Paul is a third-generation Pakistani Hindu whose family originally hailed from Gujarat, but elected to stay in …
Philosophy & Scripture
Math-a-Magician
By LAVINA MELWANI, NEW YORK You could have heard a pin drop. After all, the event was one of awe-inspiring […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Russia’s Taste for Tantra
STANISLAV A. GOROKHOV, Moscow Russia’s latest unrevealed revolution has nothing to do with rulers, parties or econ…
Philosophy & Scripture
Your True Companion: The Self Within
BY SWAMI CHIDVILASANANDA With great respect, with great love, I weLcome you with all my heart. In the sacred text [&hell…
Philosophy & Scripture
Lanka’s Yogaswami
He strode powerfully along the roads and fields of his island each day, and those who saw him coming would […]
Publisher's Editorials
Time In and Time Out: Two Sides of Discipline
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami The late, most revered Sri La Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchipuram, near Chennai, once sa…
Philosophy & Scripture
Yoga in Daily Life: Perfect Way to God
By Paramahamsa Swami Maheshwarananda Divine consciousness that is eternal, omniscient and omnipresent and resides in eac…
Environment
Tulsi and Rudraksha
Plants provide our food, clothes, medicine, building materials and the oxygen we breath, yet we seldom honor their impor…
Publisher's Editorials
Meditation Can Be More Than You Bargained for
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Desperate states of mind are disturbing many people these days. They are caught in em…
Philosophy & Scripture
Mountainous Sage
By ANANDHI RAMACHANDRAN, CHENNAI Once as a child I asked my father “Are there rishis like Agastya, Vishwamitra and…
Philosophy & Scripture
Ramana as a Family Affair
BY ANANDHI RAMACHANDRAN, CHENNAI From what I had heard about Sarada Natarajan, I had expected to see an elderly lady [&h…
Philosophy & Scripture
Satyameva Jayate – Truth Prevails
By Swami Bua Maharaj What is Hinduism and who is a Hindu? Hinduism is not a hodgepodge of different beliefs […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Duty’s Tasks – Diurnal Diary
By V KALYANAM, Chennai Gandhi’s day began at 3:30am sharp. When I was with him, in 1947, the 78-year-old got [&hel…
Philosophy & Scripture
Sacred Symbols
We rarely think about it, but symbols are everywhere around us–potent, poignant images, visual markers for somethi…
Philosophy & Scripture
Personal Peace Leads to Universal Peace
By Karunamayi Sri Vijayeswari Devi My wish is universal peace, to be achieved through the cultivation of individual peac…
Philosophy & Scripture
Death and Dying
The Transition Called Death: Each of us must ultimately confront our mortality. For Hindus, this is not a fearsome prosp…
Philosophy & Scripture
Great Departure
By the Editor General George Patton of World War II fame, no stranger to personal reincarnational remembrances (he claim…
Opinion
It’s Easier to be Hindu in Ireland than India
BY JAY KESHAVAPPA SHANKAR It is easier for me to bring up my children to be Hindus in the West […]
Philosophy & Scripture
Joint Family at Risk
By CHOODIE SHIVARAM, BANGALORE If current trends continue, the turn of the 21st century may witness the extinction of on…
Philosophy & Scripture
Books Bouy Up Hindu Women
By V. G. JULIE RAJAN, PHILADELPHIA Of a sudden, a burgeoning interest in the status of Hindu women has produced [&hellip…
Personal Practice
Dexterity to the Max
By LAVINA MELWANI, NEW YORK If Ganesha is everywhere–even in a grain of rice–He is surely in the tip of [&he…
Philosophy & Scripture
USA’s “Peace Pilgrim”
Renunciation in India is arduous enough, even though there it has been the most esteemed spiritual path since before rec…
Health & Ayurveda
72 – Hour Marthon Dance
BY JENNIFER M. FLAKER What drives a marathoner to go the extra mile? When Vidya Chandra Sekhar set a new […]
Personal Practice
Earthly Petitions
The sun has not yet risen. A devoted Indian wife and mother carefully cleans her doorstep. With intense concentration, s…
Health & Ayurveda
Mitigating Menopause
Vegetarian diet, proper supplements and appropriate exercise can ease the transition By Devananda Tandavan One of the mo…
Philosophy & Scripture
You Are Your Beliefs
Clashing convictions can portend problems In 1993 hinduism today received a most unusual letter from a Christian: “I fee…
Philosophy & Scripture
To Build a New India
Athavale’s amazing grassroots movement stresses God with and within man By Rajiv Malik, New Delhi I have not come here […
Health & Ayurveda
The Yoga of Endurance
Sri Chinmoy beats 65 Age is in the mind and not in the heart. With determination we can con-quer the […]