If you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others.
Sri Sarada Devi (1853-1920), renowned mystic, wife of Sri Ramakrishna
Hinduism is often said to be a religion of millions of Gods, and it is indeed a religion of diversity. But it is essential to understand that underlying all is the belief in the unity in one great God: the Absolute, often known as Brahman. Stephen Huyler, art historian, cultural anthropologist, curator
We catch a glimpse of the great river of science which never ceases to flow in India. For India has carried and scattered the data of intellectual progress for the whole world, ever since the pre-Buddhist period when she produced the Sankhya philosophy and the atomic theory; the fifth century, when her mathematics and astronomy find their blossom in Arya Bhatta; the seventh when Brahmagupta uses his highly developed Algebra and makes astronomical observations; the twelfth, brilliant with the glory of Bhaskaracharya, and his famous daughter, down to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries themselves with Ram Chandra the mathematician and Jagdish Chandra Bose the physicist. Kakuzo Okakura (1862-1913), Japanese philosopher
The beautiful tree of education was cut down by you British. Therefore today India is far more illiterate than it was 100 years ago. Mahatma Gandhi, speaking at a 1931 roundtable conference
The philosophy of life for the individual soul is to march from good to better by conscious effort. Rajagopalachari (1878-1972), former Chief Minister of Madras Presidency
When the perfectly designed image [of Divinity] is systematically installed, He occupies the concerned image. By His gracious presence in that image, He gives concrete and visible expressions to all of His transcendental and imperceptible qualities. Pancharatra Text, Satvata Samhita 6.22
What in your life is calling you, when all the noise is silenced, the meetings adjourned, the lists laid aside, and the wild iris blooms by itself in the dark forest, what still pulls on your soul? Rumi
What should the yogi have to fear? Trees, plants, and all that is inside and outside, is He Himself. Guru Nanak (1487–1539), founder of Sikhism
We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made. Albert Einstein
Hinduism believes in the omnipresence of the Supreme God in every individual. There is no “f all.” Joseph Campbell (1904-1987), American writer, professor and expert in comparative religion
My guru explained that fire can be seen by the beings in the inner worlds. He also stated that fire and prayer simultaneously bring forth the inner world. Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, publisher of Hinduism Today
It’s our relationship with God, the Gods and the Goddesses that establishes our relationship with men, women and children. Culture comes from being sensitive to other people’s feelings as we are sensitive within the temple to the feelings of the Gods and the vibration emanating from the inner sanctum. Without religion in one’s life and the practice of that religion in the home shrine, in the temple, and pilgrimage once a year to a far-off place, culture quickly fails and the competitive culture comes into play. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of HINDUISM TODAY
DID YOU KNOW?
Who Knew How Old Our Universe Is?
BACK IN THE 17TH CENTURY, EUROPEAN theologians (and even scientist Sir Isaac Newton) believed the date of creation to be 4,000 bce. By the 18th century, this had been increased to a few million. The modern number—13.8 billion years—was only pinned down in 1965 with the discovery of microwave cosmic background radiation.
However they did it, Hindu rishis had in ancient days already dated the universe in billions and even trillions of years, a fact recognized by astrophysicist Carl Sagan in his 1980 hit TV series Cosmos. Standing barefoot in front of the Thanjavor Siva Temple in Tamil Nadu, he said, “As far as I know, India is the only ancient religious tradition on the Earth which talks about the right time scale. In the West, people have the sense that what is natural is for the universe to be a few thousand years old, and that it is billions of years is mind-reeling, and no one can understand it. The Hindu concept is very clear. Here is a great world culture which has always talked about billions of years.”
Hindus did indeed talk about billions and even greater time spans, all in the context of a cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution over the lifetime of the God Brahma. He is said to live a hundred years, one day of which is said to be 8.6 billion years—a cumulative lifespan of 314 trillion years!
BASICS
What Is the Process of Reincarnation?
REINCARNATION, PUNARJANMA, IS the natural process of birth, death and rebirth. At death we drop off the physical body and continue evolving in the inner worlds in our subtle bodies, until we again enter into birth. Through the ages, reincarnation has been the great consoling element within Hinduism, eliminating the fear of death, explaining why one person is born a genius and another an idiot. We are not the body in which we live but the immortal soul which inhabits many bodies in its evolutionary journey through samsara. After death, we continue to exist in unseen worlds, enjoying or suffering the harvest of earthly deeds until it comes time for yet another physical birth. Because certain karmas can be resolved only in the physical world, we must enter another physical body to continue our evolution. After soaring into the causal plane, we enter a new womb. Subsequently the old manomaya kosa is slowly sloughed off and a new one created.
The actions set in motion in previous lives form the tendencies and conditions of the next. Reincarnation ceases when karma is resolved, God is realized and moksha attained.
The Vedas say, “After death, the soul goes to the next world bearing in mind the subtle impressions of its deeds, and after reaping their harvest returns again to this world of action. Thus, he who has desires continues subject to rebirth.”
From Satguru Sivaya Subramuniya’s Dancing with Siva, Sloka 33.
Vanakkam and Namaste!
Himalayan Academy—publishers of HINDUISM TODAY and Hindu Press International—have announced the two-week 2019 Sri Lanka Innersearch Travel/Study Program. Led by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, Guru Mahasannidhanam of Kauai Aadheenam in Hawaii, fifty participants will begin their journey in Colombo on March 14th 2019, and complete it on the 29th. This will be the 26th Innersearch program since the first was held in 1967 by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami.
There will be days of classes and visits to the temples and holy places associated with the Gurus of our Parampara, including the great Nallur Murugan Temple of Jaffna, the Keerimalai Sivan Temple, the ashram of Satguru Yogaswami and more.
Along the way we will enjoy the island nation’s stunning beauty. During the last four days, the group will settle into a seaside resort on the Eastern coast with emphasis on discovering the island’s culture and sharing classes on spiritual practice and Saiva Siddhanta philosophy with Satguru and the swamis traveling with him. Join us!
for more information go to:
bit.ly/SriLankaInnersearch
HIMALAYAN ACADEMY
Enrollment Fees
Adult: US$3,900
Youth (8-17): $2,900
Child (2-7 years): $2,100