Spirituality/Culture

WASHINGTON: The first ever Diwali festival was celebrated at the US Congress today amidst chanting of Vedic mantras by a Hindu priest .Over two dozen influential lawmakers along with eminent Indian-Americans gathered at the Capitol Hill to lit the traditional ‘diyas’. The event — the first of its kind event at the Capitol Hill — [...]

Western society today believes only in “exploitation,” “expansion,” “efficiency,” “competitiveness”—and seeks to transform its members into unthinking cogs in a huge Machine. We will certainly find some remarkable individuals here and there, but the mass is left to live from day to day, with, now and then, the luxury of a fit of depression, when [...]

“Golu” in Tamil, also known as Kolu, is a unique display of various dolls and figurines in odd numbered steps (“padis”). It is celebrated in this manner in the four southern states of India. These steps are covered with a white cloth and the dolls are arranged on it. The dolls are mostly of the [...]

It was my great pleasure to be invited to the September 29th, 2013 Hindu Unity Day organized by the tireless and dedicated Narain Kataria and Arish Sahani of the Indian American Intellectuals Forum.  The event hosted many bright lights of the international Hindu community, including Dr. Subramanian Swamy and Baba Ramdev. The entire event was [...]

Religious fundamentalists are on the rise and that is bad for our societies. Most people will agree on this. Yet few examine who religious fundamentalists are. Obviously, such persons would want to stick to the fundamentals of their religion. They want to live a life that is advocated in their holy books and would please [...]

Temple Tanks are an essential part of every large Hindu temple. In fact, every village/town/city definitely has a temple that has a sizable temple tank. But why does every temple need to have one? Conventional beliefs hold that the water of a temple tank is holy and has cleansing properties. The water acts as a [...]

In this life, I was born American, of mixed European and Native American ancestry, culturally Christian by default – or at least as Christian as could be expected with my father scarcely believing in God and my mother being turned off from religion by having if forced on her in her youth by my well-meaning, [...]

Secret Knowledge: Traditional Levels of Vedic Interpretation   How do we approach cryptic mantras from ancient cultures, which are said to require special initiations in order to understand them? Can we assume that their evident meaning according to our present mindset of several thousand years later should be accurate? So far, that has been the [...]

I am an American like many other Americans, born into a family of mixed European and Native American ancestry. My interest in my own origins started early. I knew that my European ancestors were pagans who were converted to Abrahamic faiths, and that my Native ancestors were pagans mostly obliterated by those Europeans. I knew [...]

This stotra is in Sanskrit and it is creation of Vibhishana- Ravana’s brother. Initially this stotra starts with praise of shri Hanuman admiring his virtues and describing his tremendous power. Then very wisely, God Hanuman is requested by the devotee to remove all the diseases, bad health and all sorts of troubles from the life. Further God [...]