Tweet   (CHAKRA) The enticing advertisements by the Department of Tourism by the administration of the Indian state of Kerala entice visitors with seductive images of natural beauty in the tropics, capping it all with the slogan “God’s Own Country”. However it is becoming increasingly apparent that this begs the question, exactly whose ‘god’ does [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) It has been often alleged that rituals are nothing but superstitions practiced by illiterates and blind followers of faith. It is even claimed that no rational person will indulge himself in meaningless practices. Most of the rituals as such have died down. Most people don’t even perform the “Nitya Karmas” suggested in the [...]

Tweet By Sarvesh K Tiwari (CHAKRA) On Pata~njali And His Works || namaH bhagavate pata~njalaye || “…we know little about the yoga author Patanjali. We know of Patanjali the grammarian and have good reason to date him to the 2nd century BC. Apart from the name, we have no solid reason for assuming that he [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) The Chakra team got a chance to speak with the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) and discussed some of their campaigns, challenges and what they plan to achieve. Below is an interview with Sheetal Shah from HAF. 1. You are heavily involved in religious and spiritual activities within the USA. Please explain what your goal [...]

Tweet Until his death in 2003, Bhishma Sahni was one of India’s most renowned Hindi language authors and playwrites. His 1974 controversial and popular novel ‘Tamas’ (Darkness) won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1975 and in 1987 was made into a television series for the national channel Doordarshan. Sahni wrote about the exodus of Hindus [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) In the Gita, Lord Krishna explores karma yoga at great length. They say charity begins at home, what better way to be a karma yogi than with those closest to us? This is a treatise on love and relationships. The ideas discussed here are based on personal experiences filtered through an analytical process, as [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) Lord Vishnu, the Lord of the Universe and a part of “The Trinity” of the Hindu concept of the Highest Universal Energy that pervades the each matter that exists in this visible world. Meditation on who leads us to “Samadhi” which culminates into realisation of the Highest Primordial Energy Self. The ultimate name [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) In his 1993 BBC television series Akbar S Ahmed, former ambassador from Pakistan to Britain and presently Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University in Washington DC, stated that Jinnah had created Pakistan so that India’s Muslims could be “safe from Hindu reaction”. But he has remained largely silent on [...]

Tweet (CHAKRA) Almost a thousand years of cultural onslaught have left Hindus apologetic about their beliefs. They are keen to mould them into the framework dominated by a monotheistic mindset which holds sway even when it is mutated into terms such as rational, scientific and even atheist. Such is the power of monotheism that it [...]

Tweet By Dr Koenraad Elst The Arya Samaj and Monotheism . Is there a Vedic monotheism? The occasion for this paper on monotheism and its presence or absence in Hinduism is an upsurge in the Arya Samaj’s long-standing campaign to convince Hindus of the superiority and Vedic basis of monotheism. Founded in 1875, the Ârya Samâj, in effect [...]