(CHAKRA) hariH Om. Before the variegated world of names and forms, there was only consciousness in its unmanifest state. This was the ‘being’- brahman. mAyA shakti is the potential of Brahman to manifest as the universe. Just as you cannot separate heat from the fire, wet-ness from the water, or sunlight from the sun, similarly, you […]
Removing a Layer of Ignorance: tattvabOdhA – Self Knowledge
By Malathy Krishnan (CHAKRA) Never being a religious person, though born into a house that revered gods; and married into a family that was orthodox, traditional and staunch believers of Vaishnavism… For many years, my life went on, with just a prayer or two before an exam and / or before an important occasion – […]
The Message of Bhagavad Gita
By Prashant Parikh, a student of traditional Vedanta from Arsha Vidya Gurukulam Foreword: In late 2009, just days before I left for USA after vacationing in India, I was given a commentary on the Gita written by Pujya Swami Dayananda ji (Arsha Vidya Gurukulam), by an elderly gent who felt it might be of use to […]
What is our “Religion” ? What is “Dharma” ?
By Karthik Vaidhinathan (CHAKRA) I would like to discuss briefly my ideas on the English terms like religion, faith and culture and Indic terms like dharma, sanatana dharma, vaidika dharma etc. and also touch upon what we should call ourselves. Different cultures have had different experiences which have conditioned them in different ways, and thus the categories […]
Common Misunderstandings in Advaita Vedanta
By Prashant Parikh, a student of traditional Vedanta from Arsha Vidya Gurukulam Vedanta is a very deep and delicate subject. Understanding it requires utmost dedication and preparedness. There are some errors I come across routinely in my discussions with people, so here are a few of them I addressed for our readers: 1) The Self can’t […]
Happy Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti – April 2012
All the vedAnta we know and love, we owe to this philosopher sage Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti is the birth anniversary of Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya, which falls on the panchami day (5th day) of the bright half of the Vaisakha month, according to South Indian Hindu Calendar. While in the north India, Adi Sankaracharya Jayanthi […]