India! Her Glorious Spiritual Heritage!!

Rama Krishna Hari! Panduranga Hari! Sant Eknath was among the great rishis of Maharashtra who brought about a great spiritual renaissance during the difficult period of Islamic rule. He was a prominent Marathi Sant, scholar and religious poet of the Varkari Sampradaya. The life of Eknath acted like a bridge between his predecessors Jnaneshwar and Naamdev and his successors Tukaram and Ramdas. His teachings of philosophy and practice are a synthesis of the quest for the eternal and transcendent while living within the imminent. This great saint was born sometime around 1530 AD in Paithan, Maharashtra in a Brahmin family which had brought forth great teachers in the past. Eknath’s father, Suryanarayan, and mother, Rukmini died shortly after his birth, hence Eknath was brought up by his grandparents, Chakrapani and Saraswatibai. Throughout his childhood Eknath devoted his time significantly to devotional practices. When about twelve years old, Eknath heard about a man n...

Om Namo Bhagawate Sri Ramakrishnaya Mother India was undergoing an extremely depressing phase during the middle of the 19th century. She was severely strained under more than 1,000 years of foreign invasions. Every possible attempt was made by the Mughal, British and many other foreign rulers to somehow destroy the great religion of the ancient land. Hinduism was crumbling and had got reduced to a mass of superstitions. The great religion of the Rishis was in real danger of extinction, as had happened with other ancient cultures all over the world. The few reformers who tried to set things right were made to believe that Hinduism itself was to be blamed for all the ills plaguing the society. They started opposing various Hindu practices, particularly the concept of various Gods, and of praying to God with form. They were especially against idol worship. In this way they were inadvertently playing into the hands of the marauding conquerors. At this critical junction in the hi...

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh On a visit to Sri Harmandir Sahib (also known as Golden Temple, Amritsar), the holiest place of the Sikhs, one comes across a most unique sight. A shrine on the north-east corner of the Parkrama, adjacent to the holy Sarovar, dedicated to a warrior who holds his severed head on one hand while fighting with the other! This is the unbelievable but true story of Baba Deep Singh, one of the most honored martyrs in Sikh history. Deep Singh was born in 1682 CE in Amritsar district. He went to Anandpur Sahib on the day of Vaisakhi in 1699, where he was baptised into Khalsa Panth by Guru Gobind Singh (the 10th Guru of the Sikhs), through the Amrit Sanchar (ceremonial initiation into Khalsa). As a youth, he spent considerable time in close companionship of Guruji, learning weaponry, riding and other martial skills. He also learnt reading and writing Gurmukhi and the interpretation of the Gurus' words, and started helping in making co...

Sri Gurubhyo Namah Out of several scores of men, some with sufficient stock of good Karma once in a while get a call from the Beyond. They then look up to the heavens for answers to the eternal questions - What is the mystery behind life & death? Who is the One with such a gigantic intellect for having designed such an enormously complex creation? What is my relationship with the Lord of all?.... Among several scores of such men, very few with huge stock of good Karma get to start "The Quest". They set out in search of a Guru - the human embodiment of all that is sacred, holy, all-knowing and all-loving. In other words, the Guru is considered God in human form. Once a man has recognized his Guru, he surrenders whole-heartedly to the Guru, serves him lovingly,  learns the deep mysteries from him, and ultimately realizes the Supreme Truth himself. Among the many precious jewels on the crown of Bharat Mata, the most brilliant is this holy Guru-Shishya tradition, whi...

Om Arunachaleshwaraya Namah Lord Shiva, the infinite ocean of Sat-Chit-Ananda, out of great compassion for His devotees, took up the form of Arunachala! Words fail to describe the glories of the holiest of all mountains! While Kailash is the home of Lord Shiva, Arunachala is He Himself! Arunachala literally translates as Red Mountain, and He derives this name from His fiery origin as an infinite column of fire - the form Lord Shiva took in the beginning of creation. He later cooled down in the present form. Hence Arunachala is also known as Agni Lingam. To commemorate this celestial event, every year a grand festival known as Karthigai Deepam is celebrated with great pomp and gaiety here. A huge lamp is lit atop Arunachala. It is kept alight for 9 full days by thousands of devotees carrying ghee on their heads and making the steep and tough journey to the top. This holy mountain is located in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu. The Tamil name for Arunachala is Annamalaiy...

Shri Gurubhyo Namah According to the Vedas, the infinite supreme Consciousness, also known as Paramatman, Himself manifested as this enormously complex and vast creation along with the huge variety of Jeevas. He shines forth from within the hearts of all Jeevas as the inner Consciousness. Jeevas, unaware of their real nature as one with the Paramatman, and identifying with the body-mind complex, revolve in samsara in the endless birth-death cycle. Out of great compassion for them, the Supreme Being brought forth the Vedas as simply as an exhalation of breath.  These were received in the form of Mantras by various Rishis, and are known as Vedas. The beauty of the Vedas is that no one claimed authorship of them. The Vedas are hence known as Apaurusheya (not born out of any person's thoughts or intelligence). This is the primary distinguishing feature between the holy book of Santana Dharma and the rest of the religions.  The Vedas were passed on from Gurus to...