India! Her Glorious Spiritual Heritage!!

Bhava Shankara Deshika me Sharanam! Around the beginning of the middle ages (1,500 years back), India was witnessing a near collapse of the glorious and ancient Vedic civilisation. The utility of the Vedas was reduced to just performance of a wide range of rituals with the narrow objective of fulfillment of desires - in other words only the Karma Kanda portion was being practiced. The magnificent Jnana Kanda portion (the Upanishads ) - the cream and actual essence of the Vedas which deals with solutions for the ultimate mysteries, was completely overlooked and almost forgotten.  Buddhism and Jainism took birth as a reaction against the excess emphasis on rituals. However in their opposition to Karma Kanda, they made the great mistake of outright rejection of the Vedas. In this way, they were devoid of the most beautiful message of the Upanishads - Oneness of Consciousness - the source of Infinite Bliss and Wisdom. One of the fundamental principles of Buddhism is that there ...

Om Sri Guru Basavalingaya Namah Akka Mahadevi was a prominent saint of the Lingayat/Veerashaiva faith during the 12th century. She composed around 430 Vachanas (a form of spontaneous mystical poems). The term Akka ("elder Sister") is an honorific given to her by great Lingayat saints such as Basavanna, Siddharama and Allamaprabhu as an indication of her contribution to the spiritual discussions held at the "Anubhava Mantapa". She is seen as an inspirational woman for Kannada literature and the history of Karnataka. She considered Lord Shiva ('Chenna Mallikarjuna') as her husband, ('madhura bhava' form of devotion). Born in the 1130 in the small hamlet of Uduthadi, Karnataka, Mahadevi was initiated into the worship of the Shivalinga at the age of ten and considered herself betrothed to Lord Shiva. She spent her adolescence in His worship and composed Vachanas that spilled over with fervent longings for her Beloved, whom she called, “Chenn...

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...