Hum Sab Ek Hain - We are all one!

你好,  السلام عليكم  ,नमस्ते  , Здраво ,adaab , おはよう　ございます, Hello,

Hum Sab Ek Hain - We are all one. There are many ways to say hello, the best way is with a smile.

In this world we identify ourselves with a local culture, national culture, religion, grade level, city, state, country etc.. We tag ourselves with so many identifications and call our selves different than the next person. For example at school, I am a student, he is a professor or she is a dean/principle therefore we are three different people.

In life we should look beyond the tags we assign ourselves as these are merely exterior things that mean nothing to us inside. When you close your eyes and pray to God, the Lord does not look at you different because you are a student and the other person is a teacher or principle.

In this world we need to realize that we are all truly one, we all seek the same basic human needs, food, water, shelter and clothing etc.. We all seek the same peace and happiness and share a common goal of wanting to be at ease.

If you look at a principle of a school, he will have many titles depending on the type of class you are in, Senior Teacher, Principle, Director, Boss, and Academic Dean, - but his role and view upon others do not change in every class room. He still wants to help you reach a successful standard within your class room life and excel to pass on the knowledge to others. School = World, Principle = God, Class room = Religions.

Therefore, we are all one under the eyes of the Lord and should coexist in harmony and celebrate the beauty that comes from each "class-room".

In the universe there are 3 main elements in the universe, those same three elements are within every human being. Furthermore, within all matter (including humans) in universe there are atoms, subatomic particles, protons, neutrons and electrons etc.. There are many more examples to point this out,  the point is that we all share a common bond, with the universe, just as a brothers and sisters from the same mother share the same blood.

:)

Hindu Calendar - Jan 20th 2010 Wed - Birthday of Saraswati Mata. - Goddess of Knowledge

Namaste, Hari Om,

Why is this day important: Its the birth of the Goddess of knowledge, those studying should pay very close attention to this day as it will be fruitful.

What should I do: Fasting will be a great way to please Saraswati Mata. Listening to Saraswati bhajans, mantras and chanting the name of Mata will be great. Here is a great link on doing Saraswati Puja. I have inserted a video of the Chalisa, but its also here to read. Also as stated in the Ganesh Jayanti post, please try to perform these sacrifices within your means - dont feel discourged if you are missing any items, but most importantly perform puja with love.

Dear friends, today is another very special day - Today is the birth of Saraswati Mata, or known as the Goddess of knowledge.

Many people pray and adore Saraswati Mata when studying in school, learning instruments, learning the art of dance or for the blessings to have great speach.

Also if we wish to become much more peaceful in what we say, praying to Saraswati Mata will bring great peace as she is the Goddess of speach who can tame our thoughts and what we say. This is important in life as we should be kind to all.

Jai Shri Saraswati Mata Ki Jai!


Below additional information is from Ganesh.us:

"Goddess Saraswathi is the consort of Lord Brahma (Lord of Creation) and is the Goddess of wisdom and learning. She is considered as the personification of all knowledge - arts, sciences, crafts and all skills.


She is seen as a beautiful and elegant presence, pure white in colour, clad in a white sari, seated on a white lotus, representing purity and brilliance. She is depicted with four hands. In one hand she holds a book and in the other a rosary. With her other two hands, she is seen playing the veena. Her vahana is the swan and sometimes a peacock is shown accompanying her.


The swan is known for its exceptional characteristic of being capable of seperating out water from milk, indicating that we should possess discrimination to segregate the bad from the good.


Like Brahma, she is not worshipped much in temples. However, every year the Saraswathi Pooja (Navarathiri) is celebrated by all - schools, students, workers, craftsmen, businessmen offering their prayers for a successful and fruitful coming year." - source: Ganesh.us

Also additional infomration (more at the link) from iloveindia.com:

"Maa Saraswati - The Image


Goddess Saraswati is usually depicted as a beautiful woman with yellow skin dressed in a pure white saree. Saraswati is portrayed sitting on a white lotus with veena (a musical instrument) in her hands. The book in her hand signifies the eternal and universal knowledge as well her perfection of the scriptures. Lotus symbolizes the supreme reality and it suggests that the goddess herself is rooted in the supreme reality.

The color white represents purity and her rejection of everything that is base and materialistic. The Swan represents the discrimination between the evil and the good, the eternal and the transitory. The four arms of the goddess suggest the four aspects of human personality i.e. mind, intellect, vigilance, and ego. The pearl string represents the power of spirituality. The peacock standing near Maa Saraswati represents arrogance and pride over its beauty. The Goddess teaches that physical appearance could be deceptive, by not taking peacock as the vehicle. Goddess Saraswati suggests that one should be wise regarding the eternal truth." - Source: iloveindia.com



Great mantra for those studying and wish to pray to Saraswati Mata: Click Here
Also, Saraswati Mata Chalisa: Click Here
Saraswati Mata Aarti: Click Here

Article from Swaha International: "Lord Ganesh and the Mouse"

Hari Om Namaste,

Since today is Ganesh Jayanti (Jan 19th 2010), This is a great article found on Swaha International's site regarding symbolism of Lord Ganesh.

In Hinduism there are many things we see but do not know why they are there. We might see a picture with a small artifact or animal and not know the meaning behind it. Everything in a picture, moorti (religious idol) or sign has great meaning. These meanings hold symbolic references that we can simply relate to in our own lives.

I always come back to the old saying, "Everything happens for a reason", and with symbolism, everything is there for a reason.


Remember, Knowledge is Power.
Please read the below article that is beautifully explained thanks to Swaha International.

Article from Swaha International: "Lord Ganesh and the Mouse":

"When read­ing about Ganesh Baba, one of the terms we come across is ‘mooshak vaa­han’. He is that Lord whose vehi­cle is the mouse. But, how could that Lord who is Vigh­na­har­taa (Remover of Obsta­cles) and Gyaan­daataa (Giver of Knowl­edge) ride upon a mouse? Surely there must be some other crea­ture that will bet­ter reflect His great­ness? Those who sim­ply look at the phys­i­cal rep­re­sen­ta­tion of the Lord, and fail to search deeper into the hid­den sig­nif­i­cances of such a rep­re­sen­ta­tion will never fully under­stand the mes­sage of Ganesh ji. In a sense, they will for­ever remain searching.

The Greedy Mouse

A mouse or rat is per­haps one of the greed­i­est of all ani­mals. It has a small mouth, but with many sharp teeth. Its greed and cov­etous nature is such that it steals much more than it can pos­si­bly con­sume – hoard­ing what it can­not eat – and often times, for­get­ting all about the hoarded food. It is said that this mouse of Shree Ganesh rep­re­sents desire. Just like the mouse, with its relent­less acquis­i­tive­ness, so too in the mind of man, there are a mul­ti­tude of desires. Much more desires that can, or in fact should, real­is­ti­cally be ful­filled. Devo­tees engage in reg­u­lar wor­ship to the Divine Lord; and, the bless­ings that we derive from such wor­ship are what keep us grow­ing in spir­i­tu­al­ity. But, once we let our crav­ings over­come us, when we become slaves to our desires, then, we are doing our­selves a great disservice.

Baba’s Mouse

The mouse of Ganesh Baba, how­ever, is quite dif­fer­ent. The mouse is sit­ting in front a bowl of lad­doos, yet it does not touch it. Instead it either appears to be offer­ing it to the Lord, or seek­ing the per­mis­sion of the lord before con­sum­ing it. This sig­ni­fies that the desires in an enlight­ened man must be totally under con­trol. Ganesh ji blesses us with vivek, that power of dis­crim­i­na­tion, which allows us to make the right choices in life. The Lord dis­plays com­plete dom­i­nance over these desires that cause regres­sion in life. When we have the grace of Shree Ganesh Bhag­vaan, then we will be capa­ble of dis­tin­guish­ing between our wants and our needs. In this way we will not be moti­vated by emo­tional crav­ing, but rather by sound judge­ment. The only desires that we will enter­tain are the desire to do good and the desire to move closer towards God.

Greater Rewards

If we go a lit­tle deeper, we will under­stand that Ganesh Baba is the Lord of the mulad­haara chakra, while the lad­doo that rep­re­sents the reward that may be bestowed upon us, can be real­ized only at the sahasra chakra. Think of the action of a mouse, slowly gnaw­ing away until it bites through even the tough­est of fibres. The sym­bol­ism here is that the mouse with the Lord seated upon it will slowly gnaw through the tan­gled con­scious­ness of man until the Kun­dalini Shakti reaches the sahasra chakra, where the reward awaits the true devotee. " - Source: http://www.swahainternational.org/religious-articles/lord-ganesh-and-the-mouse/

Hari Om,
Jai Shri Ganesha,

Created a Facebook Fan Page - For Facebook Users

Namaste, Hari Om,

Created a facebook page for those who have facebook - I will be posting the same topics (in link format) back to the Blog.

Facebook Fan Page Link here
(then click the "Become a fan" button)
Feel free to share with anyone,

As always, any feedback or comments, please do share.

Jai Shri Ram,
Jai Ganesh Baba,

Hindu Calendar: Tues January 19th, 2010 - Ganesh Jayanti (Birth of Lord Ganesh)

Namaste, Hari Om,

Why is this day Important: Its the birth of one of the most familiar Gods in Hinduism, Lord Ganesh. Its very beneficial to walk a spiritual path, and with blessings from Lord Ganesh, the path can be free of obstacles.

What should I do: Please fast on this day if possible, sunrise to sunset and perform Ganesh puja - Fast for Lord Ganesh showing that our mind is on him. Below post from Hindu-Blog.com displays how to perform Ganesh puja, its simple but remeber, if the below items are missing try your best to get them. Also if this is difficult for you, you can light a dia next to a Lord Ganesh picture, offer shower by washing Lord Ganesh's feet, placing sweet scents such as special perfume, chandan, etc..Singing the praises of Lord Ganesh with bhajans, Ganesh Chalisa, Ganesh Mantra chanting and many more. Remeber, if you face any hard ships in doing this, love counts, you can offer a leaf with great love, and it will be enough for the Lord, Love is all he wants.


This day of Tues Jan 19th 2010 is a very special day in the Hindu Calendar - It is said that if you wish to take a step towards clearing obstacles on your path towards your goal (i.e. religious, educational, work or family etc..) then you should perform vrat (fasting) and puja for Lord Ganesh on This day. Lord Ganesh ka Janam Din hain! Its his Birthday and these Jayanti days in the Hindu Calendar marks a very auspiscious day for us.
When you perform the below, begin with, Om Shrii Ganeshaya Namah, _______ Samarpayami, i.e. Om Shrii Ganeshaya Asanam Samarpayami (I am offering a seat for you Lord Ganesh)..
(Every time when you say ''samarpayami'' (I m offering), offer with love and devotion to the lord.)

Dhyaanam Samarpayami (Think or meditate on the Lord)


Aawaahanam Samarpayami (Offering invitation the Lord)

Aasanam Samarpayami (Offer a seat to the Lord)

Paadyam Samarpayami (Offer water to wash the feet)

Arghyam Samarpayami (Offer water to wash the hands)

Aachamaneeyam Samarpayami (Offer water to drink)

Snaanam Samarpayami (Give bath to the Lord)

Maha Abhishekam Samarpayami (Give main head bath to the Lord)

Pratishtaapayaami (Make him seated)

Vasthram Samarpayami (Offer clothes to the Lord)

Yajnopaveetham Samarpayami (Offer the Holy Thread)

Gandham Samarpayami (Offer sandalwood paste/powder)

Akshatham Samarpayami (Offer Akshatha/ Rice)

Pushpam Samarpayami (Offer Flowers to the Lord)

Ashthothtra Poojam Samarpayami (Offer the holy 108 names)

Dhoopam Aaghraapayaami (Offer Fragrance / Agarbatti)

Deepam Darshayaami (Offer light to the lord)

Neivedyam Samarpayami (Offer Food to the Lord)

Phalam Samarpayami (Offer Fruits to the Lord)

Taamboolam Samarpayami (Offer betel nut and leaves)

Dakshinam Samarpayami (Offer money to the Lord)

Maha Nirajanam Samarpayami (Offer aarti to the Lord)

Pradakshinam Samarpayami (Taking clockwise rounds of arti)

Namaskaram Samarpayami (Offer Prostrations)

Mantra Pushpam Samarpayami (Offer incantations and flowers)

Praarthanaam Samarpayami (Offer prayers, request your desires)

Kshamaapanam Samarpayami (Offer apologies & ask for forgiveness)
 
 
From Hindu-Blog:
"Ganesh Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chaturthi is one of the most colorful and widely celebrated festivals in India. Large number of people observe Ganesha Chaturthi poojas at home. Here is an explanation on how to perform Ganesha puja at home as mentioned in Hindu scriptures.

Ganesha puja on the Chaturthi day is usually performed at noon but nowadays people perform it when all the family members are present.

Requirements

A Clay image of Lord Ganesha.


Red flowers


Druva Grass blades


Modak (jaggery filled sweet)


Coconut


Red chandan (Sandalwood paste)


Incense and agarbathis

First clean the house and take a bath.

                    A Clay image of Lord Ganesha is installed in a raised platform.

 Pray to Lord Ganesh and you can recite mantras or bhajans dedicated to Lord Ganesha.

 Next step is to invoke Ganesha into the image. This is known as pran-prathishta. The Pran Prathista mantra in Sanskrit to be invoked is found in the Rig Veda and is part of Ganesh Suktha.

ganananh tva ganapatim havamahe kavim kavinam - upamashravastamam jyeshhtharajam brahmanan.h brahmanaspata A nah shrivnvannutibhih sida sadanam

(Rig Veda 2.23.1)

ni shhu sida ganapate ganeshhu tvamahurvipratamam kavinam

na rite tvat.h kriyate kinchanare mahamarkam maghavan.h chitramarcha (Rig Veda 10.112.9)

We invoke You, O Ganapati of the ganas (Lord Shiva attendants), Who are Brahmana-spati of the brahmas (prayers), the wisest among the wise, Who abound in treasure beyond all measure, the most brilliant one. Do listen to our prayers, come with Your blessings and assurances of protection into our home, and be seated. (Rig Veda 2.23.1)

Sit down among the worshippers, O Ganapati, the best sage among the sages. Without You nothing can be done here or far. Accept with honor, O wealthy One, our great and variegated hymns of praise. (Rig Veda 10.112.9)

Now Ganesha is installed in the idol and one can perform arati and light the lamps. Some people perform the shhodashopachara, which are 16 forms of paying tribute to Ganesha. (This ritual is usually performed by the priests, you can skip this.)

Offer 21 blades of Druva Grass.

Offer 21 modakas

Offer red flowers

Apply a tilak using red Sandalwood paste.

Break the coconut or just keep it along with the idol. You can also keep fried grains. (The food of the rat – the vehicle of Ganesha).

You can also recite the 108 salutations dedicated to Lord Ganesha or read the Ganesha Upanishad or just simply pray.

The number 21 signifies - the five organs of perception, five organs of action, five vital airs (pranas), five elements, and the mind.

While performing Ganesha Puja at home, you can always be flexible. The strict rituals are meant for Vedic priests. All you need be careful is to perform the pujas with a clean body and clean mind. What is more important is devotion not the ritual. " - source; hindu-blog.com

Also, see the post about Lord Ganesh and the history along with stories.

"I want to become much more religious" - Our Inner voice

Namaste, Hair Om,

"Try to climb a step every day, the next step will always look harder, but just look back at the many steps you have taken, as someone is always watching over you"

Many times we sit in a mandir or holy setting, listen to bhajans at home or attend a puja or satsang (sat=truth, sanga=company, company of the ultimate truth - religious people gathering to sing, pray or speak the name of God).

We feel this sense of peacefulness thats not felt at work, school or even at home sometimes. When we leave this "satsang" enviornment we feel different why? The energy (i.e. vibrations in the air, similar to sun rays we can not see that carry energy for plants and humans in the form of Vitamin D), comes from chanting of Gods name. I will disscuss more later on regarding chanting, but the grouping of voices and minds and God's followers collectively produce this energy that soothes our mind. Its said going to mandir is very important for this factor, collectively we can elevate each other by using our voice as one to praise God. Being in holy places can cleanse our minds and rest our tensions.

Then, as you leave this place of warmness and peacefulness you have a longing for it - You wish to go back to this feeling. This my friend is our inner voice, our true self speaking of what it needs. In life we feed our belly with great food, and eat every day with sweets and nice drinks -We need to feed our souls with gyan, or religious knowledge. The sweet glories of the lord and understand more about life and how to lead a life that upholds our duty. Through these glories or readings from the scripture we will slowly awaken and dwell on our lives, thus climbing the spiritual ladder, higher and higher.

Back to the original quote, its something we all want in life, deep down inside peacefulness is linked with helping others and doing good things in life.

Some steps to becoming more religious:
1. Continue to develop a want to become much more religious, keep craving this and it will come.
2. Challenge yourself to go beyond your normal duties, i.e. try to help as much people in a day as possible. Simply by holding the door, or giving a dollar to a less fortunate person will only help ourselvs and the world. Or make time to meditate on God and learn more, instead of watching TV, take some time to pray or reflect on God.
4. Think spiritual and try to live a spiritual life - Always think about approaching things that happen to us in a spiritual manner. i.e. handling problems, try not to let anger consume yourself, when a house is burning you do not try to stay inside and fight fire with fire, you leave until the fire passes. Just so, when you are confronted with heated arguments, walk away and come back later.
5. Respect all - we are all part of this world and share the same air and land. Our creator and ruler of all wants the best for us, we should not hurt each other. We are all brothers and sisters in this world, we all share the same need for peace and happiness. Do not look at differences or judge others for God is within us all, that divine spark.
6. Read more, develop an interest for the way of life - How to lead a spiritual life, how to grow on the right path. Knowledge is power, and knowing the challenges of life will empower us to make the right move.
7. Practice peacefulness and non-violence, always remain calm. This will make your thoughts clear and your speech wonderful to those around you. Watching what you eat also helps, it is true, you are what you eat - try to stay away from food that is bad for our body. I oppose eating meat as it slows our spiritual growth, if we are pure, we will rise faster. I do not believe in using animals to support ourselves for food, put yourself in place of that poor cow that gave milk all its life but wanted nothing in return. When it meets the first blow to the neck to be slaughtered, fighting for every breath as the next blow comes...How can we grow in the right direction if we consume such items that came from such an giving animal through distrought fear and pain?
8. Of course, remeber God's name every second of the day, this will make you feel good, and remebering God's name in the age we live in will bring blessings and help to develop that connection with the almighty. How to do this? Listening to songs, mantras, or just repeating his name. Om Hari Om...etc..
9. Performing Sacrifice - This does not mean selling everything and going to a forest to meditate. This can be simple as fasting, observing a religious holiday in the calendar or serving someone in need. When we do this in life, there are various levels of sacrifice - the more and greater the sacrifice the greater we will feel. If you donate a dollar, or 5min of your time to help someone you will feel good, but if you donate 10 dollars or 1 hour of your time, you will feel great. But, do it with love and it will bring great peacefulness.
10. Rise above the norm of life, do not look at life as what you see through your human eyes. Life goes beyond the physical matter, search within and grow. Always ask questions, do not fear retaliation - for an answered question can bring false beleif, and when we dont ask questions we develop this mechanical routine of doing things. i.e. "Why do we put chandan (white or red mark) on our forehead"? Simple questions but these have great answers, scientific reasons that can be proven. There is a vain thats on the forehead, its called the "third eye" or the eye we use when meditating - This vain connects to our whole body and heart, applying the chandan or red mark, purifies this area and cools the head thus allowing for ease in meditation (I will explain this in more detail later on)...

Open our eyes, question ourselves, are we doing enough - What am I doing to help myself become much more religious? How can I increase my devotion...? (hint: listed 10 ways)...Do not live two lives, as a bhakt (religious devotee) and as a wild/bad/party/regular secular person - Live that one life of a devotional religious person and all facets will click and come together for peace and happiness follow quickly to those who lead a path of good.

Jai Shri RadhaKrishna,
Jai Jai Sita Ram,

Lord Ganesha - "The Remover Of Obstacles"

Namaste, Hari Om,

Lord Ganesh has many names (108 main names, but there are 1008 beautiful names as well) - for those who are not familiar with Hinduism, they might have seen Lord Ganesha's appearnce on many western shows such as The Simpsons.

Lord Ganesh is praised for being the remover of obstacles and the giver of success. In Hinduism it is stated that we must pray to Lord Ganesh first when doing puja. Many times you will go to puja, satsang or other Hindu events, and at these events Lord Ganesh is always praised first. Why do we pray to Ganapati Baba first?

The story of how Lord Ganesh came to be, explains the reason for praising him first. You can read more here, - but the essence is that Lord Ganesh was following his mother's request until he was challenged by his father Lord Shiva. But his father and Lord Ganesh him self did not know of thier relationship (Father-son) until after Lord Ganesh lost his human head and Parvati (Lord Ganesha's mother) got angry for this. The story has more details and philisophical points are outlined - Parents words are to be honored with great devotion and a love of a mother knows no bounds, not even the all mightly Shiva could resist Parvati's anger of seeing her son in that state.

Also there are stories behind the story, for example, the Elephant that gave its head up for Lord Ganesh had a destiny to have his head given up - Everything in our scriptures happens for a reason, things are interconnected through the universe at God's grace. Its an interesting side story I can possibly dwell on later, but just like many things in Hinduism, its very deep and helps us understand the story. The Elephant who gave up its head (it was not merely taken, but given), got liberation from this world at the grace of God.

Also more interesting stories about lord Ganesh here.

We all should dwell on the form of Lord Ganesh and praise his glory for he is the remover of obstacles and giver of success. He is praised amongst many, Hindus and Non-Hindus, for his Grace knows no background, status or difference - Ganesh Baba is the all loving caring one that wishes success for us all.

How do I pray to Lord Ganesh you ask?
- When doing puja we should pray to Lord Ganesh First. This can be done by saying a special invocation to Lord Ganesh such as, "Aum Shri Ganeshaya Namah". Also saying an opening invocation mantra;
"OM Vakra Tunda Maha Kaya Suryakoti Samaprabha Nirvighnam Kurmedeva sarva Karyeshu Sarvadaa". Also heard here. And more mantras here.
- Reading, Listening and singing the Ganesh Chalisa, heard here.
- Also more details on doing Lord Ganesh Puja and what puja items are needed, click here. Found thanks to Hindu-Blog.
- Fasting on special auspicious days dedicated to Lord Ganesh will reap great benefits. Every month there are special days to pray to Ganapati Baba (everyday is best of course), i.e. "January 3, 2010 – Ganesh Sankashti Chaturthi"
- Also celebrating the main Ganesh Chaturthi, this year 2010 it will take place, Sept 11th Saturday. Fasting on this day and praising Ganesh baba by singing his bhajans, chanting mantras and making ladoo will open great doors for success and blessings. More info on this great time here.
- Also Ganesh Jayanti which is on January 19th, celebrates the creation of Ganapati Baba.
- And lastly, if the above might be difficult, chanting the powerful name of Lord Ganesh will bring great blessings as well, "Aum Ganapati Baba".

Remeber, anything we do, work for school or at work, or volunteering - when we do it with devotion and heart, the end result is much better. Therefore, giving and praying with love in our hearts will yeild great results within ourselves. More to come......

May Lord Ganesha's blessings and guidence be with us as we walk on this complex journey called life.
Jai Ganapati Baba (Victory to Lord Ganesh, thy glories are endless).

SitaRam,
Jai Shri Krishna,

Hindu Calendar: January 12th, 2010 - Pradosh Vrat (for Lord Shiva)

Namaste, Hari Om,

Wish to talk about a special day in the Hindu Calendar - Shiva Pradosh Vrat. Below describes in more detail about the auspicious day (Thanks to Hindu-blog.com).

As always, check the Hindu Calendar out for upcoming dates.

Why is this day important: For those who wish to pray and please Lord Shiva for blessings and spiritual strength. Links below provide more info but lord Shiva is the destroyer of darkness and can alleviate all our pains. Its said that Lord Shiva loves devotees that perform great tapasya (or sacrifice such as fasting and meditating on him for a long while).

What should I do: Abstain by fasting (ie no meat, salt/spicy food), listen to Shiva Bhajans like the Shiva Chalisa, and peform havan (offerings into the havan kund) with simple mantras such as Om Namaha Shivaya Swaha, or perform Japa (chanting with the religious beads). Also offering water (jul) on a lingum etc.. Do it to your best ability, if you can not fast without spicy food, then eat non cooked food, or eat fruits/nuts etc.. But keeping the lords name will be beneficial on this day.




Pradosh Vrat, or Pradosham, is an auspicious day dedicated to Lord Shiva. It falls on the 13th day of every lunar fortnight in traditional Hindu calendar. Below are the Pradosh dates in 2010. Shiva devotees fast from sunrise to sunset and important rituals and pujas are held during the twilight period.

http://www.hindu-blog.com/2009/11/pradosh-2010-shiva-pradosham-vrata-2010.html
http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/04/importance-of-pradosha-dedicated-to.html
http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/02/somvar-vrat-monday-fasting-dedicated-to.html

January 12, 2010 – Pradosh – Bhauma Pradosh - Tuesday
January 28, 2010 – Pradosha Puja – Thursday
February 11, 2010 – Pradhosha Vrata – Thursday
February 26, 2010 – Pradhosham – Friday
March 13, 2010 – Shani Pradosh – Saturday
March 27, 2010 – Shani Pradosh – Saturday
April 12, 2010 – Pradhosha Vratam – Sunday
April 26, 2010 – Soma Pradosh – Monday
May 11, 2010 – Bhauma Pradosham - Tuesday
May 25, 2010 – Bhauma Pradosha Pooja – Tuesday
June 10, 2010 – Pradosha Puja – Thursday
June 23, 2010 – Pradosham – Wednesday
July 9, 2010 – Pradhosham Vrata – Friday
July 23, 2010 – Pradosha Puja – Friday
August 7, 2010 – Shani Pradosh – Saturday
August 21, 2010 – Shani Pradosha – Saturday
September 6, 2010 – Som Pradosh Puja – Monday
September 20, 2010 – Soma Pradosham – Monday
October 5, 2010 – Bhauma Pradosha – Tuesday
October 20, 2010 – Pradosha Pooja – Wednesday
November 3, 2010 – Pradosh – Wednesday
November 19, 2010 – Pradosha Vratam – Friday
December 3, 2010 – Pradosha Puja – Friday
December 18, 2010 – Shani Pradosh – Saturday


Hari Om,
Jai Shri SitaRam,

Hindu Calendar: Why should we follow it? And the Importance?

Namaste, Hari Om,


I will be posting upcoming important days on the Hindu calendar and will try to explain why the dates posted are important. In Hinduism, there are auspicious days to do certain things, i.e. buy a house, perform marriage, plant, travel or complete a business deal. This is no where near superstition or some type of weird magic - to me its science! There are magnetic energy and other types of energy that emits from the universe (i.e. how does the moon spin or how does the sun rise, via this energy). Therefore the planets have an effect on certain things that takes place, and in our bodies we have that same enegery (as we are all one with the universe) - and when there is an imbalance (depending on your birth/timing) you can also be imbalanced. Its similar to the saying, be careful on days of fullmoon as there could be arguments or bad things - this means that for some people, the full moon has a negative effect on them thus having short temper etc..

The link belows describe in more detail about the Hindu calendar and some of the timings etc..
http://www.sanskrit.org/www/Astronomy/HinduCalendar.html



" The study and daily use of the Hindu Calendar helps the conscientious individual to understand and monitor the prevailing forces of each day. With this knowledge, he or she is able to flow with the river of life, "creatively alive and in tune with the universe." We are all well aware of the concepts of "good timing" and "bad timing" and how at certain times everything seems to be flowing along smoothly, while at other moments things "just don't come together." The calendar provides knowledge to understand such phenomena, so that one can take advantage of auspicious moments and avoid new undertakings when the creative forces are on the wane. "

- http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/panchangam/

In an effort to do better and enhance our path of a bhakt (devotee) to God, we should all try to remember and perform sacrifice (i.e. fasting or offering special prayers) to God on these days.

We lead very busy lives but taking the time to remeber and contimplate on God during auspicious days will provide greater blessings or punya.

Its written in many places in Hinduism that before we took birth we told God, "Give us the human form (which is the highest amongst all species as we are closer to God) and I will worship you". To really enhance our awareness in Hinduism, we should look at the Hindu calendar and observe the days coming to plan a fasting or puja at home and chanting the name of God.

In the end, the Hindu calendar is more than a set of dates, it is exact science, the energies of the world have been around for ages, and we all should strive to understand this to enhance our lives.

Last note, I have posted a link to the Hindu Calendar on the links section to the right, please check to keep your self informed, i.e. Jan 12th 2010 is a Lord Shiva day, I will be posting why that day is important and what we should do to get the most blessings/merit out of that day.

Jai Shri SitaRam,
Hari Om,

Article from Gita-Blog - "God Is There in Clay Idol"

Namaste, Hari Om,

Great article from Gita-Blog, you can read below. Explains why Hindus pray to Idols, or what we call Murti (Moorti). Looking at the story, we close our eyes for many reasons, one is detachment from the world when praying, but the other important reason is that God is within and we are seeking him. As the article supports, God is in everything, but we need these images so that when we go to close our eyes we can have the beautiful images painted on our minds. And as we have a murti or religious picture in our car, home or around our hand, it will always help us to remember the great name of God.

Click here to see the Source on Gita-Blog, "God Is There in Clay Idol"
Or see the article from the Source below;

" In many religions of the world people do idol worship while there are other religions where idol worship is forbidden. In Hinduism people do pray the idols of their revered Gods but there are people in other religions who disapprove of such idolism. Now big question is whether God is actually there in Clay Idol or not?

As per the philosophy of Bhagwat Gita & Hinduism, God is omnipresent (present everywhere) in it's un-manifest aspect & is always present all around us. Every inch of the space is occupied by Him. Every nook & corner is filled by Him. In this aspect He is called Brahm (God) who is Truth Absolute, Knowledge Absolute and is Infinite.

It is this un-manifest aspect of God that is present in Clay Idols that Hindus worship as their God. Now to fulfill the desire of a devotee, this un-manifest, all pervasive Brahm (God) who is there in Clay Idol, by the power of His Yogmaya, manifests Himself as an embodied Being and appears before the devotee. So in this way the Un-manifest God in Clay Idol becomes manifest before the devotees.

So this omnipresent, un-manifest God appears before a devotee in whatever form he worships Him, whether it is the form of Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, Ganesha or any other form. A devotee should always remember that the God whom he worships, always pervades through this whole universe & can manifest Himself in any form, anytime He wants to appear before his devotee. God is never invisible to such souls who have understood His true nature, nor does He ever lose sight of them.

In Bhagwat Gita, Arjuna asked Lord Krishna to show him the "Cosmic Form of God" & Lord Krishna showed Arjuna his physical "Virat Rupa" or "Cosmic Form of God" in which all these universes & all these planets, stars etc. were present. This physical "Virat Rupa" of God or this whole universe is the external body of the omnipresent, un-manifest God. Similarly this small Clay Body of God is the miniature aspect of that "Virat Rupa" or all inclusive physical universes.

Generally we see that, whenever, people go to the temple & come in front of the Clay Idol, people close their eyes. Why it is so that when people come before their revered God, they close their eyes? Simple answer to this is that they feel God much closer to their heart inside themselves when they come in front of the Clay Idol. Yes, God who is there in omnipresent, un-manifest aspect in the Clay Idol is also sitting in their hearts in un-manifest aspect. So that is the reason that while closing their eyes before the Clay Idol, people feel the presence of un-manifest God present everywhere & also in their heart.

So the answer to the question, "Whether God is actually there in the Clay Idol or not?" is in Yes. Yes, God is there in the Clay Idol. Let us respect the feelings & thinking of those people who do Idol Worship." - Gita-Blog

Hari Om,
Jai Shri Ram,

The Path - Why Should We Care?

नमस्ते हरी ॐ,
Namaste Hari Om,

“We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.” - Swami Vivekananda

Great words by the Swami Ji above, the first words are very powerful and simple, we are responsible for what we are. In life we blame things for happening to us, but as the famous saying goes, So you plant, so you will reap. Meaning, if we plant negativity (in the realm of saying or doing negative things) then we will be surrounded by negativity. We must walk a different path to avoid negativity.

We all want happiness and peacefulness in life, one way to find this is by being on the path of a bhakt - which means devotee. Those who think that they are in too much darkness or have never walked the path of a bhakt must not think so, the path of a bhakt has no perquisite - if you are yearning to become a great devotee, to become more spiritual, your want for this path is already a notation that you are on the path. Just as the great Vibhishan lived in Lanka, a place with many bad surroundings and darkness under the rule of Ravana who was an evil king - Vibhishan spoke the words of God, and was saved from darkness. No matter where you are, no matter what stage in life you are (i.e. student, post-college, parent, grand parent etc..), the path of a bhakt will bring happiness and peacefulness in life. It all starts with saying Gods name, when you started reading this, you even said God's name, Hari Om, saying God's name serves great importantce - without thinking about it you have walked the path. Another case, Namaste was written, this is a simple saying yet it has great meaning - literally In Sanskrit the word is namah + te = namaste which means “I bow to you” - But why would I bow to someone, even if I don't like them? Well we should not judge others but look at them with a smile as God is in us all, and we bow to them to show humbleness, and bowing to the God within them. Always knowing that God is in everything is also walking the path of a bhakt;

"ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesham nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham"

(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 22)

"Sri Krishna said: But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I give what they lack in life, and I protect what they have."

With the above words we can derive many things, but I always believe in one thing - We should always pray for bhakti (devotion). We should always pray for the strength and mind to always have God's grace to discuss, sing and be one with the great name (teachings). On the path of a bhakt, we can only go up as we walk this path, and even so as we continue walking it will become harder for us to deviate as we realize the fruitfulness of bhakti.One great example of a bhakt is Shri Hanuman (pictured above constantly meditating on Shri Ram) - with a unwavering mind and every action in the name of Shri Ram (more to come on this prime example of a bhakt and Hanuman's great bhakti).

We should care about this path as it will bring positive energy and  a new way of viewing the world that will enlighten our lives - it all starts with the want/desire to walk the path. Tell yourself, "I am spiritual and I am walking the path of a bhakt (devotee)", and continue to improve everyday.

More to come on how to walk the path of a bhakt and how to improve...


On a last note, I have posted the Hindu Calendar, please check it out. Got this from a great site, Swaha International, will discuss further on the reasons and why we should pay close attention to special times in a future post.

Jai Shri Krishna,
Hari Om,

First Post - Hinduism

नमस्ते सीताराम, हम सब एक हैं ,
Namaste SitaRam, We are all one,

        Thanks for stopping by, this is my first post for this blog. This blog will be simple and easy to understand for those interested in Hinduism. Wish to help those who want to know more and become stronger in a path of peacefulness, spirituality and love with the help of knowledge. As my guru says, "Knowledge is Power". With knowledge we can act and change our lives. By knowing how to build a computer, we can turn that knowledge into fruitful results that helps our life advance further (i.e. a new powerful computer) - With that, lets take the knowledge of the teachings (i.e. Gita, Ramayana, Puranas, Vedas etc..) and build a better self so we can have peace and happiness.

Wish to take a quote from this site (do continue to read from the link tho), Hindu-Blog "Hinduism";

" Many people find it difficult to understand Hinduism because of the numerous deities, scriptures and schools of thought. The difficulty is primarily due to the popular concept of God – that there is a God sitting somewhere up in the heavens and controlling the happenings on earth. In fact majority of Hindus too believe in a ‘God sitting above’ but the sole difference that a Hindu can choose a personal God or Gods from the numerous deities in the Hindu pantheon who are all the representative of the Supreme Being – Brahman.


Hinduism, the real name Sanatana Dharma, should be understood step by step. The confusion arises when people directly jumps into the various schools of thought and scriptures or by forming an opinion by standing in the outskirts. "

They key word in this simple and easy explantation (also found throughout the link) is that we should understand Hinduism step by step. Its not overwhelming or confusing, everything has a reason and a place. Take it easy at first, do not get too deep into other aspects quickly (especially if you are new) - Start simple and easy, most importantantly, keep it real. This means, do everything with genuine devotion and ask questions, if you want to know why or how or even when, you will know the benefits and impact of what you are doing if you ask - Knowledge is power afterall. There are many steps to knowing more and doing better in life, but the first one is wanting to know more and wanting to do better in life - from there (with sincereity) everything should come in time..

And remeber, in this world of six billion people and many religions, we are all one - We all seek the basic neccesities and all seek peace and happiness. Deep down inside, we breathe the same air, walk on the same ground and feel the same feelings...We all should have respect for each other...Hum sab ek hain.

More to come in further posts.......