Tattva

“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.”

-Herman Melville

“It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding.”

-Khalil Gibran

I have been attending Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh shakha since I was twelve years old. We’ve heard it said before, but it’s common knowledge that children just don’t understand the importance of going to shakha when they are little. I know I didn’t. In my imagination, it was simply a place to play with other children on a weekly basis. I was told that it would help me keep in touch with my Hindu culture. As I got older, however, I realized that it was a little bit more than these simplistic generalizations. According to the HSS website, the goal of having weekly meetings in the form of shakhas is to “organize the Hindu community in order to preserve, practice and promote Hindu ideals and values.” I understood that as I entered my teenage years. I understood that the point of going to shakha, family camps and Sangh Shiksha Vargs was to develop characteristics that would enable me to be proud of my Hindu culture and be a leader in society. Somehow, as I became a young woman, I found myself wanting to get involved more and more, and I no longer needed to go to shakha at anyone’s insistence. I wanted to make a difference. Read the rest of this entry »

As the great Gujarati poet Narasinh Mehta said in Vaishnava Janato, “Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye, man abhimaan na aane re,” meaning, “He who is a Vaishnava (devotee of Ram and Krishna) does good to others, especially to those who are in misery; such a person does not let pride enter his mind.” Those who think and transform their thoughts into action for the betterment of society truly make this world a better place. However, this work should be approached as Seva; it is the action that is necessary and important, not the fruit of the action. Read the rest of this entry »

Growing up in Bharat, I have always heard people proclaiming, “All Religions are the same and they teach the same thing.” Elders, teachers, great men of Bharat, leaders and intellectuals, all of them have been drumming the same tone. Naturally I believed in it until I could think for myself. I have seen that it is only in Bharat that one hears the above expression. I have lived in the West for quite some time and I must say I haven’t seen any staunch Christian say the same. I have seen that practicing Christians believe that they alone are right in their beliefs and everyone else who is not a Christian has no chance of being saved. The same goes for Muslims. I have some Muslim friends who are pious and committed to Islam. But they are sincere in their belief that they alone are the chosen people and that they have the last word on Religion, Truth, God and that all non-Muslims are doomed. Read the rest of this entry »

Power of Thoughts                                                                                                             

We are what we think we are. The habitual inclination of our thoughts determines our talents and abilities, and our personality. Thus, some think they are writers or artists, industrious or lazy, and so on. What if you want to be something other than what you presently think you are? You may argue that others have been born with the special talent you lack but desire to have. This is true. But they had to cultivate the habit of that ability some time — if not in this life, then in a previous one. So whatever you want to be, start to develop that pattern now. You can instill any trend in your consciousness right now, provided you inject a strong thought in your mind; then your actions and whole being will obey that thought. So wrote Paramhansa Yogananda. Read the rest of this entry »

Bhagwad Geeta is “Yog Shastra”.Sri Krishn has preached in length about all the possible metaphysical terms which are necessities of a seeker to know about while traversing on path of real spiritualism. He has very clearly defined the terms “Yog” and “Yogi” as well in details. He has preached Arjun in verse forty six of Chapter six: Read the rest of this entry »

Video Interview with Harvilas ji, President of Vedic Cultural Center, Sammamish, WA Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for something different and unique to do this Memorial Day weekend? Interested in a weekend full of new friends, sweat-it-out activities, brainstorming, mad fun with wild nature and refined cultural evenings? Hindu YUVA chapters across 5 campuses in the Carolinas, GA, and FL are putting together a Southeast regional retreat called “Yuva Sangam - A confluence of young minds.” The weekend will be full of cool workshops, enlightening talks, yoga, team games, unique real life stories by experienced volunteers. The Yuva Sangam will be from Friday May 22nd to Monday May 25th at Laura Walker State Park in Waycross, GA. For more details, contact: Nomesh (nomesh@gmail.com, 919-308-6355) or Mohona (mohona.sarkar@gmail.com).