Tattva

The typical Indian mentality and the path of Hinduism, or the Vedic path of spiritual progress, is one of great individuality and freedom for each person to decide what they want or what is best for their own spiritual development. Thus, it is typical for Hindus to work on their own, not necessarily as a group. There is nothing wrong in that. It is the last of the great cultures that promote the utmost freedom for the individual. Yet, there is a great need that is not being met, and that is the need for Hindus / Dharmists / Devotees, especially in India, to unite and work together as a group, or even as a whole society, in order to continue to preserve and protect their own culture, traditions, and certainly the freedom of the individual. Read the rest of this entry »

Dr. Muhammad Yunus, well-known social entrepreneur

In the past couple of decades, social entrepreneurship has become very popular and a potential career option for youth across the world. Social entrepreneurship is the work of a social entrepreneur. While entrepreneurs in the business sector identify untapped commercial markets, and gather together the resources to break into those markets for profit, social entrepreneurs use the same skills to different effect. For social entrepreneurs, untapped markets are people or communities in need, who haven’t been reached by other initiatives. Though they may have different goals, social and business entrepreneurs have a lot in common. They build something out of nothing. They are ambitious to achieve. They marshal resources to meet their needs. They are constantly creative. And they are not afraid to make mistakes. Read the rest of this entry »

Though this summer began with ambivalent uncertainty, it ends with contented fulfillment. Since I was given the extraordinary opportunity to dedicate the entirety of my summer volunteering in both India and Guyana, I was decidedly excited but a tad apprehensive about, well, everything: could I handle the doubtless myriad issues that daily life in foreign places would entail? As my project mostly involved teaching children English (in India) and Vedic Math (in Guyana), I was also anxious about how it would be—would there be communication issues? Would I be able to deal with them, to reach them? Would they like me? Read the rest of this entry »

Vijay Dashami, also known as Dussehra, falls on September 28th this year. In Sanskrit, “Vijay” means “victory” and “Dashami” refers to the tenth day of the bright half of the lunar month of Aashwayuja. Thus, Vijay Dashami is a festival of victory, the triumph of Dharma over Adharma. This day is marked by many inspiring episodes from history that reflect the victorious tradition of our ancestors. It was on Vijay Dashami that Shri Ram defeated Ravan after ten days of battle, thus liberating the city of Lanka from its adharmic ruler. Vijay Dashami is also the finale of the nine-day festival of Navaratri. During the days of Navratri, we worship Saraswati, the goddess of learning; Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; and Durga, the goddess of strength. There are countless names of the goddess of strength—Durga, Maha Kaali, Mahishasura Mardini. Time and time again, she has defeated the demonic forces and established the supremacy of the righteous. Read the rest of this entry »