What Are the Two Paths? Bodhinatha Clarifies Detachment
What Are the Two Paths? Path to Siva, Lesson 37 (Jan 4, 2018)
Bodhinatha addresses the misconception that householders should be detached from their family and professional life. Using the Tirukural as a reference, he highlights that detachment for the householder means to be detached from one’s wealth and possessions enough to be able to do charity. Then he describes key goals of monastic life and the service done by our monastic order, pointing out that the path of spiritual unfoldment, like an oak tree, takes many years to yield results. But we should have faith that the ancient methods and path will one day yield results.
Path To Siva, Lesson 37
Click here to go to an index of all of Bodhinatha’s and Gurudeva’s online audio.
Samadhi in Space
Hinduism Today has a fascinating story in the most current issue, a story about higher consciousness discovered in outer space. In July of 1969 astronaut Edgar Mitchel was returning from the moon when suddenly something surprising happened.In a 1993 interview with Hinduism Today magazine, Mitchell offered that his deep-space samadhi could also be likened to the kundalini force, which can sit dormant in the first chakra at the base of the spine until it is awakened. "Yes," he said, "that's exactly what I was experiencing, the primordial energy of the universe, the primal and subtlest energies." Other astronauts, he said, told him they had similar spiritual experiences. He was the only one who really wanted to talk about it.
Read about his tale
Jan/Feb/Mar 2018 Issue of Hinduism Today Now Online
Hinduism Today’s latest issue has gone to press and is now available online free of charge at www.hinduismtoday.com. You can also download our free Hinduism Today app and get the entire magazine in a mobile-friendly format for your device at bit.ly/HT-APP.
In his Publisher’s Desk editorial, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami returns to the global trend of SBNRs, those who are Spiritual But Not Religious. He offers these seeking souls five suggestions for enhancing their spiritual habits and goals in life, all taken from the Hindu “banquet of choices.” Find out what he says...
Our 16-page Insight section is an amazing tribute to the Narmada River, one of India’s holiest and most ancient waterways. Follow photographer Hari Mahidhar (this man has talent) and writer Vithal Nadkarni as they trek the 804 miles through Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to the sea. Even if you don’t read a single word, the photos are a rich tale in themselves.
Our feature story takes you to South Africa for a rare look into the history and current life of Hindus in Benoni. We started the research after hearing about the 52-foot-tall Siva/Shakti statue that was recently completed, but the story behind the story took center stage, leading to this detailed glimpse into the modern-day lives of Hindus in South Africa.
Many will wonder how an astronaut ended up on the cover of Hinduism Today. We certainly didn’t see it coming. But the story “Samadhi in Space” is a fascinating one, told by the biographer of NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell, whose consciousness was transformed as he hurled back toward the Earth after a moon landing in 1971. Find out how space brought him into a state of higher awareness that changed every atom of his being and every department of his life.
Italy is surprising active, Hindu-wise. Our correspondent Lavina Melwani went there to report on the dispersion of Hindus throughout this nation, normally thought of as only Catholic. She found Hindus in every city, almost literally on every corner. Her unlikely encounters and insights are a fun read.
One Indian woman voices aloud what many feel in the silence of their hearts: that it is not right to deny Hindus entry to our temples because of the color of their eyes or their skin. She calls it what it is: racism. And she calls for temples everywhere to realize what is happening as Hindus arise in every nation and to reconsider their medieval rules.
There’s more: A story about the Houston-based Sewa International’s amazing relief efforts in the aftermath of the devastating Hurricane Harvey; a glimpse into the care of infants and new mothers, Indian-style; and a temple festival visit in Suriname. Not to mention the ever-popular Quotes & Quips (yes, others turn there first, too), Global Dharma tales from the diaspora, Dharma tech side and letters. Enjoy!
Visit our HT website, recently upgraded.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
"Maitreyi,” said Yajnavalkya, “I am about to go forth from this state. Come, let me make a final settlement between you and Katyayani.” "My lord," said Maitreyi, "if all the world's wealth were mine, would I be immortal through those means?" "No," replied Yajnavalkya, "Your life would be the same as that of the rich. Of immortality, however, there is no hope through wealth." Maitreyi then asked, "Of what use then are money and material possessions to me? Please tell me, bhagavan, of the way that leads to immortality."
"Ah, Maitreyi, you have always been dear to me, even more now that you have asked me about immortality. Come, sit down, I will explain to you. Reflect deeply on what I say."
...The final article will be published in the months ahead
Hinduism Today App Upgraded on Android
Our new Hinduism Today,/i> app is getting popular in the iOS world with over 3,000 users and rising daily. This is no doubt due to the new easy instant access to articles in a mobile view on small phones. We have not done much promotion while waiting for an upgrade on the Android side. Today we are happy to announce that a major upgrade has been done this week which brings this new "content view" to Android users. When you open the app you will be taken to a view with small thumbnails for each article. These articles open in an easy to read ebook format. The "replica" or "pages" view is still available any time. Especially for users with larger devices or viewing on desktop the full page view of the magazine in it's original, gorgeous graphics layout is awesome. You can download any issue for easy viewing off line and later delete that issue to recover disk space on your phone.
Go to our app page to link to the platform of your choice
Hinduism Today Digital Edition
The Hinduism Today October/November/December 2017 digital edition has been released.
You can visit www.hinduismtoday.com to read it on our site, or read it online here. And of course, you can also get it on our free Hinduism Today App.
More Seva From Russia
Jai Ganesha!
We've just received more translations from Dinanatha in Russia. These photos show the recently translated feature story from the July/August/September 2017 issue of Hinduism Today. Our heartfelt thanks to our Russian sevaks for their tireless work.
Aum Namah Sivaya. Sivaya Namah Aum.
One God, Many Divinities
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami's Publisher's Desk editorial from Hinduism Today magazine's October/November/December, 2017 Issue
Hinduism Today is Moving to Russia
Well we aren't completely moving to Russia! But the monks at the Hinduism Today headquarters here in Kauai are excited to reveal our beloved magazine now being translated into Russian. While we aren't completed yet with the first issue, we are almost there and are providing you with a sneak peek at this Dropbox link.
The New Science of Consciousness
In the April/May/June issue of Hinduism Today we published an eight-page article on an amazing new field of study that has deep connections to Hindu philosophy, cosmology and ontology, with deep resonances in the Upanishads.
Author Varun Khanna begins: "The
study of consciousness has been of interest to scientists, philosophers and laypeople alike for millennia. But the struggle to define consciousness has been more perplexing than productive, due to its intangible nature.
How can we describe something that we cannot perceive with our senses? We can know what it is like to perceive, and what it is like to have consciousness, but for thousands of years scientists have failed to pinpoint with any measure of certainty what consciousness actually is. Furthermore, when attempting to study consciousness, the method by which we can study it is elusive. Is it necessarily limited to the philosophical realm? Can there be a hard science of consciousness?"
You can read the entire article, or download a PDF, here:
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=5773
At the end we sat down with Chopra and asked, "What are you and the whole movement bringing to humanity that's new, that didn't exist in the Indian paradigm?"
"In the Indian paradigm the ultimate goal," he responded, "of life is moksha, or finding your true Self. As fundamental reality, atman is Brahman; and until you do that, you have what is called suffering. What we're trying to do is go beyond the few Indian luminaries. India is regarded as a great spiritual culture, but you have to remember that the sages of the Upanishads were not that many. I mean, you can count them on one hand. We revere them precisely for that fact that they were luminaries.
"Their message was so great that it has survived. But what we now need is millions of luminaries. And if we have that, we can have a more just, sustainable, healthy, joyful and peaceful world. I think we need to bring forward that knowledge, that wisdom.
"We have moved from the agricultural age into the age of information. Now we are moving to a knowledge-based society, but how about a wisdom-based society--wisdom being that knowledge that can heal ourselves, heal our collective humanity, heal the Earth, and bring healing to all sentient beings? The word health, the word healing, the word holy are all the same word. So health is the return of the memory of wholeness. Today we can bring that through technology, through social media, through education and through collective engagement."
From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
