HINDU Terminal...!

Why do we do Aarati? Towards the end of every ritualistic worship (pooja or bhajan) of God or to welcome an honored guest or saint, we perform the aarati. This is always accompanied by the ringing of the bell and sometimes by singing, playing of musical instruments and clapping. It is one of the sixteen steps (shodasha upachaara) of the pooja ritual. It is referred to as the auspicious light (mangla niraajanam). Holding the lighted lamp in the right hand, we wave in a clockwise circling movement to light the entire form of God.  Each part is revealed individually and also the entire form of God. As the light is waved we either do mental or loud chanting of prayers or simply behold the beautiful form of God, illumined by the lamp. At the end of the aarati we place our hands over the flame and then gently touch our eyes and the top of the head.  We have seen and participated in this ritual from our childhood. Let us find out why we do the aarati?  Having worshippe...

By Bengal Bee Vivekananda was a renowned thinker in his own right. One of his most important contributions was to demonstrate how Advaitin thinking is not merely philosophically far-reaching, but how it also has social, even political, consequences. One important lesson he claimed to receive from Ramakrishna was that “Jiva is Shiva ” (each individual is divinity itself). This became his Mantra, and he coined the concept of daridra narayana seva – the service of God in and through (poor) human beings. If there truly is the unity of Brahman underlying all phenomena, then on what basis do we regard ourselves as better or worse, or even as better-off or worse-off, than others? – This was the question he posed to himself. Ultimately, he concluded that these distinctions fade into nothingness in the light of the oneness that the devotee experiences in Moksha. What arises then is compassion for those “individuals” who remain unaware of this oneness and a determination to h...

How does Quantum Physics work? You may ask. In this article we discuss a very brief simplified history of Quantum Mechanics and will quote what the founding fathers of this branch of science had to say about it. We are not interested in new age mumbo-jumbo. We are interested in understanding what is real and what is false. This is why we, along with all other great minds, consult the Vedic texts. Please read on… The famous Danish physicist and Nobel Prize Laureate Niels Bohr (1885-1962) (pictured above) was a follower of the Vedas. He said “I go into the Upanishads to ask questions.” Both Bohr and Schrödinger, the founders of quantum physics, were avid readers of the Vedic texts and observed that their experiments in quantum physics were consistent with what they had read in the Vedas. Niels Bohr got the ball rolling around 1900 by explaining why atoms emit and absorb electromagnetic radiation only at certain frequencies. Then, in the 1920′s Erwin Schrödin...