In a certain place the fishermen were catching fish. A kite swooped down and snatched a fish. At the sight of the fish, about a thousand crows chased the kite and made a great noise with their cawing. Which-ever way the kite flew with the fish, the crows followed it. The kite flew to the […]

Birth and childhood: Sankara was born to the nambUdiri brAhmaNa couple, Sivaguru and AryAmbA, in a little village called kAlaDi in Kerala. The couple had remained childless for a long time, and prayed for children at the vaDakkunnAthan (VRshAcala) temple in nearby Trichur. Siva is said to have appeared to the couple in a dream […]

In many contemplative traditions, learning from an enlightened teacher is considered an important means of advancement on the spiritual path… Many illumined beings and mystics, especially those from Hindu, Sufi and the Zen and Tibetan Buddhist lineages, have maintained lifelong connections with their teachers and are in agreement that the student-teacher relationship is essential to […]

Birth and childhood: Sankara was born to the nambUdiri brAhmaNa couple, Sivaguru and AryAmbA, in a little village called kAlaDi in Kerala. The couple had remained childless for a long time, and prayed for children at the vaDakkunnAthan (VRshAcala) temple in nearby Trichur. Siva is said to have appeared to the couple in a dream […]

  Source UNITED STATES, April 2, 22015 (Pew Forum): The religious profile of the world is rapidly changing, driven primarily by differences in fertility rates and the size of youth populations among the world’s major religions, as well as by people switching faiths. Over the next four decades, Christians will remain the largest religious group, […]

  Source LOS ANGELES. USA, April 4, 2015 (Agence France-Presse): A California court said Friday that yoga classes taught at an elementary school do not violate students’ right to religious freedom, after parents complained Hindu and Buddhist doctrines were being promoted. The parents of two students at an Encinitas district school near San Diego said […]

  Source NEW YORK, U.S., April 11, 2015 (Indian Panorama by Chandni Trivedi): Swami Chinmayananda was one of the world’s most renowned and revered exponents of Vedanta, the foundation of Hindu religion and culture. His life is a story of an unconventional seeker — a mischievous child, a rebellious youth, a revolutionary freedom fighter, a […]

  Source DEHRADUN, INDIA, April 22, 2015 (Times of India): Anil Shukla prays a lot these days. The 39-year-old father of three, who performs pujas for pilgrims at Kedarnath, has been praying fervently that the weather Gods remain benign, and the Char Dham Yatra, which began on April 21, draws in a lot of pilgrims […]