On Swami Vivekananda and His Search for God

“The natural tendency of Vivekananda’s mind, like that of his Master, Ramakrishna, was to soar above the world and forget itself in contemplation of the Absolute. But another part of his personality bled at the sight of human suffering in East and West alike.” – Swami Nikhilananda
Here’s a brief account of the life of Swami Vivekananda and the incident of his meeting with his guru Sri Ramakrishna Parmahansa that proved to be the major turning point in Vivekananda’s life.

Saraswati, the Vedic Goddess and River

One of the earliest goddesses worshipped in India since Vedic times, Saraswati devi, goddess of speech, wisdom, and expression, was believed to have found physical expression on earth also in the form of the ancient river Saraswati. The Rig Veda adores and praises this goddess as the ‘best of all mothers’, ‘best of all rivers’ and ‘best of all goddesses’ as Shruti Bakshi notes.

From the Immortals of Meluha to Immortal India – in conversation with Amish

Shruti Bakshi speaks to bestselling author Amish Tripathi about a wide range of topics from his books to his writing process, to atheism in ancient India and current issues in India relating to religion, society and politics. As someone with vast knowledge about India’s past and ancient wisdom and who refuses to be pigeonholed as ‘left’ or ‘right’, Amish’s views are refreshing, insightful and enlightening.

Vedic Chanting: An Amazing World at the Intersection of Tones and Letters

Vedic chants are considered to be the oldest unbroken oral tradition in the world. They are incredibly sophisticated arrangements of tones and letters that have a profound impact on the consciousness of the listener. Here we have the fortune of having a trained practitioner and teacher of Vedic chants, Dr Sivaram Hariharan aka Sydney Kishore, who describes his experience of learning Vedic chanting and some of the technicalities involved.

Who is Krishna?

How can we understand this most colourful and attractive incarnation of the Divine? His exhalation is the Gita and his inhalation is the Leela, as Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev puts it. If we want to understand the nature of life, we must study the Gita but if we want to know the essence of Krishna, we must become his inhalation. We must approach with the devotion of Radha and Meera writes Shruti Bakshi.

India’s Struggle for Freedom and the Voice of God – Sri Aurobindo’s Speech

Sri Aurobindo played a crucial role in India’s freedom movement by raising the national consciousness. In this speech at Uttarpara in West Bengal, he talked about his communion with God during a jail sentence he served during the freedom struggle. The speech describes his realisation that nationalism had a spiritual purpose in India. It provides the context for Sri Aurobindo’s vision of raising India to raise Sanatana Dharma.

From Vedanta to Plato: the Deep Links between India and Europe (Part 1)

Vedanta and Plato. Mahabharata and Homeric poems. Venus and Vena. Kupros and Shukra. What’s behind the fascinating parallels?

Professor Subhash Kak delves into the deep connections between India and the Graeco-Roman world which show up not only in language, but civilizational ideas, philosophy, mythology, astronomy and art. This is Part 1 in a two-part series.