If we really want to learn from the Gita, then we need to understand that it has chosen to put before us that basest of human actions, violence, so that we really get the point about acting in yoga. If we really want to extract from the Gita, a wisdom we don’t ordinarily find in the world, we should ask – how can a war be fought without hatred?
“जरा रंग सांची प्रेम की, और रंग हैं झूठ।”(Jara rang saanchi prem ki, aur rang hain jhooth) The true colour is the colour of Divine Love, all other colours are false. – Kabir das This is a topic I have not written about before although it has been with me …
As Yoga sees it, male and female are biological genders but masculine and feminine are energies that every individual carries. One may call it the head and heart or Yin and Yang. And so simply having a female leader does not mean that we have empowered the feminine because the female leader could even be more masculine in her approach than a male!
The Feminine expresses more evidently in art, aesthetics, emotion and spirituality. As an example, we may build a house using our masculine energy but it is our feminine energy that makes it a “home”.
There is something within us that whispers, ‘choose me’. It is the voice of Light that has the potential to burst into a rainbow of colours. As we come upon Holi, the festival of colours, we also usher in the first month of the Hindu new year, Chaitra. The eve of Holi, Holika Dahan, is marked by a large bonfire where we surrender the past within us to the Light, to make way for the new. This is always a conscious choice, just as weeds grow wantonly but a flower needs deliberate planting.
Whether we were born here or not, Bharat is an opportunity for all of humanity to witness through this civilization, how the ‘outer’ and ‘inner’ has the potential to beautifully integrate. Not because of concocted beliefs or some selfish desires of a group of exclusive people, but because of the universal movement of Life itself – through Sanatana Dharma. …We stand at an auspicious juncture as we correct narratives and understandings and move from ‘mythology’ to history, ‘religion’ to dharma, lies to the uncovering of truth.
‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’, a Sanskrit phrase repeated in many ancient Indian texts, translates as “the Earth is one family”. This recognises not only the unity of mankind, but of all living systems on the Earth.
The trouble with people who are your life
Is that when they leave, they take your life with them…
Three hilltops huddled together a long time ago. To pay their respects like a devotee, to watch her beauty like a lover, to care for her like a parent. Looking up at these first adorers of Ma Ganga from this particular spot on her Rishikesh banks, it appeared as if this passage between the mountains led up to another world in the skies hidden by those surreal, swirling clouds…
I recently spent some time in the holy town of Rishikesh. What a blessing to be in Ma Ganga’s presence and feel her intimate connection with humanity.
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In this audio/visual offering, you can sit back, relax and bathe in Ganga’s pure waters without leaving your home. Your own meditation on Ganga’s ghats…
The story of Queen MadAlasA (Brahmanda Purana) is a lofty though inspirational example of a parent’s role in the life of a child. Her enlightening lullaby to her children produced four sages. Such conscious parenting may seem like a story best left in books but even a casual observer of some of today’s modern parenting can see that we are due for some changes. The age of technology and impending AI revolution calls for a different perspective on education. Can we figure out solutions in time that will avoid us becoming slaves to technology?
A fascinating and insightful Q&A between Gayatri Iyer and Yogi coach Raghu Ananthanarayanan about how the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali can be applied to ‘coaching’ and ‘mentoring’. It is amazing to note how this ancient text provides an enlightened paradigm and methods to cultivate and manage a coach-coachee relationship. Read on to explore some timeless wisdom in practical action.
Rafting over the Ganges, Gayatri Iyer reflects on how the river embodies the characteristics of the different Pandava princes of the Mahabharata epic. One can seek their reflections in this living river, as well as one’s own.
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