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Showing posts from May 9, 2009


Navagrahas – Which are the Navgrahas?

Navgrahas, or Navagrahas, are the nine heavenly bodies that have the power to influence upon life on the earth. Nav means ‘nine’ and Graha means ‘the one that grasps you or in whose influence you are possessed.’ It must be noted that Graha does not mean a planet in the modern sense. But the term planet is widely used to describe the Nava Grahas. In strict sense, Navagrahas are the nine influences over the life of human beings. The Navgrahas are Sun (Surya), Moon (Chandra or Soma), Mars (Mangal), Mercury (Budh), Jupiter (Brihaspati or Guru), Venus (Shukra), Saturn (Shani), Rahu and Ketu. Navgrahas are installed in Hindu temples as subsidiary deities and there are also temples dedicated exclusively to Navagrahas.

First Hindu Gay Wedding in South Africa

What is believed to be South Africa ’s first known gay wedding by Hindu rites was conducted recently by a Tamil Hindu priest. Although many elements in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony were missing, the Hindu priest guided the couple to undertake the ceremonial fire prayer and then got them tie a necklace. The Hindu community leaders here are upset as the marriage was not ‘Kanya Dhan’ as mentioned in Hindu scriptures. Times of India Reports Sales advisor Joe Singh and manager Wesley Nolan, both 21, spent 18 months preparing for their wedding after first meeting in the company that they both work for. Singh said that he and Nolan were both "staunch Hindus" hence the Ganesha pendant to "ward off evil and remove obstacles from their path". Nolan's parents disapproved of the relationship and did not attend the wedding, which took place at the residence of Singh's stepfather and his mother. The couple did not tie the traditional 'thali'

Sri Vidyaranya Swami on the Vedantic Idea about Who Really Witnesses

The light in the dancing hall uniformly reveals the person who presides over the concert, the audience and the dancer. Even when they are absent, the light continues. The unchangeable witness is ever present as selfluminous consciousness; the intellect functions under its light and dances in a variety of ways. The patron is the ego, the various sense-objects are the audience, the intellect is the dancer, the musicians playing on their instruments are the sense-organs, and the light illumining them all is the witness-consciousness. The streak of sunlight coming into the room through an opening is motionless; but if one dances one’s hand in the rays, the light appears to be dancing. Sri Vidyaranya Swami (Source: Sri Vidyaranya Swami’s book Panchadashi, Chapter X verses 11, 13, 14, 15 and 18.)