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Showing posts from January 26, 2012


On Hinduism as an Open Source Religion

Josh Schrei (Strategist, Producer, Writer, Critic, Activist) writes in the Huffington Post that the key point of differentiation between Hinduism and these other faiths is not polytheism vs. monotheism. The key differentiation is that Hinduism is Open Source and most other faiths are Closed Source. In simple terms Hinduism gives the freedom to the individual to approach, conceive and perceive God in the way he/she wants. This freedom is lacking in most religions. Josh Schrei writes  If we consider god, the concept of god, the practices that lead one to god, and the ideas, thoughts and philosophies around the nature of the human mind the source code, then India has been the place where the doors have been thrown wide open and the coders have been given free reign to craft, invent, reinvent, refine, imagine, and re-imagine to the point that literally every variety of the spiritual and cognitive experience has been explored, celebrated, and documented.  The results of India 's

Teachings from the songs of Sri Tyagaraja

Nidhi Nala Sukhama – Ramuni Sannidi Seva Sukhama What constitutes happiness? Nidhi (money) or Sri Rama’s Sannidhi (Divine Presence)? What constitutes sweetness? A concoction of milk, butter, sugar and rice? Or the nectar of a bhajans of devotion to the Lord? What constitutes grace? A dip in holy river Ganga of the soul? Or dabbling in the polluted waters of narstuti – the praise of an ordinary mortal? Or waiting for the appreciation of humans. In one of his compositions, the saint-musician Tyagaraja, for instance, petitions Sri Ramachandra to grant him knowledge so he would be a ‘better’ bhakta: jnanamosagarada garuda gamana nato vada ni namamuche namadi nirmala mainadi paramatmudu jivatmudu padinalugu lokamulu nara kinnara kimpurushulu naradadi munulu paripurna nishkalanka niravadhi sukhadayaka vara tyagarajarchita varamu tanane Would you kindly impart true knowledge to me my mind is purified by the repetition of your name — the knowledge that th