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Showing posts from May 6, 2020


Bhim Shila At Kedarnath – The Divine Rock That Protected Kedarnath Temple

On the night of June 16 2013, Kedarnath was hit by the worst flood in 100 years that brought in its wake unprecedented disaster to Uttarakhand. But a miracle rock, now known as Bhim Shila, protected the Kedarnath Temple. It came along with the flood waters and stood few meters behind the Baba Kedarnath Temple. Landslide and mudslides occurred in and around Kedarnath. Waters started gushing from Chorabari Tal down Mandakini River washing everything away in its path. The waters brought along with it huge amount of silt, rocks and boulders. But none of the boulders and rocks could damage the Kedarnath Temple due to Bhim Shila. The huge boulder diverted the flow of water to the sides. This rock has now become a part of the Kedarnath temple sanctity and is known as the divine rock of Bhima of Mahabharata. The rock has got anchored some thirty feet away, right behind the main Kedarnath. It is around 20 feet wide and 12 feet or so tall. Was it Hanuman meditating in the

Concept of God in Yoga

Patanjali’s concept of God in Yoga is that He is a Purusha (Self) who is eternally free from Klesha (affliction) and also karma-vipaka (consequences of bad or good actions). He is also free from asaya (latent impression of past experiences). In the first chapter Samadhipada of Yogasutra, Patanjali states that meditation of God is one of the many ways of attaining Samadhi (deeper concentration). According to Patanjali, Yoga is a means of self-realization, not the realization of God. God is only a means, perhaps the best means, of attaining Samadhi. Thus, God serves only a practical purpose in Patanjali. But later writers find a theoretical purpose in postulating God. Proofs o the existence of God in Yoga are: According to the law of continuity, whatever has degrees must have a lower and an upper degree. There are different degrees of knowledge and power, indicating that there is a person who possesses perfect knowledge and perfect power. This omniscient and omnipotent be

Mehandipur Balaji Chalisa – Popular Prayer Of Hanuman

Mehandipur Balaji Chalisa is a popular prayer dedicated to Lord Hanuman prayer. Mehandipur Balaji is a powerful and popular incarnation of Hindu God Hanuman and He is worshipped in the famous Hanuman temple in Dausa in Rajasthan. दोहा श्री गुरु चरण चितलाय के धरें ध्यान हनुमान । बालाजी चालीसा लिखे “ ओम ” स्नेही कल्याण ।। विश्व विदित वर दानी संकट हरण हनुमान । मेंहदीपुर में प्रगट भये बालाजी भगवान ।। ।।चौपाई।। जय हनुमान बालाजी देवा । प्रगट भये यहां तीनों देवा ।। प्रेतराज भैरव बलवाना । कोलवाल कप्तानी हनुमाना ।। मेंहदीपुर अवतार लिया है । भक्तों का उद्धार किया है ।। बालरूप प्रगटे हैं यहां पर । संकट वाले आते जहां पर ।। डाकिनी शाकिनी अरु जिंदनीं । मशान चुड़ैल भूत भूतनीं ।। जाके भय ते सब भग जाते । स्याने भोपे यहां घबराते ।। चौकी बंधन सब कट जाते । दूत मिले आनंद मनाते ।। सच्चा है दरबार तिहारा । शरण पड़े सुख पावे भारा ।।

What Should Hindus Say When Someone Dies?

RIP or rest in peace is a concept associated with monolithic religions which does not believe in the cycle of births. When someone dies Hindus should honestly say ‘Om Shanti’ or ‘Om Sadgati.’ Our prayers should be for the individual to attain moksha. As per Hinduism, there is no individual soul which can rest. All souls are part of the Supreme Truth (God) and based on Karma it will go through numerous births before attaining moksha or liberation. There is no separate individual truth there is only the Universal Truth – one without a second. Sadgati means mukti; let the person attain good after death; Let there be good world after death for the person. When a person has died in the family and people in the house are unable to come into terms with the death of the person, then it will be helpful if someone can read in the house the Katha Upanishad or the 14th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. All individuals (living beings) are on a journey to return back to the cosmic consciousn

Gajakarni – Yogic Technique Of Throwing Out Contents Of Stomach

Gaja in Sanskrit means elephant; karni is an action. An elephant sucks water and then raising the trunk, throws the water out like a jet. In a similar fashion, a student of hatha yoga can pass water out through the mouth in spurts, which appears like the act of the elephant. Gajakarni is a yogic technique of throwing out the contents of the stomach. Gajakarni is described in Hatha Yoga Pradipika in the following words – it is an act of vomiting out the contents of the stomach, brought about by drawing up the apana to the throat. With practice, the nadis chakras, i.e. the centers of the channels, are brought under control and then one can do the act like an elephant.” (II.38) Thus Gaja Karani may be called a technique of controlled vomiting. It involves a control of the vomiting reflex. Usually that reflex causes an act of vomiting, which is sudden and rather vigorous. The stomach is emptied by a sudden contraction of its wall under an impulse which starts in the throat. T

Inner Journey of Self-Change Begins When We Realize We Are Beyond the Body

We are taught to think that we are the body or mind or a body-mind combine. This is ignorance. Very few escape from this ignorance. The route to escape from this ignorance opens up when a person evolves in one’s thoughts and perception, a new and better understanding opens up on one’s mental horizon. With a greater refinement of thinking, one begins to recognize the essential fallacy of body-mind being the Self. This realization is the start of the inner journey of self-change which every thinking human being is struggling for. What stops us from the inner journey of true understanding is the senses. He who has the senses under control leads a life of bliss. Nothing can affect such a person. Identifying oneself with unreal is the main reason for suffering. ‘I am body/mind,’ ‘I am beautiful/ugly’, ‘I am wealthy/poor’, ‘I am learned/ignorant’ … such thoughts block the road of self realization and divert us into a world of suffering. This wrong road in the beginning has wonderful