View as PDF Preface for the book: Light from the Orient  India has been held in high esteem of late by Western Oriental scholars. From the most ancient period, destiny has entrusted India with the supreme task of upholding spiritual culture. From a historical perspective beyond the reach of memory, Indian civilization reaches into the present with full vigor. A galaxy of great men and women down the long, checkered history of Indian culture stood for the highest aspirations of the Indian mind and this hallowed tradition helps to remind the common people of its supreme importance. The ..read more

View as PDF To an enlightened person this universe exists and functions meticulously and purposefully in strict obedience to some laws of Nature and in full coordination with others. Everything is well organized, well integrated and well related with everything. There is unity in the midst of diversity. The cosmos is an unending song of harmony. In spite of chaos, we find harmony in the well-designed and well-planned Creative principle. Scientific researches in astrophysics and cosmological studies cannot unravel the secrets. This wondrous mystery seems to remain ever incomprehensible. Vedic m ..read more

View as PDF Every autumn during Navaratri, a great vibration of love and joy is felt throughout India. It the time of fullness, of worship of the Divine Mother, who comes to earth. The Divine Mother is worshipped as Durga throughout Bengal during the four days of Durga-puja. Devotees offer their worship so ardently in this unsurpassed festival as to reach the highest peaks of fervent spiritual devotion, joy and delight. This festival is a virtual testimony of the social and cultural benefits that spiritual joy brings to the community that worships God.  We conceive of God in a human way a ..read more

View as PDF The Western Renaissance in the fifteenth century began with the migration of Greek scholars to Europe from Turkey since 1453. Similarly, the Oriental Renaissance, with the studies of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit languages by Western scholars has been taking place over the last two and a half centuries. Nearly two hundred research scholars and Sanskritists devoted to classical studies in India facilitated the dissemination of India’s sacred and secular culture to the West.   It was only when the English became firmly established as administrators in the land of Bharat that I ..read more

View as PDF Impersonal God or Brahman in association with Maya becomes personal God. This universe of names and forms streams forth from God. The power behind this creation, maintenance and absorption is called Maya. Shri Ramakrishna worshipped Maya as the Divine Mother. He taught that Brahman and Maya are not different, like ice and its coldness, fire and its burning power, or a diamond and its effulgence. Throughout the world, God is regarded as Father, Mother, Counselor, Friend,—as everything. But the Indian tradition wants to look upon God as Divine Mother in view of the fact that all livi ..read more

View as PDF “Consciousness of the Beyond is the raw material of all religion.” Religion is singular in essence and diverse in manifestation. Every religion may be likened to one pearl strung with others on a necklace whose common cord is the universal soul of each of those religions. Vedanta is concerned with timeless truth and upholds the view that no religion has a monopoly on truth or revelation. Its fundamental teachings include: (1) the impersonality and universality of Supreme Truth; (2) the divinity of the soul; (3) the unity of existence, or the oneness of matter and energy, or the ult ..read more

View as PDF Through divine dispensation, India’s spiritual values and high moral tone expressed through her immortal Sanskrit literature was to make a great impact on the minds of creative writers in the West. Over the last few centuries, the new flavor of Indian literature savored in the West was so enchanting and captivating that responsive writers and thinkers showed their immediate, favorable receptivity to the literary beauty of Indian lore. In the nineteenth century, the popularity of Sir Arnold’s poetic composition on the life of Buddha, The Light of Asia, indicated the Western frame of ..read more

View as PDF published in Prabuddha Bharata, November 2008  DESCENT OF DIVINITY IN HEROIC FORM  Only a great spiritual being can guide human life to perfection. The full personality of one who has risen above human limitations while living in the world is expressed in the ancient Hindu ideal of the rishi. Such a one can be found in the manifestation of Bhisma, the peerless son of Shantanu and Ganga, the great grandsire of the Pandava and Kaurava clans, immortalized in the Mahabharata. In the immortal life of Bhisma, thoughtful individuals will find the prototype of the true Indian her ..read more

View as PDF One attains God through Japa. By repeating the Name of God secretly and in solitude, one receives divine grace. Then comes His vision. —Sri Ramakrishna  ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS PERTAINING TO JAPAM AND MANTRAM  Brahman is Self-revealed. It is due to the impurities of the mind that we cannot have a vision of God. Japam, repetition of Om and the Mantram, purifies the mind so that we may have His vision. The spiritual vibrations generated by repeating the holy Name wholeheartedly with faith evoke spiritual emotion that purifies the mind and heart.  God is Holy. God’s Name is ..read more

View as PDF AN INCARNATION OF LOVE Brahman the ultimate Reality is characterized by Satchidananda—sat, chit, and ananda. Sat is Pure Consciousness, the changeless ground of all existence. Chit is self-Awareness or limitless Knowledge, meaning self-luminous and spiritual amidst all material objects. Ananda is intrinsic Bliss, which we enjoy in life in our own way. The Taittiriya Upanishad says that Divinity is “the soul of truth, the delight of the life, and the bliss of mind, the fullness of peace and eternity.” The Infinite and Absolute Being, out of love for suffering humanity, accepts suffe ..read more