This is a world of diversity. Intellects are different. Faces are different. Religions are different. Sounds are different. Faiths are different. Colours are different. Faculties are different. Tastes and temperaments are different. But one thing is common in all. Everyone of us wants Nitya Sukha (eternal happiness), infinite knowledge, immortality, freedom and independence. These things can be obtained by knowledge of the Self alone.

From "Easy Steps to Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Self-Knowledge: Who Am I?

In most religious scriptures, Shabd or the Word is referred to as the creator of the universe. It is a current from the ocean of pure consciousness that is characterised by ethereal and sublime sound vibration.

It is the all-pervading manifestation of God, the radiant sound current, and it is the connecting link between God and His creation. All the powers of nature depend on and work through Shabd.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: The Wavelength Of Celestial Sound

On September 22, 1931, two icons of the West and the East met in a humble tenement in London. Mahatma Gandhi impressed Charlie Chaplin with his view that supreme independence meant shedding oneself of unnecessary things.

Chaplin believed this principle was the basis of Gandhi's political-economic-spiritual argument against machinery.

However, what Gandhi told Chaplin that day echoes the Jaina principle of aparigraha.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Renunciation Keeps Man, Nature Happy - Aparigraha

The nature of the mind is to accumulate. A gross mind wants to accumulate things; an evolved mind wants to accumulate knowledge. When emotion becomes dominant, it wants to accumulate people.

The mind’s basic nature is to accumulate. The mind is a gatherer - always wanting to gather something. The mind of a person on the spiritual path starts accumulating 'spiritual’ wisdom. Maybe it starts gathering the guru’s words but until one goes beyond the need to accumulate - whether it is food, things, people, knowledge or wisdom - it does not matter what you accumulate.

(See also: The Mind , God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » The Mind: Stopping The Mind’s Chatter  

Liberation of women and gender equality is not the bedrock of Jainism. It grants a woman as much dignity, freedom of thought and opportunity as man. The Jain goal is to attain a liberated state completely free from effects of karma and that is not possible at present in one human life. The awareness and high degree purification is essential for complete liberation. To attain this state it is necessary to halt the impact of karma on the soul and at the same time to eliminate the previously acquired karma that enmeshes the soul. But the only way to attain victory over karma is through further, refined action.

Read more here: » Jainism: Jain Traditions

A clear understanding of mans relation to God is a matter of momentous importance to students of philosophy and to all aspirants. Philosophers, prophets, saints, sages, thinkers, Acharyas and great religious leaders of the world have tried to explain the relation of man to God and the universe. Various schools of philosophy and different kinds of religious beliefs have come into existence, on account of various explanations given by different philosophers.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Philosophy: Hindu Philosophy and its Various Schools and Systems

The ultimate solution to all problems - ecological, social and personal - lies within you. However, when you embark on that spiritual journey to go within, you will find that the solution is not sitting there, waiting to be discovered.

It is hidden away, made almost inaccessible, under the many-layered maya or illusion, that keeps you mired in ignorance. The spirit, obscured by this many-layered veil, is unable to reflect and know the nature of its true self.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Getting In Touch With Yourself

Two men went into a mango garden. One man started counting the mango trees and the number of fruit each bore and approximate value of the orchard.

The other man went straight to the owner and making his acquaintance was invited by him to pluck and taste the fruit.

One was busy in counting and calculating, the other was enjoying the delicious fruit. Ramakrishna Paramhansa would cite this example to show the difference between the man of dry academics and the man of devotion.

(See also: Importance of emotions in relation with god , Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Importance of emotions in relation with god: Your Creator can be Your Best Friend  

All of us need to believe that we are loved and are lovable. We begin life secure in our mother's love, swaddled in our innocence. Love was never in question, but over time, we become increasingly unsure...

In The Path to Love , Deepak Chopra says that by bringing spirituality back into our relationships, we can discover a world of depth and meaning. He says: "You were created to be completely loved and to be completely lovable for your whole life".

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Love and Happiness: Unconditional Love Brings Joy to All

The word Jain has been derived from Jina, which means conqueror, implying one who has overcome all human passions. The Tattvarth Sutra, a book of supreme wisdom, was written by Umaswati, Kundkundacharya's disciple.

The opening aphorism of Tattvarth Sutra talks about enlightened faith, knowledge and conduct leading to final emancipation. The enlightened faith comprises Jiva or life, Ajiva or non-life, Asharva or flow of karma, Bandha or bondage of karma, Samvar or shedding of karma-particles and Moksha.

(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Life and Death: Prevent the Influx of Karma Particles

Hinduism and Karma

In simple terms, the law of karma suggests that a person's mental and physical actions determine the progress of his life on earth. What ever actions he undertakes, both his good and bad actions, impact his life in several ways and bring twists and turns in the course of his life. His bad actions lead him to suffering and unhappiness, while his good actions lead him to happiness and spiritual success.

Read more here: » Hinduism and Karma: The logic behind the concept of Karma

We seem to be free, to do that which we choose and not that which is chosen for us; but possibly, the freedom may be illusory; in fact, it may be bondage.

We may be bound by predestination, the will of a Supreme Intelligent Power, or blind inexorable Nature, or the necessity of our own previous development.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Of Freedom, Fate And Free Will

Sri Madhvacharya, the 13th century dvaita philosopher, is believed to have his divine origin from Mukhyaprana or Vayu, who had in earlier yugas been born as Hanuman, the attendant of Lord Rama and Bhimasena, celebrated in the Mahabharata as the mightiest man, the destroyer of asuras born as kings.

Sri Madhva was a dualist who believed in the verity of God, jeeva and matter existing eternally as distinct entities. His philosophy is a realistic and theistic philosophy. He advocated an active life emphasising duty, devotion and dedication.

(See also: Sri Madhvacharya , Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Sri Madhvacharya: Madhva Siddhant - Bhakti and Gnana  

Krishna asserts that action cannot be avoided, and should be performed without consideration of the "fruit of action". Progression on the ladder of karma was associated with good action: one who did good things in life moved up the ladder.

(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Life and Death: Discover The Truth, Set Yourself Free

Osho makes a special mention of one unique book which not many people know of. He says: "There are millions of books in the world, but The Book of Mirdad stands out far above any other book in existence

It is a small book, but the man who gave birth to this book - and mind my words, I am not saying 'the man who wrote this book', nobody wrote this book - was an unknown, a nobody. And because he was not a novelist, he never wrote again; just that single book contains his whole experience. The name of the man was Mikhail Naimy.

(See also: The Book of Mirdad , Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » The Book of Mirdad: Silence of Words Inspired Osho  

Are you disturbed? Most people will say yes to that question. Don't worry you are not alone. The bondage that keeps us entangled in the world outside and disturbed in the world inside - are Desires.

At any point of time, any one of your senses is always at work, all the time running after objects of desire. The doorways to these desires in the human body are our sense organs.

Shanmukhi mudra is the technique to shut these doors to maya to be able to experience the real world, which lies within.

(See also: Shanmukhi mudra , Mudras, Mudras and Health, Mudra Instructions, Yoga)

Read more here: » Shanmukhi mudra: Close 7 doorways to Maya - Shanmukhi mudra

All the pleasure and pain we experience from worldly matters disturb us. We become restless. To really enjoy life, we must learn to control the mind. Dhyana or meditation has been described by our shastras as the ideal way to exercise mind control. When we sit in absolute silence and are free from thought, we will feel enormous energy swell within us.

Dhyana is: Doing nothing. Nothing is done in this technique; even all thoughts are kept aside. We can feel the internal energy, and we become internally strong. The state of dhyana is the meeting point of the internal and external world. The ancient trikal sandhya is the basic background of dhyana.

(See also: Dhyana , Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Dhyana: Draw on the Energy That's Inside You  

Hatha Yoga has risen to great heights of popularity at the same time that our War on Terror was being incubated and finally erupted in the United States. It is surprising to see how much Hatha Yoga and the War on Terror actually have in common.

Read more here: » Yoga: Hatha Yoga and The War on Terror

Purva Mimamsa or Karma-Mimamsa is an enquiry into the earlier portion of the Vedas, an enquiry into the ritual of the Vedas or that portion of the Vedas which is concerned with the Mantras and the Brahmanas only. The Purva Mimamsa is so called, because it is earlier (Purva) than the Uttara Mimamsa, not so much in the chronological as in the logical sense.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Purva Mimamsa: Hindu Philosophy - The Purva Mimamsa

Destiny and the dynamics of living often remove us from the place we belong to, from what we refer to as our hometown. Living away, we tend to get "hometown-sick".

We split ourselves, and suffer a 'body here, mind there' syndrome. Interestingly, this can happen not just to an individual or a family, but even collectively to a whole people.

(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Life and Death: Freedom From Exile  

Being alone with yourself and understanding yourself is a way to peace.

Man, as he is and as he lives, is a crowd. He appears to be a single unit, but in reality, a crowd of people lives in him: all his relationships exist in him at the same time. So when he enters within himself, images of all his different relationships come floating to him.

At no point is he able to feel himself in entirety, in purity Ð just himself. This situation continues through his whole life. Sometimes, in the next life too. He carries with him this load of memories and images Ð that's what makes him a crowd.

(See also: Essence of Meditation , Meditation, Meditation for Beginners, Meditation Techniques)

Read more here: » Essence of Meditation: Flight Of The Alone

Guru Purnima:

THE FULL moon day in the month of Ashad (July-August) is an extremely auspicious and holy day of Guru Purnima. On this day, sacred to the memory of the great sage, Bhagavan Sri Vyasa, Sannyasins settle at some place to study and discourse on the thrice-blessed Brahma Sutras composed by Maharishi Vyasa, and engage themselves in Vedantic, philosophical investigation.

From Hindu Fasts & Festivals by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Guru Purnima: Holy Days in Hinduism - Guru Purnima