When you appreciate what God has given you, instead of saying "thank you" in word or thought, express your gratitude by choosing to be who God wants you to be - toward yourself, toward God, and toward others. Use the opportunity of "thank you" to correct your attitude and remember to love.

Read more here: » Personal Growth: On Opening to Higher Guidance

Here is a schedule for enlightenment processes conducted in Golden City (outside Chennai, India) The timings for each group (21 and 10 days processes) from June 2004 until March 2005 are included. Note that the dates for the 21 day process are changed but the times for the 10 days process are as they where from the beginning. Minor changes can always occur. (updated from 24-03-2004)

Read more here: » Enlightenment: Schedule for Enlightenment processes in Golden City 2004-2005.

Is the memorization of slokas and mantras essential to being a good Hindu?

Most mantras and slokas are in the Sanskrit language, and your knowledge of Sanskrit is probably like my own. Nil! We must realize that slokas are like affirmations and are spoken in the language the speaker understands. Though Sanskrit has a tremendous value because it is a spiritually powerful language, we should combine two languages, English and Sanskrit, when we are learning slokas.

Read more here: » Hinduism: Is the memorization of slokas and mantras essential to being a good Hindu?

ÓI knew I was being transformed that morning to hear a new song, to listen to a new melody that could not be heard with ears, but with the heart. Something about the air around me was different than the air of the day before, as if the room itself had been transported to a place in the heavens in a new world free from the limits of our mortal minds. I was in a place where the soul was free to travel at will, where thought was not bound with words or unknown feelings held captive by the rigidity of a spoken language.Ó

An excerpt from "Confessions of a Closed Male: A story of Spiritual Awakening"

Read more here: » Male Spirituality: Finding God

Kiara Windrider just visited the spiritual reteat where the Oneness Festival campus is located in the Golden City area and give a first hand experience from what goes on there.

Read more here: » Kiara Windrider about The Spiritual Retreats of Enlightenment

A Celebration of MAY DAY

There are four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year and the modern Witch's calendar as well. The two greatest of these are Halloween (the beginning of winter) and May Day (the beginning of summer). Being opposite each other on the wheel of the year, they separate the year into halves. Halloween (also called Samhain) is the Celtic New Year and is generally considered the more important of the two, though May Day runs a close second. Indeed, in some areas -- notably Wales -- it is considered the great holiday.

Read more here: » May Day: A Celebration of MAY DAY

A personal reflection on God by Pandit Jasraj. ”A personal reflection on God by Pandit Jasraj. ”My first introduction to God happened when I was just 14, in the year 1944. Now I am turning 73. My older brother was then called to the small estate of Sanand near Ahmedabad to sing. In those days invitations from kings were rare and to only a few. So my brother and also my Guru Pandit Maniramji and I went there.”

Read more here: » Spiritual Inspiration: God and I by Pandit Jasraj

A personal reflection on God by Sadhana Sargam. ”Right from childhood I have believed in the existence of God and for years now, I have formed a habit of praying every morning. I have a firm faith in the existence of a supreme power. I pray to God to give me strength, patience and wisdom. I pray to Him to make me a balanced person and let me have peace of mind.”

Read more here: » Spiritual Inspiration: God and I by Sadhana Sargam

Mantras & Yantras: Types of Yantras

These five types of yantras are classed according to the different puja (worship) conducted. Bhu Prisht Yantras, Meru Prisht Yantras, Patel Yantras, Meru Parastar Yantras and Ruram Prisht Yantras. Each yantra has a separate and distinct purpose to gain a particular objective for the aspirant. Some yantras are worshipped in temples, some worshipped by individuals at home and some are worn on the body. According to how the yantras are used they are further classified into seven divisions Sharir Yantra, Dharan Yantra, Asana Yantra, Mandala Yantra and Puja Yantra.

Read more here: » Mantras Yantras: Types of Yantras

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

Read more here: »  : Conversing With God Anytime, Anywhere  

The Vedic concept of Saraswati was three-fold: First, she is like the sacred river which gave birth to the Aryan civilisation. Second, she was vak or speech personified, as expressed in the Rig Veda’s Vak Sukta . 'Speech’ basically refers to the sacred-word or the Vedas themselves.

The third and most important aspect is Saraswati’s identification with Gayatri, although the Gayatri mantra is worship of the Sun-god, Suryanarayana. The Sun-god symbolises three female deities: Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati, to be invoked in the morning, noon and evening respectively.

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

Read more here: » Saraswati: Three Divine Aspects Of Mahasaraswati  

The practice of Christian meditation dates back to the beginning of Christianity; its objective is to daily 'empty the self' to experience the fullness of God. It is consonant with Jesus's invitation to his disciples to take up their cross daily and follow him. It is central to Easter celebrations, 'dying' to rise to a New Life.

The way of meditation is the way of silence. Silencing the ceaseless chatter of a mind buzzing with thoughts is not easy. The way to silence is the way of the mantra. Choosing a sacred word and repeating it from the beginning to the end of the period of meditation forms part of the essential teaching of Christian meditation. It is advisable to choose a word of four syllables and pronounce them with equal length. The recommended word in the Christian Tradition is Ma-ra-na-tha. In Aramaic, the language of Jesus's time, it means 'The Lord comes'.

(See also: Christian Meditation , Indian Festivals, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Christian Meditation: Christian Meditation - Death of the Self  

How I found the holy in the holidays

Merry Christmas. The very words used to make me want to run and hide.

All my life, the holiday season has been a time of wishing for something I never got-and what it seemed like everyone else around me had. Suffice it to say mine was not an Ozzie and Harriet childhood. As an adult, I grew resentful about the holidays. I couldnÕt stand pretending I liked Christmas when it was just a reminder to me of the happy family I never had.

Read more here: » Christian Science: How I found the holy in the holidays

cosmic cycle: One of the infinitely recurring periods of the universe, comprising its creation, preservation and dissolution. These cycles are measured in periods of progressive ages, called yugas. Satya (or Krita), Treta, Dvapara and Kali are the names of these four divisions, and they repeat themselves in that order, with the Satya Yuga being the longest and the Kali Yuga the shortest. The comparison is often made of these ages with the cycles of the day: Satya Yuga being morning until noon, the period of greatest light or enlightenment, Treta Yuga afternoon, Dvapara evening, and Kali Yuga the darkest part of the night. Four yugas equal one mahayuga.

Theories vary, but by traditional astronomical calculation, a mahayuga equals 4,320,000 solar years (or 12,000 "divine years;" one divine year is 360 solar years) -  with the

• Satya Yuga lasting 1,728,000 years,
• Treta Yuga 1,296,000 years,
• Dvapara Yuga 864,000 years, and
• Kali Yuga 432,000 years.

Mankind is now experiencing the Kali Yuga, which began at midnight, February 18, 3102 bce (year one on the Hindu calendar [see Hindu Timeline]) and will end in approximately 427,000 years. (By another reckoning, one mahayuga equals approximately two million solar years.) A dissolution called laya occurs at the end of each mahayuga, when the physical world is destroyed by flood and fire. Each destructive period is followed by the succession of creation (srishti), evolution or preservation (sthiti) and dissolution (laya).

A summary of the periods in the cosmic cycles:

• 1 mahayuga = 4,320,000 years (four yugas)
• 71 mahayugas = 1 manvantara or manu (we are in the 28th mahayuga)
• 14 manvantaras = 1 kalpa or day of Brahma (we are in the 7th manvantara)
• 2 kalpas = 1 ahoratra or day and night of Brahma 360 ahoratras = 1 year of Brahma
• 100 Brahma years = 309,173,760,000,000 years (one "lifetime" of Brahma, or the universe).

We are in Brahma Year 51 of the current cycle. At the end of every kalpa or day of Brahma a greater dissolution, called pralaya (or kalpanta, "end of an eon"), occurs when both the physical and subtle worlds are absorbed into the causal world, where souls rest until the next kalpa begins. This state of withdrawal or "night of Brahma," continues for the length of an entire kalpa until creation again issues forth.

After 36,000 of these dissolutions and creations there is a total, universal annihilation, mahapralaya, when all three worlds, all time, form and space, are withdrawn into God Siva. After a period of total withdrawal a new universe or lifespan of Brahma begins. This entire cycle repeats infinitely. This view of cosmic time is recorded in the Puranas and the Dharma Shastras.

See: mahapralaya.

(See also: Cosmic cycle , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

The Global Oneness Celebration will be a wonderful opportunity to plug into a major planetary shift that will have positive collective consequences for us all. Venus is the chariot of love.

Read more here: » Venus Transit: Venus Transit and the Global Oneness Celebration

Artha

Artha means wealth. Hinduism recognizes the importance of material wealth for the overall happiness and well being of an individual. A house holder requires wealth, because he has to perform many duties to uphold dharma and ensure the welfare and progress of his family and society. A person may have the intention to uphold the dharma, but if he has no money he would not be able to perform his duties and fulfill his dharma. Hinduism therefore rightly places material wealth as the second most important objective in human life.

Read more here: » Artha: Hinduism Artha

Purify

Spirituality means growing into the form of Divine Ideal. It is the transformation of your nature from human to Divine. This is brought about by Abhyasa, i.e., spiritual practice or Sadhana and Vairagya leading to renunciation.

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

Read more here: » Spiritual Practice: Spiritual Practice of Sadhana

Chakras: Anahata Chakra

Anahata chakra, the heart center, is related to the air element. Here the language of emotional needs is replaced by that of devotional needs, which is to say, "I need" has become "I love" or "I feel devotional yearnings." The soul is reaching beyond the ego's hopes for self-directed autonomy and emotional closeness and senses the fulfillments of a shared reality. Indeed, the limited and fictive sense of the separate-self ego is coming to light.

Read more here: » Chakras: Anahata Chakra

We tend to pray to God only for our worldly needs, which are much more than our requirements. Krishna says in the Gita, "Four types of devotees worship me: the distressed ones, those seeking knowledge, those seeking wealth and others seeking wisdom. Of all such devotees, the one who seeks wisdom is dearest to me".

Shrishti or creation means projection and expansion coming out of One. That is the evolution of the world. Krishna also says that at the end of a Kalpa, the whole universe - all the souls, whether in the state of birth and death or in moksha, including Brahma - will dissolve within Me.

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

Read more here: » Amarnath: Amarnath Journey Prompts Reflection  

Dream Interpretation including the meaning of dreams about:

Cloister, Clothes, Clouds, Cloven Foot, Clover, Club, Coach, Coal-hod, Coals, Coat, Coat-of-Arms, Coca-Cola, Cockade, Cock-Crowing, Cocktail, Cocoa, Cocoanut, Coffee, Coffee House, Coffee Mill, Coffin , Coins, Coke, Coke Oven

For more dream interpretations, see: Dream Interpretation

For more about dreams, see: Dreams.

Read more here: » Meaning of a Dream: Meaning of Dreams from; Cloister to Coke Oven