The teachings of Sankara can be summed up in half a verse: Brahman (the Absolute) is alone real; this world is unreal; and the Jiva or the individual soul is non-different from Brahman.

The Advaita taught by Sri Sankara is a rigorous, absolute one. According to Sri Sankara, whatever is, is Brahman. Brahman Itself is absolutely homogeneous. All difference and plurality are illusory.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Vedanta Schools: The Advaita Philosophy Of Sri Sankara

Kundalini Awakening

When Rob told me my Kundalini had been awakened, I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. The awakening of Kundalini is a spiritual awakening, a major step towards realization of the divine. It is, in fact, a great boon, a great blessing and a magical gift. According to Swami Prajananda,

"The main purpose of its awakening in a seeker is to enable him to attain Godhood" (Muktananda, Kundalini 9).

Read more here: » Kundalini Awakening: Kundalini Awakens

“The experience of being a ‘free women’ came to me when I attended spiritual sessions… Freedom, I was under the impression, was to dress up lavishly and do precisely what I wanted and expecting exactly what I felt was right to happen in “MY WAY”, not being answerable to anybody for my thoughts, my words or action. That I called Freedom. Then I had an absolute change of heart and mind.”. Read more in this personal article about women’s liberation by Uma Mohan.

Read more here: » Women’s Spirituality: A personal view on women’s liberation

Kundalini Yoga Ð In this style of yoga, the spine is regarded as a snake. It was brought to the West by Yogi Bhajan in the late 1960s. The practice concentrates on releasing the Kundalini energy which is found at the base of the spine. Kundalini Yoga includes a series of classic poses and chanting. The emphasis however, is not on the Asana but on the chanting. Spiritual transformation is the main aim of practice.

Read more here: » Hatha Yoga Styles: Kundalini Yoga

Non-dualism is the highest Vedantic truth. Only Brahman exists. The pluralistic world as we experience it is merely a figment of the imagination. An illusion.

At the highest level Vedanta does not encourage any discussion on the nature of the world and its cause. That would merely be emphasising the reality of something which does not exist. It focuses on the direct experience of Reality.

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

Read more here: » Life and Death: Illusion And Reality

Adi Sankaracharya's life was dedicated to a quest for spiritual truth. His views on Advaita are best summed up in his own words: Brahma satyam jagat mithya, Jiva brahmaiva naparah; the Brahman alone is real, the world is illusory, the individual and Universal Soul are one.

This pronouncement is in contrast to other thought-systems of the time, like Ramanujacharya's Vishishtadvaita which treads a middle ground by focusing on the relation between the world and God; and Madhva's dvaita or dualistic world-view.

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

Read more here: » Adi Sankaracharya: Sankara's Path of Self-inquiry  

Adi Sankaracharya and Ramanujacharya were great philosophers. Their road maps to the Absolute reflect the essence of Indian spiritual thought and tradition, although they held divergent views - while Sankara advocated monism or advaita, Ramanuja believed in vishishtadvaita, that contains elements of both advaita and dvaita philosophy.

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

Read more here: » Sankara and Ramanuja: Double Celebration - Sankara & Ramanuja  

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

There are many types of women in our society, but the one that cries out for the healing the loudest is the Female Warrior. She longs to transform herself into the Goddess and yet doesn't even know it. Nor does she know how.

Who is the Warrior? The Warrior is powerful, independent, self-reliant and successful --because she has to be. Yet, she resents all of the responsibility and obligation that goes with her role. She's the only one around who can get things done, and get things done fast enough and perfectly enough.

Read more here: » Women's Spirituality: Warrior to Goddess - How to Transform the Feminine

World Serpent or Snake Ideas connected with the world snake are not those associated with the legend of a hero slaying a serpent but with a more profound concept. In the Hindu system, there is Ananta-Sesha, the serpent of infinity; in the ancient Scandinavian cosmogony, the world serpent Nidhogg, is represented as encircling the globe with its tail in its mouth. The same representation is found in the Egyptian teachings:

"In the oldest Egyptian imagery, as in the cosmogonic allegories of Kneph, the mundane snake, when typifying matter, is usually represented as contained within a circle; he lies straight across its equator, thus indicating that the universe of astral light, out of which the physical world evolved, while bounding the latter, is itself bound by Emepht, or the Supreme First Cause. . . . When the serpent represents eternity and immortality, it encircles the world, biting its tail, and thus offering no solution of continuity. It then becomes the astral light" (IU 157).

Another interpretation of the snake in the circle is that "The active is attracted by the passive principle and the Great Nag [Ananta-Sesha], the serpent emblem of the eternity, attracts its tail to its mouth forming thereby a circle (cycles in the eternity) in that incessant pursuit of the negative by the positive" (ML 71).

A sublime conception has also its human analog: the world serpent as the cosmic naga or grand universal 'Adam Qadmom, the sublime cosmic initiate, the cosmic wisdom which lives from manifesting universe to manifesting universe as its Purusha or spirit. It is the source of cosmic laws, wisdom, and life which infill the universe of which each such world serpent is the divine originating cause. The same thought in its human application refers to the great adept or master of wisdom and love.

(See also: World Serpent, Snake , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Dream Interpretation Snake Dictionary

The Vaiseshika system takes its name from Visesha or particularity which is the characteristic differentia of things. The aphorisms of Kanada contain the essence of the Vaiseshika philosophy. The principal subject treated therein is Visesha, one of the six Padarthas or categories enumerated by the founder.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Vaiseshika: Hindu Philosophy - The Vaiseshika

Snakes are cold blooded legless reptiles closely related to lizards, which share the order Squamata. There are also several species of legless lizard which superficially resemble snakes, but are not otherwise related to them. A love of snakes is called ophiophilia, a fear of snakes is called ophidiophobia (or snakephobia). A specialist in snakes is an ophiologist. An old synonym for snake is serpent; in modern usage this usually refers to a mythic or symbolic snake, and information about such creatures will be found unde ...

Including:

• Snake - Evolution
• Snake - Feeding
• Snake - Skin
• Snake - Perception
• Snake - Internal organs
• Snake - Locomotion
• Snake - Reproduction
• Snake - Snake bites
• Snake - Snakes as pets
• Snake - Lethal venomous snakes
• Snake - Snake charmers
• Snake - Snake trapping
• Snake - Human consumption of snakes
• Snake - Symbolism
• Snake - Films
• Snake - Classification

Read more here: » Snake: Encyclopedia - Snake

When Kundalini awakening happens to people who are not on a spiritual path, the experience can leave them fragile and fragmented. As the Kundalini process involves a redefinition and reintegration of self, it adds extra pressure when people wish to suppress the transformation and insist to lead their lives normally.

Read more here: » Kundalini: What is Kundalini?

Naga (Sanskrit) Serpent; the symbol of immortality and wisdom, of renewed births, of secret knowledge and, when the tail is held in the mouth, of eternity. The nagas or serpents of wisdom are, therefore, full initiates: "the first Nagas -- beings wiser than Serpents -- are the 'Sons of Will and Yoga,' born before the complete separation of the sexes, 'matured in the man-bearing eggs produced by the power (Kriyasakti) of the holy sages' of the early Third Race" (SD 2:181).

These first nagas were the original human adepts, who were later symbolized by the terms serpents and dragons. "These 'originals' -- called to this day in China 'the Dragons of Wisdom' -- were the first disciples of the Dhyanis, who were their instructors; in short, the primitive adepts of the Third Race, and later, of the Fourth and Fifth Races. The name became universal, and no sane man before the Christian era would ever have confounded the man and the symbol" (SD 2:210).

The early Mexican word nagual, now meaning sorcerer and medicine man, is akin in its meaning, for "Some of the descendants of the primitive Nagas, the Serpents of Wisdom, peopled America, when its continent arose during the palmy days of the great Atlantis, (America being the Patala or Antipodes of Jambu-Dwipa, not of Bharata-Varsha)" (SD 2:182). The Hebrew equivalent is nahash also meaning magic, enchantment, thus showing the same connection of ideas.

Naga may be equated with Ananta-sesha, the seven-headed endless serpent of Vishnu, "the great dragon eternity biting with its active head its passive tail, from the emanations of which spring worlds, beings and things. . . . The Nag awakes. He heaves a heavy breath and the latter is sent like an electric shock all along the wire encircling Space" (ML 73).

(See also: Naga , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » Dream Interpretation Snake Dictionary

Jnana yoga is the yoga of knowledge - not knowledge in the intellectual sense-but the knowledge of Brahman and Atman and the realization of their unity. Where the devotee of God follows the promptings of the heart, the jnani uses the powers of the mind to discriminate between the real and the unreal, the permanent and the transitory.

Read more here: » Jnana Yoga: The Path of Knowledge - Jnana Yoga

The Prince of Tennis - Season One. Episode 1-10: Interschool ranking arc I Episode 11-21: Vs. Fudomine Arc Episode 22-26: Seigaku Training 001: The Prince Appears 002: Samurai Junior 003: The Seigaku regular members have arrived 004: A man know as a viper 005: Snake Shoot 006: That man, Nanjiroh Echizen... 007: Two Ryoma's 008: Split step 009: The hard day 010: Coun ...

See also:

The Prince of Tennis, The Prince of Tennis - Plot, The Prince of Tennis - Notable rival schools, The Prince of Tennis - Others, The Prince of Tennis - Episode List, The Prince of Tennis - Season One, The Prince of Tennis - Season Two, The Prince of Tennis - Season Three, The Prince of Tennis - Season Four, The Prince of Tennis - Minor Characters, The Prince of Tennis - TV Show, The Prince of Tennis - Opening Themes, The Prince of Tennis - Ending Themes, The Prince of Tennis - Movie, The Prince of Tennis - New OVA Series, The Prince of Tennis - Soundtracks, The Prince of Tennis - Impact

Read more here: » The Prince of Tennis: Encyclopedia II - The Prince of Tennis - Episode List

Aztec culture is generally grouped with the cultural complex known as the Capulli because of the common language they shared. According to legend, the various groups who were to become the Aztecs arrived from the north into the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco. The location of this valley and lake of destination is clear – it is the heart of modern Mexico City – but little can be known with certainty about the origin of the Aztec. In the legend, the ancestors of the Aztec came from a place in the north called Aztlán, the ...

See also:

Aztec, Aztec - Terminology, Aztec - Legends and traditions, Aztec - Rise of the Aztecs, Aztec - The Empire, Aztec - Aztec society, Aztec - Class structure, Aztec - Slavery, Aztec - Recreation, Aztec - Tenochtitlan, Aztec - Education, Aztec - Diet, Aztec - Human sacrifice, Aztec - Poetry, Aztec - Downfall, Aztec - Sources

Read more here: » Aztec: Encyclopedia II - Aztec - Legends and traditions

Karma is the most widely used term in popular spirituality (with an exception of Semitic religions; Christianity, Judaism and Islam). Karma is believed to decide ones progress or failure both in the material as well as spiritual spheres, in terms of health, wealth and even attainment of enlightenment. Karma is one of the cosmic or natural laws governing the universe. Though cosmic laws cannot be defined and can only be understood through application and observation, we will try to define it as much as possible.

Read more here: » Karma: Creating Sat Karma

Use Feng Shui to Make the New Year Better

Every year the energies around us change and affect us differently. In feng shui, cosmic energies play a big role in affecting our well-being. As the earth rotates around the sun, day turns into night and seasons change. The shorter days of winter tend to depress us while spring and summer tend to rejuvenate us. Our financial well-being is related to sunspots on the top of the sun, while sunspots on the bottom of the sun are associated with economic recession. The moon's gravitational forces are known to cause earthquakes and floods.

Read more here: » Feng Shui: Use Feng Shui to Make the New Year Better

Kundalini: A name used in Yoga for a snake like inner energy, that is wrapped around the abdominal region of the body. This is somewhat related to ki, ch'i, and te.

 (See also: Kundalini , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Dream Interpretation Snake Dictionary

The 'soul' metaphysics in Jainism has a very interesting colour-coded concept called the Lesya . According to Jainism, Lesya is determined by the adherence of karmic matter to the jiva or soul, resulting from both good and bad actions. This adherence is compared to the way in which particles of dust adhere to a body smeared with oil.

Read more here: » Jainism: Lesya - Jaina Theory Of Coloured Destiny

Apollo is considered to have dominion over plague, beauty, light, healing, colonists, medicine, archery, poetry, prophecy, dance, reason, intellectualism, Shamans, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. Apollo had a famous oracle in Crete and other notable ones in Clarus and Branchidae. Apollo is known as the leader of the Muses ("musagetes") and director of their choir. His attributes include: swans, wolves, dolphins, bows and arrows, a laurel crown, the cithara (or lyre) and plectrum. The sacrificial tripod is anothe ...

See also:

Apollo, Apollo - Worship, Apollo - Etymology of the name, Apollo - Apollo in art, Apollo - Appellations, Apollo - Birth, Apollo - Youth, Apollo - Apollo and Admetus, Apollo - Apollo During the Trojan War, Apollo - Niobe, Apollo - Apollo's romantic life and children, Apollo - Heterosexual relationships, Apollo - Homosexual relationships, Apollo - Apollo and the Birth of Hermes, Apollo - Other stories, Apollo - Musical contests, Apollo - Miscellaneous, Apollo - Spoken-word myths - audio files, Apollo - Apollo in popular culture

Read more here: » Apollo: Encyclopedia II - Apollo - Worship