The doctrine of Paticca-samuppada is the cornerstone of Buddhism. It says nothing happens without a cause, and every cause has an effect. This law applies to every entity living or dead, big or small, from individual to communities, societies to nations.

Paticca-samuppada is also called the law of cause and effect. Paticca means 'dependent upon’, samuppada means 'arising’. This doctrine is applied to the wheel of life, which consists of 12 interdependent causes and effects.

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

Read more here: » Paticca-samuppada: Play of Sensations And Wheel of Life  

Indian philosophy’s focus is to determine the nature of that spirit or self which is the centre of everything, the animating force which makes a person alive, alert and aware.

It is consciousness, variously called the Self, Knower, Seer, Experiencer or the Witness. It knows no distinction of gender, nationality, race or religion. It is the unchanging and all-pervading, transcending the limitations of time and space, birth and death. Ultimately it is the substratum or essence of the entire manifest universe.

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

Read more here: » Consciousness: The Fourth State Of Consciousness  

Earth, water, fire, wind, sky, the astral bodies, dawn, night, thunderstorms and lightning are all worshipped and deified in Hinduism. If God is 'all’, then where is his abode?

"The Hindu firmly believes that the countless viewpoints of God (the different religions) are all valid and will lead us to the same God. The ultimate experience is beyond the pale of the ego; but the highest spiritual experiences, too, may differ from person to person, as is revealed in the different religions... "Even they who seek material gains - or even spiritual perfection - resort to God only through the various divinities; and God responds to them through the same channel. We adore God in various ways. This knowledge frees us from fear, attachment, anger, intolerance and proselytism".

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

Read more here: » Gods in Hinduism: Multiple Paths To The Supreme One  

Neither the body nor the senses are real - these are only instruments of varied expressions and actions associated with the temporal world of Atman , the Divine Self.

It is on realising the Atman that we become aware that we are essentially a fragmented part of the Universal Soul.

The individual consciousness though infinite and one, is manifested in finitude of body and mind. The goal of human life is attaining oneness with the infinite.

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

Read more here: » Oneness: Viveka And Vairagya Dispel Illusion  

What is a human being’s dharma?

Every entity and idea has its own distinct characteristic which differentiates it from another. Water has the property of making things wet. As long as it has this property, people will call it water. Similarly, as long as fire has the property of burning things, it will be called fire. When it loses this property, it will no longer be called fire.

Human beings also have a dharma, which marks them as human. The corporeal body is not the limit of our consciousness.

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

Read more here: » Bhagavata Dharma: Limitless Pleasure - Bhagavata Dharma  

As the sighting of the moon is a must in Islam to signal holy occasions, so is the confluence of the full moon, pournami , and the star Pushya in the month of Makara or January. It is a day consecrated to the worship of Subrahmanya - he who is full of bliss and effulgence - the younger son of Shiva. He is more or less appropriated by the Tamils as their own god; temples to Kartikeya dot the state, most of them situated on hilltops, in places like Palani and Tiruttani, in thick forests as in Subrahmanya in Dakshina Kannada and on the seashore as in Tiruchendur.

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

Read more here: » Subrahmanya: The Child as the Guru of God  

Where is your brother, God asked, at the beginning of Biblical history. The original context was that of bloodshed: Brother killing brother, which is what every murder really is. Within the vision of vasudaiva kutumbakam , can anyone, even the most abhorred enemy, be less than a brother?

The Cain-Abel story provides deep insight into religion-related tensions: First, it is in the context of religion that brother kills brother. The very purpose of religion is being largely misunderstood. The purpose of religion is to enable us to be keepers rather than killers of each other, protectors rather than predators of life and nature. The ascendancy of vested interests in religion, however, degrades it into a licence for murder and mayhem, as has happened in the history of all religions.

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

Read more here: » Religion: The Spiritual Sword Of Self-denial

With technology and the Internet, it might just be possible to witness a lot more Buddhas and Sankaras taking shape. Recent scientific evidence suggests that human beings are wired to think about spiritual matters once their basic needs are met. Technology allows us to take care of our basic needs so that a large number of people can focus on higher, spiritual matters. It also allows rapid information dissemination and generates debate and discussion, thus facilitating communion with higher thought.

Technological progress also unravels a lot of hidden areas and shows how nature performs its miracles. In doing this, technology helps us understand the power and greatness of nature. For instance, we thought we'd invented and developed fibre optics. Scientists, however, find that the root systems of plants are excellent optical fibres - and they've existed in nature for millions of years.

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

Read more here: » Spirituality and technology  : The Hi-tech Route To Reach Nirvana  

Many questions arise concerning the role of suffering. These questions include: How is there suffering in a world created by a good God who cares for and loves His creation? For the Christian the quintessential question is why does God’s plan include the suffering and death of His own Son? Paul sees the death of Christ not only as a propitiatory or vicarious sacrifice, but as a colossal cosmic occurrence.

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

Read more here: » Suffering: Redemptive Power of Suffering  

Godhra is a major electoral issue as Gujarat goes to the polls. The likes of Gujarat’s politicians could not have occasioned Basile’s remark: ''Memory is the cabinet of the imagination, the treasury of reason, the registry of conscience, and, the council chamber of thought.’’ This is not so when memory is used to imagine annihilation, reason for carnages, exhort those in majority to shun their conscience, and banish civilised thoughts of religious coexistence.

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

Read more here: » Politics: Politics of Memory - Reliving the Pain  

Ayurveda and Yoga can be called sister sciences of 'self-healing and self-realisation'. Both evolved from a Vedic background in ancient India, based on the same philosophy, sharing many practices. Ayurveda, the 'yogic form of healing', is aimed at bringing us back into harmony with our true Self or Atman . The great Ayurvedic teacher Charaka defines Ayurveda as the harmony of body, prana , mind and soul. Patanjali defines yoga as controlling the mind in order to realise the Purusha .

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

Read more here: » Ayurveda: Ayurveda and Yoga - Healing Touch  

We are in reality one with God, but the reflection makes us seem many. The reflection must vanish if we are to identify ourselves with our true Divine nature.

What is the nature of this unchangeable Brahman ? He cannot be seen, cannot be sensed. Yet he is the Absolute - from whom everything comes. Like the spokes of a wheel that radiate from the hub, all creation radiates from Him.

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

Read more here: » Brahmagyan: Brahmagyan, Mother Of All Knowledge  

Recently, 65-year-old Kuttu Bai of Madhya Pradesh immolated herself on her husband’s pyre, sending shock waves across the country. There were a few, however, who remained unmoved.

Was sati really a part of Hindu religion, as is claimed by some?

Parvati, Shiva’s consort, is often referred to as ' Sati ’. Once, she went uninvited to attend a yagna her father was conducting. On hearing him speak derogatorily of Shiva, an upset and angry Parvati jumped into the fire. In another story, ' Sati ’ Savitri, a princess whose husband died barely a year after they got married, confronted Yamraj, the God of Death. Because of sheer persistence, Savitri managed to extract from him a boon of longevity for her husband. In return, she offered to follow Yamraj to his abode. However, there is no scriptural evidence of any woman committing sati on her dead husband’s pyre.

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

Read more here: » Sati: Two Kinds of Values: Eternal & Transitory  

Sundarkand forms part of Ramcharitmanas of Goswami Tulsidas which is commonly known as Tulsi Ramayana. It is the essence of the Ramcharitmanas, and is awarded as much importance as the Bhagavad Gita in the Mahabharata.

Like the Gita, the Sundarkand can be read independently. It has a powerful theme: When you are on a good mission, God gives you strength to overcome all obstacles. Sundarkand commences with Hanuman’s departure for Lanka in search of Sita and ends with Rama and his army’s preparation to reach Lanka across the sea. This entire episode is called sundar or beautiful because every act described in it is auspicious, elevating the human mind and promoting right human values.

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

Read more here: » Sundarkand: All’s Well That Ends Well - Sundarkand  

Both science and spirituality need to work together to understand total reality. In the Gita, Krishna says: ''It is the knowledge of matter with its evolutes and the spirit which I consider as wisdom’’ (13.2). Bertrand Russell wrote: ''Unless man increases in wisdom as much as in knowledge, increase of knowledge will only be increase of sorrow.’’

Science is limited to the outer, physical world of objects. 'Veda’ deals with knowledge of both the outer (physical) and inner (psycho-spiritual) worlds. Vedas have a larger connotation as they stand for eternal truths.

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

Read more here: » Science and spirituality: Marrying Science And Spirituality  

Whenever I come across news of violence, be it between individuals, mob factions or between countries, a nightmare usually envelops me, of a return to the days of the caveman. But scenes of the incineration of innocents at Godhra and the retaliatory mass live-burning of hundreds in other parts of Gujarat brought back poignant memories of the Partition massacres.

In extenuation, apologists among us could seek to ascribe the latter at least partially to the departing Brits but who do we blame for our own Millennium Abel and Cain act this past week? Only ourselves: In a land which boasts of its sanskriti, sabhyata, and itihaas - noble words uttered from political pulpits especially at election times, what surfaced in the past week is bestiality at its best (worst?).

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

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Our Ishta Devata Lives Within Us

The Bhagavad Gita has been universally hailed by the learned as truly reflecting the essence of all the Vedas. Its depth, richness and rationality of philosophy have universal appeal.

It teaches man that the true goal of life is union with God or the Supreme Impersonal-Personal Brahman, and the principal means to attain it are the four paths of karma or work, jnana or knowledge, yoga or psychic control and bhakti or loving devotion.

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

Read more here: » Bhakti Yoga: Krishna's Choice - Bhakti Yoga  

Whenever the Golden Temple is mentioned, we tend automatically to think of the beautiful Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, which is known worldwide by that name. However, there is another Golden Temple down South - the great Nataraja temple at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu.

This temple figures prominently in Tamil Shaivite literature and is considered to be one of the most holy spots dedicated to Lord Shiva, next in importance to Mount Kailash itself.

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

Read more here: » Nataraja: Dance of Shiva in The Golden Temple - Nataraja  

The nature of Atman is pure consciousness, and though the phenomena are perceived to be taking place, in reality they are only aspects of consciousness. Consciousness is not affected by them. The Atman is 'hidden’ inside all of us, as a bee is hidden inside a lotus flower. It will be futile to seek it in the water or air outside.

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

Read more here: » Nirvikalp Samadhi: Pure Consciousness: Nirvikalp Samadhi  

Through the years, history shows that despite the existence of the caste system and its abuse by vested parties, the idea of equality has always ruled supreme in the minds of India’s sages. In fact, many of India’s most revered saints and philosophers came from the lowest strata of society.

Few are aware about the sacrifices made by some who, since ancient times, have silently worked to uplift human values.

Today, very few know of the invaluable contributions of the selfless humanists who have worked relentlessly for the uplift of the marginalised classes. The name of B R Ambedkar, however, is still fresh in public memory as the saviour of the Dalits. Atrocities continue to be heaped on the weaker sections, in one form or the other. Many saints and sages have stood by the Dalits and many of them were Dalits themselves. The work done by these saints are the real heritage of the Dalits.

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

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Secular and Sacred Equality  

Swami Ranganathananda of the Ramakrishna Mission says that when a soul is uplifted, a worthwhile conversion takes place that takes the soul vertically upward - from bad to good. This conversion benefits both the individual and society. Organised religion has two sides to it: One is dogmatic, narrow, given to fanaticism, that insists on rituals, rules, regulations, disciplines. The other side, the spiritual, elevates and feeds the soul and accepts goodness in all religions. Rituals and prayers are merely means to rein in our senses to bring out our sattvic gunas.

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

Read more here: »  : Inspiring Tales of True Conversion  

Ever since historian Ananda Coomaraswamy extolled the Nataraja bronze (dancing Shiva) from Tamil Nadu as ''poetry but nonetheless science’’, interpreting the Nataraja as the ''cosmic dance’’ of Shiva has been widely accepted.

Fritjof Capra catapulted Nataraja into a modern-day scientific icon when he euphorically stated in his cult book of 1974 The Tao of Physics that ''the dancing Shiva is the dancing universe, the ceaseless flow of energy going through an infinite variety of patterns that melt into one another’’.

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

Read more here: » Nataraja: Nataraja Reveals Cosmic Secrets