Indian dance cannot be isolated from the art of literature, painting sculpture and music. Indian dance has a unique body of myths and legend to support the view that the art occupied a central place in the society and religion of the people of India.

The dance styles of Traditional Indian Dance are known as Bharathanatiyam, KathaKali , Kuchipodi , Manipuri, Orrissi and Kathak of each evolved it's own individual vocabulary of movement. Indian Dance is a spiritual practice and a "collaboration with God".

Read more here: » Spiritual Dance: Traditional Indian Dance

Art is a collaboration between God and man, raising him to the exclusive band of creators and taking him deeply within and around his handiwork. It is a unique result of a unique temperament with its beauty derived from mutable disconcern of his environment. Leela Ganapathy, retired Professor of Arts, share her vivid knowledge about the Indian Arts and Dance are recognised as a bridge between the divine and our day to day life and our society.

Read more here: » Spiritual Dance: Dance in Spiritual Indian Art

dance: See: tandava, Nataraja.

(See also: Dance , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Indian Dance Dictionary

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

One of the participants at the Oneness Festival share his personal experiences of the Oneness Festival that took place February 16-22 2004 in India. This article give you an idea of what happens at the Oneness Festivals that take place twice annualy outside the village of Varadepalyam 90 km North of Madras/Chennai in India.

Read more here: » What happened at the Oneness Festival Feb 16-22 2004?

Get a feel for what happened at the last festival at The Spiritual Retreats.

Read more here: » A snapshot of the first Oneness Festival, August 2-8 2003

Sravana, a Month Devoted to Shiva

The devout spend the entire month of Sravana in austerities and worship of Shiva, culminating in the Sravana Purnima on Raksha Bandhan day. Shiva is beyond the gunas, as His trident represents all three, sattva, rajas and tamas. The elephant skin attire indicates that he is beyond pride; the tiger skin symbolises his going beyond lust, and the snake around his neck represents wisdom and eternity.

Read more here: » Shiva: Sravana, a Month Devoted to Shiva

The Vedas 

The Vedas are the Divine scriptures of ancient India and in modern times can be traced as least as far back as 12,OOO B.C. a lthough it is generally accepted tat the Vedas appear at different times of the cosmic creation forte benefit of human society. They are considered to be the revelations of the Divine nature, and its relationship within and without us. "Mantra" is the term used to mean Divine sound vibration or the word of God. There are teachings of mantras (hymns), teachings of ritual, theology, and philosophy at the root of all the vedic sciences. The point of all is the knowledge of the soul called "atma vidya", being our real "self" and separate and distinct from the material body , and the material world which surrounds us.

Read more here: » The Vedas: Divine scriptures of ancient India - The Vedas

Islam and Hinduism: Symbiotic Mysticism In Devotional Poems

Few have heard of the mystic poems Brahma Prakash or Dasa Avatar by the mediaeval Muslim saint Pir Shams. Both are famous ginans of South Asia's Ismaili community, sometimes also known as Khojas or Aga Khanis in popular parlance.

Ginans are hymn-like poems of spiritual import. They are revered by the faithful in deep veneration as repositories of wisdom and spiritual knowledge, and as transmitting the essential teachings of the Holy Qur'an in the vernacular. Composed in Sindhi, Gujarati, Hindustani and Punjabi among other subcontinental languages, the oldest are ascribed to the pirs or saints who first preached Ismaili Islam in India nearly 1,000 years ago.

Read more here: » Islam and Hinduism: Symbiotic Mysticism In Devotional Poems

Knowledge of Ancient Indian History and Culture: The Mahabharata contains also the immortal discourse of Bhishma on Dharma, which he gave to Yudhishthira, when he was lying on the bed of arrows. The whole Mahabharata forms an encyclopaedia of history, morals and religion unsurpassed by any other epic in the world.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Ancient Indian History and Culture: Knowledge of Ancient Indian History and Culture in the Hindu Scriptures

How vastu is working and how bad vastu can be rectified. Describes earth energies impact on the chakra system. The ancient science of Vastu is the Indian counterpart of Feng Shui.

Read more here: » Vastu: Vasthu, the Indian Vedic science of Environmental bliss

In India we find the oldest continually operating pilgrimage tradition in the entire world. The practice of pilgrimage in India is so deeply embedded in the cultural psyche and the number of pilgrimage sites is so large that the entire subcontinent may actually be regarded as one grand and continuous sacred space. Martin Gray spent the last 20 years visiting more than thousand sacred sites around the world and he guides us to some of the sacred sites of India.

Read more here: » Sacred Places: Sacred Sites, places and temples in India

Holi:

IN DAYS of yore, there were communities of cannibals in India. They caused much havoc. They threatened the lives of many innocent people. One of them was Holika or Putana. She took immense delight in devouring children. Sri Krishna destroyed her and thus saved the little children. Even today, the effigy or figure of Holika is burnt in the fire. In South India, the clay figure of Cupid is burnt. This is the origin of the great festival of Holi.

From Hindu Fasts & Festivals by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Holi: Hindu Festivals - The Holi Festival

India is the sacred land which has given birth to countless sages, Rishis, Yogins, saints and prophets. India is the land that has produced many Acharyas or spiritual preceptors like Sri Sankara and Sri Ramanuja; many saints like Kabir, Ramdas, Tukaram and Gauranga Mahaprabhu; many Yogins like Jnana Dev, Dattatreya and Sadasiva Brahman; and many prophets like Buddha and Nanak. Buddha is our flesh and blood.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hinduism: The Spiritual Soil Of India

A message about the forthcoming Venus Transit from the Mayan Elders thru Carlos Barrios, a Mayan Ajq'ij that has been given the mission by his elders to begin sharing the prophecies and teachings of the Mayan peoples with the rest of the world.

“Now that we are at the gates of a New Path of Venus over the Face of the Sun on June 7-8 2004, the least we can do is expecting a new change in the outcome of humanity. Death is knocking at our doors. The drums of war can be heard. Intransigence, the destruction of our Mother Earth, pollution, new diseases, the resurging of old plagues, global warming, the fear of world conflict, intolerance and fundamentalism in any of its manifestations, negligence, apathy, the confusion or worst still the extreme estrangement of drug abuse. --- While reason and logic tell us that we have to stop all this madness, we are living in the age of prophecies, and the responsibility of balancing things is ours. There is no more time to play; it is know time to act. --- The great guardian brings the energy of a new beginning, the beginning of a new era.”

It sounds like a pessimistic prophecy but can be compared to what the Indian Avatar Sri Kalkis view. Kalki says that the Venus Transit of June 2004 is the start of the Golden Age, but he is also saying:

“Humanity is entering the most crucial phase of its existence. The coming decade shall witness the most unprecedented and undreamt of changes in the course of its long evolution. There is nothing much humanity could do about it, other than to understand the changes occurring around it and to flow with the changes that are overpowering it. Towards the end, humanity would enter a new age, The Golden Age. The transition will be a painful process. Only those whose relationships are in order would make it easily.”

Read more here: » Venus Transit: A message to the world from the Mayan Elders about the coming Venus Transit

A dictionary Of Commonly Used Sanskrit terms. From Tada to Yukta.

Please note that all words in grey, like "yoga", "enlightenment" or "kundalini" are hyperlinked to archives further explaining the term. At the corresponding archive you will also find articles related to the term.

For more dictionary entries, see » Indian Dance Dictionary

Hindu view on Science, Knowledge and Education

Hindu scriptures recognize two types of knowledge: the lower knowledge and the higher knowledge. Knowledge of the rites and rituals and scholarly study of scriptures is considered to be lower knowledge, while higher knowledge is the knowledge of Atman and Brahman gained through personal experience or self realization. Of the two, the Higher Knowledge alone is true, because it liberates the individuals from the cycle of births and deaths.

Read more here: » Hinduism and Science:Hindu view on Science, Knowledge and Education

Vastu Shastra is the Indian science of space and architecture and how we may create spaces and environment that supports physical & spiritual health and prosperity.
Vastu Shastra evolved during Vedic times in India. The concepts of Vastu Shastra was transferred to Tibet, South East Asia and finally to China and Japan where it provided the base for the development of what is now known as Feng Shui.
Vastu Shastra is the art and science of designing houses, offices, temples etc that swirl with good energy. Indian Maharajas and Moghul Emperors used Vastu Shastra when they built their symmetrical palaces, artificial lakes, and geometric courtyards that thirstily absorbed positive energy.

Read more here: » Vastu Shastra: What is Vastu Shastra?

Mitchell Rabin is a therapist, Energy-Balancing practitioner and stress management consultant in NYC. He teaches, writes and is now completing his second book. Since 1993, he is hosting and producing a cable TV show called A Better World in the US. In this article, Mitchell share his personal enlightening experience of a meeting with Kalki in India.

Read more here: » Personal experience of enlightenment: A trip to India

Religious observances, traditional worship and Vratas have, at times, more than one significance. Apart from being the adoration of the Divine, they are commemorative of stirring bygone events, allegoric when interpreted from the occult standpoint, and are significant pointers guiding the Jiva on his path to Realisation.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Worship: Worship in Hinduism for different Hindu Gods