Sit Dictionary

Channelling or medium ship is quickly taking root more in the western world than in the eastern; though it has been silently practiced in the Orient too for hundreds of years. Channelling is a process of opening our consciousness to a higher reality! The aim of Channelling is to attract a high-level teacher guide whose highest purpose is your spiritual growth and well-being. Learn more about channelling with examples from different cultures.

Read more here: » Channelling: Understanding Channelling

To suit the different constitutions, temperament and purpose, in Pranayama there are many varieties of exercises, viz., deep breathing exercise, Sukha Purvaka (easy comfortable) Pranayama during walking, Pranayama during meditation, Rhythmical breathing, Suryabheda, Ujjayi, Sitkari, Sitali, Bhastrika, Bhramari, Murchha, Plavini, Kevala Kumbhaka, etc. Of all the above exercises only the last eight are described in the Hatha Yogic texts.

Excerpt from the book Kundalini Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Pranayama exercises: Pranayama Exercises for Awakening the Kundalini

 The beginning of the New Year is the right time to carry out some   Vaastu  measures to bring love, peace and prosperity for your entire family. It's the time for get-togethers with family and friends and for strengthening old ties that might have been ignored for sometime. 

 While you welcome the New Year, these  Vaastu   measures will bring along love and luck.

Read more here: » Vaastu Shastra: A Vaastu Welcome for the New Year

Chanting of mantras and the practice of meditation are time-honoured traditions in oriental religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. Christians use the concept of chanting in a variety of ways in their prayer. The Divine Office or Prayer of the Church is a rhythmic recitation or singing of the Psalms in monastic communities. For a Christian the practice of meditation is the practice of an 'awareness' of God in Christ. Equally, at the heart of the practice of Christian meditation is the essential onslaught on the 'ego' so that we may be completely free from its domination. Prophet Isaiah says (30:15): "In conversion and tranquillity lies your salvation".

Read more here: » Spiritual Practices: Christian Mantras And Meditation

In the stillness of the night, when not a sound breaks the hushed silence, they timorously creep into your mind. Fragile, flittering forms—often more real than reality—seek you out from the deepest abyss of your soul and open for you a vista of visions—nonsensical, terrifying, fantastic—and sometimes, just sometimes, hauntingly beautiful. You wake up with a lump in your throat that threatens to cascade down your eyes, a lingering nostalgia for something near, yet eternity away. But weren't you closer to believing, even then, that somewhere, all that you saw was real; that, beyond the tangible truth of ticking time, you had lived one moment of timeless infinity? Perhaps that's the secret. The chance to glimpse beyond. Why else should we take a dream, those phantasms of the chaotic unconscious, so seriously?

Read more here: » Meaning of Dreams: Dream Works

Dear Children,

I like being with children and talking to them and, even more, playing with them. For the moment I forget that I am terribly old and it is very long ago since I was a child.

But when I sit down to write, I cannot forget my age and the distance that separates you from me. Old people have a habit of delivering sermons and good advice to the young.

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

Read more here: » Love and Happiness: Nehru's Letter To Children

We have all heard and used the expression, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." This expression is based on a very old superstition, and is one of many associated with apples. You have probably also held an apple in one hand and twisted the stem while reciting the alphabet to ascertain the initial of that "special someone" - the apple of our eye. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, we are moved by the gracious and dignified austerity of Hester Prynne's declaration that "A is for Apple." There is a very long tradition of prediction and divination with apples. A great many of them, of course, are associated with love and relationships.

Read more here: » Apple as Symbol: Apple Divination - The Symbolism of Apples

 Vaastu instructions for the Location Of Dining Room In The House and Interior Planning Of The Dining Room.

Read more here: » Vaastu: Vaastu For Your Dining Room

Double Birthmarks: The Case Of Titu

The case of Titu Singh that appeared in the London-based magazine Reincarnation International is one of the more fascinating cases of double birthmarks. This story was first broadcast in 1990 on the BBC TV news program "Forty Minutes." The case of Titu who named names and details of his own murder made for exciting TV drama. By the way, the resemblance to the case of Ravi Shankar is not surprising because cases of murdered victims returning in a new body to haunt their murderers is not an uncommon theme in these past life cases.

Read more here: » Double Birthmarks: The Case Of Titu

Agura: Sitting cross-legged, where neither foot is placed firmly on the opposite thigh. This is neither the half or full lotus position. It is the common cross-legged position used to sit on the floor in the West.

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

 Instructions on Meditation.

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

Read more here: » Meditation: Special Instructions on Meditation

Relationship Compatibility Using Vedic Astrology

So many people nowadays are experiencing problems in their relationships and could well benefit by utilizing the science of astrology to understand themselves, as well as their partner, or prospective partner. When I'm asked to do compatibility charts for couples, I begin by doing each of their lifetime horoscopic charts. I will then compare the two using the eastern astrological system of comparison for marriage but most importantly I look at the two individuals, their goals in life and the way they think and act. These things can be understood by careful analysis of the horoscope.

Excerpt from "An Introduction to Vedic Astrology" by Howard Beckman

Read more here: » Vedic Astrology: Vedic Astrology - Relationship Compatibility Using Astrology

During the Spiral Twists yoga position (Ardha Matsyendrasana) your vertebrae are mobilized; the exercises also allow more nourishment to reach the roots of the spinal nerves and the sympathetic nevous system.

Read more here: » Yoga Positions: Spinal Twisting - Yoga Position

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.

Since the time when man experienced the first flicker of self-awakening, his attention has remained focused on problems of worldly existence. No sooner is one problem solved, a new one springs up, thereby creating stress and tension in the mind.

In the last few years, people have turned to meditation as a way to overcome emotional and mental strain. Meditation helps us withdraw our attention from the outer world and focus it at a point between and behind our eyebrows, thereby stimulating what is called the 'third eye'. By focusing our attention on it, we can reach higher levels of consciousness.

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

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Ways To Overcome Stress - Meditation

There are different kinds of meditation. A particular kind is best suited for a particular mind. The kind of meditation varies according to taste, temperament, capacity and type of mind of the individual.

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

Read more here: » Meditation: Different Kinds of Meditation

Benefits of Vaastu Shastra

The Vaastu Shastras have offered many benefits to the user of a built space. These benefits are deeply connected to the meaning and reasons behind the living processes of people. In general most human beings are struggling to find harmony and well being.

Read more here: » Vaastu Shastra:

Sacred Places: Tree Of Knowledge Can Liberate You

Siddhartha Gautam roamed in search of the secret of sorrow and suffering. At Gaya, a village on the banks of the river Niranjana in Bihar, he sat in silent contemplation under a banyan tree.

He attained enlightenment there, and became known as the Buddha. The spot began to be referred to as the Throne of Wisdom, and the banyan tree is now known as the Eternal Wisdom Tree, the Akshaya Bodhibriksha .

Read more here: » Sacred Places: Tree Of Knowledge Can Liberate You

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  

Ayurveda and Herbal Medicine

Today, you may think in this technologically advanced society, (as I sit by my computer writing this, and you sit by yours reading it) there are a whole range of patented chemical drugs tailored for all ailments, so why use herbal medicines?

Herbs are as effective for healing today as they were in our grandmothers' day, and for thousands of years before that. We may live in a very different world today but the human body hasn't changed, in fact it's often struggling to cope with ifs new modern environment.

Read more here: » Herbal Medicine: Ayurveda and Herbal Medicine

Four Asanas are prescribed for the purpose of Japa and meditation. They are Padmasana, Siddhasana, Svastikasana and Sukhasana. You must be able to sit in any one of these four Asanas at a stretch for full three hours without shaking the body. Then only you will get Asana-Jaya, mastery over the Asana. Without securing a steady Asana, you cannot further get on well in meditation. The steadier you are in your Asana, the more you will be able to concentrate and make your mind one-pointed. If you can be steady in the posture even for one hour, you will be able to acquire one-pointed mind and feel thereby infinite peace and Atmic Ananda.

Excerpt from the book Kundalini Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Asanas: Importance Of Asanas