What makes a place sacred? A place where meditation is practised over many years automatically acquires certain powers. The place gets charged with the energy and vibrations from peaceful thoughts. Depending on the intensity of meditators, the sanctity and power of a particular place can thus remain charged, exuding powerful vibrations, for thousands of years.

The Parshvanath Hills is one such place. Twenty-two of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras attained nirvana on this hill, and these enlightened persons were separated by thousands of years.

(See also: Sacred places in India, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

A beautiful woman is one who values herself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Beauty is the total impact of all these aspects. Mind and body are inter-related; the state of one reflects on the other.

Yet another dimension is the soul, the inner beauty. It is more a part of us than mere body and mind; it is indestructible. Beauty includes inner beauty. To be a complete person, you have to work on not only your external beauty; you have to develop your inner beauty also.

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

The tradition of Orisa worship was kept alive by Yoruba slaves. But the second generation Yoruba had lost much of the memory of the primal worldview of our Yoruba ancestors. This work was achieved through my personal experience with the Oku folk culture in Guyana, and direct contact with the people who were struggling to maintain the little know-ledge they retained of Olodumare, whom they called Olorun, and the beautiful Orisa tradition.

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

The traditional concept of man was that of a materialist or spiritualist, moral or immoral person, sinner or saint. A divided man is miserable. He is neither healthy nor whole; the other half that has been denied will go on taking revenge. It will find ways and means to overcome the part you have imposed upon yourself. You will become a battleground, there will be civil war.

In the past we were unable to create real human beings; we made humanoids. A humanoid is one who looks like a human being but is utterly challenged. He has not been allowed to bloom in his totality. He is adhoora, and because he is half is always tense; he cannot celebrate. Celebration is the fragrance of being whole.

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

Leadership is often associated with power. Today, the term has acquired negative connotations, particularly in politics. One has come to question the relative importance of being recognised as a "leader" when what we sorely need are individuals who both lead by their service and example and follow the universally accepted principles of responsible living.

We are beginning to see that traditional autocratic and hierarchical models of leadership are slowly yielding to a newer model. This model - of leaders as servants - will simultaneously enhance the personal growth of the led and improve the quality of our many institutions through a combination of individual and community teamwork in decision-making infused with ethical and caring behaviour.

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

One Friday afternoon, on his way to offer the weekly namaz at a mosque, a friend found an accident victim lying unattended on the road. As he hesitated over what to do a few more passers-by joined him.

Reasoning to himself that the injured person will now be taken care of, he hurriedly continued to walk towards the mosque. But that day, no matter how hard he prayed, peace eluded him.

Something was missing. He agonised over whether he could remain indifferent to a fellow human being's suffering while making fervent attempts to serve God through prayer?

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

Lent is a special season in which Christians prepare for the feast of Easter, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. The word Lent is derived from the old English term 'Lencten' which means 'spring'.

The term derives from the word 'lengthen', referring to the lengthening of the daylight hours. In the northern hemisphere, when Lent begins, the bare trees around seem dead. Underneath the ground and inside, they are very much alive. Spring brings them back to life. Lent tries to do the same for persons, to bring them back to life.

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

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)

The individual's moral fibre had to be strengthened through basic convictions. With this farsightedness, the tenth and last Guru, Gobind Singh, set about honing the faith's dynamics through innovation and personal example. His rigorous self-discipline and inner fortitude were exemplified by his equanimity and poise in the face of tragedies few encounter in their lifetime.

He was nine when he received the head of his father Guru Tegh Bahadur, beheaded in Delhi on the orders of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb. His father had chosen martyrdom to demonstrate to Aurangzeb - and the people of India - that a man convinced of his moral purpose and inalienable right to practise his own religion, is unafraid to die.

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

Color Energy Therapy

The color therapist sees the universe as a hologram, as a multi-faceted gem, and views the person he/she is working with in a "wholistic," holographic way. The color therapist utilizes light energy that emanates from this Source and is reflective of the full color spectrum. Color is frequency of light. Each color hue and shade vibrates on a specific frequency. Certain rays of color can be used for enlightenment, attunement for healing the body, mind, and the emotions. Color therapy can align the spiritual essence of a being. Its multi-level source of emanation makes it one of the most powerful methods of healing.

Read more here: » Color Energy Therapy: A Newly Emerging, Ancient Healing Modality

With the Christmas-New Year festive season round the corner, we are about to spin into another frenetic round of gift-giving. The act of exchanging gifts, however, has undergone a huge metamorphosis, from a personal heartfelt offering to a commercial ritual, true to today's market mantra, which goads one to 'shop till you drop'.

'To give' may not always be the same as 'to gift', although we often take one to be a synonym of the other. In giving is included the emotion of caring for, and nurturing. Whether it is tending a love relationship like a garden or bringing up children, some of the most precious moments of our lives are ones in which we give of ourselves. When we share of our deepest selves and take care of another using our love and energy.

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

Everyday during Ramzan, for one lunar month from sunrise to sunset, Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and smoking.

Why do Muslims undertake to fast during Ramzan? The common answer is that the Qur'an ordains it: ''O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self- restraint (2:183). Socially and personally, fasting has great relevance.''

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

When I was growing up, I thought that "spirituality" was the same thing as "religion," which was something for which I had little respect. My early experiences with organized religion left me convinced that the church was a body of contradictions, from which you would never get a rational, straight answer. I was quite mystified that so many people would go to church every Sunday to engage in something that seemed so irrelevant.

Read more here: » What is Spirituality: Reflections on Spirituality

The act of self-forgiveness changes the energy and physical structures of your cells, and of your DNA. Guilt is a very powerful and deadening emotion. Guilt in itself can, as it were, close down the energy systems of your body, and thereby lessen, and in extreme cases, cut off the flow of Divine Energy and Love to the body entirely. Because each and every one of your cells has consciousness, they too can carry the essence and energy of guilt within them that makes their energy denser.

Read more here: » Forgiveness: Forgiveness and Self-Forgiveness

But the moment logical, educated minds hear the word surrender, they will build forts around themselves.

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

We are schooled to know about our society and nature but not about ourselves, especially the nature of our mind and our spiritual potential.

Even as adults and senior citizens, we remain ignorant of the mischievousness of our mind and the magnanimity of our heart.

Our outward inquisitiveness is rarely turned inward, except at moments when we are struck by grief or crisis. Even those sombre moments do not kindle inward inquiry but leave us in sad quietude. Thus, we continue to be slaves rather than masters of the mind.

(See also: Education and Spirituality, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

If you are a corporate leader and you would like to include spirituality in your organisation's culture, you are not alone.

Business leaders we've met, and management students sometimes ask us if it's really possible to make spirituality an overt and explicit part of an organisational culture - without causing religious conflicts or being inappropriate to an otherwise secular way of operating.

(See also: Corporate Spirituality, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Suffering seems to be one of those fundamental human experiences that we all have in common, and is perhaps the one we would all gladly give up. We often feel oppressed and frustrated by suffering because we do not understand it. It can pierce the heart of our being and our identity, and shake every assumption we hold about ourselves and the world. It often seems to destroy our will-power and overthrow our commitments, to our dismay.

Read more here: » Personal Growth: Understanding Suffering

What are the traditional ways in which people define "personal success at work"? For many, it means one or more of the following:

á  Earning enough money to be materially comfortable in life

á  Progressing in one's career path

á  Gaining positional power and status

á  Producing high-quality work

á  Helping to grow/build an organisation or business

á  Helping to grow people, personally and professionally

á  Serving customers or clients

á  Benefiting other stakeholders, such as society and the environment

á  Providing for the well-being of future generations

How about you? In traditional terms, how would you define your "personal success at work"?

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

The Healing Path begins with an event that changed my life as violently as an earthquake wrenches a river from its course. Its medical label, "cancer," means little. Like other words that try to describe deep human experience--- love, hatred, joy, grief---it only hides the enormity it signifies. Our most personal moments are immune to language. And disease is so ineffably ours, so much part of our own irreproducable tale, that we are almost obliged to call it by our own proper name.

Read more here: » Personal Growth: Book Excerpt of 'The Healing Path...' - Illness As An Inward Journey

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

A group of senior managers was asked to associate words for 'organisation'. Their responses included these words: Hard, rules, procedural, hierarchy, top-down, pressure, challenges.

When asked to give associative words for 'organism', they offered these: Living, evolving, responsive, death, change, linked, inter-dependent. But we don't have sufficient operating images of 'organism' to guide our planning and decisions. To be effective organisations should apply the principles of biology, seeing the organisation as organism.

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