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Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824 – 1883) was an important Hindu religious scholar born in Gujarat, India. He was known as the founder of Arya Samaj. He was a sanayasi from his boyhood. Throughout his life, he preached against many Hindu traditions, which he felt were dogmatic and oppressive. These included traditions like child marriage, caste by birth, exclusion of females […]

Continuing with our 2007 topic of “Great Religious Leaders and Philosophers of India”, this month, we will cover teachings of one of influential religious leader of Nineteenth century, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. He fought against ritualism and superstition that was wide spread and all pervasive in India . As such, all of our religious leaders addressed various aspects of religion, spiritualism […]

We will start the year with Swami Vivekananda, the Valiant monk who proclaimed in America the greatness of Hinduism and of Indian culture at a time when the west regarded India as a land of Barbarians . The beloved disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, he was the great thinker and mighty man of action. Swami Vivekananda was born on 12th […]

Samadhi is the final state of meditation in yoga. Samadhi means “to bring together, to merge.” In this state of Samadhi the body and senses are at rest, as if asleep, yet the mind and reason are alert, as if awake; one goes beyond consciousness. It is final experience in which yogi attains to a state of perfection. The achievement […]

Dhyaan is the seventh limb of yoga. When mind is fully engaged on a particular thought or idea without interruption, it is said to be in Dhyaan. In this state person forgets its surroundings, his body or anything that is connected with him. During meditation mind should be fixed on the work of God. Fix thoughts on Gayatri Mantra together […]

Dharana means withdrawing your mind from outside objects and fixing it on an idea or image. In concentration all the rays of mind are collected and fixed on a center or an idea. No painter, sculptor, musician, sportsman, or student can hope to succeed if his mind is not engaged in the task on hand. So, in yoga also, concentration […]

Self-control – the fifth limb of Yoga What is Pratyahara Pratyahara means disengagement of the senses from their objects of attachment. Every sense has objects of natural inclination. These natural inclinations if not controlled can be quite distracting. For example, any pleasing – or annoying – sound can easily divert the attention of a person from whatever he or she […]

(Breath Control – the fourth limb of Yoga) Pranayama is a special method of breath-control with which life-force is brought under control and made regular. This is achieved by controlling the incoming and outgoing breath. How can we perform Pranayama? There are three main stages: Purak: This is the way of drawing in breath slowly. Stambhak: This is retention of […]

(Postures – the third limb of Yoga) Aasans are a system of exercises to make all parts of the body strong and healthy. Out of eight limbs of Yoga, it is one of the widely known and practiced aspects. Aasan regulate breathing, ensure proper digestion of food and increase longevity. The eventual purpose of Aasan is to calm the mind […]