This Navaratri we celebrated many special traditions that are unique to the Bengal region of India. This post is an attempt to not only share these special traditions, but also to remember special friends and devotees that Shree Maa and Swamiji hadn’t seen in a long time and to share a few unique moments that […]

(8) Mahagauri Devi ॐ देवी महागौर्यै नमः॥ Om Devi Mahagauryai Namah॥ Mother Durga’s eighth form is Mahagauri, the Goddess of the Great Radiant Light. On the Path to Perfect Attainment, recall that the seventh Goddess, Kalaratri Devi, slays our ego, opening up space for the Divine Light. Ushering in this Divine Light is the role […]

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ॐ देवी कालरात्र्यै नमः॥ Om Devi Kalaratryai Namah॥ Inevitably on the spiritual path we become acutely aware of our egoistic tendencies. We witness the ideas of “me, mine, and I,” which are so conditioned in our thinking process that we blindly, yet ambitiously, go through life, trying to get more and more for ourselves. Unfortunately, […]

Travelogue 1: Travel to Delhi Last Wednesday morning, Shree Maa and Swamiji awoke from their sleep prior to sunrise, performed their morning ablutions, said their morning prayers, and headed to the San Francisco Airport for their departure to incredible India. Shree Maa had a three hour car ride in front of Her from Yuba City […]

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The next temple we visited in Uttarkashi was Kedarnath Mandir (not to be confused with the Jyotir Lingam by the same name, though there is a good reason for the name!) The alley ways to reach the temple were narrow, and only navigable by the smallest of cars (generally they are a place of foot […]

From Haridwar, we traveled to Uttarkashi, where we would make our base camp. Uttarkashi, located in the Himalayas, is further north than Haridwar and Rishikesh. It is a wonderful place to perform sadhana. We used the opportunity to increase the length of our asana by performing Bhagavad Gita and Chandi together each morning, and then […]

Exciting News! Please tune in every morning and evening to join the sankalpa of the Devi Mandir Swamis, LIVE from India! “Our goal is to share our sadhana to empower families, ashrams, and spiritual organizations, to achieve spiritual elevation and financial independence.”    ~ Swami Satyananda Saraswati The typical daily schedule is as follows: Swami Satyananda […]

How To Do Japa Mantra Japa is repeating a mantra over and over again to focus the mind on the deity of worship and the meaning of the mantra. This practice calms the mind and awakens the power, or shakti, of the mantra inside of us. For example, Om Namah Shivaya has numerous benefits for […]