This is the dialogue that took place amongst the great Rishis of India, when they were invited to a conference at Rama’s court in Ayodhya for the occassion of blessing the pregnancy of Sita. …read more
Sadhana and Setting Goals
Topics covered in this Question and Answer session with Swamiji:
- Definition of sadhana
- Regularity in sadhana
- Sadhana plan
- Learning to recite scriptures
- Sankalpa, sadhana, and tapasya
- Making our sadhana strong
- Worship over prayer and meditation
- Beginner practice
- Reducing body-consciousness
- Short intensive or regular non-intensive sadhana
- Group sadhana
- Serving through sadhana
- Manifesting our sadhana as love
- Sadhana and personality
- Who am I?
- Purification
- Managing illness and pain in the course of sadhana
- Cultivating the will for sankalpa
- Lengthening sadhana
- Sadhana and compassion
- Break in sadhana
- Tapasya and siddhis
- Sitting still and being with God
- Brahmamuhurtha
- Devas and Sages are with us
- Setting goals
The Guru-Disciple Relationship
Topics covered in this Question and Answer session with Swamiji:
- Who is a disciple
- Following the example of the Guru
- Diksha
- Bad Guru History
- Guru-disciple relationship
- Attachment and loyalty to the Guru
- Satguru
- Swami, Guru, Sadhu
- Guru’s protection
- Guru taking the karma of the disciple
- Meditation on the Guru’s form
- Supporting the Guru’s sadhana
- Choosing one’s Guru
- Devotion to the Guru
General Questions and Definitions
Topics covered in this Question and Answer session with Swamiji:
- Vegetarianism
- Time tracking
- Duality on this planet
- Coincedence
- Realization
- Challenges facing westerners
- Natural disasters
- Natural phenomena
- Greatness of soul
- Reincarnation
- Pain and suffering
- Role of spiritual questions
- Swamiji’s experiences
- Family karma
- Consciousness in coma
- Vrindavan
- Absolute truth in a relative world
- Desire
- Will and consciousness
- Selfishness
- Intuition and reasoning
- Humility and the causal body
- Sattva
- Respect
- Fear
- Emotions
- Conduct of a great renunciate
- Surrender
- Being at peace while others suffer
- Are obstacles created by past karma
Sahasra Chandi Yajna
At Devi Mandir, the fire was consecrated for the Sahasra Chandi Yajna on January 24th 2005, and has been burning continuously 24 hours a day since that date. What is the Sahasra Chandi Yajna, the vow to recite the Chandi Path daily for a thousand days? Why would we want to remain in one rhythm of worship without going outside the temple for three years? What could we possibly hope to achieve?
We answer these questions in the video and audio classes below.
Our video shows how the fire was invited and inaugurated, established and energized, and how it is being worshipped. To watch the video, click here:
In our audio classes we quote the Chandi itself to describe the tradition of a thousand day yajna. It is the most amazing experience that we can attain in life! The ability to cloister our senses so that we want nothing more than to sing and chant to the Divine Mother Goddess in worship throughout the day and the night.
This is what we propose to do. This discussion tells us from where the tradition has emanated, and what are the possible effects that it can have in our lives.
To hear the classes below you should have the quicktime or real audio players.
Hindi Tattva Jnana Class
Swami Satyananda Saraswati and Shree Maa give a class on Tattva Jnana during their 2016 Summer Yatra in India. For those understand Hindi and have interest in the Knowledge of the Principles will enjoy these classes. The concept contained in them have a direct and practical application to the Sadhana we perform. Hindi Tattva Jnana […]
Travelogue: Festival for Annapurna, Varanasi
Travelogue: Festival for Annapurna, Varanasi During our stay in Varanasi, it so happened that there was a very special festival for Mother Annapurna at the Annapurna Temple. Thousands of devotees streamed in and out of the temple to get a glimpse of the golden Annapurna feeding the solid silver Lord Shiva. We were fortunate to […]
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Travelogue: Satsang in Kolkata
Travelogue: Satsang in Kolkata One evening at the Meera Mandir, Shree Maa and Swamiji conducted a very large satsang. In attendance were many of Shree Maa’s very first devotees and several of Her immediate family members. The hall was large, but the devotees filled it up completely. The celebratory evening began with a puja to […]
Travelogue: Dakshineswar, The Temple of Ramakrishna
Travelogue: Dakshineswar, The Temple of Ramakrishna The last stop on the India tour was Kolkata. The group traveled by plane from Varanasi to Kolkata and, after settling in at the Meera Mandir, visited the Dakshineswar Temple. This temple is special to our lineage as this is where Ramakrishna had spent most of his life worshiping. […]
Travelogue: The Unknown Shiva Lingam of Varanasi – Agnishwara
Travelogue: The Forgotten Shiva Lingam of Varanasi – Agnishwara Shree Maa had a great inspiration to visit the temple of Agnishwara, the Lord of Agni, the Divine Fire. It is said that whoever worships Agnishwara will have no problems from fire or lightning. Most of the residents of Varanasi we spoke to had never heard […]
Travelogue: Shiva Temple in the Village
Travelogue: Shiva Temple in the Village Swamiji has often told us that many of the greatest places for worship are “Anjan”, which means they are unknown to most people (as opposed to being the famous places of pilgrimage). Outside the main city of Varanasi, Swamiji took us to a Lord Shiva Temple in a rural […]
Travelogue: Homa in the Cremation Grounds of Varanasi
Travelogue: Homa in the Cremation Grounds of Varanasi Shree Maa, Swamiji, and the group took a boat ride up the Ganga to the Lalita Ghat. Lalita Ghat is adjacent to the famous Manikarnika Ghat, where many bodies are brought from around India everyday for cremation. Swamiji recounted that this was the same Ghat where he […]
Travelogue: Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple in Varanasi
Travelogue: Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple in Varanasi In the evening, Swamiji took the group to the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple in Varanasi. This temple is one of the sacred temples of Lord Hanuman in the city of Varanasi. It is believed that Tulsidas, the Hindi author of the “Ramayana” founded the temple after a vision […]