Rudra Chatterjee

Though born a Hindu, I didn’t really start learning about my religion until I was in my university years. And whenever one wants to learn about Hinduism, the natural first stop tends to be listening to what the swamis and gurus have to say; and they always seems to stress that one ought to practice renunciation; that desire is wrong and that one should be unattached to their work in order to be one with Brahman (as in the Universal Consciousness). Now for a novice in Hindu thought, learning all this is good and all, but unless it’s all placed in the wider perspective of Hindu teachings, it can actually lead to some really strange results. They certainly did for me.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW REST OF ARTICLE

Shivratri is one of the most popular festivals in the Hindu world, celebrated with devotion and fervour by millions of Hindus each year. This year it falls on March 6th (today!).

In the Hindu view, the Divine Being transcends all human conceptualisation, yet can be approached in many ways. The deities of Hinduism reflect realizations of God on various levels, as experienced by ancient Rishis in deep meditation. Shiva is one of the most important deities, and His worship forms part of the daily lives of many Hindus. He is the Lord of Yogis, the Lord of Time and the Destroyer. The destructive aspect of Shiva is not something to be feared; it is destruction for the purpose of regeneration. He destroys that which is old and impure in order to make room for a new creation, which is pure and divine. On an inward level, He oversees the annihilation of old habits, attachments and ego - all essential for us to progress on the spiritual path.

CLICK HERE TO READ REST OF ARTICLE

Such lists are subjective, and mine is no exception. I had to leave out many obviously impressive ideas, such as airplanes, space travel, weapons that can destroy the world, embryo transplantation, multiple babies from the same embryo, space travel, and so on — from just the Mahabharata and the Puranas. (Lest I be misunderstood, we are not speaking of real planes, bombs, and biotechnology, but rather of the conception of their possibility.)

The ideas that I chose are perhaps more fundamental than those above that I left out. Ultimately, I used the criterion of not just originality, but continuing relevance and sheer improbability of the thought of it in the ancient world.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW REST OF ARTICLE

An analogy with a Cold War era Soviet diplomat’s confusion when arriving in an American city for the first time provides perhaps the best way to appreciate Hinduism’s apparent “pick and choose” approach to spirituality.

CLICK HERE TO READ REST OF ARTICLE

Being a Hindu girl I’ve always liked reading or hearing about great Hindu women of the past. There are many such as Mirabai, Ansuyadevi and Jhansiki Rani, whose stories have fascinated me since I was a kid.

Recently I read about another such woman, Shri Sharada Devi, lovingly called ‘The Holy Mother’ by followers. She is best known as being the wife of Shri Ramakrishna, one of the most famous God-intoxicated yogis of relatively recent times, who was also the guru of Swami Vivekananda. However, her life is a worthy example in its own right, displaying courage, sweetness, knowledge, wisdom, sacrifice and self-control. No doubt in today’s world certain things are achieved by being aggressive and self-seeking, but often a gentler approach can still allow great achievements and without sacrificing inner peace and balance. And that’s what is lacking in people’s life in this era.

CLICK HERE TO READ REST OF ARTICLE

On Monday the 11th of Feb it was Saraswati puja, when we all worship the Goddess of arts, knowledge and wisdom and as since there are so many students in our house, it is always a big deal. Being half term, all the siblings and cousins were at home and those who lived out made it a point to come home to the family house that day.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW REST OF ARTICLE

Non-violence is the cardinal virtue recognized in Sanatana Dharma or any universal tradition. Non-violence is the supreme Dharma, the great law of life. To the extent that we fall from non-violence we cease to be truly religious and lose our connection with God.

CLICK HERE TO READ REST OF ARTICLE

“I’m not taking the piss, but you Hindus pray to everything… even money!” so said a certain acquaintance of mine, at university once.

He was browsing through a leaflet about Diwali, that was being distributed at a Diwali party which he came along to (many non-Hindus come to such events). He made his comment in reference…..

CLICK HERE TO READ REST OF ARTICLE 

Most Hindus living in the West have an urge at one point in their lives to learn about Hinduism. Sometimes the curiosity arises from a genuine desire for guidance in life. In other cases the urge to look into Hinduism comes from a particular incident – for example being asked questions that we’re not able to answer. There may be any number of different starting points to an individual’s quest.

CLICK HERE TO READ REST OF ARTICLE

The reason for me writing this article stems back to an incident which occurred a few months ago. A group of friends were using a room in my house to do some filming, and one of their younger cousins was there with them. Afterwards everybody got into a discussion about religion, and one of the comments which most people agreed on was that Hinduism is not a religion in the usual sense of the word, but a path to discover your dharma. However my friend’s cousin, who was a few years younger, commented “You keep talking about dharma, but what is dharma?” This was his first and only comment in the whole discussion.

CLICK HERE TO READ REST OF ARTICLE