Hinduism {Sanskrit/Hindi - Hindū Dharma, also known as Sanātana (eternal) Dharma and Vaidika (of the Vedas) Dharma} is the religion based on the Vedas as well as other traditional scriptures and beliefs. It is the oldest existent religion in the world. The term Hinduism is heterogeneous, as Hinduism consists of several schools of thought. It encompasses many religious rituals that widely vary in practice, as well as many diverse sects and philosophies. Many Hindus, influenced by Advaita philosophy, venerate an array of deities, considering them manifestations of the one supreme monistic Cosmic Spirit, Brahman, while many others focus on a singular concept of God, as in Vaishnavism, Saivism and Shaktism. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world, with approximately 970 million adherents (2005 figure), of whom approximately 900 million live in India. Books about Hinduism are in this section. This is a large list of all Hindu resource materials. For specific topics neemkarolibaba.com have chosen specific items of interest, as below: (admin)
Baba Ram Dass (Dr. Richard Alpert) was a professor of psychology at Harvard University who became well known for his controversial research program which studied the effects of LSD. He was born to a prominent Jewish family in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, George Alpert, was one of Boston's most prominent lawyers and was also a railroad executive. Richard Alpert has two older brothers. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Tufts University, a masters' degree from Wesleyan University and a doctorate degree from Stanford University. Alpert worked closely with Dr. Timothy Leary at Harvard, where the two conducted many experiments on the effects of LSD. The pair were dismissed from the university in 1963 due to their controversial research on the Harvard Psilocybin Project. They relocated, and continued their experiments at a private mansion in Millbrook, New York. In 1967, Alpert travelled to India, where he became heavily involved in meditative practice and yoga. He met and studied with the great American spiritual seeker Bhagavan Das, who introduced Alpert to his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, or Maharaj-ji, Hindi for "Great King." Maharaj-ji gave Alpert the name Ram Dass, which means servant of Rama, and instructed him to receive teaching from Bhagavan Das. (admin)
Jai Uttal has been immersed in Indian music for decades. He traveled with the Bauls of Bengal, singing their chants, and he plays the dotar, a baby brother to the Indian sarod, which he studied with Ali Akbar Khan. Jai Uttal is a pioneer in the world music community. His eclectic east meets-west sound has put his music at the forefront of the world fusion movement. Jai Uttal's musical roots embrace a rich variety of cultures and traditions that span the globe and the centuries. From the hillbilly music of the Appalachian Mountains to the passionate strains of Bengali street singers, from the haunting rhythms and melodies of ancient India to contemporary electric rock sounds, Jai's music distills the essence of diverse musical forms. He traveled to India where he was deeply inspired by the Bauls, the wandering street musicians of Bengal. Jai settled among them, communicating only through music, which ultimately helped establish his unique style. During these early visits to India, Jai also met his Guru, Neem Karoli Baba, and spent time with many great beings of both the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. He became deeply absorbed in the practice of kirtan, the ancient yoga of chanting, or singing to God. This form of prayer became the core of his musical and spiritual life. (admin)
Krishna Das is a U.S. native whose life was changed forever by the discovery of the Hindu religion. Krishna Das has focused his energies toward the art of Indian classical chant exclusively. The result is a long career of spreading the love and spirituality of the Hindustani tradition while gleaning a large following that's included the likes of Sting and Madonna. Krishna Das is a singer who performs Indian chants called kirtans. Krishna Das travelled to India in the 1960s where, along with Ram Dass, he studied with a Hindu guru named Neem Karoli Baba. Krishna Das has studied Buddhist meditation practices and is now devoted to singing and teaching. He has released several CDs, and he travels around the world giving performances and teaching, sometimes with Ram Dass. Krishna Das is perhaps the best known American singer of Indian kirtan-style devotional music. (admin)
The Rāmāyaņa ("march or journey (Āyana) of Rāma)" is part of the Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki. This epic of 24,000 verses in seven kānda-s (chapters or books) tells of a Raghuvamsa (Sanskrit - "Of the Sun Dynasty") prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by the Rākshasa, or demon, Rāvana. The Rāmāyana had an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry, primarily through its establishment of the Sloka meter. But, like its epic cousin Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyana is not just an ordinary story. It contains the teachings of the ancient Hindu sages and presents them through allegory in narrative and the interspersion of philosophic and devotional. The characters of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharat, Hanumāna and Rāvana (the archvillain of the story) are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of India. The Rāmāyana is set in the Treta Yuga. If we can decide the time of Ramayana, MahaBharat time can be easily determined by the fact that King Shalya who took over the fighting on Kaurava's side after the death of Karna was 50th generation from Luv and Kush (Rama's sons). Lets take an average of 40 years for each generation, that would mean at least 2000 years as the difference between Ramayan and Mahabharat. This would mean if Mahabharat happened is dated around 3700 B.C.E., then Ramayan could be easily dated as somewhere near to 3700+2000 = 5700 B.C.E. But taking into consideration the average age of a human at that time as around at least 80 years as it has been mentioned in a lot of ancient books that the Humans had a high life expectancy. It would mean that 50 generations is equivalent to 4000(50*80)years, which would mean that Ramayan happened nearly in 7800 B.C. which is what a lot of old scripts from India point to. According to Valmiki Ramayan's star formation it can be calculated that Ramayan did happen somewhere between 7000-8000 B.C.E. which is around 10000 years before now. (admin)
The Mahabharata (Devanagari: phonetically Mahābhārata) is one of the three major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the others being the Ramayana and the Bhagavatam. Traditionally ascribed to Vyasa, it is the third longest literary epic poem in the world. (The first is the tibetan Epic of King Gesar, the second is the Manas, a traditional epic poem of the Kyrgyz people.) Besides being hailed as one of the greatest literary accomplishments of humanity, it is also of immense religious and philosophical importance in India. In particular, the Bhagavad Gita, which is one of its chapters (Bhishmaparva), summarizes the basic tenets of Hinduism. The title may be translated as "History of the Great India" or, more accurately, "the Great Bharata Dynasty" (bhārata means the progeny of Bharata, the king believed to have founded the Indian kingdom of Bhāratavarsha; "Bharat" has equal status as the official name of India in all Indian governments today and is still commonly used today). The work is part of the Hindu itihaasas, literally "that which happened", along with the Puranas and Ramayana. The full version contains more than 100,000 verses (total over 200,000), and is around 2.5 million words long. (By comparison, the Christian Bible is around 775,000 words long.) Krishna who has chosen to drive Arjuna's chariot wakes him up to his call of duty in the famous Bhagavad Gita section of the epic. (admin)
One of the two most important texts of the Hindu religion, The Upanishads are ancient accounts of mystical revelations and remain the primary source of spiritual guidance for millions of believers today. The Upanishads are part of the Hindu Shruti scriptures which primarily discuss meditation and philosophy and are seen as religious instructions by most forms of Hinduism. The Upanishads are mystic or spiritual interpretations on the Vedas, their putative end and essence, and thus known as Vedānta ("the end of the Vedas"). The Sanskrit term upaniṣad derives from upa- (near), ni- (down) and sad (to sit), i.e. referring to the "sitting down near" a spiritual teacher (guru) in order to receive instruction in the Guru-shishya tradition or parampara. The teachers and students appear in a variety of settings (husband answering questions about immortality, a teenage boy being taught by Yama, etc.). Sometimes the sages are women and at times the instructions (or rather inspiration) are sought by kings. The Upanishads have been dated to around 4th century BC. (admin)
Vedas are a corpus of ancient Indo-Aryan religious literature associated with the Vedic civilisation and are considered by adherents of Hinduism to be revealed knowledge. Many Hindus believe that the Vedas were not written by anyone (including God), but are eternally existing (apaurusheya). While many historians regard the Vedas as some of the oldest surviving texts, they estimate them to have been written down between 1500 and 500 BCE. The Vedas consist of several kinds of texts, all of which date back to ancient times. The core is formed by the Mantras which represent hymns, prayers, incantations, magic and ritual formulas, charms etc. The hymns and prayers are addressed to a pantheon of gods (and a few goddesses), important members of which are Rudra, Varuna, Indra, Agni, etc. The mantras are supplemented by texts regarding the sacrificial rituals in which these mantras are used as well as texts exploring the philosophical aspects of the ritual tradition, narratives etc. (admin)
Sanskrit is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It has a position in India and Southeast Asia similar to that of Latin and Greek in Europe, and is a central part of Hindu tradition. It is one of the oldest Indo-European languages in the world with a documented history of 3,500 years and boasts a rich tradition of poetry, literature; as well as scientific, technical, philosophical and religious texts. Sanskrit is one of the 22 official languages of India. It is being revived as a vernacular in the village of Mattur near Shimoga in Karnataka. Today Sanskrit is mostly used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals in the forms of hymns and mantras. Its pre-Classical form of Vedic Sanskrit, the liturgical language of the Vedic religion, is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family, its most ancient text being the Rigveda. It is also the language of Yoga. (admin)
In the Hindu faith, Hanuman, known also as 'Anjaneya', is a vanara who aided Lord Rama (an avatar of Vishnu) in rescuing His Consort, Sita, from the Rakshasa king Ravana. He symbolises the pinnacle of bhakti, and is considered to be the eleventh Rudra avatar of Lord Shiva. He is more well-known as the (spiritual) Son of Vayu deva, the Hindu deity of the wind. He is believed by some scholars to be a source for the Chinese mythological character Sun Wukong. Hanuman is the epitome of wisdom, brahmacharya, bhakti (devotion/faith), valour, righteousness and strength. He is symbolized in Hinduism for his unwavering dedication to righteousness, unstinting performance of entrusted duties, and unfailing talents in serving his chosen master. His indispensable role in reuniting Rama with Sita is likened by some to that of a teacher helping an individual soul realize the divine. While the uninitiated may find it odd to worship "a monkey", to believers, the idea is to worship the astounding attributes represented by Hanuman, that even most humans find hard to practice. It is believed that a true devotee of Hanuman would be endowed with the uplifting spiritual qualities that Hanuman himself is known for. It is also held that while Rama does what is right, Hanuman acts out of compassion. He is easily reachable - just by chanting the name 'Ram'. Conversely, it is also held that the easiest way to attain Lord Rama is to worship Hanuman — the Hanuman Chalisa has a verse "Tumharae bhajan Ram ko paavae", which means "by singing hymns about You, Rama is reached". (admin)
It has been said that Maharajji would say "Okay, meditate." and then would tell jokes and pull people's beards. If you are interested in meditation this books and CDs may help. Meditation is the practice of focusing the mind, often formalized into a specific routine. Meditation is usually recognized as a component of Eastern religions, originating in Vedic Hinduism. It encompasses any of a wide variety of spiritual practices which emphasize mental activity or quiescence. Meditation can also be used for personal development, such as the exercises of Hatha yoga. In the late nineteenth century, Theosophists adopted the word "meditation" to refer to various spiritual practices drawn from Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Eastern religions. Thus the English word "meditation" does not exclusively translate any single term or concept, and can be used to translate words such as the Sanskrit dhyana, samadhi, or pranayama. Meditation is usually defined as one of the following: 1) a state that is experienced when the mind dissolves and is free of all thoughts, 2) focusing the mind on a single object (such as a religious statue, or one's breath, or a mantra), 3) a mental "opening up" to the divine, invoking the guidance of a higher power, 4) reasoned analysis of religious teachings (such as impermanence, for Buddhists). Its ritual and contemplative qualities are similar to prayer in Western religions, but prayer emphasizes communication with a higher being, whereas meditation focuses on developing oneself. (admin)
A bhajan or kirtan is a Hindu or Sikh devotional song, often of ancient origin. Great importance is attributed to the singing of bhajans within the Bhakti. It is also one of the paths of Sikhism and in that context refers to the singing of the Sacred Hymns from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, or "SGGS". The Sikhs place huge value on this type of singing and a Sikh is duty bound to listen to and/or sing Guru-Kirtan as frequently as possible. In Surat Shabd Yoga, bhajan means listening to the inner sounds of the Shabd or the Shabd Master. Kirtans are deeply rooted in the Vedic tradition. Bhajans are simple songs in soulful language expressing the many-splendored emotions of love for God; a complete submission or self-surrender to Him through singing. Traditionally, the music has been Indian classical music, which is based on ragas and tala (rhythmic beat patterns) played on the harmonium and tabla (traditional Indian instruments). The Sikh Scripture contains 31 ragas and 17 talas which form the basis for kirtan music compositions. (admin)
There are a variety of interesting books that have been selected for this section. You will find books by Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Paramahansa Yogananda, Gangaji, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan & Charles A. Moore, Subramuniya, Robert Powell, Monier Monier-Williams, Swami Bhaskarananda, Prakashanand Saraswati, Sri Chinmoy, Baba Hari Dass, Paul Brunton, David L. Haberman, Bhagavan Das and others (admin)
