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The Bhagavad Gita

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The Bhagavad Gita   Many in the public sphere who are not Hindu have spoken about the Bhagavad Gita, and for most non-Hindus this is the most famous Hindu scripture. I am happy that these folks have given our faith greater exposure, but I am not happy that they are spreading disinformation. That said, I will take this opportunity to provide some clarification.   Many in the current space of what I can best describe as “alien speculation”, namely David Childress and others on the show ‘Ancient Aliens’ and Billy Carson refer to tales of supernatural beings using mind-blowing technology in seemingly magical ways in the Bhagavad Gita. Such stories do exist in broader Hinduism, however they are not in the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita is a very small part of a larger epic called the Mahabharat, and the Gita is found in book six of eighteen.   In the Mahabharat, a grand war rages in India, where royal cousins are pitted against each other, and our hero, Arjun, rides into...
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The Devi Bhagavatam

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  In Hinduism, the female form of the Divine is considered to be equally powerful to the male. There is a formless Supreme Devi, and Her three primary forms are that of Saraswati, Laxmi, and Parvati, the wives of Bramha, Vishnu, and Shiva respectively. The Devi Bhagavatam is one of the Puranas, or sacred central texts of the Hindu canon, devoted to the Divine Feminine.   Note: Book 5, Chapter 9 contains many insults to Lord Vishnu, Lord Vishnu, and even the Devi’s own beloved son, Sri Ganesa, which I will not repeat here out of respect. If you know Parvatiji, you know that She would never endorse such madness, and one can see this is clearly the writings of a human being trying to swerve devotees from one lane to another, this this and all other scripture should be observed with due judgement and critical thinking. Remember, only you will have to deal with the consequences of your actions, so do not follow others blindly.   1.       Vishnu t...
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The Vedas

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  Link to companion podcast episode The four Vedas, composed between 1350 and 900 BC, are the most ancient religious texts of a religion that is still practiced, and the Vedas themselves are still in active use. The Sri Rudram, part of the Yajur Veda and the most prominent prayer to Lord Shiva, is recited around the world every Monday evening from Vedic times to this day.   The Rig Veda (“Rigveda”) (~1350 BC) is primarily composed of hymns to Lord Indra, the god of thunder, lightning, and rain who we can think of as a clean-shaven version of Zeus, and other deities who are no longer around today.   The Sama Deva (“Samaveda”) (~1000 BC) mainly contains hymns to deities, Soma (Intoxication) and Agni (Fire) figuring prominently.   The Yajur Veda (“Yajurveda”) (~1000 BC) exists in two versions, Black (“Krishna”) and White (“Shukla”), their core content being the same and the main difference being that the Krishna version commingles shlokas and commentary, wh...
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Key Navagraha Information

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Click table to enlarge The worship of Bholenath is of course the paramount activity, but dalliance with the Navagraha can be a fun "side quest" within the Sanatan Dharma framework. Yogananda has confirmed in his autobiography that certain astrological gems can bring some relief in various life areas to devotees. I would caution folks, however, that bad karma must be "paid for" in one way or another, so although a gem may delay or temporarily ease some negative aspects of life to smooth things out, in the end you will have to pay the price. If interested, get your Vedic (Jyotish) astrology chart done, and pay attention to which planets are "malefic" or "debilitated" in your chart. If malefic, you can wear the stones of their enemies. If debilitated, you can wear that deity's stone on the appropriate finger, as well as elsewhere on your person. In my case, I purposely wear the stones of my malefic planets so that I can burn through my bad karma...
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The Goddess Parvati Temple

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While the other Goddesses in the "Big Six"** receive regular individual worship, we often only see Parvatiji as an accompaniment to Bholenath, if She is even depicted. That is going to change now, in a big way. When we talk about power, do you know whom in the Big Six has the most power? Parvatiji's Sanskrit name is "Shakti", quite literally 'Power', and She is glorified as the energy and engine behind everything that exists and is in motion. You do the math... Below are some protocols for what we will see in our beloved Devi's temple. Initially I had wanted to do a full-service temple, but I now realize that the language and pronunciation barriers will be impracticable to surmount for busy American professionals and students, the target demographic, and so we will switch gears to double down on our core competencies and what we can offer devotees with authority. Services will be either simple one-to-few-word beej mantras and otherwise entirely in En...
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