Hinduism Resource

Here is an article from the latest issue of Hinduism Today “I’m Spiritual, But Not Religious” http://hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/makepdf.php?itemid=5796.  

Can this be the Renaissance of Hinduism as Swami Vivekananda predicted that India will dominate the world, not by military might, but by her thought?

It will be interesting to hear your comments. 

Dear Friends, Namaste –

It was an honor to have you visit our temple this morning. I really enjoyed our interaction.

I have uploaded the presentation to https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_fDIsgXxsnuUUVfQk1lV0FjUFk/view?usp=sharing.

If you have any questions and comments, please send them to me at nedmohan@gmail.com.

I hope to see you soon in the near future.

Best regards,

Ned

Dear Friends, Namaste –

Topic: Ayurveda

Attendees:  15 or so (and Krishna!)

What we discussed:

This time, we had a special guest Marcia Meredith who gave an enchanting talk on Ayurveda. We all came out enthralled and excited about our own ancient practice. I have uploaded the handouts from Marcia and a summary from Dr. Belani, as a single document at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_fDIsgXxsnuLWkzV0Q0c2wyM28.

Respectfully submitted by,

Narendra (SOHAM-MN™)

Dear Friends, Namaste –

Topic: YOGA: Is it co-opted by the West and if so, does it matter?

Attendees:  7 (and Krishna!)

What we discussed:

Through the slides at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_fDIsgXxsnuMU5LeUFpYlFfTU0, we had a wonderful discussion on this topic. More or less, we were all of the same opinion that openness/sharing is a much better idea than possessiveness. Later on, we partook wonderful food for lunch.

Respectfully submitted by,

Narendra (SOHAM-MN™)

Dear Friends, Namaste –

Topic: The Power of Having a Personal God (Ishta Devata)

Attendees:  9 (and Krishna!)

What we discussed:

Through the slides at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_fDIsgXxsnuZnFKV05CS3ZUQnc, we had a wonderful discussion on the power of having a personal God. We had three people join us from the tour earlier – I believe they were devout Christians – and it was so nice to have their comments. All in all, we had a wonderful discussion. At the end, we calculated our Ishta Devata based on the link on the last slide and it turned out to be Shri Vishnu!!! Later on, we partook wonderful food for lunch.

Respectfully submitted by,

Narendra (SOHAM-MN™)

Dear Friends, Namaste –

Topic: Hope and Self-Empowerment: The Hindu Way

Attendees:  8 (and Krishna!)

What we discussed:

We first watched a 10-minute video clip by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on sat-chit-anand and his relating it to tat-tvam-asi: http://www.bienfaits-meditation.com/en/maharishi/videos_10-30/sat-cit-ananda. Afterwards, related to this video clip, we had a heartfelt discussion, where we already knew what the words mean but what do they mean – how does our consciousness experiences the attribute-less Absolute and what does bliss mean? Is it fullness? We all had our own interpretations but it seemed that they were all convergent. Later on, we partook wonderful food prepared by the Bengali Association in celebration of the Saraswati pooja.

Respectfully submitted by,

Narendra (SOHAM-MN™)

Dear Friends, Namaste –

Topic: Hindus Marrying Non-Hindus

Attendees:  6 (and Krishna!)

What we discussed:

We first watched a documentary “Meet the Patels” that we all enjoyed. Afterwards, related to this documentary, we had a delightful discussion where we shared our experiences, and projections for the third generation.

Respectfully submitted by,

Narendra (SOHAM-MN™)

Dear Friends, Namaste –

Topic: Reincarnation

Attendees:  6 (and Krishna!)

What we discussed:

We first looked at the various links in the slides at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_fDIsgXxsnuYVFPaDJ2dDJ1enc/view?usp=sharing.   Then we had a very interesting discussion and ended up at the same page.  Our discussion concluded with sharing the delicious Indian lunch afterwards.

Respectfully submitted by,

Narendra (SOHAM-MN™)

Dear Friends, Namaste –

Topic: Looking for A Guru in Modern Times

Attendees:  9 (and Krishna!)

What we discussed:

We first looked at the slides at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_fDIsgXxsnuNVFVLUFwTENCNms. Then we had an intimate and at times a moving account (what a group!)  of own experiences in finding or not finding our spiritual gurus – the rewards/dangers of a personal guru in flesh and blood, and the practicality of it – after all there are a billion Hindus!  In the spirit of this group, even though we don’t all agree with everything that was said, our discussion ended amicably with sharing the delicious and spicy lunch afterwards.

Please also look at the document below sent by a devotee:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_fDIsgXxsnuaW9vOUx4Zms5TG8/view?usp=sharing

Respectfully submitted by,

Narendra (SOHAM-MN™)

Dear Friends, Namaste –

Topic: The Status of Women in Hinduism and Hindu Practice

Attendees: 5 (and Krishna!)

What we discussed:

We first discussed the slides at the following link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_fDIsgXxsnuWElwMmR5bFotT2c.

These slides show the status bestowed to women and what possibilities Hinduism encompasses – totally open-ended. Then, we discussed our observations and experiences in a very open and personal way within a circle of friends – a great catharsis. A general consensus was that there were abuses in the past but things are getting better with the younger generation and we ended at a hopeful note.

Thank you all for participating.

Respectfully submitted by,

Narendra (SOHAM-MN™)