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Why Hindus offer Coconut to the divine during prayers and other religious celebrations...

8/28/2020

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It is a common practice among Hindus to offer coconut during prayers. Many people, including Hindus wonder- why this is the case.

Since many of the Hindu practices come from the original Vedic culture, which was very logical and scientific in it's approach, this practice of offering coconut has a very beautiful and logical explanation.

​Watch on to know more...
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Categories:
Myths And Beliefs,   Prayers And Sadhanas,   Vedic Symbolism   and   Vedic Tradition


Keywords and Tags:
#HinduPrayers  #pooja  #puja #aarti #OfferingCoconut  #VedicWisdom #Coconut #NaraliPurnima #Naral #OfferCoconut #Hindu #Vedic #narial   #Hinduofferings  
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Ma Kali- the quantum expression of the space-time

6/8/2020

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​Kali is the primordial energy of creation, the first feminine energy principle responsible for this entire manifested universe. That is why she is often addressed as Adi Shakti- the first energy principle.

For those who may not be familiar with the true Vedic philosophy and teachings, it is important to note that all Vedic and Hindu deities represent cosmic energies that are part of the Divine Universal Energy or the Supreme God-head.  
​Shiva represents the Male Cosmic energy principle of our form-created world and Parvati (who is another representation of Shakti), is the Female Cosmic energy principle.  

Both these primal Male and Female cosmic energy principles are responsible for creating this Universe. Thus Shiva and Shakti together create this form-world as we know.

Kali, who represents Time, is the first and foremost of all Shakti-s, i.e. energy forms. Since all of creation manifests and exits in and thru her, she is also a representation of space- where all things can come into being. 

In this way, Kali represents the Space-Time continuum which allows for this manifested material world to exist. 
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You may want to watch these videos to better understand Ma Kali's significance and the reason for her unique form...

  • Why is Kali dancing?
  • ​Significance of Ma Kali's Arms​
  • Significance and Meaning of Kali Chaudas & Narak Chaturdashi
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#KaliMantras #ShaktiMantras   #KaliSadhana  #ChantsandMantras #MaKali #Navratri   #UnderstandingKali #WhoisKali   #LearningHinduism   #HinduDeities   #UnderstandingShakti   #HinduGoddessKali  #HinduGods  #VedicSymbolism 
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Lord Vishnu- The Vedic Archetype of The Cosmic Sustainer

5/4/2020

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The word Vishnu comes from the combination of two words- Vishwa (cosmos) and Anu (atom- the smallest representation of the whole). 

So, Vishnu is that energy which pervades everything in existence- the living and non-living! 

Nothing can be in existence without Vishnu. Neither the living nor the non-living can exist without Vishnu. It is the very divine essence within everything in existence, not just on earth, but in everything in this cosmos!  
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This cosmic essence, this divinity within everything in existence the “Vishnu” within each one of us, is the very life essence, the soul or atman. 
It is the microcosm Vishnu which is there within each one of us. This microcosmic Vishnu is a fraction of the macrocosmic Vishnu and yet it is a complete representation of the whole. The individual manifestation (an individual, a Jeev-atma) is the atomic version of the bigger manifestation (Param-atma). 

As Lord Vishnu is the very essence within everything, it is his presence that allows any-person or thing to stay in existence. 

Because of this, Lord Vishnu is considered as the one who sustains- manages and maintains this universe. 
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And to manage, maintain and sustain, we need nourishment, wealth, affluence, and this is provided by his consort- Goddess Laxmi. Ma Laxmi governs all eight forms of wealth and abundance.

If you are not familiar with the Ashta Laxmi, then you may want to watch:   Goddess Lakshmi (giver of wealth and affluence)- Symbolism and Meaning of Ma Laxmi (Lakshmi) and Eight Forms of Goddess Lakshmi (giver of wealth and affluence)- Who is Lakshmi and her eight forms?

If we are to ever see an image-representation of Lord Vishnu, then many a times Goddess Laxmi is shown at the feet of the Lord Vishnu, in humility and servitude.
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This is because the energy of wealth and abundance, needs to be utilized for the wellbeing and sustenance of the cosmos and so the energy representation of Goddess Laxmi is shown to be in service to Lord Vishnu, who is the sustainer of this universe. 
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​#LordVishnu #DashaAvatar #CosmicSustainer #VedicArchetype #VishwaRoop 
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Symbolic and Esoteric meaning of the story of Lord Narasimha

5/4/2020

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Lord Narasimha, which is the fourth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and has the form of a half lion, half man- it indicates the evolutionary process of physical life on earth. 

You can read How Lord Narasimha ridded the earth of Hiranyakashapu’s demonic terror!!
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The story of Lord Narasimha clearly indicates that everything in the material creation ultimately has a limited time in existence. Even though one believes that one is clever and has ‘tricked’ the process of creation or the laws of nature- it is not so. Such trickery does not work!! 

The universal laws of Karma impacts everyone and the universal process proceeds and unfolds in its own rhythm.

Lord Narasimha’s fierceness and anger could only be subdued by the loving presence of Prahalad and his true devotion. It is then that Lord Narasimha blessed all the others in the court. 

This goes to show the power of true love and deep devotion- it has the power to counteract and transform even the most challenging of situations. 
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If you would like to learn more about the many blessings that one can receive by worshipping to Lord Narasimha, then check out this video titled, Lord Narsimha and the amazing blessings we can receive from within the Hindu Deities: God & Goddesses playlist.
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​#Narasimha #VishnuDashaAvatar #Narsimha #VishnuTenAvatars #HinduStory #VedicWisdom
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Enlightenment: Significance of Lighting an Earthen Oil Lamp (diya)

9/10/2019

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Back in the days before electricity, lighting oil lamps was the main way people were able to light their homes after sunset. But even with electricity, we still use oil lamps during our pooja and prayers. Is there a special significance to lighting oil lamps?

Yes, there is… but not just any oil lamp. We are meant to light an earthen oil lamp during our prayers or performing any spiritual austerities, i.e. sadhana.
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The earthen lamp signifies our body. We have heard the phrase- “we arise from dust and to dust we return”. Clay, mud, dirt has always been used to indicate that we have been created as part of this nature and also to signify our mortality, i.e. how after our death, our body (which is a mere vessel for our soul) will disintegrate, perish and return to nature.

The cotton wick indicates our ego. It burns because of the oil in the lamp. This oil is the accumulated soul-actions and soul-tendencies (i.e. karmas and samskaras), which compel us to perform more action. If this oil is pure and of high quality, then the wick will glow brightly. If there is impurity in the oil, then the flame will be dull… in the same way, if we have challenging or negative karmas then our life here will not be able to exhibit the full glory of our true divine nature. 
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It is not surprising that in Jyotish (Vedic Astrology), Saturn is the karaka (indicator) for oil as he is also the one who maintains and administers our karmas!!
Sooo… the signification of lighting an earthen oil lamp (mitti ka diya) is that… when we light an oil lamp, we are hoping that as the oil helps to burn off the cotton wick, similarly as we conscious do the prayers, pooja, it will help to burn off our karmas.  Thru devotion, by doing our prayers, pooja and so on, our ego will burn off and it will generate light, which is our true essence (our soul).

So next time, you are lighting a diya (earthen oil lamp). Don’t do it mindlessly. Light the lamp with a conscious intension. Do your prayers with a conscious intension of burning off your karmas and by doing so, you are slowly becoming more and more light. I.e. you are slowly becoming ‘enlightened’.
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​#diya #deepavali #earthenlamp #oillamp #lightingdiya #lightingoillamp #Hindutraditions #Hindurituals #Vedicrituals #whydoHindus #mittikadiya
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The Significance of Anant Chaturdashi- our spiritual transformation can now begin…

9/23/2018

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The tenth day of Ganesh Chaturthi (Ganesh Utsav) festival is called as the Anant Chaturdashi. It is celebrated with great joy and reverence. It is believed that Lord Ganesh, who was residing amongst us during these past nine days has heard all our pleas and prayers. He has patiently heard all our tales of suffering and now as his sculpted clay form is being dissolved in the waters, he is also removing all the causes of our suffering and blessing us with immense gifts and happiness.

As per the mythology- Lord Ganesh is supposed to be going back to the higher dimensions to meet his father, Lord Shiva. Lord Ganesh rules the first chakra, Muladhara. This chakra is concerned with survival and our daily existence. Lord Shiva rules the higher chakras and particularly the seventh chakra (Sahasra) which signifies a completely awakened Kundalini (Shakti energy). The clay form of Lord Ganesh when he is visiting the earth (Karmic plane) indicates the mortal nature of man, which needs to be dissolved for spiritual transformation.

The day of Anant Chaturdashi signifies this awakening of our Kundalini energy. If we have been in-tune with the natural energies and Lord Ganesh; praying to him with true earnestness, then he will take us to our highest awakened self (an opened seventh chakra) and this transformation is the awakening and rising of the Kundalini energy.
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It is interesting to note that the next fifteen days of the dark fortnight are called as the Pitru Paksha, where we are expected to pay off our ancestral karmic debt; our pitru-roon. 
These fifteen days of pitru paksha are then followed by Navratri, which is the nine-day celebration of mother Shakti energy- culminating into the festival of Vijaya Dashami, which literally means the tenth day of victory.

​So our soul journey which started with paying obeisance and truthfully praying to Lord Ganesh now experiences transformation, which in turn awakens our Kundalini energy.

​We then need to truly work with those Shakti energies (during Navratri), to victoriously transform ourselves!
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Hopefully on this day of Anant Chaturdashi, Lord Ganesh will bless all of us with true understanding of our own real nature, our conscious self, so we can start the process of our transformation.
#AnantChaturdashi   #GaneshChaturthi   #Kundalini   #Transformation   #GaneshUtsav
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Utilizing Amavasyas to pay off our Karmic Debt- our Pitru Roon…

9/19/2018

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There are many types of karmic debts that each one of us have- one of the key ones being Pitru Roon. i.e. ancestral debt. This is very important since we have received our bodies, our physical make up from our ancestors what we colloquially call our genetics. 
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One of the best ways to pay off our Pitru roon is perform shraddha. This is a special prayer that is performed on the death anniversary of the person. There are many times where we may not know the death date of a person- particularly as we think of several prior generations ago- for e.g. you may not know the death date of your great grandfather. In all such instances, you can perform these special prayers during the Pitru Paksha. Please refer to our post on the Significance of Pitru Paksha for more details. 
​But, in addition to these two times, there is another time-phase which is great to work on reducing our ancestral karmic debt- our Pitru Roon! And that is during the dark fortnight each month. 

How do we perform these prayers?? Personally, what I have found immensely helpful is to simply offer food and water to our ancestors with usual prayers. Light a special lamp (diya) and an incense to specially offer them thanks and express gratitude- in plain language. 
Remember that ancestral debt or Pitru-roon is one of the key types of soul-debts (karmic debts) that we carry, and it is not possible to attain moksha without paying off this debt. Even though divine blessings and grace can eliminate all forms of karma and clear all our debts, doing these prayers and showing gratitude to our ancestors is a very simple and effective way to not only show love to our forefathers (who continue to live on through us) but also clear our ancestral debt, our Pitru roon- all in one go.
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#amavasya #pitruroon #karmicdebt   #homagetoancestors   #ancestraldebt   #pitrupaksha

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    Vedic Culture, which   is the culture of the original Himalayan Masters,    is one of the most advanced ancient civilizations.  It is a tradition which has given mankind several treasures such Yoga, Meditation, Conscious-Living and Vedic Sciences such as Ayurveda, Vedic Physics & Vedic Mathematics.

    It was always a scientific culture that understood the very mechanics and workings of this Universe. Their deities, their gods and goddesses were all a way of expressing and explaining these energies and their inter-working. Modern Quantum Mechanics is just starting to understand string theory, dark matter etc. which have all been fundamental to the Vedic understanding. Because of this, they developed ways and methods which allowed one to best tap into life-energy itself.

    Vedic Culture, as it was practiced by the Himalayan Masters, was always a "way of life" and not a religion.

    Their basic view was that, there is only ONE Supreme God-head (God as our creator) and each one of us can find our path to it- experience union with that divinity (Yoga) in their own way.

    Because of this, anyone with any religious affiliations and beliefs can still benefit from their knowledgeable ways of Vedic Wisdom.

    Our attempt here is to present this ancient wisdom in a modern light, so our readers can interpret the true, essential meaning more easily and then extrapolate it to their own specific scenarios and enhance the quality of their life and being-ness.
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